Safety First

It is a beautiful time of year to play outdoors but with these activities comes a responsibility to keep the children as safe as possible. There are several areas to discuss: playground safety, stranger danger, pool safety and simple outdoor rules.

First, playgrounds/parks are a wonderful place to take children of all ages and the Triangle has many available, but they can also be dangerous. It is important that children play on the appropriate part of the playground. Most parks have a toddler/baby section where smaller children can play without fear of falling off the bigger equipment or being accidentally knocked down by an older child. There are also baby swings which children up to the age of 2-3 (depending on the size of the child) should stay in.

Even the older children need constant supervision. They could easily fall off of the monkey bars or hurt themselves going down the slide the wrong way. The most important part about being a caretaker is to ensure safety of the child. It isn’t always convenient or fun to follow them all over the park, but it is important.

Second, stranger danger is a concern no matter where you are, but public places with many children are a greater risk. Make sure that you have spoken with the child about not speaking with or getting in a car with anyone but your list of trusted adults. There is a wonderful video titled STRANGER DANGER: The Safe Side Stranger Safety that explains on a child’s level the possible threat of strangers. This video can be purchased at amazon.com. Also, when at a public venue such as a park, make sure the children stay where you can see them at all times. This will lessen the likelihood of anything happening to them.

Third, pool safety is incredibly important. According to Poseidon-tech.com, 26% of deaths of children ages 1-4 are caused by accidental drowning. If you have a pool, make sure there is a gate around it that is locked at all times. Also, when taking a child swimming, make sure they are never out of your sight and are always wearing a floating device (if they cannot swim.) Another good rule is to not allow running around the pool so that there is a smaller chance of them falling in and hitting their head. If possible, it is a great idea to be CPR and First Aid trained. This can be done through the local Red Cross. Dates of certification and other information can be found at www.redcross.org.

Lastly, there are a few basic rules to providing a safe environment. One, in the spring and summer especially, make sure that they are always wearing sunscreen when outdoors for extended periods of time. Two, the mosquitoes are awful this time of year, so spray them with bug spray when leaving the house to play outside. Three, it is always a good idea to keep a basic first aid kit in your car. You can buy a very simple one at Wal-Mart for $5 that contains band aids, gauze, and a disinfectant.

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2012 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Raleigh Nanny & Babysitting Blog, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.