Please post about safety issues here...

[SnowBirdie]

We want to gather articles you have seen/experiences you have had about safety matters. this includes everything from carseats, childproofing, (including what you wish you had done), safety equipment, links to product recall sites, etc., and please title any links you include.

you can really make a difference in this section, so please include anything you can think of that might help. :)

[Frenchy]

I am working :para, really I am.... So I am just going to post links for now

http://www.babyproofingdirectory.com/ This is a great site for children's safety. It provides great tips for babyproofing your home as well as travel tips, pet and toy safety.

http://www.cpsc.gov/ US consumer product safety Comission- check for safety recalls here

[Chaser]

Magnetix - I think it was posted on our old board about the kid's toy- Magnetix. If you have older kids, put these away or be REALLY careful with infants/toddlers, because the little magnet pieces are very easy to swallow. A little boy swallowed a few, it pinched his intestines closed and he unfortunately died from complications of it. I'm even leary of the fridge magnets, because my 18 month old son can pry the magnet pieces out. Little Leap makes some great fridge magnets that are impossible to swallow.

[I Am Schmoopie]

I will give a brief WHY YOU NEED to childproof story:

My kiddos like so many others really love to explore the kitchen. For the longest time, they left the cabinets alone. But once they discovered them, that was it!

They loved to open the doors and look at all of the goodies. I immediately sorted out what I thought to be the most dangerous things. I went and bought the child proof latches, and told DH he needed to put them on. A couple of weeks went by with no latches, so I opened the box and put them all out on the counter. Amazingly, a couple more weeks went by with no latches. So, one day I tried to put them on. I smashed my thumb - no latches. Darn!!!

One day, Chase opened up the cabinet door. He was looking at the bottom shelf... and mind you, this was a "safe" cabinet where I had taken out the "dangerous" stuff. Well, he spied the formula can.....the VERY large - over 3lbs from Sam's Club - and very FULL can of formula. He pulled it out with one hand.... and went BAM onto the pointer finger of his little hand.

He screamed and cried and dripped blood for an hour. We finally got him calm and the blood finally stopped. But it kept bleeding over the next 24 hours so we had to take him to Urgent Care (of course this was on a weekend!). The doctor assured us he hadn't broken anything, but he did have a terrible bruise in the nail and on the pad of his finger. Then he lost the ENTIRE nail.

Moral of the story - buy the latches and USE them ... before the babies go looking through the cabinets!!

[I Am Schmoopie]

Also, I recommend the following site for a really great array of childproofing products:

www.onestepahead.com

[Frenchy]

Cut the tags off all the toys!! My daughter loves those lamaze stuffed animals, she is constantly flailing them around. One day she had a red spot on her eye that would not go away, when we took her to the DR they said that she cut her eye and said that it is very common in babies. I went home and the paper tags of all of thier animals and toys.

[SnowBirdie]

wow..thanks for the info and wisdom! those are some sad and scary stories, and i know they will help some other child from being hurt! :)

[Twintastic]

I am up to this point in submissions

[Sarabela]

Car seat safety tips and links:

It is estimated that over 80% of all car seats are installed improperly. I cannot stress how important it is to make absolutely sure your car seats are in correctly. Here is a link that might convince you to get your seats checked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
It is very important that the seat be strapped in as tight as humanly possible. It often takes 2 people to get it in as tight as it should be. Your children should be rear facing as long as possible. The law is 20lbs and 1yr but the longer the better. Some countries require them to be rear facing much longer. There are some seats on the market in the US that go rear facing to 35lbs, most are 30-33lbs. I recommend you keep them rear facing until they nearly reach the rear facing limits of your seat even if they are 2 years old! I have had people say to me "But they could break their legs" but the alternative is much worse. When they are strapped into the car seat the clip that goes across their chest should be armpit level. Too often I see children strapped in with the clip way down by their belly buttons and that offers very little protection. In a collision of even 15-20 MPH the force could throw the child up out of the top, their whole body could go out through the opening in the shoulder straps. They should have a 5 point harness as long as possible, not just to 3 years old as many laws require. It offers way better protection than a booster seat. As long as the harness fits them and is approved for their height and weight they should use it. Here are 2 great links about car seat safety. The first is a place where you can find out where to get your car seats checked and/or installed by someone who is certified in car seat safety for free! http://www.seatcheck.org/ Often the places that do the checks will have car seats to replace any unsafe or expired (yes car seats expire!) car seats that people show up with. The second link is to a forum that has some certified car seat safety specialists as well as regular people who advocate for and give advice on all aspects of car seats, from installation to choosing the best car seat for your particular vehicle http://www.car-seat.org
One argument I hear quite often is "We never used seat belts or car seats when we were little and we are fine" but many of us are fortunate to have not been in an accident. If I am one of the unlucky people to have an automobile accident I certainly don't want to be like the parents in the first link above thinking "If only..."
When you are in the market for a seat the ones that were recommended to me by the specialists were Evenflo or Britax. Britax being the best, Evenflo coming in a close second but with a much more affordable price tag. One of the Evenflo seats is actually the highest rated on the Consumer Reports website this year but keep in mind that cost plays a part in their ratings so while it is an excellent seat the Britax seats are actually a little better safetywise. The biggest problem with car seats is they are too difficult for the average person to install correctly. Many other seats are very safe as well as long as they are in right so don't panic if you don't have a highly rated seat, just be sure to have it checked by a professional to make sure it is in right, afterall, ease of use is one of the things they are rated on.

[SnowBirdie]

thanks so much! that is really informative, and we will defnitely use your information, Sarabela. hopefully people will read it and go make sure the seats are in right. thanks for taking time to post that!:friends2 :clap :clap

[Sarabela]

I found another really good link about car seat safety, it kind of sums it all up nicely. http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/

[2littlelovebugs]

One thing that comes to my mind is the cords for window blinds. Make sure that they are either out of reach or just a single string, not a loop. Blind cords have been known to accidentally hang a child and kill them. Please keep those cords out of reach. It could save your children's lives.