What a great resource Huggies Mums are, on all sorts of topics. Can you share any safety tips with us that you have picked up on your journey as a parent?

Here's one to get everyone started. Get down on the floor and see things through the eyes of your crawling baby, then work out what they can reach and if it might harm them.

Looking forward to hearing some of your safety tips.

Cheers
Lauraine

ok - never let child sleep in a bib, always make sure that cords for blinds are up high and can not be reached, and dont rely on bath chairs or rings to keep your child safe...

Whoa, got a spare five days to read about safety tips? The list goes on and on.......here goes:

*Keep household chemicals out of reach;
*Make sure power points are covered with safety
covers;
*Have guards in front of heaters and fireplaces;
*Take the phone off the hook or put your answering machine on when bathing your child;
*Keep all cords out of reach;
*Use a barrier for stairs, perhaps even for the kitchen;
* Keep hot drinks out of reach;
* Use door stops to keep doors open;

Those of you in Sydney, Westmead Childrens Hospital has a Kidsafe House which looks like a typical family home and shows you all the things that you need to be aware of to make your home kidsafe. I haven't been yet, but seeing bubs is starting to move around, i'm going soon.

ALWAYS buckle your kids in the car correctly, no matter how far you are going.. i am amazed at the amount of babies i see sitting on mums's knees here, it makes my blood boil.

One of the best tips I ever started was for when my son started walking, whenever we were in a crowded place with lots of people or on long trips on public transport, i would write my mobile number on his arm, if it was a long day I would use a black permanent marker (my son was impossible to keep pen on his arm). we usually go to carols in the domain every year and was quite chuffed a few years ago (we stay there from 6am in the morning until it is over) when the organisers who were coming around saw that both myself and my sister had written our numbers on the kids arms and within 15 minutes there was an announcement over the loudspeakers telling parents to do it!!!
It has already been used when he was 6 at the carols justa s they ended we turned around to check on the younger kids and jaycob decided to go and see the wiggles at the front stage. I got a phone call within 5 minutes! also it puts your mind at ease if they get lost because at least you know that your phone number is with them. I used to also do up business cards saying "My mum's name is Jane and she has gotten herself lost please call her on ......" as you can guess I had an escape artist and a wanderer

Something that was suggested to me recently, was that letting littlies play with saucepans was a bad idea because if for some reason they did get too close while they are hot, then they would not know that it was not to be touched.

While on the kitchen subject....

Use the back elements on the stove before the front ones and keep the handles facing in.

As said before, if you can, keep them out of the kitchen all together.

Make sure you have no coards or ropes or leashes hanging anywhere around the house.

Especially those ones that come with blinds. Also the verticle blinds should be removed when baby starts finding his movement. Those and hanging coards can be one of the biggest danger for a baby finding his movement.

makse sure all ropes and dog leashes are in a locked cupboard.

And Have your mobile phone or hand held/ cordless phone, either on you or within arms reach as much of the time as possible, even in and around the house.

I also jsut putjacobntyler's suggestion (the buesiness card with contact details) into toddlers safety tips, i didnt realsie it was here first, sorry smile

And in tune with that. NEVER write your child's name where it came be seen or place a tag on their shirts with their names on.

If you have a sewing room make sure the handle cannot be turned by your child (put one of the door knob covers on), and also have a bolt high up on the door. Unfortunately it is impossible to child safe the contents of the room, so you need to make sure the child can't get in in the first place.
When outside, empty the paddling pool once done for the day (both drowning and water contamination issues here).
Make sure child has a hat, and make it a rule if hat won't stay on, child goes back inside.
Check your garden for poisonous plants and remove if child can get to them.

lol thats cool...
Also another kitchen saftey tip even worls for toddlers is to always put the oven light on when the stove and/or oven is being used. I found with our first son that the oven was a freaky thing for him because sometimes it is cold and other times it is hot and there is no difference in the look of it but by making the oven light on when it is in use or hot there is a visable difference. works especially well when you are out visiting and it is not always easy to keep them away from the kitchen

Make it a habit to always take a hot drink with you when you leave a room and put it at the back of the kitchen bench so it is out of reach - even if you are leaving another adult in the room. We all know how quick babies and toddlers can be - I've heard that a lot of hot drink burns happen in front of an adult where they have an extra cup to watch. You can't safely put a hot drink down then get up and move quickly enough to stop a baby/toddler reaching another cup in time.

Get into the habit of always running the cold water tap after using the hot water tap.
..............................
Sherrie and Baby Maddisyn 09/09/04

Also, during the hotter months covering the seat buckles with a nappy or blanket so when you come back to the car and put bubs/child back in their car seat they dont get burnt by the seat buckle thats been getting hot from the sun.
...................................
Sherrie and Baby Maddisyn 09/09/04

NEVER EVER smoke in the car with your bub not only is it bad for them but i once new somone who did and the red eye of her cigarette blew into the back an d in bubs car seat leaving bubs with an awlful burn and a big investergation from DOCS.
silly mummy, poor bubs!!!!! sad

Teething rusks... make sure you watch your child chew on them! they are very dangerous, my little boy has bitten a chunk about 1cm big and just automatically swallowed it! BE CAREFUL, make sure they are supervised while having these.

When you take those little power plug safety protector things out of the socket, blue tak them high up on the wall so baby can't reach them AND so you see it when you're done and remember to put it back in.
Either that or (if not a hot appliance/one that baby can reach) Blue tak it to the on/off switch.

If you are a smoker, or your friends are smokers. DO NOT let them leave butt's in your garden etc.
Kiddies put them in their mouths and they are very poisonous.
Be careful at parks, beach etc where idiots leave their cigarette butt's

When getting out of the car always get the more mobile child (toddler or preschooler) out last so you have control over where they are and what they are doing. A baby can't wander through a busy car park like a toddler can!

check over supermarket trolleys before you place your baby in, and insure you have them strapped in tightly!

See my post!

If your toddler can open front door make sure its locked even if you just go 2 the toilet

Whoa, got a spare five days to read about safety tips? The list goes on and on.......here goes:

*Keep household chemicals out of reach;
*Make sure power points are covered with safety
covers;
*Have guards in front of heaters and fireplaces;
*Take the phone off the hook or put your answering machine on when bathing your child;
*Keep all cords out of reach;
*Use a barrier for stairs, perhaps even for the kitchen;
* Keep hot drinks out of reach;
* Use door stops to keep doors open;

These are very essential points that we should know and we have to keep in mind and there are many other tips that are also, very necessary like keeping all such accessories aside that may cause a problem to your baby.

There are many things that are essential and equally very important.

heard a horrible story where a toddler was running around with a pencil or pen in his hand and he fell over and jabbed himself near the eye, im terrified if this happened.
try to place cords out of the way or find a way to block access to it.
chemicals up as high as you can get them aswell as medicines.
Keep your bag out of little hands to .

The biggest safety tip that I feel important is keeping all the medicines out of reach and at the top so that, they will not reach up there.

We have to keep all that things away from them that are having edges as it is very risky.

When getting out of the car always get the more mobile child (toddler or preschooler) out last so you have control over where they are and what they are doing. A baby can't wander through a busy car park like a toddler can!

Yes that's right safety tips for our baby is needed. I have something to introduce about the baby car seat it is safe for your baby while in the car to avoid accident. Just visit this site http://carseatsandcover.webs.com/.

Ensure bookcases are bolted to your walls. I have heard nasty stories about babies and toddlers being very seriously hurt as they have pulled themself up on a freestanding bookcase. They are not so sturdy if someone is pulling on them!

Most people think of barriers for stairs, but you also need to ensure you have one at the bottom of the stairs. If small babies climb up a few stairs they can easily fall backwards.

Some great safety tips!!

Our business is child safety and we sell Anti Tip TV Straps. Sadly 3 children every week in Qld alone are injured by tip over injury.

The straps are on display at the Kidsafe Demo house in Brisbane. You can also purchase through Kidsafe at the Brisbane or Canberra shops. The straps secure the TV to the furniture or wall and retail for $22.95. They are also available at www.motherknowsbest.com.au


As we work closely with Kidsafe some other great tips they have passed on to us are:

* Dont encourage the use of your driveway as a play area. Always make sure an adult is holding your child or the child is in the car with you, when you move the car. - Sadly many children every year have been killed by driveway accidents.

* Make sure the pram brake is on! Prams can roll away so easily.

* Keep batteries away from little children. If swallowed the can cause horrific internal burns.

* Make sure your TV is as far back as possible. Dont put toys or other objects a child will reach for on the TV or stand. Ensure the TV is wall mounted or secured with straps on a stable TV stand. Make sure TV cords are out of reach. Make sure doors or draws are removed or secured to stop them being used as steps.

really good idea about covering the karseat to prevent it getting hot dont know why I naver thought of that.I wouldnt let them to take anything to bed with them or if I had to pop outside I would allways leave them on a playmat with no toys other than ones on the gym or matt.barriers and gates for kitchen and stairs if you have them.If use amber necklaces put around foot to avoid choking hazard.Agee with taking off bibs when putting them to bed,checking temperature of everything they eat and drink.Keeping cott away from windows blinds ect.I use a bath seat but obviously never for a second leave them alone in it.

Those of you in Sydney, Westmead Childrens Hospital has a Kidsafe House which looks like a typical family home and shows you all the things that you need to be aware of to make your home kidsafe. I haven't been yet, but seeing bubs is starting to move around, i'm going soon.

Brisbane has one too, near the RBWH. They also fit car seats and sell a range of safety items.