You can help keep your child from getting hurt by watching him carefully and making your home safe for him to play and explore. Know where your child is at all times. Make sure relatives and others who care for your child also follow these safety tips. Show
Never Leave Small Children Alone in the Kitchen
Never Leave Small Children Alone in the Bathroom
The safest home is one without a gun. If you do have a gun, lock the unloaded gun in one place and the ammunition somewhere else. Use a safety lock on the gun. Teach your child never to play with guns. Ask if there are guns at the homes your child visits. Water SafetyDrowning is a major cause of death and injury in young children. This is especially true in places like Arizona, where there are a lot of swimming pools. Never leave your child alone near water. Make sure pools are fenced on all sides and the gates are locked. Keep buckets empty and upside down. For information about water safety, contact the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona.
The First Things First Parent Kit was developed in partnership with Health Research for Action/UC Berkeley. © 2018 The Regents of the University of California. Additional video, graphic and other content © 2018 First Things First. All rights reserved.
Your adult-friendly home has many potential hazards for a child. But you can keep your child safe by finding out what the risks are, and then preventing or removing them. But even when you think you’ve removed all the home safety hazards, the reality is that children can still have tumbles and falls. That’s why supervision is one of the keys to child safety at home. Also, as your child grows and learns to climb and open things, you need to be alert for new hazards. You’ll probably need to change the environment to make sure your home is still a safe and creative place to play and explore. And along with supervision and a safe environment, you can also improve home safety by teaching your child about what’s safe and what’s not. If children have a creative space to play and explore, with plenty of interesting things to do and look at, they’ll be less likely to seek their own stimulation by exploring areas you might not want them to get into. Baby furniture and equipmentSafe baby furniture and baby equipment will help to protect your child. Always look for cots, mattresses, portacots and high chairs with the Australian Standards mark. There are no Australian Standards for change tables and safety gates, so it’s important to look carefully at the safety features of any tables and gates you’re interested in. Burns and scalds preventionTo prevent burns, keep your child away from fire and hot surfaces. Keep a close eye on your child whenever they’re near things that can burn – especially around stoves, ovens, microwaves, heaters and other appliances. Hot food and drinks and too-hot baths are a major cause of scalds for babies and children. Here are some simple safety precautions to avoid these risks:
Print out our illustrated guide to burns and scalds first aid for easy reference in an emergency. You can also read more about first aid for burns and scalds. Electrical safetyHere are tips for electrical safety at home:
Falls prevention at homeFalls are the most common cause of injuries and visits to hospital in every age group. You can help to keep your child safe by watching the new skills they’re learning, and the new places they can reach – and then adjusting your home. For example:
Don’t leave babies unattended on raised surfaces like change tables, sofas or beds. Babies might roll or wriggle off and fall. Furniture safetyChildren can be seriously injured if furniture tips and falls on top of them. Here are ways to reduce the risk of this happening:
Glass safetyWhen children are running around at home, it’s easy for them to run into glass windows and doors. Here are tips to keep your child safe around glass:
Household tools and backyard safetySome simple precautions can help you keep your child safe around household tools and other backyard safety hazards:
House firesHouse fires can be caused by cooking accidents, smouldering cigarettes, electrical faults, candles, incense and children playing with lighters and matches. Working smoke alarms are an essential fire safety precaution. By law your home must have at least one working smoke alarm installed on each level. For overall fire safety at home, you should install a smoke alarm outside the sleeping areas of your home. It’s also a very good idea to install alarms in bedrooms where people sleep with their doors closed. Test your smoke alarms every month and replace batteries each year. Replace the smoke alarms themselves every 10 years. Poisoning preventionPoisoning is one of the leading causes of injury to children under five, and children are often poisoned by common household chemicals and medicines. You can make your child’s environment safer by:
If you think your child has been poisoned, call the Poisons Information Centre on 131 126. Strangulation and suffocation preventionMany homes have everyday items that could strangle or suffocate a child. These items include soft toys and bedding, blinds, cords and ropes, and bags, boxes and packaging. Here are some essential safety tips to keep your child safe from suffocation and strangulation:
Water safetyWater safety depends on 100% active adult supervision whenever your child is around water. This includes around baths, pools, ponds, dams, rivers, creeks, baths and buckets with water. If you have a pool, by law you must have a pool fence and self-locking gate that meets Australian Standard AS:1926. Regularly check and maintain the pool fence and gate to make sure it’s in proper working order. Never leave the gate propped open. For bath safety, always supervise and give your full attention to babies and children under five years in the bath. Never leave children alone in the bath or bathroom. Never leave older children or siblings to supervise. Print out our illustrated guide to indoor safety and our illustrated guide to outdoor safety for more tips. CPR and first aidIt’s a very good idea to do some first aid and CPR training. First aid training is recommended every three years, and CPR training is recommended every year. You can do training with organisations like the Royal Life Saving Society, the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Australia. Keep first aid kits in your home and car, and take a kit on holidays too. Print out our illustrated guides to CPR for children under one year, CPR for children over one year, choking first aid for children under one year and choking first aid for children over one year. Emergency numbersMake a list of emergency numbers to keep near your telephone. Below are some suggestions for numbers to include:
Need more information on child safety? Contact Kidsafe or the child safety centres or child health promotion units at the major children’s hospital in the capital city of your state or territory. |