It’s never too early to start thinking about safety.

If you are planning/pregnant, you are probably already wondering about what you need to do, any adjustments that you may need to make to keep your baby safe.

If you already have a baby or even older child, here are things to consider:

• Attend a CPR course to learn how to deal with emergency situations, including how to give mouth-to-mouth and CPR to an infant. You can attend a course already being offered or you can schedule a private class at home & have other parents-to-be attend. You can also invite grandparents, aunts & uncles or any other caregiver who may be caring for your child to attend. Click here to consult our 411 directory as to where to find CPR instructors

• Check out & stay up to date with Health Canada’s recommendations for Infant & Toddler safety

• Note that Health Canada recommends against the use of bumper pads
• HEALTH CANADA HAS GUIDELINES FOR CRIB, CRADLE & BASSINET SAFETY. CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFO
• Note that Health Canada recommends against the use of Walkers of any kind- risk of falling down stairs & of child accessing things he might not otherwise have reached (e.g. reaches tablecloth- pulls it down glass vase & other sharp objects come crashing to floor)

• NEVER leave baby unbuckled in infant seat– even if she is sleeping in her seat on the floor. Why?

• You may, in a haste, pick up the seat without remembering it’s not buckled,
• someone may trip over the seat & baby can fly out-
• if you try to pick up the seat, even carefully,& the handle is not ‘locked’ into position-baby flies out-many such injuries occur annually- JUST KEEP BUCKLED BABY UP!

• Install your car seat properly, this includes, if necessary, getting into the seat yourself, (on your knees- or just one knee depending on what fits) when attaching the seat- this ensures that the air in the seat of the actual car will escape & that the infant car seat will be more securely attached.

• You may be thinking about safety-proofing your home- see GEAR for products & retailers.

• Things you will need to assess are:

• How many electrical outlets are child-accessible (once baby starts crawling, walking)?
• Are there any loose wires hanging around? (these can be attached to walls or mouldings using wire clips)
• What types of plants do I have in my house (some are poisonous to young children!)
• Doors- can baby’s fingers get trapped?
• Space between doors & floors (My son butterflied his toe open when it got caught underneath a bathroom door that had maybe 1/4″ space between it & the marble sill).
• Space between spindles on railings
• Height of railings
• Where do I keep my cleaning products- Can I place them higher or lock them up?
• Stairs- where are they and how do I block them off?
• Toilets- will I need toilet locks? Yes, some babies have crawled in…potentially fatal, G-d Forbid.
• Do I have a front loading washer or dryer? If so, can my child crawl in and/or start the machine?
• Be aware of choking & strangulation hazards. Make sure your older children are aware and keep them out of reach .

RECALLS

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Do you have any safety tips?  Please share in the comments section if you do!

Thanks 🙂

Tanya