For young children, there are no dedicated play areas; everywhere is a playground, including the kitchen. As a parent, you already have your hands filled juggling different types of work, and the last thing you want to deal with is difficult to clean spills, or an emergency trip to the hospital. With all the movable appliances and cooking ware, the kitchen is not exactly the safest place for your child to spend their time playing. Or the cleanest, for that matter. For some peace of mind, here are some different ways you can childproof your kitchen to make it a safe and hassle-free space for your child to roam and watch you cook without any extra headache.
Flooring Options
Even without a child in the house, spills can be a common occurrence in the kitchen area. And with your child running amok with their toys and undeveloped balance, scratch resistant and more forgiving flooring options sound a bit more appealing.
Hardwood flooring offers an easy to clean surface and is resilient to nicks and scratches. Light-colored hardwood is a bit better at hiding imperfections than dark-colored wood. If you have a fear that your child is going to be tripping or falling quite a bit when going through the kitchen, maybe a softer floor is a better option for you.
Cork flooring, when sealed, is extremely difficult to stain, however is a bit more prone to scratches and general damage that your child may inflict. An upside to this is that cork flooring is normally installed by the tile, so if there is any damage on just a few sections of your kitchen, they can be easily replaced.
More Flooring Options
Want another stain resistant option for a childproof kitchen? Bamboo, unlike hardwood floors, is another option that you do not need to worry about in terms of liquid stains, however visually it looks very similar. Depending on the manufacturer, you can inquire about different durability levels as well as the different types of adhesives and sealers that they use when finishing their planks to avoid exposing your child to toxic adhesives.
Having a childproof kitchen doesn’t have to be expensive! If all these options are a bit out of your budget, fret not. Laminate flooring has come a long way from obvious cheap imitate wood to indistinguishable from actual hardwood. While cleaning spills is an easy task, not all laminate is slippery-when-wet proof. Look for textured laminate to prevent any slips or falls.
LVP flooring, or “luxury vinyl plank”, is a similar alternative to real hardwood flooring. It imitates the look of real wood or stone flooring but is a bit more practical in some areas. While laminate is mainly made from wood and has feels like wood, LVP is made of vinyl and feels like plastic, but is easier to maintain and replace than real wood flooring. Most LVP is waterproof as well, for quick and easy spill cleaning and is a bit more flexible for less injuries sustained compared to falling onto hard surface flooring.
Safety First
Sharp edges and objects are a parents’ worse nightmare. Anything that is eye-level, such as a table corner, should be guarded with a protective guard or cushioning of some sort, such as a rubber cap. If you have the extra funds or are doing a complete remodel, you can choose rounded edges and corners for the edges of your tables. Make sure that all electrical outlets have been guarded with safety plugs, and that all knobs and handles are secured in their corresponding position. Any free-moving items need to be safely locked away or out of reach as well as garbage bags. Spices also need to remain as far away from children as possible, many of them are toxic.
Any aluminum foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap dispensers should be kept in a secure location, as the serrated edges can be dangerous to small appendages. If you cook a lot, try to use the back burners when possible, and keep unused pots and skillets away from the edges. Curious hands may grab them from the edge unsuspectingly, potentially causing more damage than just spilling your pasta. Take care to see if your stove knobs are either removed or have a childproof lock so that they cannot be easily turned on by your child. If you have any refrigerator magnets stuck on the front, make sure they are high enough out of arms reach to remove any potential choking hazards. If you have any freestanding furniture in the kitchen, make sure that it is either secured to the wall or the floor to keep it from leaning or tipping over.
Stay Safe!
Hopefully with these different ideas you will be able to cook and clean with some peace of mind if you hear any pots and pans being drummed on in the background. While this provides some tips to help you keep your child safe while they roam the kitchen, direct supervision is always the best safety measure. Be safe, and have fun sharing your new childproof kitchen and cooking with your child!
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