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Home: Is Your Child Safe?
- Home Safety Tips
- Fire Safety
- Emergency Preparedness Tips
- Farm Safety
- Important Numbers
- Creating a Safe Home Environment
Home Safety Tips
- Household cleaning products
- Making your home a safe place
- Cribs
- Baby walkers
- Safety gates
- Prevent choking and strangulation
- Get that out of your mouth!
- Most homes have 250 poisons! What about yours?
- Bathtub safety
What are the risks to my child if I use household cleaning products? Are there alternatives?
Children can be sensitive to the chemicals in everyday cleaning products, especially if they have allergies or asthma. Because children spend 80% to 90% of their time indoors, cleaning products can pose health risks for them.
Household cleaning products can add to indoor air pollution in many ways:
- They send toxins out into the air when they are used.
- Residue can be left on indoor surfaces (like the floors and tables).
- They gradually send toxins out into the home when they're stored.
The strong chemicals in cleaning products may cause even more cleaning power than what is needed. Some of these products are strong poisons and others contain ingredients that may be toxic.
Products that are poisonous or corrosive (can burn holes in clothes and eat away layers of skin) are marked with hazard symbols. But these warnings are only used for the most dangerous ingredients. This is a big problem because:
- Many more chemicals are used that aren't as deadly but can still make you sick
- Most haven't been fully tested for safety (for long-term, low-level, and multiple-exposures)
- Some may be harmful to babies in the womb.
- Some may be harmful to children at different stages of development.
Safer products are often available and should be used instead.
Organic Solvents
Avoid organic solvents, especially if you are pregnant – they can be dangerous to a developing foetus. Organic solvents may be responsible for causing birth defects and harming a foetus’s developing nervous system. Organic solvents evaporate at room temperature and you can easily smell them (for example, nail polish remover). Solvents are found in many common products like spot removers and other cleaners and disinfectants, in dry-cleaning chemicals, degreasers, aerosol sprays, cosmetics and paint strippers. They enter into the body through the skin, lungs and gut, and are spread to various body tissues, including the placenta. They are drawn to fatty tissues, including breast milk.
Dry cleaning
Children can also be more sensitive to the chemicals used in dry cleaning. Ask yourself if dry cleaning is really necessary for certain clothes and household items. If it is necessary, find a service that uses non-toxic methods. Ask your dry cleaner about the chemicals they use. Don't use a drycleaner that uses perchloroethylene. If you're not sure about the chemical your drycleaner uses, hang all dry cleaned items outdoors or in a well-ventilated location for at least two hours before you store it indoors.
Avoid disinfection “overkill”
Many soaps and other cleaning products are marketed as “anti-bacterial.” Like “disinfecting” sprays, these products may contain pesticides that kill bacteria. Bacteria and disease transmission is a real threat in some situations such as in backed-up sewers or if you're cleaning up after handling raw meats (although very hot, soapy water and good kitchen hygiene works too), but over-using bacteria-killing products may interfere with the development of a child's healthy immune system.
Choose “green” or non-toxic cleaning products
“Green” or non-toxic cleaning products are widely available. Try to avoid cleaning products that have chlorine bleach or other chlorine-based chemicals. Chlorine is good for cleaning dirt and killing germs but it's also very toxic. Chlorine reacts with organic material and other chemicals and can create long-lived toxic chemicals that:
- can pollute indoor air
- stay on surfaces
- are flushed into local waterways.
There are other effective cleaning products that use ingredients that come from natural sources and aren't chlorine-based. Information is also available for making your own non-toxic cleaning products.
Additional Resources
Your Healthy Home 
– The Lung Association
Healthy Spaces – Canadian Child Care Federation and Canadian Institute of Child Health
What can I do to make my home a safe place for my child?
Injuries are the main cause of death for children. What's dangerous depends on a child's age and abilities. Know your child and look at your home from your child's point of view.
Injuries usually happen when:
- You're not paying attention. Small children, especially under 3 years, need to be watched all the time.
- Children are learning to do something new. Children are always learning and growing (for example: rolling over, climbing, crawling). If you're not ready, these new exploration skills can lead to injuries.
- They are somewhere new. Injuries are more likely to happen when children are in a place they are not familiar with.
- They are hungry or tired. Before they eat and before bedtime, children may be less likely to pay attention to what they're doing.
Here are some things you can do to help prevent injuries:
- Look at your home from a child's point of view. Get down on the floor and look up. Are there drawers that small children could open? Things within reach that they could choke on? Things they could pull down on top of themselves?
- Think ahead to what you child will be learning next. For instance, put child-proof locks on cupboards and drawers before children are old enough to open them. Put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs before children are able to crawl.
Also, here are some tips for home safety. This is not a complete checklist for home safety, just a starting point. See the Related Resources for more information.
Falls
- Never leave your child alone on a changing table.
- Not all baby gates are safe to use on stairs. Pressure gates should only be used between rooms, not at the top of stairs. Only use approved safety gates to block stairs.
Burns and scalds
- Children's skin is easily burned. Put anti-scald devices on your faucets and reset your hot water heater to 49º C (120º F).
- Keep hot liquids like coffee or tea out of a child's reach. Put down a cup of hot liquid before you pick up your child.
- Keep pots and pans on the back burners of the stove and turn handles in toward the stove.
- Keep electrical outlets covered if there isn't already something plugged into them.
Choking and suffocation
- Keep cribs and beds away from windows and blind cords and cut up, tie up or use a loop fastener to safely secure any hanging blind cord loops.
- Keep things like stuffed toys and pillows out of a baby's crib.
- Keep small objects out of reach. These are choking hazards.
- Don't give children younger than 4 years old foods that they could choke on, like raw carrots or celery. Even small, smooth pieces of food like nuts, popcorn and hard candy can be dangerous.
Poisoning
- Make sure that all dangerous household products like chemicals, medication, perfumes and alcohol are locked up and out of reach.
Drowning
- Never leave your child alone near water, whether it's a pool or the bathtub. Children can drown in as little as 4 cm (1½ inches) of water. Always have one hand on your baby, and stay within arm's length of your toddler or preschooler around water.
- Home swimming pools should be surrounded by gates that are self-closing and self-latching with an inside latch. The gate latch should be above the reach of children and locked when not in use.
Crib safety
- Cribs made before September 1986 are unsafe. Check the label to see when the crib was made. The frame should be solid, and the sides should lock into place. Be sure to check for and tighten any loose screws regularly. Make sure the mattress is tight against all four sides of the crib.
- Replace the mattress if it is not firm or if it is worn out.
- Move the mattress down to its lowest level as soon as your baby can sit up.
Related resources
Safe Kids Canada
IMPACT (Children's Hospital, Winnipeg)
Is your home child safe?
Health Canada: Product Safety
Consumer product safety
Home: Is Your Child Safe?
Crib Safety
Canadian Paediatric Society
Canadian Red Cross
Swimming and Water Safety Programs for Infants/Children
- Buying a crib? Check that it was made after October 1, 1986.
Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program Data Report (CHIRPP) - Product Safety: Cribs
- Falls down stairs in baby walkers can cause head injuries. Remove
the wheels, then throw out baby walkers. They can be dangerous!
CHIRPP Data Report
- Do your safety gates meet current safety standards?
- Check your safety gates. Are they installed properly according to the instructions?
- Use spring-loaded gates at the bottom of stairs.
- At the top of the stairs, use gates that fasten to the wall.
- Falls are the #1 reason for a hospital stay.
- Check your used equipment. It should meet current safety standards.
Prevent choking and strangulation
- If it fits in the mouth, your child could choke.
- Toys get unwrapped and scattered before you know it. Make sure that small children don't get into toys meant only for older children.Children under 3 can choke on small parts, batteries, wrapping paper, packing pellets, broken balloons and just about anything else that's small and potentially tasty.
- Bowls filled with candies and nuts are great when entertaining but small children can choke on their contents.
- Young children put everything in their mouths.
- Keep all small objects out of reach. Show family and friends safe foods and toys to give to your child.
- Children under four can easily choke on candy, nuts, seeds, popcorn, chips, and hot dogs.
- Grate or cut hard and round foods into thin strips.
- Children should sit up while eating, and eat slowly.
- Learn the signs of choking and know what to do.
Most homes have 250 poisons! What about yours? Keeping poisons safely away:
- Keep cleaners and other poisons away from young hands when stored and when in use.
- Show children the hazard symbols. They all mean don't touch!
- Child-resistant caps are not child proof.
- Keep all cleaners in their original containers.
- Cosmetics, nail polish, and perfume, although lovely holiday gifts, are poisonous if ingested.
- Clean up party leftovers: cigarette butts and leftover food, beer, wine and other drinks can be poisonous to a small child even if consumed in small quantities.
- Keep all medicines in a locked cupboard, drawer or box.
Teach your children that all medicines, including vitamins, are not candy. - Christmas ornaments look like big candies to infants and young children. Hang them out of your childrens' reach or they might try a taste test. Not only can your child be cut by a broken ornament, older ornaments may contain lead and are poisonous.
- Holly and mistletoe are poisonous! Hang mistletoe above the doorway out of the reach of children, and pucker up, you'll have to kiss whomever you meet while passing under it.
- A child can drown quietly within seconds in only a few centimetres (1 inch) of water.
- Share bathtime fun! Always stay with your child.
- Teach your child to always sit in the bathtub.
- If you must leave the bathroom, even for a second, take your child with you.
- Hot tap water can burn in seconds! Test the temperature with your elbow before putting a child in the water.
- A child's skin burns in 1/4 of the time it takes an adult's skin to burn.
- Always start and end with cold water when running a bath.
Fire Safety
Fire safety means having a plan
- Think fire safety. Have a plan and know when, where and how to go.
- Make sure your home is well-equipped with working smoke alarms and in the fall and spring, clean smoke detector and replace batteries.
- Battery-operated smoke detectors are good for only about 10 years. How old are yours?
- Develop and practise a fire escape plan together and praise children for fire-safe behaviour.
- One hundred children are killed and another 250 are injured each year due to fires in Canada.
- Stop, drop and roll if clothes are on fire.
- Crawl low under smoke.
- Keep lighters or matches out of sight and out of reach of children.
- Supervise your children, especially when near an open flame.
- Make sure children never play with lighters and matches. Never use them as toys or pacifiers!
- Child-resistant lighters are not childproof.
Fires in the kitchen
- Never leave oil on high heat. Always watch the pan!
- High heat can make oil burst into flames.
- Heat oil slowly while watching the pan.
- Teach your children to play away from cooking areas.
- Grease fires spread when you add water. Be ready with a lid to smother flames.
- Instead of a saucepan, use electric deep fat fryers.
- Move anything that could catch fire away from the stove.
- Turn pan handles in.
Emergency Preparedness Tips
Are you prepared for an emergency?
Emergencies can happen so be prepared! The following is a list of tips to help keep your family safe in the case of an emergency.
- Store emergency supplies in a safe place.
- Teach children to find an adult when there is an emergency.
- Only use lights, heaters or stoves that are approved for indoor use and in good working order, in a well-ventilated area.
- Install battery-operated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Store fuels in approved, labelled containers away from heat and children.
- Remember, children need to be watched at all times.
- In a disaster, listen to your local radio station for instructions that could save your life!
- In an emergency, throw out thawed frozen foods that can't be cooked right away.
Prepare a home emergency kit that includes:
- first-aid supplies
- flashlight, with batteries
- candles, matches and/or lighter
- radio, with batteries
- spare batteries
- whistle
- blankets
- games and activities to keep children safely occupied
- 3-day supply of non-perishable food, bottled water and pet food
- toilet paper
- personal supplies
To find out more on how to prepare your family, call the Public Health Agency of Canada at (613) 957-7728 for the free pamphlet "Are you prepared in case of disaster?", your local Canadian Red Cross, or your local St. John Ambulance office or dial 1-888-373-0000.
Farm Safety
A farm is more than an industrial work site, it's a home.
Fence off an area near the house where children can play safely.
- Teach your kids which areas are safe, and which are not.
- Make sure firearms are stored: unloaded, secured with a trigger lock, separate from ammunition, and locked in a cabinet.
- Plan a safety walk around the farm with your children or grandchildren every spring and fall.
- Spring weather brings thin ice and strong currents to ditches, creeks and rivers. Warn children of the dangers and supervise their play.
- Many children are killed each year by farm machinery, especially by tractors. Keep tractors and machinery off limits to young children.
- Store animal medicines and farm chemicals locked away from kids.
- Together, choose a chore that's right for your child's age. Teach him or her how to do the task safely.
- Cows are as heavy as cars! Keep a safe distance.
- Keep poison control and other emergency numbers next to every phone.
- Soft toes need hard boots!
For more information, call the Canadian Federation of Agriculture at (613) 236-3633, or the Canadian Firearms Centre at 1-800-731-4000.
Important Numbers
Safety resource numbers for you and your family
- General Safety
- Product Safety
- Water Safety
- Boating Safety
- Fire Safety and Prevention
- Safe Travel
- Farm Safety
- Playground Safety
- Safe Kids Canada - 1-888-SAFE-TIPS
- Infant and Toddler Safety Association - (519) 570-0181
- St. John Ambulance - 1-888-373-0000
- Think First Foundation -1-800-335-6076
- Your local Canadian Red Cross
- Your local Public Health Unit
- Your Provincial Safety Councils/Leagues
- Block Parent Program - 1-800-663-1134
- Product Safety Bureau (613) 957-4467
- Canadian Standards Association (416) 747-4000
- Your local office of the Lifesaving Society
- Your local Canadian Red Cross
- Canadian Coast Guard's Office of Boating Safety - 1-800-267-6687
- Fire Prevention Canada - 1-800-668-2955
- Your local Fire Department
- Active and Safe Routes to School Program
- Go for Green at (613) 562-5340 or 1-888-UB-ACTIV
- By Car
- Transport Canada - 1-800-333-0371
- Your local CAA office
- By Snowmobile
- Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations - (705) 725-1121.
- By Train
- Operation Lifesaver - (613) 564-8100
- Your Provincial Safety Councils/Leagues
- Canadian Federation of Agriculture - (613) 236-3633
- Canadian Parks/Recreation Association (613) 523-5315
Creating a Safe Home Environment
Other Resources
