A private garden is a great outdoor playground for children. In the fresh air, the little ones have plenty of room to give free rein to their urge to move. Even babies are delighted when they are allowed to crawl across the lawn. But be careful: the garden also harbors its very own dangers for our offspring.
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Breakout-Proof Outdoor Playground
When the children are playing in the garden, they don’t need to be supervised continuously, of course. But all parents know the exploratory urge of their little ones, especially when they have just learned to walk. Then the mobile dwarfs want to explore their surroundings and expand their radius more and more. Therefore, the garden should be designed in such a way that children cannot get outside on their own. In addition, children in the outdoor area must of course be protected from the sun’s rays. So it makes sense to combine a reliable privacy screen, for example, made of plant pots, with safety measures. A sufficiently high fence or a dense hedge are also ideal solutions.
Attention Poison!
When parents take over a garden that has already been laid out, it is essential that they check the existing plants for toxicity. Those who are not familiar enough with this can find experts at a nursery or a tree nursery who will come to the house for a joint garden inspection.
It is not necessary to get rid of every poisonous plant immediately. It depends on the genus, but also on the age of the children. With babies, who still put everything in their mouths, special caution is of course required. Once the little ones are kindergarten age, they can already understand a lot of things and learn to deal with weakly poisonous plants accordingly. Because there are different classes of toxicity.
Weakly poisonous species, such as ivy, can cause a little tummy ache at most. Stronger poisons, which can already be dangerous to children, contain the lily of the valley or the cherry laurel. These can lead to symptoms of poisoning such as vomiting or palpitations. Plants that are highly poisonous and even life-threatening include daphne, deadly nightshade, and oleander. Of course, it is also important to consider which plant component poses the danger, because a tempting berry poses a greater risk than a poisonous root.
As a general rule, a garden in which children play should not contain any poisonous plants at all, if possible.
Water Risk
Most parents are well aware of the garden pond as a source of danger, but rain barrels, vats, and paddling pools also pose not inconsiderable risks for young children. This is because water magically attracts the little ones and arouses their curiosity. Containers such as troughs or barrels should therefore always be closed with a lid when children are playing alone in the garden. Little ones should generally not splash around unsupervised, and swimming pools or pools must always be secured with a fence at least 1.40 meters high. If there is an outside basement staircase, a safety gate can protect children from dangerous falls.
Last But Not Least
Parents must not neglect the less obvious dangers in the garden under any circumstances. Of course, they have to be just as careful with electricity and chemicals outdoors as they are indoors. Child safety devices should therefore also be installed in the sockets on the terrace; containers with fertilizer or pesticides should never be left standing around open. Garden tools, too, with their sharp edges, are a source of danger for curious children if they are carelessly left lying around.
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