Home Improvement Blog

Children have a way of doing everything they are not supposed to do, getting up in the night, running around half-dressed and examining minutely every appliance in sight. They have little appreciation of the dangers a dark, cold and potentially hazardous room might hold for them, so you must be extra careful when planning the lighting and heating in a child’s room and check on all aspects of safety.

Lighting
Illumination in a child’s room must be efficient and easy to operate and at the same time out of reach of small hands. Wall or ceiling lights are a good choice here, spots are ideal since you can change their direction with each activity or whenever you rearrange the furniture. If you fix a dimmer attachment, you will be able to reduce any light to nightlight dimness and increase it gradually to avoid startling a child should you have to enter the room in the middle of the night. Make sure there is a light switch near the door and that it is situated low enough for a child to reach. Avoid floor fittings which might come within a child’s reach and choose table lamps only if you have fairly high surface on which to place them.

An older child will appreciate bedside and worktop lighting as well as general illumination, but wall, ceiling or clamp fittings would again be the best choice, if you want to prevent accidents. It is very important the lighting you choose for close work such as reading and studying is adequate, so young eyes will not be strained unduly.

Heating
Children, especially young babies, should be surrounded by constant and reliable warmth at a temperature range of 18-21ºC (64-70ºF0; the safest and most efficient method of doing this is with a central  heating system which ideally is a thermostatically controlled. If possible, fit a thermostat in the child’s room so its temperature can be controlled independently of the rest of the home. If this is not possible, arrange to have some additional form of heat to keep the child’s room warm when the heating for the rest of the home is off or in need of repair. This extra heating and, indeed, any spot heating in this room should be fixed in some way, not free standing, make sure there are no frayed flexes, loose connections or any kind of exposed element, even if it has a protective grille over it. Wall-mounted gas or electric heaters work well in this situation, as well as they have a fixed guard covering the entire unit and not just the heating element. Storage and oil-filled radiators are perfectly safe, as are ordinary wall-hung electric fires – if they are placed high on the wall, out of the reach of children. All appliances should be earthed with a three core flex.

Safety
The checklist below will help provide a guide to points to watch out for to avoid needless accidents; but make sure you examine the children’s rooms in your own home and think carefully about any potentially dangerous area which are particular to them.

• Make sure furnishings do not have sharp edges or corners which could harm a crawling baby or a stumbling toddler.
• If you want to protect the cot mattress from dampness, buy a pupose-made cover or fit a sheet of thick, fairly stiff plastic; thin polythene can work loose and suffocate a baby if it gets too near the face.
• Never put a pillow in a cot, crib or pram – it could smoother the baby.
• Avoid any kind of projection at eye level.
• If you choose a table lamp to put beside an older child’s bed, make sure it has a heavy and stable base so it is difficult for a restless sleeper to overturn.
• Fit windows – even those on ground floor -  with childproof locks and consider putting in vertical bars to be absolutely safe. (Horizontal bars will only tempt children to climb up them)
• Make sure all free-standing furniture is completely stable so. if children use it as a climbing frame, it will not topple over and fall on them.
• Check all furnishings for loose or removable pieces which are small enough for a young child to swallow.
• Check for toxic paint, which might harm youngsters who like to suck and chew everything in sight.
• Ensure all fabric toys, soft furnishings and nightwear are flameproof and flame-resistant.
• Never let a pet sleep with or near a young child.

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