Investing in a new house, purchasing a vacant lot, and planning out your new home can be a daunting task but not as much as having a child! Yes, having a kid might be the greatest gift for any parent but consistently needing to worry about their safety is a terror that is different altogether. Today, we will browse through some home designs for your home in the Philippines that may help keep your child safe and help you quell your parental stress.

Walls – easily washable

You can go for carpeted or padded walls; this is good for insulation but more so that active babies won’t get injured if they run into them. If the previous is too expensive, choose materials that are easy to clean or are stain-resistant like glazed wall tiles, or have it painted in semigloss or eggshell.

Floors

If you can’t spare carpeting for wall, you might want to reconsider for floors. Padded or carpeted flooring is almost completely slip-proof, and even if your baby missteps, the floor can semi-cushion his fall. If budget is really limited, you can instead carpet just your nursery, living room, or wherever the baby is most likely to run around indoors.

Stairs

Probably one of, if not the most daunting part of the house for any parent is the stair. In a country like the Philippines, any single-story house can be upgraded to a two-story home with the help of right people which is a welcome improvement especially for families that need the additional space. But with that additional space also comes additional risks especially for small children. To make the stair safer, you can put a small wooden gate to keep toddlers from falling over or climbing up stairs.

Doors & Windows

The biggest risk that doors pose is when they suddenly shut while your kids’ hands are on the threshold. These could potentially cause serious injuries. Make sure to put up stopper or go all out with hydraulic closers. If you’re going to install blinds for your windows, go for ones that do not have ropes that your kids can pull or get snagged on. Alternatively, you can keep the pull strings out of the way by installing small hooks to hold them high in place.

Bath

Whatever the home design in the Philippines, it’s always the bathroom that has the reputation for being the most slippery. Unlike in the other western countries, it is uncommon for Filipino households to have a bathtub, but it pays well to prudently know that bathtubs are a constant safety concern in the US because of accidental drowning. When it comes to the whole bathroom in general, you can always put in cotton walk rugs in the dry areas and an anti-slip foot pad in the shower and other wet areas. Whatever the case, it’s safest to always escort your kid in the bath and toilet.

Kitchen

This is not the most kid-friendly place in the house but it is also the least likely place kids might go. Making your kitchen kid-friendly isn’t much an issue of design as it is an issue of logistics. If any of your cleaning chemicals and other toxic or poisonous substances are within child’s reach, relocate them. Swap them to places where they can’t be reached and in their place, put contact-safe items like pots and pans. Make sure that knives, small appliances, and hot objects are secured to either be out of reach of your children or they will not be able to get to it very easily.

Even old homeowners will eventually need to have these considerations in mind once they turn into a new family. Old homes that used to have 2-3 adults will need some sort of modification once a child is involved so regardless of whether you are a new homeowner or not, these house designs will be useful to any family in the Philippines.