Fire, Smoke, and Carbon Monoxide Safety for Homes with Young Children

Install smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside every bedroom, and outside every sleeping area. Interconnected alarms — where one triggers all of them — give the longest possible warning, which matters most when a baby cannot wake themselves or walk out.

Carbon monoxide alarms belong on every level and near every sleeping area. CO is odorless, colorless, and can cause symptoms that mimic the flu, so a working alarm is the only reliable way to detect it. Common CO sources include gas furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces, generators, and attached garages.

Test alarms monthly and replace the batteries at least once a year if they are not sealed long-life units. Smoke alarms should be replaced every ten years; CO alarms every five to seven, depending on the manufacturer.

Every home should have two ways out of each room, a meeting point outside, and an assigned adult for each child who cannot self-evacuate. Practice the plan at least twice a year, including once at night. A plan that only exists on paper usually does not work under stress.

Keep a clear path from the nursery to the nearest exit. Avoid piling laundry, toys, or furniture in hallways, and make sure the bedroom door can close fully — a closed door is one of the best passive barriers against fire and smoke.

If you use upper-floor bedrooms, have a plan for getting down. Escape ladders for adults are useful but cannot safely be used to carry an infant. In a real fire, if you cannot reach an exit, close the door, seal gaps with clothing or bedding, and signal from a window while calling 911.

Most home fires start in the kitchen. Stay in the kitchen while cooking, turn pot handles inward, and keep flammable items away from the stove. Never leave a cooking fire unattended, and keep a lid nearby to smother a small grease fire rather than reaching for water.

Candles, space heaters, and fireplaces are the next common starters. Use flameless candles when possible, keep space heaters at least three feet from any flammable material, and never leave either running in an unattended room or while the family is asleep.

Lithium-ion batteries in phones, tablets, scooters, and e-bikes have become a growing fire cause. Charge them on hard surfaces, not beds or couches, and unplug once fully charged. Replace any battery or device that has been damaged or that shows swelling.

Most CO exposures in homes come from equipment that is worn, poorly vented, or misused. Have gas furnaces, water heaters, and fireplaces inspected annually. Never run a generator inside a home, garage, or near an open window, and never warm up a car in an attached garage, even briefly.

Attached garages are a common CO source because exhaust fumes drift into the house through door gaps and shared walls. Keep the car outside the garage when you start it, and consider a CO alarm in the rooms adjacent to the garage in addition to the sleeping areas.

Early symptoms of CO exposure — headache, nausea, dizziness — can look like a cold or flu. If multiple people in the home feel symptoms that clear up outside, treat it as a possible CO leak, leave the home, and call 911.