For parents, there is nothing on their list of priorities that trumps child safety. Whether a newborn baby or a toddler who has just discovered their legs and is beginning to test the boundaries of danger, we as parents must do all we can to prevent risk in the home. A little havoc is to be expected, and following Child Safety Week, SEIMC has compiled a list of ten useful tips to help prevent the risk of child accidents at home.
For Babies and Infants
1. Never leave a baby unattended in the bath. If you must answer the telephone or door, don't rely on an older sibling to watch the baby; wrap the baby in a towel and bring him or her with you.
2. Take care and remember certainly not to leave a baby unattended on a changing table or bed. Keep side rails up on cribs.
3. Never put an infant in a crib or on a bed with soft bedding, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, or plush toys.
Toddlers and General Safety
4. If you live in a high rise apartment, as most people do in Shanghai. Make sure that you move chairs, cribs, beds, and other furniture away from windows to prevent children from climbing onto the window sills.
5. Try not to leave a child unattended around stairs and keep the stairways clear of clutter – even those that are gated.
6. Keep knives, forks, scissors, and other sharp utensils in a drawer with a safety latch. Store household cleaning products and aerosol sprays in a high cabinet far from reach.
7. Clean up any spills around the home immediately.
8. Keep plastic garbage bags and sizeable sandwich-style plastic bags out of reach of young kids.
9. Attach protective padding or other specially designed covers to corners of coffee tables, furniture, and countertops with sharp edges. Put child-safety covers on all electrical outlets.
10. Never tell a child that medicine tastes like candy. Scan your home for places kids can get into medicine. Be aware of pills in purses, vitamins on counters and medicine in daily reminder boxes that curious kids can find. Store all medications – prescription and non-prescription – in a locked cabinet, far from a kid's reach.
Shanghai East International Medical Center
Chief of Pediatrics; Languages: English & Mandarin.
Dr Rui is a Pediatrician with over 30 years of experience in China, USA, and Singapore. He graduated from Wuhan Medical College and continued his studies at the Pediatric Hospital of Philadelphia and the Singapore Pediatric Hospital.
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