You think of your home as a safe haven, yet statistics show that up to half of children's unintentional deaths and injuries occur in and around the house.

"There's no doubt that the typical family home can be a hazardous place," says Debra Brown, a registered nurse and director of Trauma Services at Children's Medical Center Dallas. "But we believe parents can prevent as many as nine out of 10 accidents simply by taking the right attitude about safety."

Childproofing your home and taking daily precautions can help. Start with a room-by-room inventory of potential hazards, and then remove them. These tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other experts can get you started.

Living areas

• Keep small and sharp objects off the floor and out of reach.
• Put safety plugs in wall sockets.
• Don't let electric cords dangle where children can reach them.
• Use safety gates to block stairs, so small children can't crawl up and down them.
• Lock doors that go outside, to stairs or to garages.

Kitchen

• Use your stove's back burners, and keep pot handles turned to the back of the stove.
• Keep hot foods and drinks away from the edges of tables and counters.
• Don't leave a baby alone in a high chair. Always use the safety straps.
• Keep cleaning products, knives, matches and plastic bags out of reach.

Bathroom

• Always supervise children in the tub or shower. Small children can drown in two inches of water within seconds.
• Keep medicines, vitamins and soap where children can't reach them. Buy medicines with child-safety caps.
• Always check the bath-water temperature with your hand before putting children into the tub. Set the hot water heater to 120 degrees.
• Flush old medications down the toilet instead of tossing them in the wastebasket. Rinse out bottles before throwing them away.

Your child's bedroom

• Put your baby to sleep on his or her back in a crib with a flat, firm mattress with no soft bedding underneath.
• Make sure the baby's crib is sturdy and has no loose or missing hardware.
• Don't place the crib or changing table near window blinds or curtain cords, which can strangle children.
• Keep children away from windows. Install window guards if the child's room is above the first floor.

Your bedroom

• Don't keep any medications, vitamins or other medicines on or in your bedside table. Children often swallow pills because they look like candy.

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