The Parenting Journal

Every summer, I watch parents at the neighborhood park do the same thing: they settle onto a bench, pull out their phones, and assume the equipment is safe because it’s there. It isn’t always. For toddlers specifically, the gap between...

The outlet in my living room was about eight inches off the floor. I didn’t notice until my older daughter started pulling herself up to stand, at which point that little two-slot receptacle was exactly at eye level for a...

The bedroom feels safe. It’s quiet, familiar, carpeted. But CPSC reports one child death every two weeks from furniture, TV, or appliance tip-overs, and half of all child tip-over deaths happen in the bedroom. Not the kitchen. Not the stairs....

The drawer my older daughter opened at 22 months wasn’t the knife drawer. It was the one below it, the one I figured was fine because it held baking sheets and a cast iron skillet. She pulled the drawer all...

Sliding doors are among the most overlooked hazards in a baby-proofed home. Parents spend hours installing cabinet locks and outlet covers, then leave a 70-pound glass panel on a track that a determined two-year-old can move with one hand.The risk...

The garden looks harmless. It’s just dirt and plants and a little afternoon sun. But the same space where you grow tomatoes and deadhead roses is full of hazards that are difficult to see until you’re down at crawling height,...

Every parent has a cabinet story. Mine happened on a Tuesday afternoon when I answered the doorbell, came back to find my younger daughter standing in the kitchen with the under-sink cabinet wide open, a bottle of dish soap in...

Every fall from a balcony is preventable. That’s not optimism. It’s the consistent finding behind every pediatric safety review, every building code revision, every product recall tied to railing gaps and unsecured furniture. Your balcony poses a risk. The question...

The nursery feels safe when you’ve painted the walls, assembled the crib, and folded every tiny onesie into the dresser. But the windows in that room deserve the same deliberate attention you gave to the crib mattress or the baby...