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1. Continue to use proper car safety restraints
in the back seat of every car trip. The greatest risk to your child's health is a motor vehicle accident. Remember, it is
impossible for you to protect your child during an accident by just holding him or her. Never place your child's safety seat
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.
2. Always walk behind your car before backing out of the driveway.
3. Beware of chewing or picking at old
painted surfaces.
4. Keep firearms out of the home or in a locked, out of sight container, unloaded.
5. 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 the child wears a life vest if boating.
6. Falls from kitchen cabinets and down stairs
occur frequently at this age. Never leave a chair in such a position that your child can use it to climb to a dangerously
high place. Guard against falls. Continue to use locked doors or gates at the top and bottom of stairs, and safety locks and
guards on windows. Supervise your child when he is on stairs.
7. Bolt bookcases, dressers, or cabinets to the wall.
8. Keep cooking utensils, hot liquids, knives, and hot pots on the stove out of reach.
9. Be sure there are
no dangling telephone, electrical, blind, or drapery cords in your home.
10. Be careful of items that can be left
at counter level 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 items'
original containers. Never put poisons in food containers or bottles.
11. Be careful what you put in the waste basket
... 2-year-olds love to stick there hands in the trash.
12. There is no such thing as a "child proof cap." Ingestion
of toxic substances is common at this age.
13. Never buy toys or other objects that can cut or be ingested. Suffocation
by plastic bags and balloons occurs at this age.
14. Always supervise when your child is playing near a street. Remember,
a child at this age does not understand danger or remember "no"; they cannot count on being aware of the outside hazards.
15. Be sure that your child wears a helmet if riding in a seat on an adult's bicycle. Wear a helmet yourself.
16.
Be sure that playgrounds are safe and that equipment is in good condition. Check for impact- or energy-absorbing surfaces
under playground equipment. Supervise your child during play.
17. Choose caregivers carefully. Talk with them about
their attitudes and behavior in relation to discipline. Do not permit corporal punishment
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.
Keep Syrup of Ipecac in the home to be used only as directed by your child's doctor or the poison control center. Keep the
phone number of the poison control center near the telephone.
21. Test smoke detectors to ensure they are working
properly.
22. If your home uses gas appliances, install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors.
23. 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.
For more information visit:
Town and Country Pediatrics!
Bright Futures.Org: 1 to 4 Years!
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