Baby Safety Month

Important Dates

BABY SAFETY MONTH

9/15 - 9/21 Child Passenger Safety Week
9/21 National Seat Check Saturday
9/23 - 9/30 Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week

Having a baby is such a wonderful experience and can impact your life for the better. There are also many new responsibilities to make sure your child is in a safe environment to learn and grow. This month's newsletter is focused on baby safety and ways to keep your child safe in different environments, so you can enjoy watching them discover the new world around them. 

Child Passenger Safety 

All 50 states require the use of a car seat. 

Your responsibilities include choosing a safe car seat, installing it properly, and using it for every car ride from baby's first ride until they meet the requirements of your state law that say it is safe to remove them.

Please FOLLOW THE THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS!

Children should be rear-facing until they meet the maximum height OR weight requirements allowed by the manufacturer's instructions. Then, they should be front-facing with a harness until they meet height OR weight limits per manufacturer's instructions. After that, they should ride in a booster seat until seat belts alone fit CORRECTLY (usually around 4' 9").

Do not use a car seat or booster car seat that:

• is used, especially if it is more than eight years old.
• has ever been involved in a crash.
• is missing the manufacturer's label showing the name of the manufacturer, model number, and date of manufacture. 

Car seats expire! Check your labels for the expiration date

This and more information was found at JPMA.org.

Child Safety Tips

The A B Cs of Safe Sleep

• Baby sleeps ALONE, not with anyone else in their bed.
• Baby sleeps on their BACK, not on their side or stomach.
• Baby sleeps in a CRIB, with only a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheet.
• BARE IS BEST! No pillows, blankets, toys in the crib that could create suffocation or choking hazards. 
• Nothing should be hanging over the crib or be within 3 feet of it.

Childproofing

When thinking about in-home safety hazards, think

1. If my child got a hold of this, would it hurt them?
2. If they got a hold of this and it broke, would it hurt them? 
3. If they got a hold of this and destroyed it, would I be sad?

Some common things to keep in mind and best practice are:

• sharp, glass, and toxic products like cleaning supplies should be locked away with magnetic cabinet locks
• stairs should have hardware-mounted gates at the top and bottom
• anchor all heavy furniture (if it is taller than it is wide, ANCHOR IT)
• use outlet covers in all of baby's areas (single plastic plug-ins are a choking hazard, best practice is to use sliding outlet covers)

When thinking about safety hazards in the pool area, think LAYERS of PROTECTION such as:

• locks/chimes on doors and windows
• pool barriers
• life jackets
• CPR and swim lessons
• water watcher 

Product Safety

It is best to use JPMA Certified products and use them correctly every time, as the manufacturer intended. Also, keep up with child product recalls that are listed at the bottom of this blog. You can also check CPSC.gov for past and present recalls.

RECALLS:

July 31, 2019 CPSC; Dorel Juvenile Group USA Recalls Inclined Sleepers Due to Safety Concerns About Inclined Sleep Products Units: About 24,000

August 1, 2019 CPSC; Super Jumper Recalls Trampolines Due to Fall and Injury Hazards Units: About 23,000 (In addition, 860 in Canada)

August 20, 2019 CPSC; Crate and Barrel Recalls Push Walkers Due to Choking and Laceration Hazards  Units: About 1,500

August 20, 2019 CPSC; SAMpark Recalls Children’s Pajamas Due to Violation of Federal Flammability Standard Units: About 185

August 29, 2019 CPSC; Pearhead Recalls Ubbi Connecting Bath Toys Due To Choking Hazard. Units: About 6,200

August 30, 2019 CPSC; RH Recalls Children’s Chairs and Stools Due to Violation of Federal Lead Paint Ban. Units: About 3,200 (In addition, about 180 were sold in Canada) 

  * information from Consumer Product Safety Commisision