Children's curiosity and innate desire to learn and explore often pose safety risks. Frequent accidents at home are one of the main causes of injuries to children in developed countries. Although excessive worry can have equally unpleasant results, due attention and care from parents is necessary to ensure a safe environment for their children.

Depending on the needs of the child, especially for the first three to four years of his life, you will also need to shape his space. The criteria you should take into account are safety, order and functionality.

Safety

Make sure that your child learns to move safely in his space so that he becomes competent and responsible from an early age. After all, you cannot be near him all the time and prevent all dangers. Below, we list some points that require your attention:

Remove all sharp objects and anything that a little explorer could swallow (e.g. buttons, staples, screws, nuts, etc.).

Put protective covers on sockets and store electrical appliances when not in use.

When cooking, keep your child away from the oven and stove.

Hide cleaning detergents and medications.

Use window safety - a special transparent plastic film - that, in the event of a glass break, keeps the fragments stuck together.

Remove ashtrays and cigarettes. Chewing cigarettes is one of the most common childhood accidents, while the amount of smoke from a single cigarette is considered a lethal dose for a child.

Order

Make sure to keep the house as tidy as possible. The fixed and specific position of things in the house not only helps the child to get to know the world around him better, but also makes him feel more secure, as the environment becomes predictable, which is something that young children like.

As for toys, prefer not to have them all out and scattered around the space, because it is very likely that the child will stop paying attention to them. Leave the ones that the child plays with the most and remove the rest. After a while, display them again, as they are very likely to rekindle the child's interest.

Functionality

The goal is not to restrict a young child, but to ensure a space that effectively satisfies not only your own needs, but also the child's natural needs for play and experimentation. Think about what would make it easier and at the same time protect him. For example, place a sturdy stool in the bathroom so that he can climb up to wash his hands and a towel hanging low so that he can dry them.

Find a low table with high chairs. There, the child will be able to do his first puzzles, but also sit down to eat with other children of the same age.

Buy large storage boxes for his toys and with your help, in the first few days, you can teach him to organize his things, so that the room is tidy and the child can easily find the toy he is looking for. Avoid placing his toys in high places (shelves, etc.), because attempts to reach them by himself can be extremely dangerous.

Low lighting should not be missing from the children's room during the night in case the child wakes up and gets up, so as to minimize or even prevent the possibility of tripping and falling.

Buy small ecological mats for the children's room, which are easy to clean and shake out even in winter, as mites are the main cause of house dust allergies (sneezing, runny nose, itching in the eyes & nose) and love carpets and rugs. Choose carpets made of cotton or wool and not synthetic ones, which contain toxic substances.

The safety measures we take for our children should not make us overprotective. What is needed is to teach them to recognize dangers from an early age and to protect themselves from them. Assigning small initiatives to the child and encouraging them to acquire skills create and complete their personality, while at the same time protecting them from many dangers.