Housing assessment test: Does our child live in a safe environment?

Dropping, kneeling, jumping, or pushing each other. Turning, choking. Eating what is not for food. Playing with your own pet without knowing the rules of the animal's game. Leaving without adult supervision. To protect children from injury, parents need to be aware of the risks involved. True, not everyone can predict. However, much can be prevented! Therefore, parents need to be purposefully educated on how to protect their child's health and even life.

BED PLACE

1. Away from heaters and windows! Cradles or cots for babies, and especially babies under one year of age, should be placed in a room far away from the window and radiator, oven masonry, etc. It is best to put the crib against the opposite wall. In young children, the body's thermoregulation is not yet mature, and the external environment has a very direct effect on the child's body temperature. The small one can easily overheat or cool down.
2. In bed - nothing superfluous! When the baby is sleeping in his cradle or cot, everything that has to be removed must be removed from it - toys, including teddy bears, pillows, towels, mops, a bottle, and everything else that does not have to be there while the baby is asleep. This is especially true for babies between two and three months of age. The baby is not yet able to bend, turn or tilt his head if something obscures his airways. And this is especially dangerous - sudden death syndrome, which is also associated with congenital problems, also tends to occur due to excess items left in the crib. Such disasters do not have to happen.
3. Bed edgings are flexible! It is great that the hard slats of the crib are covered with a soft coating or so-called edging, but you should definitely not use very soft, padded edging. The edges must be flexible and at the same time strong enough. If the baby moves his face very close to the rim, then too padded will make it difficult to breathe, because he will be submissive and take the shape of the baby's face. Therefore, it is necessary to assess whether in a situation when the little one has turned too close to the edge, his nose and mouth will have a place to take a deep enough breath.
4. On the side or on the back! A child under the age of three months may only be on his / her punch when the adult is next door and watching the baby. When putting the child to sleep or leaving him alone for a while, the very young child should be placed on his side or on his back, just as when the parents go to bed themselves. If the baby is on his stomach and gets tired (and it happens fast), he will support his head with his face in bed. Until about three months of age, the baby cannot consciously turn his head sideways to breathe freely, so there is a high risk of suffocation.
5. Cover properly! The main condition is to leave the child's face and the front of the neck free so that the edge of the blanket does not reach the child's mouth or even the nose.
6. Changing table. No matter how small and seemingly helpless a child is, he should not be left unattended for a moment on the changing table! Neither do newborns - even they move briskly! - and also an infant who does not yet know how to wean, no. The changing tables are so high that the baby has a serious head injury - the baby's skull is as fragile as an eggshell, and it is a relatively heavier part of the body, so if the baby falls, it is usually on the head. A height of 30 centimeters is enough for a child to break a skull! Therefore, before caring for the baby on the changing table, it is necessary to make sure that everything you need is at your fingertips - diapers, wet wipes, socks, etc.
7. Beds nearby than superfluous! Whenever possible, no other furniture or objects should be placed near the cot so that they cannot be reached by putting the hand through the slats. Especially when the little one is already getting up, holding on to the crib. Both the wardrobe, the chest of drawers, and the items placed on it, including the floor lamps, can fall on the child's bed. As a young researcher grows up, he starts to be interested in everything around him, which he wants to feel, see and also taste!
8. Movable rocking chair. They usually seem to be stable enough to be placed on a ground table and leave your baby there while we prepare to eat or do other household chores right next door. It's not safe! There are cases when a child with a whole rocking chair has fallen from a very stable surface. Don't make a mistake if you place the mobile rocking chair with your baby on the floor. Of course, at a safe distance from the place where you are preparing lunch for the family so that something does not slip, fall or crack the fat.

WINDOWS, WINDOWS, BALCONY

Fresh air at home is good for health, but care must be taken to ensure that the windows are safe for children - openable in ventilation mode, as well as such that the little one would not be able to open the window himself. Never leave a child unattended by an open window! Especially if there is a table, chair, or anything else near the window where the little one can climb to get to the windowsill.

Look out! A mosquito net glued in front of the window will not be able to hold the child if he falls. If you tear off the glued edge, you can clearly see how easily the net comes off.

KITCHEN

1. At the stove carefully! When preparing a meal on the stove, remember - the handle of the pan or pot should be turned away from you whenever they are left unattended. The child likes to imitate his parents, so the interest in the handle and the food left in the bowl can be immeasurable. In addition, sometimes parents underestimate their baby because it seems wrong - he will not be able to present it yet! Kids are really growing fast. However, if the contents of the hot food are poured on the child, it can turn into a great misfortune - any burn equal to or larger than the victim's own wrist size can become especially dangerous to health.
2. Do not hold the baby on your lap while drinking coffee! Do not keep children on your lap while enjoying hot food or drinks! Also, those babies are still very small and seemingly immobile. This is one moment when a situation that has just calmed down can become an injury to both the child and the parent.

Bathroom

1. D o not leave unattended in the bath! A child should not be left unattended for a moment, not even under the supervision of a little older siblings - they will not be able to immediately appreciate that the youngest brother or sister choked with water or even gagging can be perceived as a joke.
2. Check the water! Unless the bath already has an indicator showing a sad red or smiling green face, the water temperature should be checked with a special thermometer. The parent can also rely on their feelings, but then it should be done with the elbow, where the skin is more sensitive - if the parent will like the water temperature, then the child can also safely bathe. If the water in the bath is mixed by boiling it on the stove, then always pour cold and first hot water in the bath - if you go in the reverse order, the child, unaware of the situation, can get into the hot unexpectedly.
3. Be careful with the washing machine! It is safer to keep the washing machine door closed. A small child can put his head in the tank of a washing machine to see what is there and accidentally push his head there. The baby's movements are not yet coordinated enough to be able to react adequately and release the door in case of discomfort or pain. The opposite may even happen - that the little one gets confused and pushes them even harder.
4. Household chemicals, medicines, cosmetics

All household hazardous substances - cosmetics, household chemicals, batteries, sharps, as well as small, fragile items and medicines must be kept out of the reach of children. If the medicine is kept in a handbag, it must also be out of reach of the child.

Practical advice! Dangerous things

always place the shelf higher than what the parent

considers unattainable for the child.

TV and household appliances

Main conditions - Do not place the large TV or computer monitor on a cabinet, table, or chest of drawers with castors at the bottom, or close to the edge (this also applies to furniture without castors). If a child sees his favorite cartoon character on the screen or just thinks about getting to know this big and unknown miracle in the same way, he will definitely try to get there by moving the unstable furniture very easily and tipping over the TV or computer placed on it. Look out! Stable furniture should be chosen so that the heavy objects placed on it are also as stable as possible and do not endanger the child.

Sockets, electrical appliances They must be out of reach of children and electrically safe - naked or otherwise damaged power cords endanger not only the child but also other householders. On the other hand, the sockets within reach of the child should have safety gates or special stoppers available in stores, so that the child cannot put his finger or a narrower object in the socket slot that is so interesting to him while playing. If a child has an object in his hand, the physical characteristics of which will allow it to be inserted into the socket hole, such a dangerous idea may soon enter his mind.

Stairs in the house They should have handrails, but the units forming the handrail structure should be frequent enough so that there is no large gap where the child can put his head or even get through completely and get stuck or worse - fall. The recommended width of the handrail gaps for safety is 10 centimeters. Both ends of the stairs, both below and above, must be enclosed by a fence, the mechanism of which is so complicated that the child cannot open it himself. It is also important to remember the anti-slip elements built into the stairs - sandpaper-like lines so that the child (and other householders) do not slip and fall off with slippers or socks.

The front door of the house is closed. Always! When a child enters the family, the door should also be locked in a private home, even if this has not been done before. What's more, the key must be removed from the door, because it is natural for a child to imitate adults and try everything they can. Curiosity can tempt the little one further, but the next step can be life-threatening, such as a staircase.

Friendship with a pet From an early age, a child should be taught a safe relationship with a pet. Also, the adult must always be present when the child is in contact with the pet. Most often because it is the child who can come up with various entertainment that the pet may not like or scare him. It is only logical that the animal will try to defend itself, as it knows it.