To most parents, raising a child will offer too many hair-raising moments to remember, and I’m not just talking about whether your child gets into [fi ll-in-the-blank] nursery school. An infant, wobbly from its newly found sea legs, takes his fi rst major spill and bangs his head on the corner of the living room table. He’s okay, thankfully, but you realize how lucky you are that his nicely shaded bump was the end of it. Not everyone is so lucky. In-home accidents are one of the leading causes of severe injury, death and emergency room visits for infants and toddlers. And in my experience, most homes aren’t nearly as safe as they should be.
The majority of serious in-home injuries to children are caused by fi re, suffocation, drowning, fi rearms, falls, choking and poisoning. Now the good news: These accidents are mostly preventable! Below are 10 simple precautions that every parent should take when bringing home their newborn. These precautions will eliminate many of the accidents that are just waiting to happen.
1. Keep a bottle of Ipecac in your home, but use only when instructed by a medical professional. This is a must in case of accidental poisoning.
2. Use a crib made since 1992 that meets safety standards set by the American Society for Testing and Material (ASTM). If one is not available, make sure the slats on the crib should be 2 3/8 inches apart or less so baby’s head doesn’t get trapped between them.
3. Keep coins, small toys, nail scissors, and balloons—any item that is small enough to fit inside a cardboard toilet paper roll—out of infant’s reach.
4. Place houseplants out of children’s reach; know the names of all plants in case a child eats one of them.
5. Cover every electrical outlet in your home with a child-resistant outlet cover (the plastic plugs are easy to pry out).
6. Replace the two-piece doorstops with plastic one-piece design. White tips remove easily and become a choking hazard
7. Have at least two fire extinguishers in the home. Place one extinguisher in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom. These items should be in plain sight in case a guest needs to find and use them quickly.
8. Shorten drapery and blind cords. Loose and low lying blind cords can become strangulation hazards.
9. Pad the edges of coffee tables, fireplaces and any other area that contains sharp edges.
10. Secure bookshelves, entertainment centers, audio/video equipment, and bureaus to walls since they can topple onto children and cause major injury and death.
Follow the suggestions above, and you are off to a great start to making your home safe. Remember to continually modify your house according to your baby’s development. It is important to always note that no matter the amount of babyproofing in place, there is no substitution for parental supervision. Now go and have fun with your baby. Hopefully she’ll get into a nursery school that is as safe as your home.
James Hirtenstein is the owner and founder of Baby-Safe, a full service child safety company serving the tri-state area (babysafeamerica.com).
