Fires don’t occur often in homes, thankfully, but when they do, everyone must know what to do.  There won’t be time to check a manual or read a book.  The family must know immediately what to do and do it!  To make that happen, there must be a fire safety plan in place, and the family must have rehearsed it.

The Fire Safety Plan

The plan itself should provide for two ways out of the house.  This isn’t too difficult when everyone’s on the ground floor, but a second story is a little different.  Remember that a fire or smoke may block the only stairway.  Buy and install an emergency ladder with metal steps.  Secured beneath a window, it can easily be lowered out of that window so that family members can climb to the ground.  Once on the ground, children and adults alike should move to a designated meeting point that is safely away from the burning house.  This allows parents and fire fighters to determine who is safe and who still needs assistance.  It’s important to get to the meeting point because we definitely don’t want a fire fighter to risk his  or her life by entering a burning home when it’s not necessary.

Special Fire Safety Precautions

If you or a child are in a room behind a closed door, be sure to touch the door knob quickly before leaving the room.  If the knob is hot, there is fire or hot smoke and gases in the hallway.  Rather than entering a hall full of fire, plug the crack at the base of the door with a towel or piece of clothing to keep the smoke confined to the hallway.  Then, hang a bed sheet or towel out of the window to let the fire department know that you need help.

Long before an emergency ever occurs, smoke detectors should be installed throughout the house.  This is especially important on sleeping floors.  When a child is lost in a home fire, it is usually because there were no working smoke detectors in the structure and the child slept through the developing fire.  In order to depend upon them, fire detectors must be tested monthly and the batteries must be changed every six months.  Let kids hear the alarm so they know it and will react to it.  Change batteries when daylight savings time makes its changes.

Every home should have at least one fire extinguisher in the kitchen.  Provide a second one in the garage.  Check each one monthly to ensure it has pressure, and have them serviced each year.  This ensures the unit will be ready to perform when you need it.  Learn how to use the fire extinguisher and then show everyone else in the family how to use it.  While you are desperately trying to put out that nasty grease fire on the stove is no time to learn to use an extinguisher.

Place plenty of flashlights, usually one for each bedroom, and spare batteries throughout the house.  If the house begins to fill with smoke or there is a power outage in the middle of the night, each child is able to find their way out.  Likewise, each bedroom and the kitchen should have emergency numbers posted, especially 911.  Arrange to take your kids to the local fire station so that they can meet a real fire fighter.  This will help to reduce the “scary image” created by a fire fighter in full fire fighting gear in a dark, smoke-filled hallway.

Child Fire Safety Plans

As cold-hearted as it sounds, encourage kids to get out of the house immediately without looking for family pets.  To search through a smoke-filled house or apartment to find a dog or a cat can put a child at serious risk.  Animals often find their way out, and more than one pet has been saved by a fire fighter.

Teach children to crawl out of a smoke-filled room or hallway.  Hot smoke and gases rise to the ceiling, so the available oxygen is near the floor.  If a child’s clothing catches on fire, as it might in a cooking fire, teach your family to stop, drop and roll.  This reduces the oxygen available to the burning clothing and puts out the fire.

Ensure every family member makes it out safely by developing and practicing a home fire safety plan.  Provide two exits for every room and make sure kids know how to use them as well as fire extinguishers, emergency telephone numbers and flashlights.  Check smoke alarms monthly.  Teach everyone to stop, drop and roll in order to put out a clothing fire.

Falls are one of the major accident types in the home.  This is especially true for babies and toddlers who haven’t learned to anticipate changes in their environment like stairs and throw rugs.  Here are a few tips to prevent a serious fall for the baby or toddler in your home.

Falls On Stairs and From Cribs

One of the worst occurs when a baby falls from his or her crib.  A crib is supposed to be a safe place, but if it has a defect or isn’t properly maintained, a drop-side can slide down and the child falls to the floor.  More than one case has been reported where a side  failed and the baby broke an arm or suffered serious bruises and lacerations.  Larger toys and firm pillows can give the child just enough height to tumble over the rail to the floor below.  In either instance, a baby can be seriously injured. Read More→

Baby strollers are a great way to move your baby or toddle around while you are trying to shop or get some exercise.  There are several brands and models on the market with a wide range of quality and capability.  Here are some safety tips to consider when selecting and using your baby stroller.

 Select a baby stroller that is certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturer’s Association (JPMA).  This not only means that the particular manufacturer you’ve chosen is a little more concerned about product quality than the average, AND that the product bearing that seal has met standards set for baby strollers by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).  Make an effort to buy strollers with wider wheel bases to reduce the possibility of the stroller tipping over.

 No matter how carefully a stroller is made, much of the safety involved is up to parents or other adult users.  The cardinal rule of baby safety stroller use is NEVER leave a child unattended in the stroller, even for a minute.  Strap the child into the stroller with the harness provided.  A five-point harness is better than a three-point harness.  Store purses, bags, purchased items in the carrier built into the unit.  Hanging them from the handle can shift balance enough to cause the stroller to tip over.  Lock the stroller wheels whenever you stop somewhere.

 Collapsible units make transporting a stroller much easier, but take care to keep little fingers away from the hinges and joints whenever folding the unit or erecting it.  If you elect to use a jogging stroller, check with your pediatrician to ensure your baby is compatible, from an age perspective, with the unit you wish to buy.  Connect the safety strap to you to prevent the stroller from getting away from you.

 If you consider renting, borrowing or buying a second-hand stroller, make sure that the stroller meets the JPMA standards.  Inspect it carefully for defects or any damage.  Speaking of defects, call the manufacturer and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) if you find any defects in the stroller you buy.  Send the product registration card to the manufacturer   upon purchase.  This will assure that the warranty is in effect and that you will be notified of any product recalls that might occur in the future.

 Again, purchase a JPMA-certified stroller, use the safety harness and brakes, and don’t overload the unit. NEVER leave a child unattended.  Erect and dismantle strollers with care for the child’s fingers.  Keep a sharp eye out for any damage or defects to your baby stroller and contact both the manufacturer and the CPSC when defects do appear.

 If you’re interested in further information about child safety, we invite you to join us at www.kidshomesafety.com

While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information presented here is correct, contents and any links are not warranted for accuracy or any other implied or explicit purposes, and are for information only.  Medical or other suitable professionals should be contacted when appropriate.

Little fingers find their way into all manner of places.  Drawers, cupboards, book shelves.  The list is endless.  In addition to this strong sense of curiosity, those just learning to walk often pull themselves up by a bookshelf or other piece of furniture.  Without the toddler’s knowledge, the bookcase they depended upon now threatens to topple over on them.

 So, go through the house to count the number of drawers and cupboard doors are in each room.  Then begin to fit each one with the appropriate latch mechanism. 

 Don’t forget refrigerators, freezers and toilets.  The toilet latch, most importantly, prevents a potential drowning.  It secondarily keeps a child from depositing toys and other things in that handy spot.

 Now take a look at china cabinets, bookcases and tall, free-standing chests or closets.  Anything that is taller and could topple over is a potential candidate for a furniture restraint.  Because toddlers are so small, your list might include end tables and the like as well.  They have to be close to a wall though.  Restraining devices work by fastening one end of the bracket into the piece of furniture and the other end into the studs in the wall.  Once both ends are secured, it takes a lot of force to cause a cabinet to topple.

 Speaking of toppling, this is the same control used to prevent furniture from falling over during an earthquake.  Thus, if you live in earthquake country, this is a procedure you should be using anyway.  Again, it is critical that the wall side of the bracket be screwed or lagged to the stud.  Except for extremely severe quakes, the moving earth may rattle the bookcase a bit, but it won’t topple over on someone.  If it’s only fastened to the plaster board, it will pop free in a minute.

 Securing cabinet and appliance doors and drawers will keep little guys out of trouble, at least this kind of trouble anyway, and out of harm’s way.   Attaching bookcases and china cabinets to wall studs prevents them from tipping over on a child.

 For more information on child safety, we invite you to join us at www.kidshomesafety.com.

 While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information presented here is correct, contents and any links are not warranted for accuracy or any other implied or explicit purposes, and are for information only.  Medical or other suitable professionals should be contacted when appropriate.

Having a fire extinguisher mounted on your wall is a great first step toward child safety from fire.  But a hand-held fire extinguisher is only as good as its user.  To control a fire and protect your family, learn how to select, use and maintain a fire extinguisher.

There are fire extinguishers made for electrical, flammable liquids (like a grease fire), and common combustibles such as paper.  Instead of having three extinguishing units around, an easier and safer way to do it is to buy an extinguisher that will effectively address all three types of fires.  There needs to be enough extinguishing agent to do the job, and you want it certified by a credible laboratory.  So, when you buy an extinguisher, select a 10-pound, U.L.-listed (Underwriter’s Laboratories), ABC-rated fire extinguisher.  This means you have a dependable extinguisher filled with 10 pounds of extinguishing agent designed to put out all three types of fires.  Be sure the pressure gauge at the top of the unit reads “full.”

Once you get it home, mount the fire extinguisher on the wall using its mounting bracket or place it in a cabinet out of reach of kids but known to all adults and older children.  The extinguisher should remain dry to avoid corrosion, and shouldn’t be subjected to physical abuse.  Glance at the unit once in a while, preferably monthly, to ensure that the bottle hasn’t lost pressure.  This helps to ensure that the extinguisher performs as you expect it to in an emergency.

Speaking of making it perform, here are a few tips to remember.  First, grasp the fire extinguisher, pull the pin by the ring, and aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.  Aim at the base of the flames coming off of that pan of blazing grease on your stove.  Squeeze the lever to the side of the bottle and sweep the extinguisher from one side of the fire to the other.  Use short bursts to avoid using the entire bottle all at once.  Remember, the entire extinguisher can be emptied in seconds if the lever is held down continuously.

 To ensure that your extinguisher continues to be ready to function, have it serviced annually by a licensed fire extinguisher firm.  They’re easily found on line or in the yellow pages.  Such a firm will hydrostatically test the bottle to ensure it is sound under pressure.  They will also empty out the old powder and refill with new extinguishing agent.  When you take your extinguisher to be tested, take the unit outside or to their shop, pull the pin and squeeze the lever down until there is no more white powder coming from the nozzle.  This will show you, in a matter of seconds, how fast a unit can be emptied.  While your extinguisher is being refilled, have some baking soda at the ready until your fire extinguisher returns from the shop.  Lastly, explain to all family members over 10 years of age how the extinguisher works.

 In short, select a U.L.-listed, 10lb, ABC-rated fire extinguisher.  Store it properly and train the family how to use it.  Then, have it serviced annually to ensure proper performance.

 While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information presented here is correct, contents and any links are not warranted for accuracy or any other implied or explicit purposes, and are for information only.  Medical or other suitable professionals should be contacted when appropriate.

A crib is a bed for a baby.   A safe haven for an infant.  In spite of that, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) continues to announce periodic recalls for cribs that were poorly manufactured.  An example recall was initiated because the drop-sides on cribs had come loose, resulting in three infant deaths and 20 cases of bruising and falls (one of which involved a broken arm).  The purchasing and use of a crib requires constant parental vigilance.  The following guidelines are offered to assist parents in the purchasing and maintenance of their baby’s crib.

 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is every parent’s nightmare.  Some suggestions to guard against SIDS include buying a tight-fitting mattress and using fitted sheets made just for cribs.  Recent recommendations instruct parents to put the baby on his back covered with a blanket that reaches only to the chest and is tucked under the mattress on each side.  The baby’s feet should be pointing toward the foot of the bed.

 Another option is to consider using a sleeper or swaddling in lieu of a blanket.  Regardless, don’t add pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, pillow-like bumper pads or pillow-like stuffed toys to the crib.  Any of these can potentially cause suffocation. 

 As the baby ages, it is still important to use a tight-fitting mattress to avoid entrapment between mattress and crib slats.  Crib slats should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart so that the baby’s head and body cannot fit between two slats.  Corner posts cannot exceed 1/16^th inch in height to avoid catching the baby’s clothing.  Do not buy or modify a crib to have cutouts in the foot- or head-boards.  An infant’s head can be trapped in such decorations.

 It is paramount that cribs are properly assembled in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.  Once it is assembled and in the nursery, be sure to watch for any rough edges, broken hardware or loose screws or bolts.  This is critical:  some of the reported deaths have resulted from something as simple as two loose screws which allowed the drop-side to move out of position and create a suffocation hazard.  Likewise, broken slats should be replaced immediately.

 Some cribs and playpens are made with mesh sides.  Like cribs with slats, these units must be assembled properly and watched carefully for tears in the mesh or the top rail cover.  If mesh tears develop, the unit must be replaced.  Mesh openings should be less than ¼ inch across so that the small buttons on an infant’s clothing will not be caught.  The mesh must be securely attached to the top rail and floor plate usually with staples.  If so, staples should not be loose or missing.  

 In summary, cribs must be assembled according to the manufacturer’s directions, and be properly maintained throughout its lifespan.  Be especially attentive to loose or damaged parts.  Use a tight-fitting mattress with either a sleeper or a blanket up to the baby’s chest and tucked in on both sides of the mattress.  Stay away from putting pillows, comforters and stuffed toys inside the crib or playpen.  Taking these few guidelines into account will continue to make a crib an infant’s safe haven.  As always, check with your child’s doctor for any recommendations.

 If you’d like more information on baby and child safety, we invite you to join us at www.homesafetytipsforkids.com.

 While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information presented here is correct, contents and any links are not warranted for accuracy or any other implied or explicit purposes, and are for information only.  Medical or other suitable professionals should be contacted when appropriate.