December 19, 2020 5 years ago leave a comment 579 Views Likes:
Safety Tips For Your Child During the Holiday Season
Posted in: Child health and Parenting
The holiday season can be fun and exciting. However, holiday celebrations, decorations, parties, and cold weather can pose threats to children.
Prevent a holiday ER visit by keeping these safety tips in mind while preparing for the holidays:
- Try to stick to your child’s usual routines; including sleep schedule and naps to reduce stress so your family can better enjoy the holidays.
- Dress your child properly due to the weather.
- Think carefully about where you set up your tree. Keep it away from fireplaces, radiators, or portable heaters. Also, do not use the tree to block exits.
- If you have a real tree, make sure the tree stand is always filled with water so the tree doesn’t dry out and pose an increased fire hazard. If you buy an artificial tree, make sure it is made from fire-retardant material. Make sure the stand is flat on the ground, and decorate the tree to equally distribute weight.
- Do not leave children alone in a room with lighted candles, matches, lighters, or any other sources of electricity, flame, or heat.
- Turn off decoration lights before leaving your house or going to sleep. Regularly check lights for naked or frayed wires and loose connections.
- Keep decorations out of children’s reach and secured to the wall.
- Avoid putting too many plugs into one electrical outlet. Keep cords out of the way or behind furniture, and insert electrical outlet covers into any unused outlets.
- Closely supervise your child if he or she is helping you decorate, especially when handling lighting, ornaments, and breakable objects.
- When cooking, make the younger children stay at least 3 feet away from your cooking space. Teach and monitor older children how to cook safely.
- Keep hot foods and liquids out of children’s reach.
- Keep alcohol out of reach of children. Quickly clean up leftover drinks.
- Make sure your children’s toys presented as gifts are age-appropriate and the batteries cannot be easily removed. Also, keep decorations with button batteries and small remote controls out of children’s reach. Batteries shaped like disks, or button batteries, pose a choking risk to young children.
- Supervise children and make sure they wear the correct safety gear for outdoor activities.
- As a driver, ensure you are not distracted while driving and keep an eye out for distracted pedestrians and drivers who may not be paying attention to you, especially when backing out of parking spaces. Recreational & shopping center parking lots can be busier during the holidays.
- Remind your teen driver to be extra alert when driving during this holiday season.
- Make sure every passenger in your vehicle has their seat belt or car seat, even for short rides and when traveling with a large group.
- Wash hands frequently and avoid close contact with those known to have colds or other illnesses. When going out, consider carrying hand sanitizer to help protect your family from getting sick.
Remember that the homes you visit may not be childproofed. Keep an eye out for danger spots and take care of any safety hazards to ensure a happy and safe holiday season.
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