Your Family Home Safety Guide with First Alert

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This post is your family home safety guide to keep your children safe and you feeling confident and secure in your home.

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. October is National Fire Prevention Month and is the perfect time to gather your family and discuss fire safety.

We just purchased a home a few weeks ago and are currently undergoing renovations to the kitchen (and all flooring). Creating a safe and functional home was one of my main priorities before moving into this new house. Change can sometimes lead to insecurities, so I wanted to go into this space knowing that my kids and family were safe.

With a few simple upgrades and changes, I’m now confident in our new home and moving our family into this house (once the reno is done!). Here’s a quick home safety guide to changes we put in place.

Your Family Home Safety Guide

Because October is National Fire Prevention Month, I’ll start with the most important thing we upgraded – our smoke alarms and evacuation plan! 

Test/Replace Alarms

If you’ve been around a while, you might remember that earlier this year we replaced our home’s smoke and carbon monoxide alarms with the First Alert 10-Year Smoke and CO Alarms. This was also the perfect opportunity to discuss fire safety and an actionable plan with the kids through fun activities and age-appropriate books. Now that we’re moving into a new home we had to change up our plan, upgrade our alarms to the First Alert 10-year sealed battery alarms and discuss emergency exit options. 

Here is a quick home safety guide to get you started:

1. Install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home and in every bedroom.
2. Be sure to test them regularly to be sure they’re operating correctly.
3. For typical alarms, batteries need to be changed every 6 months. You can also upgrade to First Alert 10-year sealed battery alarms to avoid that extra hassle. (Alarms don’t last forever… plan to replace them every 10 years.)
4. Practice your family’s emergency plan twice a year. It’s a good idea to make sure the kids know of at least two exit points and a safe meeting point.

Download a Whole Home Safety Checklist and Kids Badge below to get started.

Fact: The #1 cause of fires is unattended cooking. As parents we’re constantly being pulled in several directions at once, multi-tasking all the things. Make sure to keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen in the event of a fire. Other areas to keep an extinguisher are the laundry room, garage, outside near the grill, and other bedrooms.

Change Your Locks

Security is our main concern when moving into a new house. Previous owners may have duplicated keys for family members, neighbors or even contractors. Be sure to change all the locks and install a smart home keypad. You can assign different codes for family members and provide temporary codes for anyone who may need access.

Install Outdoor Cameras for Additional Home Safety

Home security systems or cameras provide added security and home safety especially when in a new environment. Wireless options are available for easy installation and can be placed near all access points of the home. 

Install a Locking Pool Fence

This was a non-negotiable item for me. I was not moving my family into a home without first securing and installing a locking pool fence. Scary Statistic: 2 out of 3 children who drowned in a pool were last seen in the house and is the leading cause of death in children under 6 in the Tampa area. (View more statistics and safety tips here.)