Whilst surfing the web last week I came across this headline from the Los Angeles Times blog: “Five tips to keep your kids safe this summer”. I am always keen to read parenting tips that offer good advice so I read on. The tips were from the Toy Industry Association and as I read them I got more and more offended at what seemed like “teaching us to suck eggs” advice. ‘Supervise your children’, ‘put sun cream on them’ … oh please. So after a little rant to myself and with Child Safety Week approaching on the 22-28 June 2009, I decided to try and write some less insulting tips with a few of my own experiences thrown into the mix.

 

Why do we need a reminder of child safety?

Accidents are the second biggest childhood killer in the UK with six children and young people dying every week. Nearly half of all these accidents happen in the home. With a long school holiday approaching, here’s a reminder of the innocent looking dangers that lurk in all of our homes, primarily aimed at 5-8 year olds.

Dangers in the home

Falls – especially on the stairs from playing on them or not holding the hand rails. If my son falls over in the house it is always on the stairs usually from tripping up them when going too fast or from not having his slippers on properly.  How many times does he need to be told before he listens? Who knows?

Photo by Jesse.Milan.

Fires – we all know the danger of fire but did you know that 6,000 fires a year are caused by children under the age of 10. Children can be fascinated by fire but don’t understand its dangers. Do you ever wonder what your child is up to when they are keeping themselves amused?  I did but luckily he was not starting a fire, just removing all the covers from my spare printer ink cartridges on the sofa – aagh!

Burns and scalds – from the hot tap in a bath, from pans getting knocked off the front rings of the cooker or from matches left lying around.  My son has just started topping his own bath up so is learning not to put his hand under the hot water. I also try to get him to stay away from the hob when I’m cooking as he leaps about like a loonatic or stands so close that hot fat spits out towards him. He also seems to have a fascination with how hot the oven door gets at the moment – what is it with 8 year olds? Thankfully matches were a passing phase – he lit a few to burn some old firewood and soon lost interest.  The old sun through the magnifying glass trick still keeps him amazed though so that goes away out of his reach at the end of the experiment!

Choking – from running with food and sweets in their mouths.  I am paranoid about my son eating and choking on those large boiled sweets and thank goodness he does not really like them so I can avoid them.  Smarties and Haribos seem fine!

Cuts – teach children how to use scissors and knives safely. We have a strict walk and hold them downwards policy which is adhered to as otherwise they are off limits.  My son has a healthy respect for knives since “I chopped his thumb off” as he kindly reminds me every so often. I was cutting some strawberries one day when he dashed in like lightening to steal one just as my knife blade went down onto the chopping board. Thankfully the cut was only small but a lesson learnt for both of us.

Drowning – here’s the insulting tip, sorry – never leave children under 8 years old or those who cannot swim in or near water. Teach them to swim and never rely on arm bands or floatation devices. Yet another one of my stories I’m afraid. On holiday a few years ago my son couldn’t swim so he was bobbing about in a ring float playing catch with a ball with his Dad.  The ball went over my son’s head, he reached up to grab it and promptly fell straight through the ring. Obviously his Dad dove straight under to get him but those 2 or 3 seconds were the longest of my life.

Poisons – including medicines, alcohol, cleaning products, DIY tools and chemicals should be stored out of reach. Also don’t forget berries and plants in your garden that may be of interest to children roaming about in the summer.

Dangers outside the home

Road Safety - traffic causes half of all accidental deaths in childhood. As I’m trying to avoid the insulting tips blog post I will not recite the seatbelt laws or Green Cross Code but will just mention three points from my personal experience. My 8 year old knows the road safety rules but (a) cannot judge speed or distance to enable him to cross the road alone and (b) forgets all about them when playing with his friends. He also learns bad habits from watching other adults cross the road when it is not safe to do so.

Cycling, Scootering, Skateboarding Safety – even if children ride in safe places, falls from the equipment are very common due to their limited judgement, skill and strength so ensure they are wearing protective gear.

Other People’s Houses – other people, especially those without young children may not have the same safety rules as you, so remember to be extra vigilant for medicines, alcohol, sharp or hot objects lying about.

Dangers on holiday or on a day trip

Getting Lost - make sure you have pre arranged meeting points so your children know where to go if they get separated from you and make sure they know all of your phone numbers – write them on their tummies with permanent markers if you have to!

Pool Safety – if you are lucky enough to be going abroad this summer or have your own pool at home, check out these pool safety tips from SafeTravel.co.uk

The Sun – use sun cream obviously. A bad sunburn on a child aged under 10 can increase their chances of getting skin cancer by 50% as an adult. Test your sun protection knowledge here.

Can we keep our children safe all the time?

We all hope we are good parents and do everything we can to protect our children from danger but inevitably accidents will happen.  No matter how many times you say “Don’t run” they will still trip over. I know as two summers ago my son ended up in hospital after a trip head first on a concrete path where he was playing with some friends. Some accidents are unavoidable as children will be children, but hopefully just giving five minutes thought to some of these basics will avoid an accident, even a little one.

I truly hope this post does not offend anyone as the TIA’s tips did for me. If you have any other useful tips for please let me know by leaving a comment.


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