Summer Dangers for Children

Children look forward all year and count down the days until school ends and summer break begins.Parents also look forward to spending quality time with their children during the summer months.Plans are made for swimming, picnics, family cookouts, vacations, and weeks at camp.It is intended to be a time for relaxation for the whole family.Unfortunately, summer time activities come with risks for children.Pediatrics journal reports avoidable injuries as the leading cause of child death.Children are exposed to several injury risks during the summer, which are preventable by parents.Make sure the following is done to protect your children:

1. Drowning: To prevent drowning accidents, children should take swimming lessons even at a young age. Other methods of prevention including constructing a fence around large background pools and requiring children to wear life jackets in deeper water. Nothing, however, is as sure a prevention as supervision by parents.
2. Burns: To prevent burns, parents can install stove-guards. Home smoke alarms should also be maintained in good working order and children should know the plan in case there is a fire emergency. Once again, parental supervision, helps prevent burns when it comes to summer campfires and barbecues.
3. Falls: Close to 3 million children a year are injured by falls. Guardrails, stair gates, highchairs with safety belts, and changing diapers on the floor as opposed to a table can prevent injuries in infants and toddlers. For older children, bicycle helmets are a must to prevent traumatic brain injury, which may result from a fall.
4. Car Accidents: Infants and children should be placed in car seats even for short car rides. The best place for the car seat is in the middle of the back seat. For older children up to age 13, the back seat is still the safest place to avoid injuries from front seat airbags. Use of seat belts reduces the risk of death from car accidents by 45%.
5. Poisonings: Out of the more than 300 children who are treated each day for poisonings, two will die. Parents should be aware of the items which could poison children, including citronella oil from Tiki torches, cosmetics, household cleaners, and medicines.