Accident prevention
The leading cause of preventable deaths for children under five and a major cause of ill health and serious disability is accidents. Public Health England reveals that, each year, across England:
- 62 children under five die following accidents
- 40,000 under-fives are admitted to hospital
- around 450,000 under-fives attend A&E
CAPT (Child accident prevention trust) was commissioned by the government to analyse the data on deaths and hospital admissions for the five years from 2008-12. The five main causes of serious unintentional injury for the under-fives in England are:
- Choking, suffocation and strangulation
- Falls
- Poisoning
- Burns and scalds
- Drowning
And all happen in and around the home! https://www.capt.org.uk/Pages/Category/safety-advice-injury-types for further information on how to prevent these accidents and more.
Sadly in Lewisham we have suffered 5 serious scalds in 2017.
Before your baby is born and / or at each stage of their development you can walk through your home to see how safe it is for your baby https://www.capt.org.uk/burns-scalds-parents
Use this height chart to see the possible dangers for your baby and toddler https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/campaigns-fundraising/height-chart.pdf
Bathing Safely
Babies can drown in a few centimetres of water so stay with them at all times. When filling the bath, run the cold water first and then add hot water. Babies’ skin is thinner than adults so they are more at risk of scalds from hot water. Using your elbow to test the water is a good guide or a bath thermometer.
Safety Alerts
Magnets:
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has identified a particular hazard arising from the use of high-powered magnets in products and where the magnets can be easily swallowed. Examples of these magnets are: fridge magnets, earrings, tongue piercings and drink charms. It is important to keep these objects away from children as ingestion could result in a serious or fatal injury. If you suspect your child has swallowed a magnet, you must take them to A&E straight away or call 999 immediately.
Baby Face Masks:
BABIES AND CHILDREN UNDER 3 DO NOT NEED TO WEAR A FACE MASK OR COVERING.
The Government’s official ‘staying safe outside your home’ guidelines state: “Face coverings should not be used by children under the age of 3 or those who may find it difficult to manage them correctly”.
The Lullaby Trust, (who provide expert advice on safer sleeping and SIDS) has urged parents to avoid using face masks on babies: “We are not aware of any advice for babies to wear masks, whether they are infected or not. There is a potential risk of suffocation and other hazards with doing this”
