Fireplace Hearth Bumper Pads and Padded Edge Guards For Child Safety

Every parent knows how important it is to know how to child proof a fireplace. Whilst an attractive part of your home and an important heat source during the winter, these also present a burn hazard to young toddlers. Equally, a raised hearth offers numerous hard, sharp edges for a child to fall against and injure themselves upon unless you find some way to prevent it.

Prevention really comes down to one of two options. You can buy metal childproof gates to completely fence off the area if for those times when it is in regular use but if yours is mostly decorative or for the warmer months, a less optically intrusive option is to opt instead for hearth edge protectors aka fireplace pads.

Fireplace bumper pads are designed to cushion the hard edges of your hearth area in order to protect your younger children from painful and potentially dangerous knocks and bumps. These protective pads for fireplaces are an inexpensive, unintrusive and, some might say, essential purchase if you have younger toddlers who are unsteady on their feet and liable to fall and crack their head or teeth on the hard brick, marble or concrete slab surface.

You can find protective hearth cushions in various colors, sizes and thicknesses to fit all sized areas. They are designed to fit over the hard fireplace edges turning them into a soft cushioned bumper rather than a hard hazard. Some are fire retardent which allow you to continue using your fire whilst in place, whilst others are not and should be removed if you want to actually smoke some logs. The latter might become a hassle during the winter months and therefore, you might want to look at baby fireplace gates instead for this period of time but they're perfect for the rest of the year.

Fireplace edge guards for toddlers use adhesive tape on the back side to firmly stick in place to prevent kids from being able to simply peel or pull them off which makes them a better solution than throwing down pillows and blankets and hoping for the best. These temporary protective padded edge guards for kids and babies are made to stick firmly in place but be readily removable when the time comes when you do not need them any more.

In general, these feature a smooth, easy clean surface filled with a soft foam to provide the cushioning. Typically again, most child safety edge covers are made from non-toxic materials (as we all know our little darlings will gnaw on them just like everything else!) and will easily wipe clean with a damp cloth to clean up sticky finger marks and stains. In most cases this foam filling is flame retardant meaning you can run your fireplace without having to remove it, but some are not, so be sure to check before buying.

Toddler safety corner pads can be cut to fit so don't worry about finding the perfect length in a product and they provide a professional, attractive looking finish, so again, no need to worry about turning your beautiful home into a child-friendly (yet ugly) mess. The overall finish looks attractive but you will probably have to be prepared to get busy with scissors or a sharp blade to cut these down to the right size.