September Is Baby Safety Month

When it comes to information regarding the safety of our children, parents rely on family doctors, family members, friends, fellow/BTDT Moms, and trustworthy sites such as AAP’s Healthy Children.

While this year JPMA has highlighted the importance of Sleep Safety, I’ve chosen a few {to start} to touch on based on some current events {that hit way too close to home} and others simply because I’m a mom of an infant and preschooler {and an almost 8-year-old} and they happen to be all boys. No need to explain any further.

1. Water Safety. Recently we had a big scare. It was a huge wake up call for us. That is why Swimming Pool Safety is first on my mind:

An adult should actively watch children at all times while they are in a pool. For infants and toddlers, an adult should be in the water and within arm’s reach, providing “touch supervision.” For older children, an adult should be paying constant attention and free from distractions, like talking on the phone, socializing, tending household chores, or drinking alcohol. The supervising adult must know how to swim.

Pool Rules

If you have a pool, insist that the following rules are followed:

• Keep toys away from the pool when the pool is not in use.
• Empty blow-up pools after each use.
• No tricycles or other riding toys at poolside.
• No electrical appliances near the pool.
• No diving in a pool that is not deep enough.
• No running on the pool deck.

Pool Fences

Children can climb out a window, though a doggy door, or sneak out a door to get to the back yard and the pool. To prevent small children from entering the pool area on their own, there should be a fence that completely surrounds the pool or spa. Combined with the watchful eyes of an adult, a fence is the best way to protect your child and other children who may visit or live nearby.

Pool fences should also

• Be climb-resistant and should not have anything alongside it (such as lawn furniture) that can be used to climb it.
• Be at least 4 feet high and have no footholds or handholds that could help a child climb it.
• Have no more than 4 inches between vertical slats. Chain-link fences are very easy to climb and are not recommended as pool fences. If they must be used, the diamond shape should not be bigger than 1¾ inches.
• Have a gate that is well maintained and is self-closing and self-latching. It should only open away from the pool. The latches should be higher than a child can reach – 54 inches from the bottom of the gate.
• For above-ground pools always keep children away from steps or ladders. When the pool is not in use, lock or remove the ladders to prevent access by children.

Other protection products, when used with an “isolation” fence, may be of some benefit; however, these are not substitutes for adequate fencing. These may include the following:

• Automatic pool covers (motorized covers operated by a switch). Pool covers should cover the entire pool so that a child can’t slip under them. Make sure there is no standing water on top of the pool cover. Be aware that floating solar covers are not safety covers.
• Door alarms
• Doors to the house that are self-closing/self-latching
• Window guards
• Pool alarms

Swimming Lessons

Children need to learn to swim. The AAP supports swimming lessons for most children 4 years and older. Because of recent research, the AAP no longer advises against swimming lessons for children 1 to 4 years of age. Keep in mind that because children develop at different rates, each child will be ready to swim at his own rate. Other factors parents may consider before starting swimming lessons for younger children include frequency of exposure to water, emotional maturity, physical limitations, and health concerns related to swimming pools (i.e.,swallowing water, infections, pool chemicals).

Diving

Serious spinal cord injuries, permanent brain damage, and death can occur to swimmers who dive into shallow water or spring upward on the diving board and hit it on the way down.
Keep safe by following these simple common-sense diving rules.

• Check how deep the water is. Enter the water feet first, especially when going in for the first time.
• Never dive into above-ground pools; they are usually not deep enough.
• Never dive into the shallow end of a pool.
• Never dive through inner tubes or other pool toys.
• Learn how to dive properly by taking classes

{More information on Water Safety And Young Children}

2. In addition to outdoor water safety, another thing to remember is inside/Home Water Hazards for Young Children:

3. Along with Baby Proofing your house {preferably months before the crawling stage begins and don’t forget to get on your hands and knees to view your house through the eyes of your child} Here are some great reminders for every day Home Safety Tips:

Certain safety rules and preventive actions apply to every room. The following safeguards against commonplace household dangers will protect not only your small child, but your entire family.

• Install smoke detectors throughout your home, at least one on every level and outside bedrooms. Check them monthly to be sure they are working. It is best to use smoke detectors with long-life batteries, but if these are not available, change the batteries annually on a date you will remember. Develop a fire escape plan and practice it so you’ll be prepared if an emergency does occur.
• Put safety plugs that are not a choking hazard in all unused electrical outlets so your child can’t stick her finger or a toy into the holes. If your child won’t stay away from outlets, block access to them with furniture. Keep electrical cords out of reach and sight.
• To prevent slipping, carpet your stairs where possible. Be sure the carpet is firmly tacked down at the edges. When your child is just learning to crawl and walk, install safety gates at both top and bottom of stairs. Avoid accordion style gates, which can trap an arm or a neck.
• Certain houseplants may be harmful. Your regional Poison Help Line will have a list or description of plants to avoid. You may want to forego house plants for a while or, at the very least, keep all house plants out of reach.
• Check your floors constantly for small objects that a child might swallow, such as coins, buttons, beads, pins, and screws. This is particularly important if someone in the household has a hobby that involves small items, or if there are older children who have small items.
• If you have hardwood floors, don’t let your child run around in stocking feet. Socks make slippery floors even more dangerous.
• Attach cords for window blinds and drapes to floor mounts that hold them taut, or wrap these cords around wall brackets to keep them out of reach. Use safety stop devices on the cords. Cords with loops should be cut and equipped with safety tassels. Children can strangle on them if they are left loose.
• Pay attention to the doors between rooms. Glass doors are particularly dangerous, because a child may run into them, so fasten them open if you can. Swinging doors can knock a small child down, and folding doors can pinch little fingers, so if you have either, consider removing them until your child is old enough to understand how they work.
• Check your home for furniture pieces with hard edges and sharp corners that could injure your child if she fell against them. (Coffee tables are a particular hazard.) If possible, move this furniture out of traffic areas, particularly when your child is learning to walk. You also can buy cushioned corner- and edge-protectors that stick onto the furniture.
• Test the stability of large pieces of furniture, such as floor lamps, bookshelves, and television stands. Put floor lamps behind other furniture and anchor bookcases and TV stands to the wall. Deaths and injuries can occur when children climb onto, fall against, or pull themselves up on large pieces of furniture.
• Keep computers out of reach so that your child cannot pull them over on herself. Cords should be out of sight and reach.
• Open windows from the top if possible. If you must open them from the bottom, install operable window guards that only an adult or older child can open from the inside. Never put chairs, sofas, low tables, or anything else a child might climb on in front of a window. Doing so gives her access to the window and creates an opportunity for a serious fall.
• Never leave plastic bags lying around the house, and don’t store children’s clothes or toys in them. Dry-cleaning bags are particularly dangerous. Knot them before you throw them away so that it’s impossible for your child to crawl into them or pull them over her head.
• Think about the potential hazard of anything you put into the trash. Any trash container into which dangerous items will go—for example, spoiled food, discarded razor blades, or batteries—should have a child-resistant cover or be kept away and out of a child’s reach. To prevent burns, check your heat sources. Fireplaces, woodstoves, and kerosene heaters should be screened so that your child can’t get near them. Check electric baseboard heaters, radiators, and even vents from hot-air furnaces to see how hot they get when the heat is on. They, too, may need to be screened.
• A firearm should not be kept in the home or environment of a child. If you must keep a firearm in the house, keep it unloaded and locked up. Lock ammunition in a separate location. If your child plays in other homes, ask if guns are present there, and if so, how they are stored.
• Alcohol can be very toxic to a young child. Keep all alcoholic beverages in a locked cabinet and remember to empty any unfinished drinks immediately.

4. My boys swarm to the kitchen all the time. Perhaps, because, I’m always in the kitchen or likely, they want something to eat. Here are some great {and important} Kitchen Safety Tips:

The kitchen is such a dangerous room for young children that some experts recommend they be excluded from it. That’s a difficult rule to enforce, because parents spend so much time there and most young children want to be where the action is. While he’s with you in the kitchen, sit him in a high chair or playpen so he can watch you and others in the room. He should be securely strapped in and within your vision. Keep a toy box or drawer with safe play items in the kitchen to amuse him. You can eliminate the most serious dangers by taking the following precautions.

• Store strong cleaners, lye, furniture polish, dishwasher soap, and other dangerous products in a high cabinet, locked and out of sight. If you must store some items under the sink, buy a child safety lock that refastens automatically every time you close the cupboard. (Most hardware and department stores have them.) Never transfer dangerous substances into containers that look as if they might hold food as this may tempt a child to taste it.
• Keep knives, forks, scissors, and other sharp instruments separate from “safe” kitchen utensils, and in a latched drawer. Store sharp cutting appliances such as food processors out of reach and/or in a locked cupboard.
• Unplug appliances when they are not in use so your child cannot turn them on. Don’t allow electrical cords to dangle where your child can reach and tug on them, possibly pulling a heavy appliance down on himself.
• Always turn pot handles toward the back of the stove so your child can’t reach up and grab them. Whenever you have to walk with hot liquid—a cup of coffee, a pot of soup—be sure you know where your child is so you don’t trip over him.
• When shopping for an oven, choose one that is well insulated to protect your child from the heat if he touches the oven door. Also, never leave the oven door open.
• If you have a gas stove, turn the dials firmly to the off position, and if they’re easy to remove, do so when you aren’t cooking so that your child can’t turn the stove on. If they cannot be removed easily, use child-resistant knob covers and block the access to the stove as much as possible.
• Keep matches out of reach and out of sight.
• Don’t warm baby bottles in a microwave oven. The liquid heats unevenly, so there may be pockets of milk hot enough to scald your baby’s mouth when he drinks. Also, some overheated baby bottles have exploded when they were removed from the microwave.
• Keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen. (If your home has more than one story, mount an extinguisher in a place you will remember on each floor.)
• Do not use small refrigerator magnets that your baby could choke on or swallow.

Here’s the complete list of Safety Prevention at Home {including the points mentioned above}.

5. Make sure your First Aid Kit is complete and periodically check to make sure items are working {batteries/flashlight} and not expired.
An Emergency Plan/Kit like the one outlined on Ain’t Yo Mama’s Blog is also a good idea {plus, she has one to give away!}
Stock your car with First Aid Items like you would your house. Accidents and emergencies happen no matter where you are.

And finally, and while we are on the topic of cars and safety…

6. Please make sure you read and abide by the Car Seat Safety information. Research the safest seats for your child’s height, weight, and age and check safety ratings. My personal favorite for car seats- Britax. Most Police or Fire Stations {check in your area} will check to make sure your car seat is installed properly, free of charge.

Keep in mind, there is a growing amount of information that supports children remaining in the rear-facing position till at least age 2 {if not longer}.

• All infants should always ride facing the back of the car until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
• A child who weighs at least 20 pounds or exceeds the height limit for the car safety seat before she reaches 1 year of age should be moved to a seat with higher weight and height limits and continue to ride rear-facing until she reaches the highest weight or height allowed by the car safety seat manufacturer.
• A child who weighs more than 20 pounds and is older than 1 year may face forward. It is best to ride rear-facing as long as possible.
• Once your child faces forward, she should use a car safety seat with a full harness until she reaches the top weight or height allowed by the seat.

Stay tuned for more Safety Talk including some of my personal picks.