Locking Away Medicine Top Childproofing Step Irish Parents Take

Moving medicine and prescription drugs is the preferred child-proofing step of Irish parents according to recent research from AA Ireland.

Over 92.21% of respondents to an AA Life Insurance survey stated that they moved their medication to a secure or ‘out of reach’ location after having children, with 84.67% of parents taking the same precaution with household cleaning products. Meanwhile, 67.48% of parents surveyed stated that they had fit a safety gate on all staircases in the house, making it the third most popular child-proofing step among Irish parents.

A significant generational divide was found in relation to the use of safety gates according to the survey. While 71.39% of parents under the age of 35 fitted a safety gate to their stairs upon having children, just 58.87% of those over 56 years of age took the same step when they began having children.

“When you start having children your first concern becomes their safety, and these findings would seem to indicate that child-proofing is something which Irish parents are taking very seriously,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs stated. “However, beyond your child’s immediate safety it’s important to think of their long-term future. You don’t know what the future will hold and for this reason having a life insurance or mortgage protection policy in place is vital to protecting your child’s long-term interests.”

The survey also found that securing bulky items of furniture in the home and fitting a safety lock to the toilet-lid to prevent drowning were child-proofing steps that Irish parents were least likely to carry out.

Approximately a third of parents surveyed (33.22%) stated that they had tied down or secured large furniture items which could topple or be pulled down as part of their efforts to make their home safer for children. Meanwhile, despite representing a possible drowning risk, less than 1 in 12 parents (7.69%) have fit a safety lock to their toilet-lid.

In a recent report, AA Ireland highlighted that almost 4 in 10 of those who have purchased life insurance or mortgage protection identified their children as the main reason for taking out a policy. 29.15% of those with a policy stated they purchased cover to assist their family in replacing their income in the event of their premature death, with a further 7% stating that hey purchased cover to help provide for their children’s future education costs should the worst happen.

“While you hope your family or next of kin won’t have to make a premature claim against your policy, should the worst happen having cover in place will help keep a roof over your children’s heads or even provide for their future education needs.”

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