4 Smart Child Plumbing Safety Measures

When you moved into your home, you probably envisioned a safe, nurturing, and comfortable environment for every member of your family, including your children. However, a variety of everyday household amenities, including some aspects of your plumbing system, can harm kids. Conversely, kids can wreak havoc by misusing plumbing.

Fortunately, you can continue to enjoy full use of your plumbing fixtures while also protecting both your kids and your plumbing from each other. Take a look at four smart options for creating a childproof plumbing system in your home.

1. Toilet Lid and Handle Locks

Small children often have an understandable curiosity about the world around them. They may feel especially fascinated by devices that create noise and motion, including toilets, tubs, and sinks. As a result, your little one may feel compelled to flush inappropriate objects down the toilet, potentially flooding your home.

You can keep your child from flushing toys or other non-flushable items by installing locks on the toilet lid or flush handle. A toilet lock latches the toilet seat so children can't raise it. These devices may consist of a plastic strap attached to a push-button locking device, or they may feature a solid plastic construction.

Although a locked toilet seat can reduce the risk of clogs and flooding, it poses obvious problems for kids who need to use the toilet. For this reason, you may opt to install a toilet handle lock instead of a toilet seat lock. This device raises a bar when locked that prevents downward motion of the handle.

2. Faucet Safeguards

Children may amuse themselves by playing with kitchen or bathroom faucets to make the water run. In addition to wasting water and raising your monthly utility bill, this form of entertainment can prove disastrous if a distracted child lets water run into a stopped sink or tub for too long. Overly hot water can also scald children.

Just as you can find toilet locks to prevent toilet misuse, you can install faucet locks to keep little hands from causing trouble. Adults have no trouble figuring out how to unlock the faucets, but small children should find them too much of a challenge. You can even install covers that hide the faucets from young eyes and hands.

Faucet locks offer protection against the threat of scalding since you can lock the hot and cold taps individually. As an alternative, ask your plumber to install an anti-scald mixing or tempering valve. This device mixes hot and cold water to achieve a predetermined temperature before it ever leaves either tap.

3. Shower or Tub Drain Covers

If you've ever had to pull clumps of hair out of your shower or bathtub drain, you know how easily any foreign debris or objects can create a clog that prevents water from exiting the fixture properly. Children can cause this problem more suddenly if they get the urge to shove small toys or other items into the drain.

Drain covers not only keep hair from accumulating in your drains; they also discourage kids from trying to put objects into those drains. A drain cover featuring a protective mesh or grille will allow the free motion of water into the drain while catching unwanted debris and creating a childproof barrier to the drain's deeper recesses.

4. Garbage Disposal Protection

Garbage disposals can chop up food scraps with admirable efficiency, but they can also cause catastrophic injuries to fingers and hands. If you have a continuous feed disposal, replace it with a batch-feed disposal. The latter only operates when you insert the stopper, making blade-related finger injuries impossible.

Push buttons can make garbage disposal activation too easy for little kids. Your plumber can replace the push button with an ordinary switch. You can then install a cover over the switch that discourages your small child from using it.

Express Plumbing & Drain wants to help you make both your plumbing system and your electrical system as safe as possible for your whole family. Contact us to ask our advice or request modifications to your current systems.