NovAsia

How to Choose a Phnom Penh Apartment for a Family with a Young Child

NovAsia · updated July 24, 2026

Prepared by the NovAsia Editorial Team

A family with a young child evaluates a Phnom Penh apartment differently from a single adult or couple. The most serious problems are often hidden in ordinary features: a sofa positioned beneath an opening window, horizontal balcony rails that invite climbing, a swimming pool reached directly from the lift, unstable hot-water control or three steps that turn every pushchair journey into a lifting exercise.

No home can prevent every fall or every attempt to open a cupboard. Children explore, and their abilities change quickly. An apartment that seems manageable for a six-month-old may become risky when that child learns to move a chair, reach a balcony handle or open the front door.

The objective is therefore not to find a home in which nothing can ever happen. It is to choose an environment where the most serious hazards are controlled by the building, layout and household systems, rather than depending every minute on perfect adult attention.

Choose for the next year, not only the child's current stage

A twelve-month lease should work as the child develops.

For a baby, the priorities may be:

Once the child crawls, the focus expands to:

When the child begins walking, climbing becomes a central risk. Furniture near windows, kitchen controls, unlocked doors, pool access, lift buttons and top-heavy cupboards all become more important.

A preschool child may use the bathroom independently, open the apartment door or try to reach a common area without an adult. The family also needs a simple fire plan that the child and any nanny can understand.

Do not assume that the child will remain unable to open a sliding door or move a stool until the lease ends.

Inspect the entire route from the street to the bedroom

A family-friendly building is not only the apartment. It is the repeated daily route:

  1. Car, tuk-tuk or pavement.
  2. Drop-off point.
  3. Entrance and security.
  4. Lift.
  5. Corridor.
  6. Apartment door.
  7. Pushchair storage.
  8. Bedroom.
  9. Bathroom.
  10. Kitchen.
  11. Balcony.
  12. Pool or play area.

Look for steps, steep ramps, heavy doors, open drains, motorbike movement, slippery floors, unguarded stairs, construction traffic and narrow lift entrances.

Walk the route with the actual pushchair, a bag and ordinary shopping. During a viewing, an agent may hold every door. That support may not exist on a wet evening when one parent returns alone.

A secure and covered drop-off point can be more useful than an impressive lobby. Check where a taxi really stops and whether the family must unload into moving traffic.

Treat balcony safety as a condition of acceptance

A balcony may provide light, drying space and ventilation, but it can also be the apartment's highest-consequence hazard.

Check:

Remove furniture, storage boxes, drying racks and toys from the guard. A child should not have a ready-made step.

An insect screen is designed to keep insects out. It is not a fall-prevention barrier and should never be treated as one.

Where the balcony would require a professionally installed barrier or netting, obtain written permission before signing the lease. The solution must be suitable for the structure, resist a real load and comply with façade and emergency-access rules.

If the owner refuses any reasonable measure needed to control a serious fall risk, the apartment should normally be rejected rather than accepted on the promise of constant supervision.

Check every window together with the furniture layout

A large window becomes more dangerous when a bed, sofa, toy box or low shelf provides a climbing platform.

In every room, inspect:

Possible controls include an approved restrictor, a child-resistant lock, moving furniture away and securing blind cords. The correct device depends on the window type and should not obstruct a required fire escape without a proper safety review.

Low glazing also requires consideration. Check whether the glass is appropriate for its location, whether it is cracked and whether the frame is secure.

A child's bed should not sit beside an openable window, unsecured blind cord or strong direct air-conditioning flow.

Furniture anchoring should be completed before move-in

Young children open drawers and use them as steps. Tall furniture can become unstable even when it feels heavy to an adult.

Review:

For a rental:

  1. List the items that require anchoring.
  2. Ask the owner to complete the work before handover.
  3. Agree any drilling and restoration in writing.
  4. Use fixings suitable for the actual wall.
  5. Photograph the completed work.
  6. Recheck after furniture is moved.

Do not place remote controls, toys or attractive objects on top of tall furniture. That encourages climbing.

Where the owner prohibits anchoring but insists that unstable furniture remain, the furnishing arrangement may be unsuitable for a young child.

Floors, level changes and internal stairs

Inspect the floor both dry and wet. Look for polished tiles, broken edges, loose rugs, raised thresholds, damaged joints and slippery bathroom or balcony surfaces.

A thick loose mat may soften a fall but create a trip hazard. Play flooring should be stable, washable and appropriate for the child's age.

In a duplex apartment, examine:

A pressure-mounted gate is generally not suitable at the top of a staircase. Use a product appropriate to the location and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

An apartment without internal stairs is simpler for a toddler, but it may depend more heavily on lifts and the building's fire-escape arrangements.

The front door, corridor and lift affect daily safety

Check whether the child can operate the front door, whether a closer creates a finger trap, how near the lift is and whether the corridor leads to an open edge or service area.

A high secondary latch may help, but it must not delay an adult during an emergency and should be approved by the owner. Avoid complicated arrangements that a babysitter cannot open quickly.

A unit opposite the lift can be convenient for a parent carrying shopping, but it also allows a mobile child to reach the lift within seconds. Noise from the lift lobby may disturb sleep.

Test the lift with the pushchair open. Check:

Ask exactly what the generator supplies. A building may have a generator that powers corridor lighting and water pumps but not every lift. Find out which lift operates, how long switching takes and whether access controls remain functional.

A high-floor apartment in a building with unreliable lifts can effectively trap one adult with a child and pushchair.

Fire safety must be practical, not decorative

Inspect:

Ask who tests and replaces batteries in the apartment alarm.

Create a simple family plan:

Do not assume that an ordinary passenger lift can be used during a fire unless the building has a specifically designed and managed evacuation lift system.

Any childproofing on the apartment door must still allow an adult to leave quickly.

Pool access needs a real barrier

A lifeguard or security guard does not replace physical control and direct adult supervision.

Inspect:

A lift opening directly onto an unfenced pool deck is a serious red flag for a family with a mobile child.

Household rules should be explicit:

Swimming ability does not remove the need for supervision.

Inspect the bathroom as a working routine

Check:

A young child should never be left alone in a bath, even briefly. Small amounts of water can still be dangerous.

Do not keep filled buckets within reach.

Run the hot water during inspection and handover. The temperature should be predictable and controllable. Sudden surges or an improvised heater require proper technical attention.

A bathroom door that can lock from inside should have a reliable emergency-release method known to every carer.

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The kitchen should be controllable

An open-plan kitchen may look spacious but be difficult to separate from a toddler.

Review:

Possible measures include cabinet locks, a suitable gate, appliance controls approved for the model, cables placed out of reach and chemicals stored high and locked.

Childproofing should not prevent an adult from shutting off gas or electricity quickly. An unexplained gas smell or unclear installation requires a qualified technician, not a cosmetic fix.

Medicines, cleaning products, pesticides, alcohol, button batteries, lighters and tools should be kept in locked storage. A high open shelf is less reliable because a child may move a chair.

Every nanny and cleaner should follow the same storage system. Safety measures fail if products are returned to a low cupboard after cleaning.

Laundry and drying are core family infrastructure

A young child generates considerable laundry. Check:

A washing machine on an open balcony can create combined water, electrical and fall risks. A machine squeezed into the bathroom may obstruct movement.

During the rainy season, the absence of a dryer or protected drying space can become an everyday problem. A practical laundry arrangement may be more useful than an additional formal bedroom.

Look carefully for moisture, mould and leaks

Do not diagnose a health condition from a wall, but repeated dampness may indicate a building defect.

Inspect:

Ask what caused any previous leak, whether a common pipe or façade defect was repaired, and how regularly air-conditioning units are serviced.

Repainting does not demonstrate that the source has been resolved. Significant mould or a child's related medical symptoms may justify professional environmental and medical advice.

Mosquito control is part of the building assessment

Check:

Do not store open water on the balcony. Ask how the building removes breeding sites, not only how often it sprays chemicals.

Protective products for a baby or child should be selected according to age-appropriate medical and public-health guidance.

Air conditioning, ventilation and sleep

In the child's sleeping area, test:

Visit during the day, evening and, where possible, a weekend. Listen for lifts, bin rooms, traffic, restaurants, construction, pools, play areas, generators and neighbouring air-conditioning equipment.

Daytime drilling can destroy a child's sleep routine even where nights are quiet. Ask about renovation hours and planned neighbouring construction.

A bedroom facing intense afternoon sun may require heavy cooling and blackout protection. That affects comfort and electricity use.

Layout matters more than headline area

A practical family apartment may offer:

A 110-square-metre apartment with level changes and an unusable balcony may perform worse than a well-planned 75-square-metre unit.

Useful family area = safe everyday space − unusable and circulation areas

Do not pay a large premium for space the family cannot safely use.

When assessing the child's future bedroom, avoid direct balcony access, a low openable window, the lift shaft, the bin room, intense western sun and prolonged construction exposure where possible.

Pushchairs, storage and building rules

A pushchair may be kept inside the apartment, in a secure building store, in a car or folded into a cupboard. Leaving it in a common corridor may breach fire rules and obstruct evacuation.

Measure the lift, apartment doorway and storage space. Test the turning radius.

If the parent must carry the pushchair and child at the same time every day, the route creates an avoidable risk.

If the family also has a bicycle, car seat or second pushchair, ask whether storage is available and whether the building accepts responsibility for items left there.

Security, nanny access and everyday permissions

Check:

Security staff are not substitute childcare. Their system may support the family, but responsibility remains with the supervising adult.

A nanny or cleaner should have an individual code or card rather than sharing a general household credential. If a live-in nanny is planned, provide a proper sleeping space, storage and rest arrangement. A sofa in a one-bedroom apartment is rarely a sustainable solution.

Nursery, doctor and daily logistics

Test the nursery or school journey during real drop-off and collection times. Include traffic, rain, parking, school-bus arrangements, the role of a nanny or driver and the possibility of an urgent collection.

A home near restaurants but across a routinely congested bridge from the nursery may create more family stress than a less fashionable address with a predictable route.

Map:

Measure door-to-door time, not straight-line distance. Confirm that the building address is clear enough for drivers and emergency services.

If the nursery has not yet been selected, shortlist it before committing to a long lease or negotiate sufficient flexibility.

Backup power, water and outages

A family with a baby may depend on water, refrigeration, cooling, lifts, lighting, communications and possibly medical equipment.

Ask:

The phrase full generator is too vague. Request a list of the actual loads supplied.

Maintain a reasonable home reserve of drinking water, lighting and charging capacity, without creating new fire or storage hazards.

Agree child-safety changes before signing

Prepare a written list:

Confirm:

Include agreed changes in the lease or handover schedule. A verbal promise to complete them later is weak. State the consequence if a serious item is not finished by the agreed date.

The lease should also deal fairly with the deposit. Properly approved and restored child-safety work should not later be treated as unexplained damage.

Use a risk hierarchy when deciding

Conditions of acceptance

These should normally be resolved before the apartment is considered:

High priorities

Daily convenience

A dangerous balcony cannot be offset by an attractive playroom.

A simple scoring table can help after safety thresholds are met:

CriterionWeight
Apartment layout20%
Building, lifts and backup power20%
Sleep, noise and air15%
Laundry and storage15%
Nursery and medical access15%
Cost15%

Serious safety failures should be pass-or-fail conditions, not averaged into the score.

Final check before the first night

Confirm that:

Repeat the check every few months. The child learns to climb, furniture moves, locks wear and contractors may leave hazards after a repair.

The best Phnom Penh apartment for a young family is not necessarily the largest, newest or most decorative. It is the home where serious fall, water, fire and electrical risks are controlled; the building remains usable during ordinary disruptions; and laundry, pushchairs, sleep, nursery and medical care can be managed without daily improvisation.

Choose in this order:

  1. High-consequence safety hazards.
  2. Building reliability and escape.
  3. Sleep, bathing and everyday care.
  4. Pushchair access, laundry and storage.
  5. Nursery and medical routes.
  6. Space and amenities.
  7. Finishes and views.

A child will change faster than the lease expires. The apartment must be adaptable, not merely suitable today.

This article provides general information and is not a substitute for individual paediatric, fire-safety, electrical, building or legal advice. Any device or alteration must suit the particular window, balcony, wall, appliance and building rules.

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Sources

  1. World Health Organization and UNICEF — World Report on Child Injury Prevention, including the prevention of falls, burns, poisoning, drowning and road injury and the role of safer home environments. Checked 19 July 2026.
  2. World Health Organization — drowning-prevention guidance on barriers, controlled access and active supervision. Checked 19 July 2026.
  3. United States Consumer Product Safety Commission — Anchor It guidance on securing furniture and televisions. Checked 19 July 2026.
  4. National Fire Protection Association — public guidance on smoke alarms and household escape planning. Checked 19 July 2026.
  5. WHO Cambodia — dengue-prevention guidance on removing mosquito breeding sites; Royal Government of Cambodia, Sub-Decree No. 126 on internal rules and common parts in co-owned buildings. Checked 19 July 2026.

Frequently asked

Which floor is safest for a family with a young child?

Safety depends less on the floor number than on windows, balcony guards, locks, evacuation routes, lift reliability and adult supervision. On a high floor, every opening requires particularly careful protection.

Can tenants install child locks and secure furniture themselves?

Removable devices may be acceptable, but drilling, window restrictors, balcony barriers and furniture anchoring should be approved in writing by the owner and building management and installed safely.

Is a lifeguard enough protection at the pool?

No. Physical barriers, controlled access and continuous active adult supervision remain essential, regardless of whether staff are present.

What matters more, a larger apartment or a more practical building?

For a young child, a safe layout, reliable lifts and backup power, manageable laundry, easy pushchair access, quiet sleep and a practical route to nursery and medical care are usually more valuable than unused extra space.

Read also

How to Choose an Apartment in Phnom Penh for an Older Person or Someone with Limited MobilityHow to Check a Landlord and Property Manager Before Renting in Phnom PenhOne- or Two-Bedroom Apartment in Phnom Penh: Which Works Better?