Safety
Precautions
Infants
Your newborn
is on a journey of discovery. He depends on you to keep him safe. It is the
parent’s sole responsibility to provide & ensure safe atmosphere to the
sibling.
Prevent
falls : One of the most common accidents for new babies is falling off change
tables or other high places when nappies are being changed. You can avoid an
accident by keeping one hand on your baby at all times or by changing her on a
clean towel or rug on the floor.
Prevent
choking : Nothing should enter your newborn’s mouth besides your breast and his
own fingers (and a bottle or dummy or safe, chewable toy if necessary). Do a
regular scan of the area within baby’s reach and remove small objects.
No shaking : Never shake a baby. Even playfully throwing a newborn or young baby in
the air can injure her fragile spinal column and brain.
Pets : Animals can be unpredictable (even a snoozy old cat can surprise with new
behaviour). Introduce pets gradually and always under supervision, especially
the family dog.
Bathing : Three things
to remember here:
1. Use warm
water (36° C)
2. Never leave
your baby unattended
3. Keep the
baby supported in your hands at all times.
Toddlers
To watch
your toddler all the time, you would need to grow eyes in the back of your
head. However, sensible safety rules will do the trick. The best way to
toddler-proof your home is to get down to your child’s level and look about. Here are some other tips:
1. To avoid constantly telling them ‘no’, remove anything you don’t want touched.
2. Toddlers
love to climb so secure your furniture, especially bookcases and TVs.
3. Keep chairs
away from windows and balconies.
4. Turn off
space heaters when you leave the room.
5. When your
toddler is out of your sight for a couple of minutes, you might want to check
whether he’s discovered something intriguing but dangerous.
6. Curtain
tie-backs and window blind cords can strangle a curious toddler. Remove them or
hook them well out of reach.
7. When you
make a well-deserved cup of coffee, keep it away from little fingers.
8. Install a
safety gate at the top of stairs and teach your child to come down stairs
backwards.
9. Keep
medicines, cleaning fluids and other poisons locked away in high cupboards.
10. Turn down
your hot water system to 50°C to avoid scalding.
11. Keep a
well-stocked first aid kit and keep it out of your child’s reach.
12. Check your
fire alarms regularly.
13. Deadlocking
doors when you are inside the house prevents you getting out if there is a
fire. Only deadlock when you are away from home.
Pre-Schoolers
A whole new
world has opened up, most of it outside the safe confines of your home. Your
preschooler needs to be kept safe while he experiments with his boundless new
abilities. While we all are pre cautious to take enough care for our kids in
home. The utmost importance is of ensuring outside safety for them.
Outdoor
safety
Wheels -risks
Wheels can be tricky . Lots of practise in a safe area will build up his confidence. Falls are part of cycling. Teach your child how to stay safe on wheels
Playgrounds
1. The chance
of a playground injury is greater for preschool and primary school children, as
they are developing body strength and judgement skills.
2. Falls are
the most common injury. The safest equipment for children three to five years
is less than 1.5 metres high (no taller than the average woman).
3. Watch your
child at all times and stand nearby if he is trying a daring new feat.
Water
To help your
child stay safe around pools :
1. Always stay
with your child when he is in or near the water, even if he can swim.
2. Remember
that drowning can take less than a minute and is silent. Keep an eye on him at
all times around water.
Youngsters
All School
going children have the right to feel safe, both inside and outside the home.
To protect them against danger, you can teach them safety rules. Of course, you
still keep an eye on them. Common preschoolers risk factors of outside home
scenario suits also the youngsters.
Apart from all those things one very important safety for grown up kids is
safety towards internet.
Keeping your
child safe on the internet
Your child
will be using computers at school. If you are on the internet at home, they
might even have favourite sites bookmarked. The internet is an open
environment. Anyone can barge in with dodgy content, like pornography, or talk
to a stranger in a chat room. These are things that children are to be
protected from in the real world. The only way to really protect them on the
internet is to supervise them at all times.
Teaching
your child about how other people use the internet can also help:
1. Explain
what chat rooms are for so he will understand that people online might pretend
to be someone different.
2. You might
want to make a rule about only entering a chat room if the kid has checked with
you first.
3. Teach him
how to leave a chat room if someone says something upsetting.
4. You
can also teach your child to turn the screen off and tell you if something
appears on screen that upsets her. Let her know that it’s not her fault that
things appear there for no reason.