Preventing Falls In Your Home

Today as part of our Safe-Living series sponsored by APX Alarms, Janet Brooks from Primary Children’s Medical center explains what to watch out for.

Safety Tips:

Falls from furniture
• Don’t leave babies alone on beds, changing tables, or sofas.
• Always strap children into highchairs, swings, bouncers, and strollers.
• Use stationary play centers instead of baby walkers with wheels

Falls from heights
• Don’t let children play alone on fire escapes, high porches, balconies, or decks.

Falls and slips from floor surfaces
• Secure area rugs, especially on wood, ceramic tile or linoleum floors.

Falls on the stairs
• Keep stairs clear of clutter.
• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs if there are infants and toddlers in your home. At the top of the stairs, attach the gate to a wall if possible. Avoid accordion gates with large openings – a child’s head and neck can get trapped.

Window falls
• Keep windows closed and locked when children are around. When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that a child cannot reach.
• Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows or patio doors.
• Keep furniture—or anything children can climb—away from windows.
• Never depend on an insect screen to keep you child from falling out of the window.
• Install window guards or stops on all windows not designated as emergency exits, to prevent them from opening more than 4 inches.

Most childproofing devices are fairly affordable and can usually be found at grocery, hardware, baby product, or home linen stores.

• Corner and edge bumpers (for corners of furniture and fireplace hearths)
• Safety gates (use gates that screw to the walls for stairs; don’t use older gates with “V” shapes)
• Safety Netting (for balconies and decks)
• Window guards (bars in guards should be no more than 4 inches, or 10.2 centimeters apart; make sure at least one window in each bedroom can be used as a fire escape)

An APX alarm system can provide another layer of protection for your family. To find out more about the system contact: