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Child Safety Tips
- Do not under any circumstance leave a child without adult supervision in a car in warm weather. Cars heat up at alarming speeds and children and babies have died in overheated cars.
- Do not keep unattended pails of water in your home if you have young children. Young children often try to play with water and they sometimes fall into pails intended to clean the floors. Five gallon containers, which are frequently reused in homes, are particularly dangerous because they are very sturdy and when a young child falls into the container, the containers often won't tip over to release the child. Children have accordingly become trapped and have drowned in small amounts of water or substances stored in these containers.
- Never leave a child unattended in a bathtub or near a swimming pool. In the time a person walks away to answer the telephone or answer the doorbell, a young child can drown in a bathtub filled with a small amount of water or can drown in a swimming pool.
- Never fill a bathtub while your child is in the bathtub and never leave the child unattended when the bathtub is filling up. Run the water first and then test the water temperature on your own skin before you put your child in the bathtub. In some older homes, the water temperature changes drastically without advance notice and the child may be injured.
- Never pour water that you have just heated on the stove directly on your child. Fill the bath first and test the temperature first before placing your baby in the water.
- Always seek medical attention immediately if your child has been burned. Do not put ointments of any kind on the wounds without first seeking medical advice. Some ointments make the pain worse for the child because they hold in the heat.
- Ensure that your child knows who will be picking him/her up from school/ daycare and not to go home with anyone else who may claim to have been sent to pick up the child.
- Tell the school / daycare the names of the individuals who have permission to pick up your child.
- Establish a password for anyone who may be sent to pick your child up from school / daycare. If the person appears and claims they have your permission to pick up your child, that person should know the password. You may give the password to the child's school / daycare.
- Establish a secret code that your child can use if he/she needs your help. It may be something like "Can we go swimming when I see you" if you know your child dislikes swimming or it may just be an unusual word that can easily be put in a sentence.
- Ensure that your children know that they should not approach a car when a stranger:
- Calls out asking for directions
- Asks for help finding a lost kitten or dog
- Asks the child to get in the stranger's car or walk with the stranger for any reason.
- Have Child yell "Stranger!" or "You're not my Mommy [Daddy}!"
- Ensure that your children know that they have your permission to ignore strangers' requests and that they should quickly get away from the stranger and tell you, a police officer, teacher or a trusted adult what happened as soon as possible.
- Teach your child that they have permission to say no to an adult if the adult is asking them to do something, which makes them feel uncomfortable.
- Teach your child the difference between a good touch and a bad touch and to report bad touches to his/her parent or teacher or another adult who the child feels comfortable telling.
- Tell your children to tell you immediately if someone asks them or orders them to do something, which makes them feel uncomfortable.
- Ask your children to tell you about their day. Ensure that they know they can talk to you about anything.
- If your child has seen the same person in multiple places and the person has done something, which has made your child feel uncomfortable, find out more. Child molesters typically stalk children. Tell your children that they should always tell a teacher or day care provider or you if a stranger has approached them or has been hanging around a schoolyard or daycare.
- Most child molesters and adult rapists know their victims. Do not immediately discount information given by your child because the person your child is accusing has always been nice to you and you do not think that person could do something like your child is describing.
- Many people work with children because they care about children but keep in mind that child molesters sometimes purposely take jobs which will bring them in frequent contact with children (school bus drivers, ice cream truck drivers, baseball team coach.) Accordingly if your child says something is happening that makes them feel uncomfortable, do not discount the information because of the suspect's profession.
- Talk to your child about drugs and alcohol and teach your child how to say no when approached
- Do not leave a child unattended when space heaters are being used.
- Ensure that your fire alarms are in working order and that the batteries have not run out.
- Ensure that electrical fan blades are adequately covered to avoid injuries.
- If you have young children, cover unused electrical outlets with childproof caps.
- Talk to your pediatrician to find out what types of foods are appropriate for your child's age. Ensure that the food is cut up into small enough pieces to avoid choking problems.
- Do not keep any medication, cleaning fluids or poisonous substances within your child's reach.
- Ensure that your children know that they should never tell a stranger or a person who has made them feel uncomfortable that they are alone at home. They can say that their mother or father just can't come to the telephone or the door right then or that they are busy working on something in the house so they can't talk at that time.
- Never keep guns within a child's reach. If you have a gun at home, it should only be kept in a locked closet or containers. Children sometimes play with toy guns and do not always know the difference between a toy and real gun.
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