AFTER we closed on our new house 10 years ago, we stopped by with the kids — ages 2, 8 and 12 — to show them the place. We were there for no more than 15 minutes when we heard a loud pop just behind us and looked, in horror, to find our 2-year-old holding a key pointed at an outlet.

I’m still not sure how she wasn’t hurt or killed.

Every family has its childproofing lapses. Most survive just fine, but the stakes are always high. To discuss the dangers, I spoke recently with three specialists: Colleen Driscoll, the executive director of the International Association for Child Safety, a trade association; Julie Vallese, a vice president of Dorel Juvenile Group, which makes Safety 1st childproofing products; and Don Mays, senior director of product safety for Consumer Reports. These experts underlined one lesson: if you get your childproofing advice from friends, don’t trust everything you hear.

That’s because childproofing has changed in recent years, both in the products offered and in the household hazards parents face. So, families with older children are working with yesterday’s ideas.

For example, our youngest child — our fourth — is 9, so we’re not too far removed from this topic. Yet those little plastic outlet covers that seem just fine to me are apparently now ruled unwise. Likewise, a video baby monitor sounds to me like a great new safety device. But I’m wrong again.