Child Safety In The Home
|
In the 15-year period from 1982 to 1996, the leading cause of death among young children was accidents, poisoning and violence (external causes) -- these accounted for about 46% of all deaths among Australian children.
Although the death rate from external causes declined, it remained the leading cause of child death during this period. About a third of all child deaths from external causes were due to motor vehicle accidents (on average around 64 deaths per year) and drowning (on average 68 deaths per year).
A number of these deaths were also due to a silent killer found in many thousands of homes -- dangling cords.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission in the US has been working with manufacturers of window blinds and shades to reduce strangulation deaths which occur when young children get caught in the loops of window covering control cords.
Since 1981, over 170 children have died in the US as a result of being entangled in window cords. This is about one death per month. In about half of these cases, children between eight months and four years old were found hanging in the loop of the cords. In other cases, children were found with control cords wrapped around their necks.
The younger children who died, usually between 8 and 23 months old, were in cots that were placed near the window cords. The older children, usually between 2-1/2 and 4 years old, strangled in cords when they climbed on furniture to look out windows.
Blind manufacturers have introduced wand controls on vertical blinds to eliminate this unnecessary risk to children.
MORE SAFETY TIPS
If it's not possible to replace existing curtains or blinds with wand-controlled verticals, there are temporary steps that can be taken to prevent accidental deaths from strangulation:
* Keep all cords out of reach of children
* Move cots and furniture away from cords
* Remove objects from below windows to prevent children from climbing
* Do not tie cords together
The safest, long-term solution is to use wand controls. And of course, you must always be watching your children.
Jennifer Stewart has a degree in English and History and taught senior High School for over twenty years. During that time, she was Head of Department, responsible for devising and implementing teaching programs, and for supervising young teachers. After leaving full-time teaching, she wrote (and now markets) writing courses for students and adults who want to improve their writing skills. Visit her website at http://www.write101.com
Jennifer also offers professional writing services - copy writing, editing and proof reading for your web pages, press releases, technical booklets, newsletters, business proposals, reports or any other writing projects.
|
|
|
Tale Of The Missing Nub
The extent of the memory loss that accompanies new parenthood really surprised me the first few times I experienced it. My task is especially difficult when I must not only to retrace my own footsteps, but figure out what my toddler might have seen fit to do with that half-gnawed cookie,...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Freezing Homemade Baby Food
With our twin boys getting ready to start solid food, I have beenreading about making and freezing my own baby food. It is veryeasy!You can make up large quantities of baby meals and freeze themfor later use.Green beans are in season and were on sale at the grocery store,so I bought several pounds to prepare and freeze. I steamed themin an electric steamer for about 20 minutes and then blended themin the blender with some water until they were pureed. I thenpoured the puree into ice cube trays. After the cubes werefrozen I transferred them to a reclosable freezer bag and labeledthe bag with the name of the vegetable and the date. These cubescan be stored in the freezer for 1-2 months.One cube is approximately 1 ounce of food and can ...(related: Babies Help Articles)
A Baby Is Born With Certain Reflexes
A Baby's Reflexes..A baby is born with certain reflexes to protect them during the first few weeks. These reflexes will disappear after a few weeks and be replaced with voluntary movement during baby's development.Doctors will check these reflexes to ensure his central nervous system is working correctly.Walking ReflexIf you hold baby in an upright position with his feet touching the floor, his legs will seem to be trying to walk. This reflex will last for about 3-4 weeks, and he won't actually walk ...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Iq, Intelligence, And Brain Development- Another Breastfeeding Benefit
Modern parents want to do everything they can to help their children's brain development. Never before have there been so many prod...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Yikes! My Child Won?t Share! What Do I Do?
Years ago my husband and I attended a parenting class and one thing that stands out in my mind from that course was something very simplistic that the trainer said. He asked the question, "If your kid doesn't like broccoli, what should you do?"I thought for a minute while he paused and the first thought that came to me was, do my kids even like broccoli? Hmmmmm.Then in a loud voice the trainer enthusiastically said, "You should feed him MORE broccoli, that's what!"...(related: Babies Help Articles)
A Baby Shower Cake Is The Highlight Of The Baby Shower
When you're holding a baby shower one of the most important items that you'll serve is the baby shower cake. Cakes should be the highlight of the food lineup and s...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Teething Symptoms And How To Treat Them
Teething is what your baby experiences when her first set of teeth begins to appear.Some babies will go through this event without a problem. However, other babies will experience discomfort.To tell when your ...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Etiquette For Baby Shower
Etiquette for baby shower used to be quite rigid, but rules have relaxed in the past several years. Etiquette is a word that strikes fear in the heart of many party planners. You don't want anyone to get upset or think that you are...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Make Your Own Baby Food - The Easy Way!
Is your baby about to start solid foods? Are you thinking of makingyour own baby food?When you make baby's first foods, you can save money and reducewaste. You also can choose more nutritious options. Fresh foods are typically more nutritious than canned, and you can purchase organic food to prepare for baby if you wish. You can also avoidunwholesome ingredients that show up in commercial baby food.Making baby food doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming.In fact, the easiest and cheapest way is the best way!The easy way to making your own baby food:1) Don't bother with buying o...(related: Babies Help Articles)
Scheduling Your Baby Naming Ceremony - The Right Time Makes All The Difference
If you're at the stage of wanting to organise a naming ceremony for your baby, then you already know that babies have their own schedule, which doesn't always align with yours. At certain times of the day they are more sociable, more alert, and more amenable to the sort of activities a naming ceremony involves. For a baby this means being clean, being rested, and not being hungry.Your firs...(related: Babies Help Articles)
site-map - Copyright © 2008 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved. | Babies Help Articles