Toddler and Autism safety for the home

When it comes to your child’s safety, you make it priority. Children need us to keep them safe-they don’t have a sense of or understanding of what is dangerous. People (children and adults) with autism may have less of a sense of danger. They need caregivers to protect them a little longer. That being said, often protecting them includes more than baby proofing because they are growing, they are bigger, and they are smarter.

I have compiled all the safety measures we have put into place to help you make a list with links when possible.

Fence

Toddler

Having a fenced in backyard was a huge safety feature we have added to our home. It allows children to be supervised in the backyard with still being able to step away to go to the bathroom or change a diaper and know they child will still be there.

Autism

When ordering our fence for our child with autism, we did have to take some additional actors into account: The fence had to be not too easily climbed over for a 6 year old, the spacing of the pickets had to be closer together than his foot is wide so he couldn’t use it as a step up, and the cross bars had to be low and high, again so it could not be used as a step.

Combination Doors

Toddler

For a toddler, a door may be out of reach or a the child may not have the creativity to figure out that if they cannot get through the gate/fence to sneak through the garage service door. If they do have both abilities, a combination door may be a great alternative. This door know requires a pin, submit button, and opening the door within the time of the chime to exit.

Autism

This allows us to buy time over traditional door locks. This combination can be shared with those who need to leave, while hidden form our child. This allows the lock to age with the child allowing continued safety for exiting.

Fridge Locks

Toddler

Opening and closing the door constantly may drive you crazy. These fridge locks may allow you some sanity and allow you to keep them out.

Autism

We didn’t need to install these until Nolan was older. This became largely a food safety issue as he would leave the door open and food could not maintain its temperature.

Sharp Objects

Toddler

Typically with a toddler you need to keep sharp objects out of the child’s reach. This can include a knife block further back on the cupboard, in an out of reach drawer, or wit ha child lock.

Autism

When Nolan became able to climb, we had to remove our knife block. We invested in knives that had covers so if they were removed, they had one more safety feature. We then put those covered knives in a locked drawer.

Drawer Locks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Toddler

Locking sharp objects and cleaning supplies are essential to a toddler safety. There are a variety of lock options to the type of cabinet you have.

Autism

In addition to sharp objects and cleaning supplies, we also have to lock a couple non-traditional items up for Nolan’s safety. Nolan stims off of long objects he can drum, so we have to lock up toothbrushes and hairbrushes or they are not where we left them. That is also not sanitary for siblings. He can also climb up high so we have child lock the uppers as well.

Gates

Toddler

Gates are often added to the stairs to keep toddlers from climbing or falling. They are often one of the most needed safety item for kids.

Autism

None of our children are a fall/climb risk any more, but we still have a gate (with a latch that hasn’t been figured out yet) to make sure Nolan stays on our second floor (bedroom floor) and does not gain access to the downstairs/exits over night. We continue using this baby gate though he is 6 years old.

Door knob covers

Toddler

Door knob covers can keep kids in our out of rooms they are not supposed to be going through.

Autism

We use the knob covers to keep out of rooms as well. Nolan does not understand that his siblings are sleeping, that we do not drum on the water heater, or we do not take mom’s lip stain and drum it until it explodes and looks like a murder scene. Because of this lack of understanding (and current inability to open the knob covers) we continue using these covers to keep him out of the basement, sibling’s rooms, and our master bathroom.

Toddler Monitors/Door alarms

Toddler

Having an alert that a child is exiting a room/the house can be very helpful.

Autism

We need these alerts to keep Nolan from leaving the house/alerting us to his leaving. We continue to use them as he ages.

You can see that there is also a lock on this door. We have this for when going outside is not an option at all or we are working on him using his talker to request access outdoors.

Baby Monitors/cameras

Toddler

Installing a baby (video) monitor to keep an eye on your child is very common. There are some great options. Some have one parent unit to multiple children-which we used when our kids were 20 months apart and very young.

Autism

When you have a child with autism, sleep issues often follow. We continue to have a monitor in all the children’s rooms regardless of age for this reason.

We also keep an eye on play areas and the hallway to make sure that our children are safe while still giving them the space they need to play independently. With Nolan’s climbing, stimming, and tendency to lose his pants we need to check on him more than most 6 year olds.

Overall

Overall, there are many tools out there to keep your child safe. Many times you don’t know what you need to keep your child safe, but your child will show you. Know there are many safety features and options available to you to keep your child as safe as possible.