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Child safety: How to prevent falls
Keeping your child safe means knowing how to prevent falls. Taking some simple child safety precautions at home and on the go can help reduce your child's risk.
By Mayo Clinic staffEvery parent knows how hard it is to keep a child safe from injuries related to falling. When a baby first learns to walk, preventing falls requires constant supervision. Later, a toddler who's not as likely to fall while walking may tumble during a covert ascent to the cookie jar — and an older child may miscalculate the physics involved in rocketing up a flight of hardwood stairs in socks. Still, there's plenty you can do to promote child safety and prevent injuries from falls.
Child safety at home
At home, child safety hinges on basic precautions. Follow these simple child safety tips:
- Beware of heights. Never leave a baby alone on a bed, changing table or piece of furniture. Use the safety strap on highchairs and other infant seats. Don't allow a young child to play alone on a fire escape, high porch or balcony. Safety netting also may help prevent falls.
- Keep stairs clear. Clutter increases the risk of tripping and falling.
- Install safety gates. Block a toddler's access to stairs with safety gates. If you're putting a safety gate at the top of a staircase, attach it to the wall.
- Keep windows locked and screens in place. A young child may squeeze through a window opened as little as five inches (12.7 centimeters). Although all windows that open should have screens, screens aren't strong enough to keep a child inside. Discourage play near windows and patio doors, which could lead to a fall through glass. Don't store or display anything a child could climb near a window.
- Prevent access to extension cords. It's easy to trip on them.
- Address slippery surfaces. Use a rubber pad in the bathtub to help prevent slipping and clean kitchen spills quickly. Use foam carpet padding, double-sided tape or a rubber pad under area rugs to keep them from sliding.
- Avoid baby walkers. A young child may trip over a baby walker, fall out of the walker or fall down the stairs while using a walker.
Despite your best attempts to promote child safety at home, falls are still possible. To reduce the risk of injury, cover sharp furniture and fireplace corners with corner or edge bumpers.
Next page(1 of 2)
- Keeping kids safe from home falls. National Safety Council. http://www.nsc.org/resources/factsheets/hl/kids_falls.aspx. Accessed Nov. 18, 2008.
- Childproofing your home: 12 safety devices to protect your children. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/grand/12steps/12steps.html. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Policy statement: Shopping cart-related injuries to children. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.aap.org/family/ShoppingCartPolicy.pdf. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Playground injury prevention guide. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00313. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- The injury prevention program: Age-related safety sheets, 6 to 12 months. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.aap.org/family/6to12mo.htm. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Extension cords fact sheet. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/16.html. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Kitchen safety checklist. Home Safety Council. http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/newpdfs/sg_kitchennew_p001.pdf. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Escalator safety. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5111.html. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
