Archive for the ‘Baby Safety’ Category
Carbon monoxide (CO) comes silently into your home and the only way to detect it is with an alarm installed for just that purpose. If your alarm should go off, go outside immediately and call 911 to have your home checked by professionals. The alarm should be installed close to the sleeping area of your home and you should learn the sound that the alarm will make when it detects carbon monoxide.
Deadly carbon monoxide is produced by malfunctioning of the equipment; such as, fuel-burning heating equipment, furnaces, wood stoves, fireplaces, kerosene heaters, gas-burning water heaters, gas-burning kitchen stoves.
You should always operate your family barbeque outdoors. Be sure that the family car that is parked in the garage is turned off immediately upon entering the garage and make sure you do not run the car engine for any reason while it is parked in the garage as the CO can travel through your house from the garage.
And, again, remember to install that life saving carbon monoxide detector to ensure the home safety of your baby, yourself, and all of your family from this deadly gas.
When you are a new mother and you have placed your baby in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat of your vehicle, you will probably be concerned that the baby is still okay all the way back there by himself. The use of a specially designed baby mirror that clips to the visor of your car should give you a better feeling about his safety. At least you will be able to see him and know that he is still okay. Another feature that can be added to your car to protect the baby is a shade that can be pulled down if the sun is bright and it is shining right in the baby’s eyes.
These are both inexpensive items that can be easily installed and will make life easier for the baby and for you.
The ranch style home with everything on one floor is becoming rare as the need for building space is becoming difficult for many cities. The result is stairways in most of our homes which brings safety concerns for all of us.
Toddlers may try to reach the banister when they are walking up or down the stairs, but it causes an unsafe posture for stairways. There is a unique secondary railing system that enables a banister at a safe height for the toddler to assist them down or up the stairway. This will provide the necessary baby safety at home.
With all of the two and three story homes built today, it is advisable to have fire safety ladders in your home to aid firemen. It also adds peace of mind to know that there is a way to get out of the home in case the fire has blocked all exits and the window seems the only means of escape from the flames.
When I look out of my bedroom window and try to imagine jumping without the aid of a ladder, it is pretty scary. I feel sure that I would jump to escape the flames, but I know I would be injured. The thought of the escape ladder in my room gives me a feeling of safety. I hope I never need to use it, but just having it is a relief.
Children should be fully informed on the existence of the ladders and how to use them. This is one item that we hope will never be used, but it will help ensure the child’s safety if it should ever come to that.
The baby sleep sack is a blanket that is wearable. You can get the sleep sacks made of 100% organic material that is another safety factor for baby safety.
The sleep sack replaces blankets in the baby’s crib as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and SIDS organizations. This reduces the danger of SIDS and suffocation as well as keeping the baby warm and cozy all night. The sleeveless design keeps the baby from rebreathing and overheating during the night.
We are becoming accustomed to reading labels on the foods we buy because we want to know what we are eating and drinking. We should also read the labels of our cleaning products, pesticides, medicines where they clearly display the words, “Keep Out of the Reach of Children.”
We use cabinet door locks, drawer locks to provide for child safety at home, but we should still put these hazardous materials out of reach in a locked cabinet. Most of these substances will be found in the kitchen, bathroom and garage.
It is also important to leave the hazardous materials in their original containers as they have important instructions for what to do if accidentally ingested. If left is a cup, they may be mistaken for food or drink.
It is so exciting to see the baby roll over for the first time. It is a great achievement both for the baby and the family and the beginning of new concerns about the baby’s safety. This movement comes gradually, so that we almost don’t notice the difference, but it becomes necessary to start putting tiny objects a little higher, place gates to limit the movement of the baby so you can keep track of him and still get something else done.
The older children must be educated about what they must do for the safety of the baby. We put covers on the wall electrical outlets, tie down furniture that could tip over, cover sharp edges of the furniture. Put the glasses of liquid a little further from the edge of the table so the baby cannot reach.
Some babies are great climbers. Some can climb up the drawers in the kitchen cupboards. It is best to fix the drawers and cabinet doors with fasteners so they cannot be opened by the baby. The outside door of the house can be fixed so the baby cannot turn the handle to go outside without your knowledge.
There are a myriad of safety devices to keep the baby safe. If you have something that especially worries you, with a little searching, you will probably find the solution.
In response to a number of entrapment issues in the United States and Canada, Stork Craft Manufacturing, Inc., of British Columbia, Canada, in cooperation with the U. S Product Safety Commission, has voluntarily recalled 2.1 Million drop-side baby cribs to improve the baby’s safety. A number of the cribs have the Fisher Price label.
Stork is providing a repair kit which will convert the crib from a drop-side to a firm sided crib. They are requesting that you do not attempt to repair the crib yourself without the kit. Please find other sleeping arrangements for your baby until the repair kit arrives. You can call to order the free repair kit to (877) 274-0277 or log in the www.storkcraft.com.
Sometimes when the temperatures really drop, it seems impossible to keep warm with our regular heating system and we add extra blankets and electric heaters. There are several safety tips to keep the children safe around this new environment.
- Keep this children away from the space heater.
- Do not allow them to move or adjust the temperature.
- Do not use an extension cord and keep the cord extended straight.
- Keep the heater away from flammable materials, such as: drapes, bed clothing, towels, or items that could fall on the heater.
- Always place the heater on the floor.
- Do not dry items in front of the heater.
- Turn off the heater before leaving the house.
We hope everyone can keep warm during these cold days of winter.
Dr. Barry Lester, Ph.D., director of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, has led a team which has developed a newborn exam called the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). School readiness and behavior at age 4 could be identified with this exam to show if there is a developmental delay. Early intervention to prevent these problems is a possibility.
This new tool could be very beneficial to children throughout their lifetime and give parents an opportunity to make a difference by providing the proper intervention efforts. The NNNS exam is already being used around the world, as well as in the U.S., for both research and intervention.