ways to childproof your hotel room

Ways to Childproof Your Hotel Room

As a parent, you never really are on a vacation unless you ensure safety of young children in their new surrounding. Here are a few handy tips to consider while going for a vacation.

Vacations are fun times for the family to bond and share moments to create lasting memories. However, adequate care needs to be taken to ensure safety of young kids, especially toddlers who can hurt themselves trying to climb on furniture or even investigate their new surroundings. One of the major concerns as a parent is keeping the young ones away from electrical switches, and creating a home away from home for the child is the safest bet to ensure no accidental hazards. The upcoming section helps you know how to childproof your hotel room.
Childproofing your Hotel Room
Here are a few handy tips to keep in mind when out on a vacation with kids.
  • As soon as you enter the hotel room, make a quick survey of objects around the room. Ask for fragile objects like flower vases and decor to be removed or relocated to higher shelves. One of the best ways to remove objects from a child's view is to actually get down on your knees and crawl around the room looking out for objects that can result in choking.
  • The foremost step to childproofing your hotel room would be to lock dangerous windows and doors opening to balconies and patios. Preferably, ask for a room sans a balcony and better still, book a room on the ground floor and lower the risks of an accidental tripping over the windowsills.
  • It is best to ask for individual cribs for your young ones however, ensure it conforms to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards. Besides, you can always carry a portable crib if you are wary using the available cribs. You can also check out various cribs that can be placed on the bed.
  • The best way to avoid children clambering onto windowsills and endangering themselves would be to relocate furniture away from windows. Check the stability of the furniture in the room to avoid it from toppling over your child. Do a quick check of the furniture to locate rough edges, and if any, then ask for the furniture to be removed. If the job is too tedious to get it done, cover the edges with some sponge and duct tapes. Washrags or towels can also be used to cover sharp edges of tables and furniture to protect your child from unnecessary wounds.
  • Ensure electrical switches and plug outlets have an automatic sliding latch or else seal off the electrical switches with tamper proof devices. A simple and cost-effective measure would be to simply cover the plug outlets with some handy duct tape. It's best to unplug all electrical appliances and safely stack away remotes and other electrical appliances to avoid unnecessary usage and electric shocks to wary users.
  • Children have an affinity to doors. Protect those little fingers with the use of door jammers, which are absolutely child friendly and are easily available either online or in hardware stores and come in attractive colors and shapes. Besides, with door jammers you can ensure your child does not get locked on his/her own.
  • Deter your child from venturing out of the hotel room with doorknob covers, that make it difficult for young hands to open the doors to rooms that you feel would be hazardous for them.
  • Make sure that you keep cosmetics and toiletries away from the prying little hands. Easy access to the dressing table and its contents could only result in unwanted tension for you and added discomfort to your child.
  • Make sure the bathroom floor is dry at all times to avoid slipping and skidding. Ask the hotel staff for anti-slip mats to ensure safety in a bathroom. Keep electrical appliances like hair dryers, hair rollers, etc., out of reach of children. Preferably, store appliances in locked drawers or compartments. Personally check the water temperature to avoid scalding your offspring. Keep cleaning agents away from the reach of children to avoid swallowing of toxic chemicals.
  • Entrance to balconies, patios and bathrooms can be sealed off with easy-to-install foldable security gates to avoid your toddler from going overboard. These security gates can also avoid unnecessary tension of your little one venturing out on the stairways unattended.
  • If you are worried about your little one hurting itself in the room, your safest bet would be to carry a portable playpen along with you. This would ensure your child does not venture in places you feel are unsafe to explore.
Handy Tips for Parents
  1. Pack childproofing material like door jammers, knob covers, tamper proof locks etc., along with your luggage.
  2. Do not forget to carry a roll of the essential duct tape.
  3. Carry sponge, wash rags or towels that act as a covering for furniture.
  4. Pack in a few cords to tie up loose curtain strings or electrical wires that could possibly result in strangling.
  5. Keep cosmetics, medicines and cleaners away from the reach of children.
  6. Last but not the least, do Not forget to put in your first aid kit.
Doc Childre, founder of the nonprofit institute HeartMath, says, "An aware parent loves all children he or she interacts with - for you are a caretaker for those moments in time." Apart from these ways to childproof your hotel room, the only other advice for a parent is to Supervise and Watch Out for your children.

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