Improving Child Safety – for babies, toddlers and young children.

Did you know that the majority of accidents that occur in the home are easily preventable?

We have teamed up with CAPT, Child Accident Prevention Trust, to help raise awareness of Child Safety Week June 23rd - 29th. This years campaign is "morning chaos" and the accidents that can happen in the rush to get everyone ready and out the door, as well as getting all parents to know more about common dangers and how they can prevent them.

“Did you know?” facts…..

• A baby’s skin is 15 times thinner than yours. That’s why they can easily get very badly burned.

• A hot drink can scald a young child 15 minutes after it’s been made.

• Medical professionals count bath water scalds as one of the worst injuries a child can suffer.

• It can take just 5 seconds for a toddler to suffer a severe scald from water from the bath hot tap.

• Hair straighteners get as hot as your iron and can hold their heat for up to eight minutes after they are switched off.

• It can take just seconds for some three or four year olds to open child-resistant tops. They’re not childproof!

• Everyday painkillers and other medicines are the most common way for young children to be poisoned.

• Cleaning products and DIY chemicals can be very dangerous if children drink them. To a toddler even the cleaner left at the side of the toilet can look interesting enough to drink.

• Children’s throats are narrow so can be blocked more easily than an adult’s, anything smaller than the diameter of a two pence piece can cause a child to choke.

• Pieces of food are the most common cause of children choking.

• Choking can be silent with no sound to warn you that something is wrong.

Child Safety Week 2014

The theme for Child Safety Week 2014 is "morning chaos"

Mornings are a busy and stressful time for most families. The rush to get everyone ready and out of the door means there is often little time to think about safety. What’s more, many typical morning activities, like making hot drinks and using hair straighteners, can leave children at greater risk of accidents

Discussion ideas

Here are a few ideas on how you could use the theme to start discussions:

• scalds that could happen while grabbing a morning coffee
• burns from hair straighteners left out to cool down
• accidents caused by rushing on the way to school
• falls down stairs after a family member leaves the safety gate open in the morning rush.

For FREE resources, downloadable advice and other information visit www.childsafetyweek.org.uk