Car seat safety is an important subject when talking about keeping your child safe. Not only should you be aware of state laws when it comes to rear or forward-facing your child, make sure you're paying attention to the car seat's height & weight limits. If you are ever in a car accident, whether your child was in the car when it happened or not, you need to replace their car seat as it may no longer be safe. & as it gets colder you may want to dress your child in a bulky winter jacket, however you should never buckle your child into their car seat while wearing bulky clothing. Doing so can actually increase their chance of injury in an accident as it may make the straps too loose. It is recommended that you dress your child in thinner layers but lay a blanket or jacket over the buckled harness straps. If you are ever questioning if you installed your car seat correctly you can find a certified passenger safety technician near you, they will be more than happy to teach you to install the seat correctly. You can refer back to our previous blog "Car Seat Safety Check" from September 2020 for more info!
Household Safety covers a wide variety of topics from chemicals, medications, fall risks, sleep safety, & outdoor safety. Make sure you keep cleaning supplies, medications, garden chemicals, batteries, & other toxic items locked away or completely out of reach of children. If your child ever ingests anything questionable call the poison control center right away. Utilize child safety locks on cabinets or doors, socket protectors on electrical sockets, & baby gates at the top & bottom of every staircase to keep your baby or toddler safe. If your baby is under 1 year of age it is strongly recommended that you don't allow them to sleep with anything in their crib, this includes blankets, pillows, & stuffed animals. Outdoor safety is also a concern for parents, make sure you never leave your child outside alone, teach your children to not play in or near streets, & to ask for help from you if their ball or toy does roll into the street. Also, make sure your child is wearing the correct protective gear, like helmets, whenever they are using their bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, or any other type of ride-on toy. If you have a pool or are at the local pool make sure your children understand not to run near the pool, don't push anyone into or under the water, & to never swim unsupervised. When on a boat or even swimming in a lake, it is strongly recommended that your child wear a life jacket.
Often times teens are left out of the child safety conversation but let's remember they are still children, too. A major subject for the teen age group is of course driving since car accidents are the leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 18. Talk to your teens about speed limits, seatbelts, distracted driving, & driving while impaired. You can refer back to our previous blog "National Teen Driving Safety Week" from October 2021 for more great info.
We hope you learned about important safety information & ways to keep your children safe!