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INJURY PREVENTION:
1. Responsibility
for accident prevention will gradually shift to your child as they grow older. It is still necessary for parents to keep dangerous
and poisonous items out of their 3-year-old's reach and protect him or her from other indoor and outdoor hazards.
2.
Insist that your home and car be smoke free.
3. Begin to teach your child his or her full name, address and phone
number.
4. If bicycling, teach safety rules and insist on helmet use.
5. Continue to use proper car safety
restraints in the back seat of every car trip. A regular automobile safety belt may be used in the back seat between 3 and
4 years of age or at a weight of 40 pounds. The greatest risk to your child's health continues to be motor vehicle accidents.
Remember, it is impossible for you to protect your child during an accident by just holding him or her. Never place your child
in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. The back seat is the safest place for children of any age to ride.
6. Always walk behind your car before backing out of the driveway.
7. If your home uses gas appliances, install
and maintain carbon monoxide detectors.
8. The purchase of a trampoline is not recommended because of the risk of
serious injury.
9. Keep firearms out of the home or in a locked, out of sight container, unloaded.
10. Pools
must be gated. Knowing how to "swim" does not make a child water- safe at this age. Never leave a child unattended in a bathtub,
even for a few seconds. Ensure your child wears a life vest if boating.
11. Be careful of items that can be left at
counter level or elsewhere, such as knives, scissors, cleaning agents, nail polish remover, household repair items, weed killers,
insecticides, gasoline, oil, kerosene, lighter fluid and all medicines. Always keep potentially poisonous things in the original
containers. Never put poisons in food containers or bottles.
12. Keep cooking utensils, hot liquids, knives, and hot
pots on the stove out of reach.
13. Be sure there are no dangling telephone, electrical, blind, or drapery cords in
your home.
14. Keep cigarettes, lighters, matches, alcohol, and electrical tools locked up and/or out of your child's
sight and reach.
15. There is no such thing as a "child proof cap." Ingestion of toxic substances is common at this
age. Keep syrup of Ipecac in the home to be used only as directed by your child's doctor or the poison control center.
16.
Never buy toys or other objects that can cut or ingested. Suffocation by plastic bags and balloons still occurs at this age.
17. Always supervise when your child is playing near a street. Remember, a 3-year-old child does not understand danger
or remembers "no"; your child cannot be counted on to be aware of outside hazards.
18. Be especially careful when
using power lawn mowers and other power tools.
19. Never leave a child unattended in a car or a house.
20.
Test smoke detectors to ensure they are working properly.
21. Continue to use a water proof sunscreen on your child
before going outside. Avoid the hours between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the sun is the most dangerous.
22. Advise your
3-year-old to be careful around strange dogs, especially ones that are eating.
Know where your child is at all times.
She is too young to be roaming the neighborhood alone.
23. Teach your child pedestrian safety skills.
24.
Be sure that your child wears a helmet when riding on a tricycle or in a seat on an adult's bicycle. Wear a helmet yourself.
25. Be sure that playgrounds are safe and carefully maintained. Check for impact- or energy-absorbing surfaces under
playground equipment.
26. Choose caregivers carefully. Talk with them about their attitudes and behavior in relation
to discipline. Do not permit corporal punishment.
27. Begin to teach your child not to talk to strangers.
For more
information visit:
Town and Country Pediatrics!
Bright Futures.Org: 1 to 4 Years Old!
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