Keeping Children Safe

Children’s safety is a top priority for all parents.  It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer number of things to be concerned with when it comes to keeping your child safe. 

You are ever so mindful to follow recommended practices in caring for your child, making your home safe and minimizing potential hazards when your child is outdoors.  You also want to be able to rest assured that your child is safe while in the care of others. This month’s Parent Central Express offers some guidance and suggestions regarding child safety. 

Health Practices That Keep Children Safe

Health is a close partner to safety.  By following good health practices, you keep your child safer and help him to avoid certain illnesses.  Always consult with your child’s doctor when making health choices.

Sleeping:

• Always place infants on their backs when sleeping. It’s been shown that back sleeping reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 

• Keep the baby’s crib free from pillows, stuffed animals or other soft materials.

Vaccinations: 

• Keep your child current on immunizations. Immunizations have proven to protect infants from once-typical and dangerous childhood illnesses.

Hand-washing:

• Use proper hand-washing techniques when diapering and toileting, before and after meal preparation, and teach your young child to do the same. 
• Use soap and warm water while washing your hands for a full minute to reduce the dangers of contamination and infection from germs and bacteria.  If you sing the “happy birthday” song twice while washing hands, you will have spent enough time in the soap and water.

Nutrition/Activities:

• Healthy eating and fitness habits are important for healthy development in children. Make sure your child is getting a variety of foods appropriate for his age.  Your pediatrician will help you with your food choices, but they should include: fruit, vegetables, and protein.
• Children are naturally active, but depending on your child’s personality and your family life habits, the amount of daily activity will vary. Be sure your child gets to move muscles every day.

Preventing Injuries to Children

Most injuries to children occur at home.  You can help protect your child and your family by following standard safety practices in the home and when outdoors. 

Safety in the Home

• Child-proof your home:  Cover electrical outlets, and lock household products and flammable liquids out of way from children.
• Use oven and stove locks in the kitchen: Turn pots on stove so handles are facing away from you when cooking.
• Install and maintain smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in all levels of your home.
• Have a fire extinguisher(s) in your home and know how to use it in case of containable fire. 
• Make a home emergency plan:  Identify emergency exits in your home and plans you and your family have for reacting to emergency situations. Click here for more information on being prepared for these situations.

Outdoor Safety

• Clean play area outdoors:  Remove debris and any unsafe material from the yard or children’s play area.
  Use of playgrounds:  Use playground or play areas with equipment on cushioned ground area to reduce injury in case children fall.
• Wear helmets:  Use helmets when riding bikes, skateboards or other moving toys.
• Use car safety:  Have your child in approved car seats and make sure he is in the back. For older children, sitting in the back of the car is still the safest spot.  And always have children use seatbelts.

Safety in Child Care

Each state sets specific regulations for child care, outlining the minimum requirements for health and safety, as well as requirements regarding provider training and qualifications, and early learning opportunities. NACCRRA recently released a report on state child care center standards, after looking at ten different criteria and ranking the states on their regulations. One of the criteria is “health and safety requirements” and it includes ten items:

• Immunizations,
• guidance/discipline,
• diapering and hand-washing,
• fire drills,
• administration of medication,
• incident reporting,
• putting infants on their backs to sleep,
• hazardous materials,
• safe playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, and
• emergency preparedness. 

(In the report, states earned points for including specific rules regarding these items, and were denied points for having no specific rules about these items.)

Parents, ask potential (and current) child care programs you are considering how their programs address these health and safety areas and make sure you know what their policies and procedures are for addressing each. Knowing what safety and health practices will benefit your child and family is the first step to keeping your child safe in child care.

Parent Central Express is the monthly e-newsletter of Parent Central, a program dedicated to helping parents access information on children’s issues and resources on parenting.  Parent Central is a program of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA).

Keeping Track of Immunizations

To print out an an Immunization Form for your personal use, visit the Washington State forms page.

Pandemic Influenza and You Planning Tips

An influenza pandemic occurs when a new flu virus emerges among humans and spreads easily from person to person.  Because the virus is new to humans, people have little or no immunity to it and the virus spreads worldwide.  It is not possible to predict with certainty when the next flu pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, but the time to plan is now.

In a severe influenza pandemic

• Many people would become sick and would be unable to go to work or to public gatherings;
• Many others would have to stay at home to care for sick family members; and
• Many people would die.

As a result, businesses and schools might close, and basic services, including transportation and food delivery, may be disrupted.

It is important that families and communities be prepared for an influenza pandemic.

You can take some simple steps NOW to prepare

You can:

1. Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water. Use a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Stay away from others when you are sick.  Developing good hygiene habits now could help in the event of an influenza pandemic.
2. Be ready for an emergency. Store a two-week supply of water and food. Have prescription and nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers and cold medicines.
3. Know your community and workplace plans. Find out what your elected officials, workplace, school, congregation and other community groups are doing to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

By taking these steps, you will be better prepared for a pandemic and other emergencies.

It’s important for everyone to know what to do about pandemic flu. For more information on how to protect yourself and your family, visit PandemicFlu.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO. Pandemic flu information taken from the website at http://www.pandemicflu.gov.