Kids Visiting? Play It Safe : Safety: Expecting young visitors during the holidays? Here are some ways to child-proof your home. Start by locking up medicines and cleaners.

Ten minutes after the 2-year-old twins arrived with their mother to visit the children’s grandmother in Chicago, her home was in chaos.

“They had come out of the bathroom brushing their teeth with their grandmother’s toothbrush,” says pediatrician Loraine Stern, a friend of the family. “And they had knocked over the umbrella stand in the entrance way and were playing with the umbrellas.”

Stern and other pediatricians say that to avoid situations where children could be injured, grandparents and others who do not live with small children should maintain “eternal vigilance” when toddlers visit over the holidays.

The most common hazard physicians see for small children who are guests in homes that are not “child-proofed” is medicine left in accessible places and without child-resistant caps. Many people who don’t live with children, especially the elderly, prefer medicine caps that can be easily removed.

“They leave their medicine on the night stand or grandma has medication in her purse. I get these calls that Jason just ate his grandfather’s heart pills,” says Stern, a Newhall pediatrician and associate clinical professor at the UCLA medical school.

Part of the problem with medications is that many heart or high blood pressure medicines are poisonous in large quantities, says Susan Tully, head of the pediatric outpatient department at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar. Children who find medications usually swallow more than is prescribed for adults. “Even vitamins can be dangerous if they contain iron,” Stern says. “It’s a toxic substance for children.”

Tully advises adults who host children “to make a sweep through the house and deal with medicines out where a child is going to get them.”

Grandparents and others not used to having children around also need to be concerned with the dangers of swimming pools, fireplaces, stairways, wall sockets, electric wires and cleaning products. Even curtain cords, nuts or candy can cause problems, pediatricians say.

While small children are visiting, hosts should store cleaning products out of reach or in latched cabinets, says Dr. Robert Adler, head of the division of general pediatrics at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Bowls of holiday nuts or candy left around can also be dangerous to preschoolers. Hard candies could stick in the throat and peanuts or small candies could be inhaled into the lungs, Stern says.

A good way to look for problems, experts say, is from a toddler’s perspective.

“Lie on your stomach in all the rooms in your house and you’ll see things you never thought of,” Stern says.

Wall sockets that are accessible to children should be covered with safety plugs or tape. “Children have a way of putting things into sockets so they electrocute themselves,” Tully says. “They pick up a pin or paper clip or anything metal off the floor and put it into the socket.”

Crawling children can reach low-hanging electrical cords or tablecloths, pulling down objects that hurt them. Or they could chew on cords, resulting in burns or electrocution.

Looped drapery cords should be cut at the end near the bottom of the drape so that children can’t become entangled or strangle themselves, Adler adds. Weights placed on the ends of the cut cord will keep them from tangling.

Grandparents should be very careful about access to swimming pools, Jacuzzis or other water because it takes only seconds for a tragedy to occur in water.

“Obviously the grandparents aren’t going to put up a fence around the pool the week before the children arrive,” Tully says. “What they can do is make absolutely certain that every door and window that opens to a pool is locked. For sliding doors, you can buy locks that fit up high for not a great deal of money.”

Fireplaces are also a major concern.

“Children can trip on hearths and fall on hot coals,” Stern says. “It’s safer not to have a fire. But if you do, treat it like you would a swimming pool where you’re always there.” Tots can also get hurt falling down stairs.

“You hate to see people spend a fortune for a brief visit, but things like a stairway gate aren’t a bad investment,” Tully says. Pediatricians have one other recommendation.

“If you’re going to have a celebration, all the drinks should be cleaned up the night of the party,” Adler says. “If kids get up early for Christmas, they may drink out of leftover cups, which contain liquor. Kids taste-test everything.”