Play Safety

Drowning

• More than 1400 children and teens die from drowning in the U.S. each year.
• Have your child take swim lessons but not before they are old enough which is usually at age 4 or 5.
• Children should never be allowed to swim unsupervised.
• If you have a pool then you should install an approved safety cover for the pool. You should keep a long pole and Coast Guard approved flotation device at the poolside. Have phone handy for emergency purposes.
• Fences around pools should be at least four feet tall. They should have no openings in the fence greater than four inches wide. They should go all around the pool and separate the pool from the house.
• Also, the pool should have a gate which is self-closing and self-latching and opens away from the pool.
• Younger children can drown in bathtubs, toilet bowels, pails of water, "kiddie" pools, or any standing water.
• Take a CPR class and be familiar with first aid. The American Red Cross offers courses in the community.

Bicycle Safety

• Children and adults should wear bicycle safety helmets. This is the law in many states.
• Children less than nine years old should ride their bikes on bike paths and sidewalks only. Do not allow them to ride their bikes in the street. Do not allow them to ride after dark.
• Children from one to fours years old may ride in a rear-mounted seat on your bicycle. Or they can ride in attached bicycle trailers with mounted safety flags. Make sure they wear a helmet. Children should not be carried in a front-pack or back-pack on a bicycle.
• Children under one year old should not ride with you on your bicycle.

Pedestrian Safety

• Children 7 and younger always need supervision when crossing the street. Older children need assistance in crossing busy streets.
• Teach your children safe street-crossing skills. Stop at the curb, edge of the road, or at the outside edge of a parked car. Look left-right-left before stepping into the street. Wait for cars to pass. Then to look again left-right-left. Cross only when the road is clear of any traffic.
• Know the routes that your children walk including those to school. Tell them to avoid constructions sites, railroad tracks, highways, remote areas, warehouses and abandoned houses.

Toys and Recreational Equipment

• Avoid choking hazards for younger children. Look at the label on the toy. It will tell you what age the child should be to play with the toy.
• Watch out for some parts of toys which can come off and fit into your child's mouth, nose, or ear. They can choke or strangle your child. These include: springs, gears, ribbons, strings, wires, lead paint, glass, buttons, removable and breakable parts, and balloons.
• Scooters and rollerblades can be dangerous. Children should always wear appropriate protective gear while riding bikes, scooters, and using rollerblades.
• Do not buy trampolines. Children have hurt their spinal cords and have become paralyzed because of use and misuse of trampolines.
• Children and all terrain vehicles do not mix. Children have died when ATV's have overturned and fallen on them.

Adapted from Healthy Steps. Edited and Compiled by the Center for Promotion of Child Development Through Primary Care 2011