How to Baby Proof Floor Outlets in Living Rooms and Kitchen Islands

A floor outlet is still an outlet, so it gets the same child-safety advice as any wall outlet. If you need a floor outlet cover to baby proof your home, start with the AAP. Its electric-shock page says the best way to prevent electrical injuries is to cover all outlets, make sure all wires are properly insulated, tuck wires away from your child’s reach and provide adult supervision whenever children are in an area with potential electrical hazards.

The AAP’s home-safety page adds a plain instruction: put non-choking hazard safety plugs in all unused electrical outlets.

The CPSC, AAP and MedlinePlus pages behind this advice give general outlet guidance. None of them singles out floor outlets or floor boxes, so what follows is their general advice, applied to a living-room floor and a kitchen island.

Why Floor Outlets Matter for Toddlers

The AAP says young children, particularly toddlers, experience electric shock most often when they bite into electrical cords or poke metal objects such as forks or knives into unprotected outlets or appliances. That is a short list of habits. An open outlet invites one, and a cord running out of an outlet invites the other.

Picture this: you step away to answer the door, and your toddler crawls across the living room. A lamp cord trails from a floor outlet, and the receptacle next to it has nothing plugged in. Both situations are the ones the AAP describes.

The AAP’s list names no particular outlet height. What it points to is what a toddler can reach, what they can put in their mouth, and what they can poke into an opening.

A floor outlet is one stop in baby-proofing the living room, and it deserves the same attention as the outlets on the walls.

Floor Outlet Cover Baby Proof Basics for Unused Outlets

The CPSC’s home electrical safety checklist asks, "If children are present, do all unused outlets have safety covers?" Its answer is "Purchase safety covers for all unused outlets." The reason it gives is that children can suffer serious shock and burn injuries if they insert objects into outlets.

A floor outlet that nothing is plugged into is an unused outlet. It belongs on that list.

The CPSC also says outlet covers and outlet plates can help protect children from electrical shock and possible electrocution. Note the wording: can help. A cover adds a layer. It does not replace you.

A simple way to start is to stand in the room and sort every outlet into two groups: in use and unused. Include the floor outlet. Then ask the CPSC’s question of each unused one, out loud if it helps: does this have a safety cover?

One common mistake is counting an outlet as "in use" because you plug something in now and then. The lamp that comes out for a holiday or the vacuum that visits once a week leaves an unused outlet the rest of the time. If children are present, the CPSC question applies in those gaps too.

What to Look For in Any Cover

The CPSC gives two tests for outlet protectors:

• They cannot be easily removed by children.
• They are large enough so that children cannot choke on them.

The AAP’s phrase for the same idea is non-choking hazard safety plugs. Apply both tests to anything you consider for a floor outlet. If a cover pulls out with little effort, it fails the first test. If it is small enough to fit in a toddler’s mouth, it fails the second.

Skip the hunt for the best floor outlet cover baby proof shoppers recommend. The CPSC has already given you a test, and it works on any product.

Parents who want a closer look at how much covers help can read the outlet cover safety data.

Floor outlet safety for toddlers comes down to layers: a cover on every unused outlet, tidy cords on the ones in use, and an adult nearby.

Cords From a Floor Outlet in the Living Room

Once something is plugged in, the outlet is no longer the only concern. The cord is.

The AAP says to keep electrical cords out of reach and sight, and to tuck wires away from your child’s reach. For a living-room floor outlet, that means the cord running from the floor to a lamp, a speaker or a charger. Think about where that cord travels, and where small hands can get to it.

Try tracing it from end to end. Start at the plug in the floor and follow the cord to the device. Note every spot where it lies in the open, crosses a walkway or passes under something. Those are the spots to fix first.

The AAP also says to make sure all wires are properly insulated. While you trace the cord, look at it along its length. A cord that looks worn is worth a second look before it stays in a room where a toddler bites things.

Rugs, Doorways and Foot Traffic

MedlinePlus says to make sure there are no electrical cords under rugs or across doorways. It also says not to put cords in areas where they can be walked on. The CPSC’s home electrical safety checklist says to move cords or furniture so cords are not covered when furniture or a rug rests on a cord. It also says to move cords out of the path of foot traffic.

A living-room rug laid right over the cord that leaves a floor outlet is the situation both agencies describe. Sliding a rug over the cord is an easy fix to reach for, and it is the one MedlinePlus rules out. The CPSC’s answer is to move the cord so it is not covered.

Walkways deserve a second look too. A cord that crosses the gap between the sofa and the coffee table sits in the path people take every day. The CPSC’s foot-traffic line covers it: move the cord out of that path.

Furniture and Wall Outlets

The AAP says that if your child won’t stay away from outlets, you can block access to them with furniture. MedlinePlus says to move furniture in front of plugs so they are not pulled out. Neither source mentions floor outlets.

Pair them with the CPSC line above: furniture should not rest on a cord. A sofa or table that blocks a plug and squeezes its cord at the same time creates a new problem. Check behind and beside the piece after you move it.

The same cord habits apply at wall outlets, and the wider advice on baby-proofing outlets and cords covers them.

The Kitchen Island Outlet

An island outlet usually powers something with a cord: a mixer, a blender, a kettle or a coffee maker. The AAP says electrical injuries can also happen when electric toys, appliances or tools are used incorrectly. It also calls for adult supervision whenever children are in an area with potential electrical hazards.

Picture this: you plug a mixer into the island outlet while you work through a recipe, and your toddler wanders over. The cord is within reach, and you are looking at the bowl.

That is when the AAP’s two lines work together. Keep the cord out of reach and sight, tucked away from your child. And stay close, because supervision is part of the AAP’s list of the best ways to prevent electrical injuries.

A few habits follow from that. Decide where the cord will hang before you start, not after your toddler arrives. Pick the appliance’s spot on the counter so the cord does not dangle over the edge. If you have to leave the island, the AAP’s supervision advice means the toddler goes with you or another adult takes over.

When the appliance goes back in the cabinet, the island outlet is unused again. The CPSC’s advice for unused outlets applies, including covers that children cannot easily remove and cannot choke on.

The rest of the island, from knives to hot pans, belongs in the kitchen safety guide.

When to Call an Electrician

Some questions are for a licensed electrician, not a parent with a screwdriver. These are the situations to bring to one.

Replacing receptacles. The CPSC says to use a tamper-resistant type if you are replacing receptacles. For a floor outlet, ask a licensed electrician about the particular box you have.

Outlets that are not working properly or feel warm. The CPSC checklist says to have an electrician check outlets and switches that are not working properly. It says to stop using unusually warm outlets or switches until an electrician checks the problem. MedlinePlus likewise says to have an electrician check any plugs or outlets that feel warm. A floor outlet you rarely touch is easy to overlook, so include it when you go through the CPSC checklist’s question: are all outlets and switches cool to the touch?

Outlets near water. MedlinePlus says all electrical outlets near water should be protected by Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI). The AAP says to install ground-fault circuit interrupters where appropriate. Whether a particular floor or island outlet has that protection is a question for an electrician or the floor box’s maker.

Spills are a separate question. None of the CPSC, AAP or MedlinePlus pages covers floor outlets and spills. Baby Proof Me’s product page for the Electrical Outlet Plug Covers does not mention water. For any spill question, ask an electrician or the floor box’s maker.

What Baby Proof Me Sells

Baby Proof Me sells Electrical Outlet Plug Covers in packs of 24 or 48, with a free removal tool included. The product page warns that the product is not a toy and is not a substitute for adult supervision. Treat that warning the way the AAP treats supervision: it stays on your list no matter what is installed.

Baby Proof Me does not sell a floor-outlet cover. For which cover suits a particular floor box, ask the box’s maker or an electrician. Whatever you end up using, hold it to the CPSC’s two tests: not easily removed by children, and too large to choke on.

Parents also ask how long to keep outlet covers in place as children grow, and that question has its own answer.

In an Emergency

In an emergency, call 911. The AAP says a child who has received an electric shock should be seen by a pediatrician, so call your pediatrician. The AAP’s guidance is at HealthyChildren.org.