How To Child-Proof Your Home

If you have young children, baby-proofing your home should be a top priority. But a new survey by the Home Safety Council found that not all parents are quite sure how to do it. And some don't think they have the time to do that.

Every year in the U.S., nearly 2,000 children die and millions more are injured because of accidents in the home. By taking simple precautions, many of those incidents could be prevented.

The Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen found out you don't have to hire a professional, and it takes only about two hours to do it well. It only takes seconds for a child to be injured or killed.

Koeppen went to Budford, Ga., where she learned Shelly and David McCammon's sad story.

The couple lost their daughter, Leah, just three days before her first birthday in a scalding accident. She was burned over 80 percent of her body. While her grandmother left her alone for less than a minute in a nearly empty bathtub, Leah was able to turn on the hot water.

Meri-K Appy, the president of the Home Safety Council, pinpointed the following danger zones and highlighted some of the hidden hazards in the home.

Under the kitchen sink - This is the place where most people keep their poisonous products. The problem is that many dangerous products can look like soda or drinks your kids are allowed to consume. That's why it's important to lock them up.

Appy's suggestion is to not even put the poisonous products, such as cleaners, under the sink. Instead you should place them up and out of sight.

Dishwasher - The door to the dishwasher should be kept locked. Appy explains, "One tip for moms and dads out there who may leave the dishwasher open and put in knives to wash later, this is a tragedy waiting to happen. A child can run into this and impale himself."

Stove - Many kids are injured by burns, so Appy recommends setting up a kid-free zone around the stove. She says, "If you take masking tape or painter's tape and mark off three feet around the stove area, you want to tell your kids that they want to stay outside that line at all times."

Stairs - The Home Safety Council found that many parents underestimate the risk of their kids falling. Appy says that's why it's critical to have the proper safety gates one at the top and one at the bottom.

"A child can crawl all the way up and be at risk of falling back down," she explains.

And to keep your kids from tumbling down the stairs to the basement, or to keep them out of certain rooms, make doors hard to open with a doorknob cover. "Because of the physical hand strength required," Appy says it is hard for kids to open.

Tap water - Water coming out of your tap is perhaps the most unrecognized danger. Appy says, "The temperature of water is so important; hot water can burn like fire."

So if you have small kids, you need to adjust the dial on your hot water heater. It should be no more than 120 degrees, or just below the medium setting.

The McCammons never knew the family's water heater was set too high for children.

Also, to prevent burns, use a travel mug in the home so hot liquids can't spill if you drink coffee or tea.

To prevent chocking accidents, don't leave your purse on the ground or on a chair or anywhere a child can reach it. The child may dump it out and choke on items inside. If you want to know what sort of things a child could choke on, get an empty toilet paper roll. If an item can fit through it, a child can choke on it.