Watch Out
Common childhood accidents
* Burns, are one of the most common childhood accidental injuries.
These include sunburns, electrical burns, and burns caused by stoves,
lamps, matches, lighted cigarettes, and fireplaces. Other dangers
include hot liquids and steam from a pan, cup, or hot water heater.
Burns from bathwater are also common, especially if your water heater is
set higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Poisoning from ingesting medicines, shampoo, aftershave, perfume,
vitamins, cleaning products, and from exposure to gas appliances such as
stoves and heaters.
* Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death among children, and
it can happen in bathtubs, toilets, buckets, swimming pools, and areas
of open water.
* Head injuries caused by falls from highchairs, beds, furniture,
stairs, slippery floors, and play equipment.
* Choking on food, toys, batteries, bottle caps, coins, balloons, or
other small objects.
* Strangulation caused by necklaces, drawstrings on clothes, baby
headbands, strings, ties, and ribbons as well as cords on toys,
household appliances, window blinds, and other fixtures.
* Nose injuries caused by running into stationary objects, falling on
a hard surface, or deflecting a flying toy (or the fist or foot of
another child).
* Items stuck in a nostril or ear, such as small stones, chewable
vitamins, pebbles, and peas.
* Cuts and scratches caused by sharp fingernails (either your baby's
own or some other child's), pets, sharp objects (such as knives,
appliances with blades, and glass or other breakables), sharp edges of
furniture, and sticks and other pointed objects outside.
* Fractures and sprains caused by hard falls and, as your child
enters the toddler years, by playing energetically. Children tend to
break bones more easily than adults because they have soft areas near
the end of each bone called growth plates.
* Contusions - bruises under the skin - caused by bumps and falls.
* A pulled elbow, caused by picking up your child by one arm, jerking
his arm forcefully, or swinging him around by the arms. The forearm bone
can slip out of the elbow joint and sometimes slip back without medical
attention.
* Eye injuries caused by dust, sand, chemical sprays, or other types
of foreign matter in the child's eye.
* Falls from infant seats, highchairs, changing tables, walkers, and
stairs.
Places to watch out for:
Cribs, which can be a risk for pinched fingers and limbs,
strangulation (from crib toys that have string, cords, or ribbons), and
suffocation under blankets and pillows. Drop rails can also suffocate
and strangle, and crib bumpers are associated with SIDS (sudden infant
death syndrome).
Cars with improperly installed car seats, or when a child is
accidentally left in a locked car, which causes dangerous overheating.
Windows, which children can fall from or get strangled in cords.
Bathrooms, which are the main places for slips on wet surfaces, bumps
and scrapes on bathroom fixtures, and cuts from shaving devices.
A baby can drown in an inch of water, so be vigilant when your child
is in the bath and be sure to keep the toilet off limits (unless you're
supervising). ?
- from the Internet
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