Don’t Be a Griswold: Here Are 5 Important Christmas Safety Tips
Nothing says Christmas like decorations, cookies and presents. To ensure that your family has the best holiday ever, here are some Christmas safety tips!
One of the best ways to get into the Christmas spirit is to set up the tree and lights. Whether you stick to the same decor style every year or you like to switch things up, you always have to prioritize Christmas safety tips.
The last thing you want is for your pretty lights to cause a hazard to your home or for your children to hurt themselves on a sharp decorative object. The more you prioritize holiday safety, the better everyone’s holiday will be.
Here are 5 rules to follow to keep the holidays merry, bright, and 100% safe.
1. Don’t Leave Your Lights on All Night
This rule applies to both outdoor and indoor decorations.
Be sure to check the bulb strength of your outdoor lights, and be careful of leaving them on too long as they may overheat. You can connect all of your lights to an automatic timer, or you can take turns with other adults in your home to turn them on and off.
Whatever you do, don’t go to bed without every single light turned off.
2. Inspect All Your Chords
Another safety responsibility that comes with putting up holiday lights is to inspect the chords. This should be done before your lights even go up. But, it’s also good to do throughout the holiday season.
Chords that are frayed or have exposed wires need to be unplugged immediately. They should be set aside from the rest of the decorations and properly disposed of.
3. Remember to Put out Fires
Open fires are one of the only safety hazards that are worse than those caused by lights. It only takes one candle to cause a fire in your entire home.
Not to mention, the wax of candles poses a threat to little children and animals who may not be aware of what the wax is. Keep this in mind when you put out candles, as the wax can stay warm for a while after the fire has been extinguished.
4. Keep Every Path Clear
This is a safety hazard that some families tend to forget about. No matter how many presents you have under the tree or the number of people you cram into your home for a holiday party, do your best to keep all paths clear.
Otherwise, the risk of people tripping over wires, small plants, or gift boxes becomes much higher. For young children and elderly people, one fall can do a lot of damage.
5. Child-Proof Your Decorations
The final tip to help you stay safe this holiday season is to child-proof your entire home. You probably already have soft corners on the edge of the coffee table and hooks to help keep certain drawers and cabinets shut.
But, Christmas comes with its own set of child safety hazards.
For one, you need to watch out for children choking on small objects that they may find among your decorations. These include plastic berries on Christmas “plants”, small parts a the nativity set, and any tiny ornaments or lights.
Sharp objects or those made out of glass should be kept out of reach as well, and it’s never a good idea to leave a young child alone in an area where there’s a candle on.
Christmas Safety Tips for Traveling Families
As great as these Christmas safety tips are for decorations, they don’t do much to help you while traveling. If you’re one of the many families who are flying or hitting the road this Christmas, there are tons of other things for you to think about.
Here are a few additional safety tips to keep in mind while in public places such as airports, train stations, and shopping malls!