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Children's Health
7 Safety Tips For Protecting Your Child
By
Sep 21, 2016 - 8:24:44 AM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, some 70,000 children under age 5 are injured every year by common household products and toys—but yours don’t have to be among them.
Here are seven ways to keep infants and toddlers safer:
1. Cook safely. Never leave food unattended on the stove. Turn pot handles so curious toddlers can’t reach them.
2. Set your water heater to 120° F or lower. Infants and small children may not be able to get away from water that’s too hot.
3. Use home safety devices, such as guards on windows above ground level, stair gates and guardrails.
4. Keep medicines, cleaning products and other toxic substanceswhere children can’t see or reach them.
5. Make sure children are properly buckled up. With a 90 percent misuse rate for installing car seats and boosters, parents should visit a car seat inspection station in their area to learn how to properly install and use them.
6. Always check the age label on toys. Small parts—whether from toys, pieces of food such as hot dogs or grapes, or anything else—can become a choking risk for children who have small throats and tend to put things in their mouths.
7. Check window coverings for exposed or dangling cords, which can pose a strangulation hazard to infants and young children.
Parents with young children should replace their corded window coverings with the many cordless products.
To assist the consumer, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) created the Best for Kids certification program.
For their products to be eligible for certification as safe for homes with small children, manufacturers must meet specified program criteria and submit their window coverings to a designated third-party testing laboratory.
Throughout the year and particularly during October, which is National Window Covering Safety Month, parents are urged to maximize window cord safety by taking these three steps:
• Install only cordless window coverings or those with inaccessible cords. Replace window blinds, corded shades and draperies with those that are cordless or have inaccessible cords. Look for the Best for Kids label.
• Move all cribs, beds, furniture and toys away from windows and window cords of any kind, preferably to another wall.
• When window cords are present, keep them out of sight and reach by shortening or tying them up and away.
Learn More
For further facts on window cord safety, visit www.windowcoverings.org. For other home safety information and ideas, you can connect with the Window Covering Safety Council on Facebook and Twitter.
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