Got a baby or toddler at home? We bet you have spent a few hours baby-proofing every cupboard and corner to within an inch of its life, no?
The thing is, though, just when you think that there is NO WAY your baby can ever come into harms way in your “every-socket-is-covered” and “no-sharp-corners-in-sight” house, they go and do just that.
Every year, hundreds of babies and young children are brought into doctor’s offices and A&E departments across the country with injuries sustained at home. Not in my home, you think? Well, take a look at some of these common safety hazards many overlook and ask yourself: Could this happen in our house?
1. Falling from furniture
This is by far one of the most common accidents to happen to your child at home, and includes both children falling from furniture, but also furniture toppling over children, which can be lethal to young babies and toddlers. High chairs are notorious for toppling over, and often, accidents are the result of babies climbing on the chair or standing up in the seat.
To prevent high chair mishaps, experts urge parents to always use the chair’s safety restraints and to never leave a child in a high chair unattended.
2. Falling while holding something in their mouth
There is a reason your mum used to always tell you not to run with something in your hands – or mouth. Many children are treated yearly for mouth injuries, including lacerations, caused by holding a bottle, sippy cup or pacifier in their mouths as they toddled along, and then fell.
A good rule of thumb? Keep everything out of your baby’s mouth when she’s on the go.
3. Ingesting batteries
Only recently, a two-year-old passed away in the US from eating a tiny button battery that caused the toddler to suffer severe internal bleeding. Batteries and other hazardous objects need to be kept of your baby’s reach at all times.
To keep your baby safe, check battery safety enclosures (in infant and children’s products, battery covers should be screwed in), and clean out old toy boxes, drawers and cupboards, where loose button batteries can fall unnoticed.
4. Getting tangled in electrical cords
Electrical cords can pose a safety hazard, and children have in fact died after becoming entangled in the cords of safety monitors placed within grabbing distance of their cribs.
5 Using a drop-sided crib
These have been banned and are no longer sold in the US due to suffocation and entrapment dangers. Got a hand-me-down crib with this function? Hand it back.
6. Using a cot bumper
Blankets, bumpers and stuffed animals in a baby’s crib all pose suffocation dangers.
7. Leaving buckets filled with liquids unattended
Washing the floors? Even a small amount of liquid inside a bucket can pose a drowning danger to a baby or small child.
Were YOU aware of all of these dangers? Join in the conversation with us on Twitter at @Herfamilydotie
