Child Safety With Blinds
Making Blinds Safe for Kids | Children are naturally playful, curious, and adventurous little beings. They’ll fearlessly explore the world around them and find the answers their searching for. By fearless, meaning they don’t think about the dangers of their actions.
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And the very first place they explore is their home, which is full of not-so-safe everyday objects like the pull cords of window blinds. These are notorious for causing accidents, injuries, and deaths in children, especially toddlers.
As a parent or guardian, you must understand why blind cords pose safety risks for your children. Replacing corded blinds with cordless window covering is the best move, but not always practical. If that’s the case, there are still ways to reduce the dangers of having them around while your precious little one wanders inside your home.
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Children At Risk
Younger children and toddlers’ love for exploration, extreme curiosity, and strength for climbing put them at the highest risk for blind cord-related injuries. They do these things without understanding the possibility of getting hurt. Toddlers will scale furniture to reach objects that pique their interest, including blind cords. And this could potentially start an accident.
Another risk factor for toddlers is that their bodies aren’t fully developed yet. They don’t have enough muscle control to free themselves from cord entanglement. With smaller and softer windpipes, they will suffocate faster when they get strangled in the neck.
Safety Concerns With Corded Blinds
The main culprit for blinds’ safety hazards is the loose and looped pull cord hanging low enough for a toddler to reach. When tugged, your child may get entangled in it. The results may range from minor cuts to fatal deaths.
For this reason we strongly recommend either having NO BLINDS in your home or blinds without cords.
The Blinds Guide, 2022
Physical Injuries
Children can be accidentally struck by a dangling blind cord. This may lead to cuts, wounds, or bruises. Though absolutely treatable, these are still injuries that no one wanted to happen and could have been easily prevented.
Strangulation
The majority of severe injuries come from entanglement accidents. This is really terrifying, especially for a parent, because it potentially leads to neck strangulation that can end in death.
Tips to Making Blinds Safe
When you have too many existing corded window blinds in your home, it’s not that easy to switch to cordless in an instant. In the meantime, childproof your corded blinds instead to still ensure your kid’s safety.
Eliminate looped and dangling cords
Multiple dangling pull cords potentially create loops on the blinds’ lower part that could cause entanglement and strangulation. Since your child can easily reach this part, these life-threatening loops must be eliminated.
Prevent these loops from forming by keeping the cords hanging separately. Never tie them together in the same tassel.
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Shorten the cord out of children’s reach
Keep the length of your blind cords, both lifting and tilting, short enough to keep away from your child’s reach. You should only shorten the lifting cord when the blinds are fully closed. Before cutting tilting cords, make sure the blind slats are positioned horizontally.
Secure cords with blind cleats
One way to safely keep your blinds’ pull cords away from your little ones is to wrap them around a cord cleat. This can work with both lifting and tilting cords. Securely attach it to your wall with screws at least five feet from the floor to prevent your child from reaching it. Don’t simply stick your cord cleat with tape or glue, as it can be easily removed even with a gentle swipe.
Replace cord with wand tilt mechanism
Another safety precaution you can apply for your horizontal blinds is to replace their cord tilt mechanism with a wand tilt type. This setup eliminates the hazardous cords, making your blinds safer for your child to use.
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Move furniture away from windows for safer blinds
Never underestimate little kids’ love for climbing. They’re determined to find anything they can step on to go higher. And that’s where the danger lies.
Their climbing stint may allow them to reach the cords of your window blinds. To best avoid this, move cribs, beds, chairs, beds, toys, and other furniture far away from windows.
Making Blinds Safer With Cordless And Motorized
Replacing corded blinds with cordless ones is the best way to childproof your windows. Since there are no more loose cords to worry about, it will be safe for your kids to touch cordless blinds.
If you don’t have the means to go cordless all at once, you can start with your child’s bedroom and living room. This is only fitting since kids usually stay most of the time in these areas.
Cordless design can still be brought a notch higher with smart motorized window blinds. They are also excellent choices for your child’s safety. Using only a remote control, smart device, or voice command, you can conveniently adjust your blinds as desired. You can also set schedules for simultaneously opening and closing them at specific times.
More >>> Top Motorized Blinds on Amazon: Yoolax vs Graywind
Final Words on Making Blinds Safe
As much as you want to, you can’t watch your little one’s every move and be on guard 24/7 just to ensure his safety. The best you can do is create a safer environment for him at home. Accidents like blind cord strangulation need not happen, and there are definitely ways to prevent them.
Even if you can’t completely switch to cordless window treatments, you can still make your current corded blinds safe for kids by following the steps mentioned earlier. You can extend these safety measures to other places where your kid typically spends his time. Some of them may include a relative’s house and school. Ask the people in charge to childproof the corded blinds not just for your kid’s safety but also for everyone else.