Ensuring Child Safety with Window Blinds

May 17, 2018

One of the most common concerns arising from the use of blinds is that they can be potentially damaging for kids. In Australia alone, there have been 15 incidents where children have either died or have suffered serious injuries due to mishaps spurring from blinds.

Young children have been found strangled on the loops of the chains and cords that are used to operate and manage window blinds. This is a matter of grave importance, and all due actions should be taken to ensure that the children in your own home stay safe and protected at all times.

Children are naturally inquisitive and while roaming around, they tend to poker their hands and faces into everything they see. If they get entangled in any of the hanging loops from a blind, they may be at risk from strangulation as they fall. These types of tragedies have occurred in Australia and all around the world. It is always better to enforce precautions then to have regret later on, which is why we have made a list of things you can do to avert the danger of your child being strangulated from the loop hanging from a blind.

What to Do

There are numerous methods you can follow to make your existing blinds safe for children. A few of these methods are:

The real risk comes from the cords that are hanging down. To limit the chances of risk from this side, try cutting the cord short and installing tassels instead of the loop.
The bottom end of the cord should be at-least 1.5 meters above the ground so that small children cannot reach it easily.
Once you have cut the cord short, do not commit the mistake of tying both the cords together, as this brings up another loop.
In situations when cords hanging from blinds cannot be cut short, you can experiment by tying down the cords with a tension drive. This will secure the cord to the floor or a wall.
Try installing blind wands instead of cords, but do make sure that there are no chances of eye injuries.

While Choosing New Window Blinds

You should take care of safety methods while choosing new blinds for your home. Some of the tips you can follow to assure these safety methods are:

Use tough materials that will do well in the hot environment of your kitchen.
Opt for darker shades in the fabric so stains and blots do not become prominent.
Use materials that can be washed or cleaned easily without getting damaged.

Once you have taken all these tips into consideration, you should assure that you strictly adhere to the following safety tips:

Never put a bed, cot, crib, playpen or chair near a window with a blind. Any place where a child can reach a blind cord is not suitable.
Make sure to keep chairs, sofas, shelves, bookcases and tables far away from window and patio blinds to prevent small children from climbing on them to reach blind cords.

Most of us understand how devastating an accident involving a child can be. It can break the whole family and turn it inside out forever. Do the needful and make sure that your place is as child-proof as can be with the use of appropriate blinds.