How Safe Are Your Kids and Electric Blankets?

For some of us an electric blanket is a part of our modern day survival kit. We couldn't manage without one and how did we or our parents ever manage those cold beds without an electric blanket or heated mattress warmer? In the very olden days they would have one of the servants hop in to warm it up while the master or mistress was made ready for bed by the other servants. Poorer people might take a pet to bed for warmth, hence the origins of the term "cold as a three dog night".

But for over fifty years now electric blankets have been available and for the last fifteen or twenty, very affordable for most people. Some people leave them on all night, others just have them warm the bed before going to sleep then turn it down or switch it off entirely. Upscale units come with dual controls, thermostats and timers to take care of these things for you. When it gets warm enough it switches off. If it cools down too much it comes back on again. Lovely.

Of course these units cost more and while some parents will buy one for their bed, the kids end up with their old blanket, which might have seen considerable wear and tear over the years. Some faults might even be hidden from inspection and could lead to tragedy. A short circuit due to a frayed cord sees the electricity leaping across the gap at close to 186,000 miles a second. Your child might suffer such a shock and it is all very avoidable.

First of all, check your kid's electric blankets for wear and tear, frayed material that indicates perhaps worse problems and any obvious signs of damage. If in doubt, even the slightest niggle, cut the plug off and dispose of the blanket thoughtfully. Don't just toss it out and make it someone else's problem.

New blankets are cheap, much cheaper than hospitals, ambulances and funerals. You can shop online and find the best bargains and good quality items at the right price and shipping costs are usually less than the time and gas money you'd spend driving from store to store.

Too many families are cremated every winter because of faulty wiring in heaters, electric blankets and other warming devices. In our house we have a Thanksgiving ritual where we change the batteries in the smoke detectors and make sure the fire extinguishers in the kitchen, basement and garage are fully charged. When they get low we hold a fire drill and let the kids practice putting out a fire, then buy new units. We use the small hand held extinguishers you can use in your car, cheap and effective and if they aren't enough we should be evacuating, not fighting the fire.

We check our electric blankets the day we put them back on the bed after summer is over. We're getting four or five years out of them before we start to get a bit dubious about the wear and tear. I replaced one this year that is still good enough for another year, maybe two (so it is kept as a guest blanket) but this way we have started a program of rolling replacement, one every fall. With five kids it gets expensive to replace everything at once and I'd prefer to spend a little more for a better quality electric blanket.

We also have a trip switch circuit breaker fitted that will shut off the power before a kid electrocutes herself and we have all power points fitted with plug caps so they can't stick fingers or metal items into the holes. We also run the leads for their electric blankets down the back of the bed so they don't even see it or the plug. It makes getting to the control unit a little harder but worth the extra effort to keep curious little hands off.

Give the topic some thought, discuss it with your family and make everyone aware of the issue. Far better than keeping quiet and hoping nothing ever goes wrong, right?

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