Share your top safety tips for your family – carbon monoxide alarms and £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Whether you’re preparing for a new arrival or you’re just trying to keep up with your family’s needs, it may seem as though you’re constantly making lists of the things you’ll need to buy to keep your family safe – from the latest car or booster seats to bath thermometers or drawer locks. Co-Be Alarmed! would like to hear about the top safety tips you have for your home and family - whether they’re things you’ve bought or things that you do.

Here’s what they have to say: “Research from the national CO-Be Alarmed! campaign showed that while UK parents spend an average of £222 on safety features for their kids, a third of mums and dads do not have a carbon monoxide alarm in their home. Those with children under twelve months were found to be the least likely to have one.

Carbon monoxide is also known as ‘the silent killer’ because you can’t see, taste or smell it, which is why the only way to protect yourself and your family is to buy a CO alarm. Make sure you add one to your list: it’s one less thing to worry about and it could save your family’s life.”

So, share your top safety tips for your home and family to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice.

Additionally, if you also add your details here, you’ll be entered into a prize draw for one of 100 carbon monoxide alarms from Co-Be Alarmed!

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Do the tips have to be related to carbon minoxide or could they be anything?

@Paulawoods they could be anything

If something is of value, dangerous or is precious to you keep it well out of reach. Accidents can and will happen. Ikea is great for child proofing.

Magnetic child locks on cupboard doors. It keeps my little ones out, especially the cupboard in the kitchen with all the cleaning fluids in. I got some BabyDan ones and now I can comfortably leave my kids in a room and not worry about them getting their hands on anything!

Don't rely on safety devices. We have a fireguard but that is to protect DS against accidental falls near the fire. We have still made sure he understands about why the fire is dangerous. In fact 'hot' was one of his first words. The same with stair gates - we taught DS to go up and down the stairs safely so that if anyone left them open and he got to the stairs without anyone noticing he was able to climb up/down without mishap.

Top tip for our family is to visit MIL regularly so we can put the battery back in her smoke alarm

Also to make sure we only cook on the back of the hob if the DC are around. Just in case.

I love scented candles but keep them all in the hall. I hope this means we won't ever manage to leave them lit when we leave the house as it's the last thing we see before we leave!

Teach little ones to go down stairs backwards at first and then later on teach them to hold the bannister and never run or play on stairs.

From an early age we've taught our DS fire escape routes. He knows which window to climb of if there was a fire blocking the stairs, as it goes onto an extension roof. We always keep a front door key upstairs at night in the same place so if we had to escape in the dark we could find it. Also teach them their home address and how to contact emergency services ad soon as they are able to understand.

My tip is to not have stair Gates, or anything which hinders children learn how to navigate things correctly whilst young. Some may disagree but I always felt my kids were safer on stairs having had lots of practise and we're able to master the skill instead of being blocked off.

save a stern NO for serious things, ie toddler about to open oven rather than getting muddy socks

My big concern was and is how to get out of the house in the event of a fire.
I made sure everyone knew how to open the windows and have drummed in the message just to get out of the house, that might mean jumping out of the bedroom window but just do it.

We all take our phones upstairs so they're on hand in an emergency and I check the smoke alarm on a regular basis.

We keep a duvet cover in our toddler's room on the first floor so that we can put her in and lower her down from the window in the event of not being able to get down the stairs in a fire.

we always taught kids an escape route in case of a fire

teach them.you cant hide or put pretectors o everything forever.so what next.teach them hob isn't touched.
teach them how to safely do the stairs.
what would they do if mummy or daddy got hurt
put number by phone
grannys number on speed dial.
no bathing alone
how to turn on light.
keeping pkug protectors in then onwards to telling them no putting in fingers!
toaster no how
keep matches and lighters out of reach
few first aid basics.
what to do in a fire.extits etc.

Use the back burners on the hob and never the front.
Be extra careful when additional adults are around, (e.g. Grandparents and Aunts/Uncles) as it can be less clear who is supervising and it's easier for children to get lost.

I have always had toilet bleach and liquitabs out of reach of little ones and make sure no matches or lighters are left about.i also have my kettle high up out of reach.my children are getting older now but i have always tried to keep our home safe

Get the Alarms and remember to test them regularly!
Also have an escape plan in case if fire and ensure that the kids know how to make an emergency call

Keep your child in a rear facing car seat for as long as possible - 5 times safer than forward facing.

We have fire alarms in all rooms. We got a CMonoxide alarm after reading about Charlotte Church's kids being affected by CM poisoning a few years ago.
Mine know what to do if they hear an alarm. I've drilled them. Also another reason to keep the floor clear and clutter free.

always use safety gates!
cupboard locks esp for detergents etc

Teach them how to call 999, when they would do it, and their address and phone number early on plus your names. Useful for all sorts of situations

We gave my son the job of home safety monitor after he'd done fire safety at school, he loves the chance to boss me about & it makes him more vigilant.

Contact your local fire brigade whenever you move to a new house. They offer safety checks and installation of fire alarms, sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee. We rent and it's one of the first things we do when we move in.

Get a carbon monoxide alarm, but not one of those dots that changes colour. Get a proper one that has a non-removeable battery (so you replace the alarm after the correct amount of time) and that you can test to check it's working.

I forgot to add, teach children the difference between a secret and a surprise.

Secrets shouldn't ever make them feel bad and if someone does something or says something that makes them feel confused or bad, they should tell Mummy or Daddy.

Surprises, i.e. not telling Daddy what his birthday present is, is a nice thing because he'll be happy on his birthday.