Parenting and keeping your kids safe can be really scary. A little life in your hands to protect. Even when you take many precautions, and when you think your kids are past the danger zone, they pull stunts and surprise you and scare you… Here’s some suggestions from Allen Brown with things to do to help keep your kids safe.

Parenting is akin to a roller-coaster ride. You experience the happy moments, the worried moments, the unforgettable times, and the moments you want to delete from your memory. Irrespective of the nature of your experiences, your duties as a good parent never change. While no parent is flawless when it comes to carrying out the duties, striving to be better is a huge step in the right direction. One of your responsibilities as a parent is keeping your kids safe and being ready to deal with potentially dangerous or unanticipated situations.

Every parent should know that every child is unique – some kids climb, others enjoy opening drawers and throwing everything out, and a few others have mastered the art of opening any door. Although all these practices are ideal for good development, they can also lead them into trouble or result in injuries.

Read on to equip yourself with 7 inexpensive parenting tips that will help you protect your baby or toddler from getting hurt.

1. Protecting Your Kid from Choking and Strangulation


Children can get injuries easily due to their compulsive urge to suck, bite, and drool on day-to-day objects and toys. Food-related incidences account for 60 percent of all non-fatal choking cases involving children. Swallowing coins and candy-related incidences account for 13 percent and 19 percent of all the cases respectively.

Top Safety Hacks

• Slice food for toddlers into small portions. Kid under 5 should not consume small, round or stiff foods such as cheese sticks, hard candy, grapes, hot dogs, and marshmallows.
• Before buying a toy game, consider your kid’s age. Carefully read the instructions and cautionary labels to ensure the toy is suitable for your child.
• Ensure the toy doesn’t have any tiny parts or other possible choking hazards.
• Ensure cords and strings, even those secured to window blinds, are away from your kid’s reach. If your child has started crawling or climbing, move cribs, chairs, and other woodworks away from windows to keep windows from falling.

2. Keep Batteries and Other Small Electronic Devices Away from Your Kids

Little children are adventurers. They put everything new they find into their mouths. With the rapid advancement of technology, electronic devices are becoming smaller, thinner, and sleeker. Today, there are many small calculators, key fobs, watches, mini remote controls, and musical greeting cards. Kids enjoy playing with them and taking them apart, usually exposing hazardous button batteries inside. Each year, over 2,800 children in the U.S. Receive treatment in emergency rooms after gulping button batteries.

Top Safety Hacks

• Place lithium battery-controlled devices away from children. These devices range from watches, thermometers, children’s toys, t-light candles, digital scales, to flashing holiday jewelry.
• Lock away loose batteries or secure them by placing a piece of adhesive tape over the remote control.
• Sensitize caregivers, family members, friends, and caregivers on effective ways of keeping children safe.
• Seek instant medical help if you suspect your kid has swallowed a battery. Don’t prompt vomiting or giving your child any drink or food until a medical professional assess him or her.

3. Keeping Your Kid Away from Hazardous Areas


When your baby begins to crawl, the world becomes a magical place full of new ventures and discoveries. Your child views that huge bookshelf as a possible mountain to climb, those pesky stairs as an impediment to overcome, and anywhere outside the safety gate as a mysterious area to investigate. Here are tips to ensure these brave expeditions won’t lead to something more serious.

Top Safety Hacks

• Use ratified safety gates at the tops and bases of stairs. If possible, secure them to the wall. Look at the instructions and cautionary labels by the manufacturer to ensure you have the gate that suits your needs. Perma Child SafetyTM Retractable Baby Gate is an example of approved baby gates available in the market. Apart from being easy to install, this retractable baby gate extends up to 71 inches.
• Install window guards correctly to prevent accidental window falls.
• When using high chairs, swings, infant carriers, or strollers, ensure toddlers and young children are strapped in.
• Use mounts, braces, brackets, wall straps, or anchors to secure furniture and TVs to the wall. That way, you will avoid tip-overs.

4. Booster Seats


Belt-positioning booster seats, commonly known as boosters, are ideal for keeping big kids safe in cars. While they may try to persuade you otherwise, big children who have outgrown booster seats are not necessarily prepared for a seat belt alone.

Top Safety Hacks

• Ensure the shoulder and lap belts fit well when your kid is seated in the booster. Make sure the seat belt is lying across the chest, on the bony area of the shoulder, and a bit low on the upper thighs.
• Avoid placing the shoulder belt behind the kid’s back or under the kid’s arm.
• Big children are weighed less often compared to babies. Thus, monitor your kid’s growth a couple of times a year. Most children begin to use the seat belt alone when they are anywhere from 8 to 12 years.

5. Smoking and Fire Safety


Don’t smoke or allow anybody to smoke around your baby. Even smoking outdoors may affect the health of the baby since clothing, skin, and hair still brings smoke particles that are harmful to the baby. Make sure you have a reliable fire safety plan in your home. With some bit of planning, you can significantly lower the chances of fire accidents happening.

Top Safety Tips

• Fix smoke alarms on all levels of your house as well as in every sleeping room.
• Enlighten the children on the dangers of playing with lighters and matches. Place these items away from young children.
• Teach your children how to react to the smoke alarms sound. Advise them to stay low and rush out when the smoke alarm rings.
• Develop a habit of blowing out candles prior to leaving the room or going to sleep.
• Set up a carbon monoxide detector to detect gas leaks if you have gas heaters in your home.

6. Preventing Baby Burns and Scalds


Just like adults, children find the aroma of cakes baking in the oven or delicious sauces, cooking on the stovetop hard to resist. Below are measures to protect your little chef from possible burns in the kitchen or around a fireplace.

• Avoid holding hot liquids while carrying your baby
• Never microwave the bottle of your child. Instead, submerge it in a bowl full of warm water, shake it properly, and then use your hand or wrist to test the temperature of the bottle before using it to feed your baby.
• Always place matches, lighters, and gasoline in a secure place, out of kid’s reach.

7. Custom-made Bracelets with Your Phone Number
When you are going with your kids out, have them put on bracelets with your phone number. This way, people will contact you if they find your lost child. These bracelets can be customized to include not only your phone number, but also to show if your kid has a specific allergy or special need.

Falling, crashing, tripping, and tumbling are all parts of your kid’s growth. However, there a few easy steps you can take to help your kids escape the more grave injuries that can result in incapacities and even death. The above 7 actionable parenting tips will help you elevate your parenting game.

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