I’ve got another safety month celebration for you – September is Baby Safety Month!
To celebrate I have 5 tips from Safe Kids Greater Dayton and Dayton Children’s to keep the baby in your life safe!
- Make a place for babies to sleep by themselves. This can be in the parent’s room to make things like breastfeeding easier. This is called room sharing however, remember parents should not let a baby sleep in their bed. Bed sharing is not safe for babies – remember the ABC’s of Safe Sleep!
- Put the baby in a safe place when you are cooking or carrying hot foods and liquids. Remember multitasking during meal preparation can be rather dangerous. Most scald burns in young children are from spilled hot foods and liquids. This is especially true for children ages six months to two years. The safe place for baby can be a high chair, crib, play yard or any other safe environment.
- Keep babies away from water. A baby can drown in as little as an inch or two of water. Babies under one year who drown often do so in bathtubs, five-gallon buckets, and toilets. It can happen the moment your back is turned. Put outside locks on all bathroom doors. Use toilet latches. Empty buckets and wading pools after using them and store them upside down. Never leave a baby alone in or near water – not even for a second. You need to protect them from drowning and also from being burned by hot tap water.
- Keep babies and toddlers in rear-facing car seats. There are new rules for baby safety in cars and other vehicles. Research from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) shows that babies and toddlers will be safer if you keep them in a rear-facing child safety seat in a back seat for as long as possible – until they are at least two years old AND weigh at least 20 pounds. Also, never leave your child alone in a car– even for one minute. Heat stroke can injure or kill them.
- Be prepared for what your baby will do NEXT. The trick to keeping children safe is to stay one step ahead of them. A baby will wiggle, kick, roll over, chew a toy, move around, pull up, crawl, take first steps and walk. Even if your baby can’t do all of these things right now, there’s always a first time. As babies grow, they will learn to do new things that could hurt them. You should take steps to keep your baby safe today. But you should also think about what you need to do now to keep the baby safe tomorrow. This is true for anyplace your baby spends time, so make sure safety is in place wherever they go.
And finally, most importantly, for Baby Safety Month – celebrate your baby! He or she is amazing!