Summer means lots of kids will be playing outdoors, but it’s important to keep a safety checklist in mind to keep kids safe while they’re having fun. Here are some essential summer safety tips to keep kids safe while they have.
When it comes to protecting your kids from the sun, sunscreen plays an important role. Sunscreen is one way to guard against the sun’s damaging rays. Because the sun’s rays can reflect off of the sand and water or other reflective surfaces, hats and sunglasses can also play an important role in preventing damage with UV rays.
Protect Against Bugs:
Bugs are one of those annoyances of summer. But insects such as potentially disease carrying mosquitoes and bees can also be harmful to kids.
- Use insect repellents to guard against ticks, which can carry Lyme disease, and mosquitoes, which can carry the West Nile Virus and other viruses.
- Wear long sleeve shirts and pants while going outside
- Never leave stationary pools of water around the house
- Stop using scented soaps or perfumes on your child
Whether your child is playing cricket with friends or walking around in the park with friends, it’s important to keep in mind that regular water breaks are required to prevent dehydration. Your child should drink water before exercise and during breaks, every 15 to 20 minutes.
Don’t Forget Helmets:
Your child should wear a helmet whenever they are on scooter, bicycle, or roller skates. A helmet is most important device available that can reduce head injury and death from a bicycle crash.
Practice Food Safety Tips:
Food borne illness increase in the summer because bacteria grow faster in warm temperatures and humidity.
- Be sure to wash hands before preparing or serving any food.Make sure your children wash their hands, or at least use an alcohol based hand sanitizer.
- Do not allow any raw meat or poultry to come into contact with any other food or plates or utensils.
- Use a thermometer and be sure to cook all meat and poultry to the correct temperatures to kill any harmful bacteria. Keep foods in the refrigerator and do not keep leftovers unrefrigerated for more than one or two hours.
Protect From Drowning:
- Put barriers around the pool to restrict access
- Never leave kids unsupervised
- Do not use flotation devices
- Learn CPR
Also, Warn your kids about hiding in enclosed spaces.