With decorating for the holidays in full swing, remembering to keep certain items away from small children that pose a child safety hazard is very important. Certain Christmas tree decorations, party supplies, and other seasonal plants that aren’t normally in the house might appear to be a new toy to a small, curious child.
Safe Kids Kansas Inc. reminds parents to put ornaments that have small parts or metal hooks on higher branches that are out of reach of children. Also, keep alcohol, including baking extracts, out of reach and do not leave alcoholic beverages unattended.
Holly berries, mistletoe berries and poinsettias are potentially harmful if eaten. If a child eats any part of a nonfood plant, call the Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222.
And don’t forget that toys can be harmful and even deadly, according to Safe Kids Kansas. Hospital emergency rooms treat about 217,000 toy-related injuries each year, and about 15 children under the age of 14 die. So, if shopping for toys, beware of toy recalls. To stay informed, parents can sign up for e-mail announcements at www.cpsc.gov.
Blinds and other window coverings can be a very dangerous place for a crawling baby or small toddler, who may become tangled up in the cords used to raise and lower the coverings. Seeing the need to educate the public on the hidden and unknown dangers, the WIndow Cover Safety Council created a series of webisodes to alert caregivers to this important issue.
"The first thing so many new parents do these days is go online to get parenting information," said WCSC Executive Director Peter Rush. "We wanted to create webisodes about home safety that would appeal to this demographic; to provide them with safety information that is both educational and entertaining."
SuperBaby is part of the Window Covering Safety Council’s ongoing effort to inform parents and caregivers about the potential hazards of window coverings. Many adults are unaware of the potential strangulation hazard of the window cord. According to information provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, since 1990 more than 200 infants and young children have died from accidentally strangling in window cords.
Do you trust your babysitter? A new study from iVillage.com indicates that some 25% of parents have had problems with babysitters in the past. Other findings include:
1 in 10 moms have discovered that a babysitter brought other people into their home without permission
More than 1 in 10 mothers (12%) are not sure their babysitter could handle any sort of emergency situation involving their kids
Nearly half (49%) of moms do not think their babysitter would be able to conduct CPR on a child in a medical crisis
A third (33%) of mothers polled believe their babysitter would not know how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver if a youngster was choking
iVillage.com’s new site Momtourage aims to help parents connect with one another to help out with a laundry list of issues, including finding good babysitters.
Curious about the hidden dangers in your home for small children? A non profit group in Kansas City is in the process of opening a demonstration house that showcases safety issues that may arise in your home and highlights how to make it a safer space for your family. Called Charlie’s Safe Haven, the group hopes to inform parents about issues they might not think about and save any accidents from happening.
In the Kansas City area, Fenwick [Julie Fenwick, executive director] said the major sources of accidental child injuries and deaths are from falls, burns, poison, hits from other children or running into furniture and walls, and being struck by a motor vehicle. Charlie’s Safe Haven will focus on those five biggest concerns, she said, because those are the main reasons a place like the demonstration house is so important.
Plans are in the works to open the first safety house through grants with Children’s Mercy Family Health Partners.
Most houses have some sort of fireplace or hearth that can be a nightmare for parents with small children who are just learning to toddle around the house. They are usually made of brick or stone and have very hard, sharp edges that a child could severely injure themselves on. Many products are on the market to line the edges with, but have you ever thought of using a standard pool noodle to do the trick? ParentHacks.com shares this neat alternative.
They sell foam things that use strong double-sided tape to stick onto the stone (or brick) of your fireplace, but I’m afraid of how difficult that will be to clean up when we don’t need it anymore. So we bought a couple of pool noodles and cut a slit halfway through the long way (cutting through from the outside to the hole that is already in the middle). Then we pushed it on the edge of the stone slab. The tension of the foam trying to revert to its "natural" shape holds it in place - no tape needed.
A very cool trick indeed, and something you can trust to keep your child safe should they fall too close to the hard edge of the fireplace.
Baby proofing companies are proving to be huge business these days as parents have to work longer hours and live in larger homes. Since many parents are unaware of some of the smaller dangers that may lurk in their homes, they are turning to the experts to make sure their houses are 100% safe for their children.
“Child safety has become a big issue,” said Mark Gottlieb, who runs Upper Southampton’s Safe at Home Baby-Proofing. “These days, you’ve got both parents working, they’re living in larger homes than before and there’s more reliance on babysitters.” Gottlieb started his baby-proofing business 11 years ago. It is a full-time job. His services include safety gates for stairways, latches that secure cabinets and drawers and door locks.
Each year roughly 2 million children five years old and younger are treated in emergency rooms for injuries that happen in the household.
Pool season is here and along with that come many issues for parents and keeping their children safe in such a dangerous environment. It seems like no matter how many precautions parents take in regards to pool safety it is never enough. EmpowHer.com gives us all an excellent checklist of things to go through to make sure that the children stay safe around the home pools this summer.
Install a fence or other barrier, such as a wall, completely around the pool. If the house is part of the barrier, the doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with an alarm or the pool should have a power safety cover.
According to the site, 75 percent of home pool drowning victims are between the ages of 1 and 3, so those with small children in the home need to be extra cautious. The same precautions should also apply to small children’s blow up pools.
For many parents, one of their first concerns is keeping their house safe for their infants and small children. This task can seem very overwhelming at times, so FamilyDoctor.org has put together a great list of simple things you can do around the home to keep your small children safe. Some of the topics covered include:
Making the crib safe
Keeping the nursery and kitchen safe
Keeping medicines and poisons out of reach
Making sure toys as well as bath time are safe
Using the items on this list as a simple checklist of things to do around the house can make the environment a much safer place for your child.