Child Safety

Bringing home a new baby is an exciting time for parents, and families must plan ahead and prepare the home and nursery before an infant arrives. To help ensure the safety of your youngest children, follow Home Safety Council’s guidelines to select and maintain a crib for your new baby:
 

• Find out if cribs, especially older models, have been recalled. Visit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) website for recent updates.
• Make sure crib hardware is strong and secure.
• Remove soft bedding, pillows, toys and stuffed animals from the crib.
• Use sleepers instead of blankets.
• Follow the product guidelines for crib toys and discontinue use at the recommended age. If toys attach to crib railings, hang these on the wall side of the crib.
• Make sure the crib sheet and mattress fit tightly to avoid entrapment and suffocation.
• Remove bumper pads to deter children from climbing out easily.
  Keep cribs away from windows and window blind cords.
• For metal or wooden cribs, make sure slats are 2 3/8 inches apart or less. Corner posts should not be over 1/16 inch high. Avoid headboards and footboards with cutouts large enough that a baby’s head can become trapped.
• For mesh-sided cribs or playpens look for mesh less than ¼ inch in size, securely attached to the top rail and floor plate. If staples are used, make sure none are missing or exposed.

The nursery should be a warm and safe environment where a baby can learn and grow. An active baby naturally climbs and crawls, rolls and rummages – and parents need to take precautions to make sure curious children avoid common home injuries. Consider the following tips from the Home Safety Council to ensure that your child’s haven remains safe and welcoming:
 

• Young children need close supervision, even in the nursery.
• Remove all plastic bags from the nursery area.
• Keep baby monitors and other cords a safe distance from the crib.
• Store diaper products and medicines up high and purchase products with child-resistant packaging.
• Never leave the baby unattended on the changing table and use harness straps to secure the baby from a fall injury.
• Purchase UL-listed nightlights and replacement bulbs.
• Use only safety nightlight styles that prevent children from pulling out the night light or gaining access to the bulb. Use the recommended wattage for the bulb and keep night lights at least three feet from bedding and other combustible materials.
• Use child safety covers for electric outlets.
• Repair or replace frayed cords or damaged lamps. Be sure to hide cords behind furniture.
• All pictures should be secured out of reach. Don’t hang pictures or other heavy decorations directly over a crib.
• Blind cords can present a serious strangulation hazard for early walkers. If your blind cords have continuous loops, call 1-800-444-6742 to request free repair kits.
• Install window guards with a quick-release mechanism that can be opened easily by an adult in case of fire.
• Keep cribs, beds, chairs and other furniture away from windows.
• Anchor unstable furniture, including dressers and bookcases.
• Install a baby gate at the nursery door.
• Choose toy chests with lid supports to prevent heavy lids from falling on children’s fingers and necks.
• Replace all door stops that have removable caps that can pose a choking hazard.
• Install finger pinch guards on doors or drape a towel over the hinge side to prevent painful pinching injuries.

As young children get older, they start to crawl and walk around the home. Parents can guard against possible dangers by conducting a home safety evaluation from the child’s point of view. The Home Safety Council recommends that parents look at each room from their child’s eye level and use the following tips to make homes safer for young children:
 

• Young children need constant supervision, especially around water.
• Install baby gates at the tops and bottoms of stairs.
• Install child safety locks on cabinets to safely store chemicals, cleaners, medicines, cosmetics, and other toxic and/or caustic products.
• Purchase cleaners, household chemicals, medications and other potentially hazardous products with child resistant packaging.
• Post the national Poison Control Hotline (1-800-222-1222) and other emergency numbers next to every phone.
• Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home and near sleeping areas.
• Install toilet seat locks; turn over all buckets and store them up high, where they cannot collect standing water or be reached by children.
• Test faucet water at the tap and adjust water heater to 120°F or below.
• If your home has a pool, surround it on all sides with installed fencing and a self-latching gate.
• Never leave a child unattended near standing water, even for a moment.
• Locate cribs, beds, chairs and other furniture away from windows.
• Install window locks or safety guards on above-ground windows. Be sure they have a quick-release mechanism in case of fire.
• Keep window treatment cords and sashes tied and stored up high overhead; purchase new mini-blinds that meet safety standards.
• Store matches, lighters, candles and other fire tools out of children’s sight and reach, preferably in a locked cabinet.

Select Children’s Toys with Safety in Mind

According to the Home Safety Council’s State of Home Safety in America™ (2002), emergency departments reported nearly 170,000 visits due to injuries related to toys at home in a single year. To help reduce the risk of serious injury, always follow safety guidelines when choosing toys for children. Before choosing toys and games for little ones on your shopping list, consider each child’s age, skills and abilities. Toys that are beyond your child’s age and developmental ability can be unsafe for him or her, so select toys that are appropriate rather than those children can “grow into”. Consider the following guidelines for selecting toys for your child:

• When purchasing toys for infants and toddlers, select toys, puzzles, rattles and teething toys that are too large to be swallowed.
• Read the labels and other packaging information and base your selection on age recommendations.
• Look for “washable/hygienic materials” or similar labeling on stuffed toys and dolls and “flame retardant/flame resistant” labeling on fabric products and costumes.
• Read assembly and use instructions to ensure the toy is appropriate for the child you have in mind.
• If you purchase stuffed toys, look for those that are rated safe for infants, which will ensure specific safety features, such as secure attachment of the stuffed toys’ eyes and noses and non-removable squeaking mechanisms.
• Avoid toys with long strings or cords, which could entangle and strangle a child.
• The Home Safety Council recommends against using latex balloons in homes with young children, as they can swallow an unfilled or broken balloon and suffocate.
• Remove and discard plastic wrapping and bags as soon as the toy is opened, as these items are a suffocation hazard to young children.
• Look carefully at infants’ toys and dispose of those with small broken parts that could be lodged in an infant’s throat.
• Motorized and electric toys and games and toys with heavy, sharp and pointed parts or edges can be especially dangerous for young children.
• Adult games, such as darts, should be stored up high, out of the reach of all children.
• Always supervise children closely. Don’t permit younger children to play with toys designed for older children or adults.

Small Parts Testing

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) bans products with small parts to be intended for use by children under three. CPSC considers a small part to be “any object that fits completely into a specially designed test cylinder 2.25 inches long by 1.25 inches wide…” To approximate the manufacturers’ test, use a common toilet paper roll (typically measuring 1.5-1.75 inches wide) to measure toy parts – if any toy parts fit inside the roll, choose another toy until your child is older than three.