Keep young holiday visitors safe by taking steps to prepare your home before they arrive:

  • If your home is not already “childproofed,” install Tamper Resistant Receptacles or use safety covers on all unused electrical outlets, including those on extension cords.
  • Store breakables, candles, matches, and other potentially dangerous items, such as household and personal care products, medicines, vitamins, and pesticides, in inaccessible or locked areas. 
  • Don’t forget to put away small items, like buttons, coins, and jewelry, which are a choking hazard.
  • Use safety gates at the top and bottom of stairways to keep babies and toddlers safe.
  • Consider turning your water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce the risk of scalding.
  • Do not use space heaters in rooms where children will be unsupervised.
  • Adult supervision is required in the kitchen when something is cooking or when a range or stove is within reach.
  • Keep children at least three feet away from cooking appliances.
  • Decorations are not toys. Never allow children to play with electrical decorations or cords.  Place cords out of reach.
  • Avoid putting Christmas tree lights, ornaments, metal hooks, and other small decorations near the ground or on the lower limbs where they may be reached by young children.
  • In homes with small children, take special care to avoid decorations that are sharp or breakable.
  • Keep matches, lighters, and candle displays out of reach of children.

Safety Spotlight: Tamper Resistant Receptacles (TRRs)

Every year in the United States, more than 2,400 children under 10 years of age are treated in hospital emergency rooms for electric shock or burn injuries caused by tampering with a wall outlet.  
 
Tamper resistant receptacle (TRR) technology provides a simple, permanent solution to help prevent these types of childhood injuries.  

TRRs look like standard wall outlets, but they are actually designed with spring-loaded receptacle cover plates that close off the receptacle openings unless equal pressure is simultaneously applied to both sides.