Child Safety and Childproofing Tips
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Children of all ages die from accidents. In fact, it is the leading cause of childhood deaths and severe injuries.
Many of these incidents can be prevented so child safety and child proofing should be paramount in your mind at all times.
Let's look at these tips on child safety that can help you keep your child healthy and safe:
Infant Car Seats
You need to utilize rear-facing convertible or infant automobile seats and place them in the back seat of your car until your baby is both a year old and 20 pounds in weight.
If you have a passenger seat airbag, you should never put your child (facing either way) in the front seat. Install the car seat according to the manufacturer's recommendations and know when your child has outgrown the size of the infant seat he or she is sitting in.
You can buy a car seat for children up to the size of 30 pounds that you can use backwards until the child reaches the age of one.
When in doubt, read the child safety guide for your car seat.
What you should know about Crib Childproofing
It is important to child proof your baby's crib. There should be no more than 2 3/8 inches spanned between the bars of the crib and the mattress should fit tightly within the confines of the crib.
The mattress should not be too soft as that can suffocate a baby. Try not to place anything too fluffy within the crib, such as a fluffy blanket, pillow or stuffed animal.
When the child is old enough to stand up, remove the baby's bumpers which could be used to stand on. Always put the baby on its back when he or she sleeps.
This position has been associated with a reduced risk of SIDS. Don't ever place them on a waterbed where they might be alone or on a beanbag that can suffocate the child.
Make sure that whoever takes care of your baby in your absence follows these childproofing guidelines as well.
Other Child Proofing Tips
If you choose to use equipment that has been handed down, practice child safety and make sure the item has not been previously recalled.
You can call the Consumer Product Safety Commission for further information on recalled products by phoning 1-800-638-2772 or using the Internet and going to cpsc.gov.
One of the biggest rules of childproofing, in addition, is to keep plastic bags or smaller objects far away from your baby's reach, especially when your baby can scoot or move around.
This will prevent suffocation or chocking and is one way to practice child safety.
Don't leave your baby lying alone on a changing table or bed so as to avoid him or her falling.
You should never smoke around your baby and it is a good child safety habit to use sunscreen once your baby reaches six months old. Before that, keep him or her out of the sun.
You should also use a child safety harness whenever placing your baby in a high chair and when using a child seat on a bicycle or a bicycle trailer, make sure your baby wears a helmet and tell the baby to keep his or her hands within the confines of the seat or trailer.
Always use a seat belt and use the plastic shield provided with the bicycle trailer to prevent debris from injuring your baby.
For baby seats, use a baby foot guard or spoke guard to prevent spoke injuries. If it is necessary to have a gun in your home, always keep the gun and its ammunition locked safely in separate places.
See Also...
Points to Keep In Mind When Baby Proofing Your Home
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