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Practical information on how to keep our children and our family safe from common injuries at home or outside the house. K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e
Safety tips for New babies (birth to 6 months)
New babies need special protection from: Safety check
Car seat safety
For more information, turn over this page Keep Your Kids Safe is a series of fact sheets about children under 5. These are produced by Safe Kids Canada, Safe Start, and the Canadian Institute of Child Health, based on materials by Safe Start. For more information, call 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca.
Learn how to keep your new baby
safe from injury
Safety tips for New babies (birth to 6 months)
Falls Keep one hand on your baby during diaper changes. This will keep him or her from rolling off the bed or change table. Keep diapers and clothing within easy reach of the changing area. Make sure the sides of the crib or playpen are up securely.
Burns and scalds
Poisoning
Keep poisons out of your baby’s reach. This includes medicine, cleaning products, cigarettes, and alcohol. If your doctor has said to give medicine to your baby, check the label and measure the medicine every time you give it to your baby. Be ready for an emergency Keep emergency numbers near your telephone (fire department, poison control, ambulance).
K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e
As babies grow and learn new skills, they can move faster and reach higher. This means that your baby can get into danger very quickly. Older babies need special protection from:
Safety check
Car seat safety
For more information, turn over this page Keep Your Kids Safe is a series of fact sheets about children under 5. These are produced by Safe Kids Canada, Safe Start, and the Canadian Institute of Child Health, based on materials by Safe Start. For more information, call 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca.
Learn how to keep your new baby
safe from injury
K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e
Safety tips for Older babies (6 to 12 months)
Falls
Use safety gates at the top and bottom of
stairs to stop your baby from falling. Make
sure that gates at the top of your stairs are
anchored to the wall or banister. Do not use
a pressure gate at the top of stairs. This type
of gate could fall over if your child leans on it.
Do not use a baby walker with wheels. Falls
involving baby walkers can cause serious head
injuries. Use a stationary activity centre
without wheels instead.
Use the safety strap in the high chair to keep
your baby from falling out. Do not let your
baby stand up in a high chair or climb up the
sides of the chair.
Make sure there is no furniture near windows
or balcony rails. Your baby could climb on
the furniture and fall out.
Put window guards on all windows on the
second floor and above. These act like a
gate in front of the window. Or fasten the
windows so that they cannot open more
than 10 centimetres (4 inches). The window
screen will not stop your child from falling.
Choking and suffocation
Keep small objects out of your baby’s reach.
Cords from curtains and blinds can strangle
your baby. Tie cords up where your baby
cannot reach them, or cut them off.
Home safety tips
Use outlet caps and plug covers to protect
your baby from electrical shocks. Do not let
your baby put cords in his or her mouth.
Make sure bookcases, lamps, televisions, and
K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e
Safety tips for Toddlers (1 and 2 years old) Children this age are busy, curious, and full of energy. Around their first birthday, most babies learn to walk. During the next months, they will learn to run and climb, and to open doors, drawers, and bottles. This means that your toddler can now get into places and things that used to be out of reach. Toddlers are too young to understand or remember about danger. Supervise your child carefully. Make your home a safe place for him or her to explore.
Safety check
Car seat safety
For more information, turn over this page Keep Your Kids Safe is a series of fact sheets about children under 5. These are produced by Safe Kids Canada, Safe Start, and the Canadian Institute of Child Health, based on materials by Safe Start. For more information, call 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca.
Learn how to keep your new baby
safe from injury
In the kitchen
Many cleaning products and medicines could
poison your toddler. Keep these things locked up,
where your child cannot reach them. Keep your
child safely out of the way when you are using
poisonous products. Keep your child safely out of the way when you
are cooking or making hot drinks.
Keep the cords from electrical appliances where
your child cannot reach them. Do not let them
hang over the edge of the counter or table. Your
child could pull on them and be scalded by the
hot food or liquid in the appliance (such as a
kettle).
Cut hard or solid foods such as raw fruits and
vegetables into very small pieces. Cut hot dogs
into long thin strips, and then into small pieces.
Do not give toddlers nuts, hard candy, popcorn
or gum. Feed children while they are sitting
down, not when they are walking or running
Around the house Watch out for things that could choke your child. Your toddler loves to put things in his or her mouth. Some examples of small things to keep out of reach are:
Keep hot drinks away from your child.Use a cup with a lid when you are drinking
something hot.
Use safety gates at the top and bottom of
stairs.
In the bedroom
Before he or she is tall enough to climb over the
crib rails, move your toddler out of a crib and
into a larger bed.
Keep your child’s furniture, including his or her
bed, away from windows. That way, your child
cannot climb on the furniture and fall out the
window.
Put a window guard in front of your child’s
window so he or she cannot fall out. Or fasten
the window so that it does not open more than
10 centimetres (4 inches). A window screen will
not keep your child from falling out.
Going out
Use a safety strap to keep your toddler sitting
down in a shopping cart. Use a safety strap in
the stroller as well.
Always supervise toddlers near ponds, pools,
ditches, and at the beach. Never leave your
young child alone near water or in water. For more information, call Safe Kids Canada at 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca
K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e
Safety tips for Preschoolers (3 to 5 years old) Children from age 3 to 5 can begin to learn about safety, but they do not always understand or remember safety rules. Children this age still need adults to supervise them carefully. Preschoolers need special protection from:
Safety check
Did you know?
For more information, turn over this page Keep Your Kids Safe is a series of fact sheets about children under 5. These are produced by Safe Kids Canada, Safe Start, and the Canadian Institute of Child Health, based on materials by Safe Start. For more information, call 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca.
Learn how to keep your new baby
safe from injury
K e e p Y o u r K i d s S a f e Safety tips for Preschoolers (3 to 5 years old)Other tips
Watch your child closely when he or she is near water. Never leave a child under 5 alone in water or near water. This includes the bathtub. Always supervise your child around animals. Children under 4 have a high risk of choking. Do not give them:
In the car
Preschool children need either a car seat or
booster seat to ride safely in the car.
Your child needs a car seat until he or she
reaches 18 kilograms (40 pounds).
Once your child is over 18 kilograms
Always take your child with you if you need to leave the car. At the playground Keep children under 5 off equipment that is higher than 1.5 metres (5 feet). Make sure equipment has good handrails, barriers, and railings. Stand right beside your child when he or she is climbing, riding in a swing, or playing on equipment above the ground. You should be close enough to stop him or her from falling. The ground should be covered with soft rubber mats or lots of sand, pea gravel, or wood chips. This helps protect your child if he or she falls. Check your child before you go to the playground. Take off anything that could strangle him or her. This includes strings, drawstrings, scarves, bike helmets, and skipping ropes. On a tricycle Preschoolers should ride tricycles, not two-wheeled bikes. They should be supervised by an adult at all times. Do not allow your preschooler to ride his or her tricycle on the road. Choose a tricycle that is the right size for your child. He or she should be able to put feet flat on the ground when sitting on the seat. Make sure your child wears a bicycle helmet specially designed for this age group. Check for the label that says it is approved by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
For more information, call Safe Kids Canada at 1 888 SAFE TIPS or visit www.safekidscanada.ca
Rear-facing Car Seats
Use a rear-facing infant car seat until your baby is at least 1 year old and weighs at least 20 pounds (9kg). These car seats face the back of the vehicle. Rear-facing car seats are designed especially to protect vulnerable and developing parts of the baby's body including a soft skull, a developing spinal cord and bones that are not fully formed until at least 1 year of age. In a crash, your baby will be protected in a rear-facing car seat because the strongest part of his or her body at this stage in life, the back, will be able to withstand the strong force of the crash.
For an infant, whose neck and head are heavy and large, the impact of a sudden stop or collision could be catastrophic if restrained in the forward-facing seat. The head would be propelled forward – in a forward facing seat – resulting in injuries to the spinal cord and brain stem.
At this stage of child passenger safety, age is the most important factor in making your decision. Research shows that children under 1 year of age, who are turned forward facing too early, are more likely to have severe or fatal injuries in a crash than children who are 1 year or older and are riding forward facing in a crash. It is important that you know the height and weight limits of your car seat. Always read the instructions to know when you have to move your child to another seat based on the manufacturer’s recommendations for height and weight limits for your seat.
If your baby grows too big for the infant car seat before he or she is 1 year old, switch to a convertible car seat that can be used in the rear-facing position and later in the forward facing position. These seats have higher height and weight limits for the rear-facing position (up to 30 –35 pounds or 14-16 kg).
Use a rear-facing car seat with harness straps for as long as your child is within the height or weight limits of the car seat. For specific information on infant and convertible rear-facing seats, click here to see the Safe Kids Canada’s Car and Booster Seat Listing. This will provide you with height and weight recommendations for each seat from the seat manufacturer.
Securing Your Child in the Rear-Facing Car Seat
Make sure the harness is tight and lie flat against your child's body. You should be able to put only one finger between your child's chest and the harness.
Most car seats come with a chest clip to keep the harness straps in place. Chest clips should be positioned on the harness straps, high on your child’s chest, at the level of the child's armpit. Check the car seat instructions to make sure the harness straps are threaded through the car seat correctly.
The seat belt or LATCH anchors, also called Universal Anchorage System (UAS), should hold your child's car seat so that it does not move much from side to side or front to back (no more than 2.5 cm or 1 in.). To test your seat, hold it where the seat belt or anchors connect to the car seat and try to move it from side to side and front to back. For more information on LATCH, click here.
Never put a rear-facing seat in a front seat that has an air bag. All children 12 years of age or younger should ride in the back seat. It is generally the safest place in the vehicle. Add-on devices such as bunting bags and head huggers are not recommended. Use extra blankets on top of a child who is already secured with the harness. A rolled receiving blanket will support your baby’s head safely. Click here to go to the Transport Canada Web site for more information.
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