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  Use a toddler/convertible safety seat in the back seat. Continue to use it until your child outgrows it when he is about 40lbs and then use a booster seat until your car's lap and shoulder belts fit correctly (when your child weighs 80lbs and is 4ft 9 inches tall) and never place your child in the front seat of a car with a passenger side airbag. Also be careful if your car has side impact air bags. See our Car Seat Safety Guide for more information.
• Make sure that used or hand-me-down equipment, such as car seats, strollers, toys and cribs, etc., haven't been recalled for safety reasons. Call the manufacturer or the Consumer Product Safety Commission for an up-to-date list of recalled products (800-638-2772 or www.cpsc.gov).
• Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Have an escape plan in case of fire in your home, use flame retardant sleepware and teach your child about fire safety (never play with matches, etc.)
• Maintain smoke free environments for your children.
• Avoid exposing your children to too much sun (use sunscreen).
• If you must have a gun in the house keep it and the bullets in a separate locked place.
• Teach pedestrian (crossing streets, etc.) and playground safety (including not playing on trampolines).
• Teach stranger awareness (review scenarios that predators may use, including offering candy or toys to get in the car, asking to help look for a lost pet, or being told they are picking your child up because you are sick).
• Always wear a bicycle helmet and avoid bicycling near traffic.
• New! Do not allow your child to ride in the cargo area of a pick up truck, even if it is enclosed. In an accident, children in the back of a pick up truck have little protection from serious injury or death.
• If using a bicycle-mounted child seat or a bicycle-towed child trailer, keep in mind that although they are generally thought to be safe, injuries do occur, especially to the child's head and face. Injuries usually occur from collisions with a car or other bike, falls, or contact with things outside the seat or trailer, especially the bicycle wheel. To be safe, have your child wear a helmet, instruct him to keep his hands inside the seat or trailer, use a seat belt, and to prevent foot injuries, use a foot well or spoke guard.
• Practice sports safety: teach your child to always wear all of the appropriate safety equipment made for each sport (helmets, mouth guards, pads, etc…).
• New! Injuries related to using a scooter are up 700% this year, especially fractures and dislocations. If you child has a scooter, be sure that he uses the proper safety equipment, including a helmet and knee and elbow pads.
• Supervise your child's use of the computer (a child at this age should not have unsupervised access to the Internet), computer games, movies, and know what they have access to at their friend's homes.
• Be a good example for your child by always using a seat belt, helmet, etc.

• Use covers on electrical outlets and latches on cabinets.
• Set the temperature of your hot water heater between 120 and 130 degrees F to prevent scalding burns.
• Prevent poisoning by keeping household cleaners, chemicals and medicines completely out of reach and always store them in their original container and know your local Poison Control Center number (find your local Poison Center). Also, buy and use products with child resistant caps.
• Consider using a wall anchor for the stove and large pieces of furniture that can tip over.
• Use stair gates and window guards.
• Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers in the house and use flame retardant sleepware.
• Buy flame retardant or flame resistant furniture.
• Remove furniture with sharp edges or use soft guards.
• Use nonskid backing on rugs and make sure carpets are securely tacked down.
• Remove breakables from low tables and shelves.
• Remove small toys and other choking hazards from around your child.
• Tie cords of blinds, curtains and appliances up out of reach.
• Do not carry hot liquids or food near your child and do not allow your child near stoves, heaters or other hot appliances (especially curling irons). When cooking, use the back burners and turn pot handles inward.
• To prevent drowning, empty all water from bathtubs and pails, keep the door to the bathroom closed and never leave your child alone near any container of water.
• Use life jackets on boats at all times.
• Child proof the swimming pool by enclosing it in a fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate and never leave your child alone in a swimming area, even if he is a good swimmer.
• If you must have a gun in the house keep it and the bullets in a separate locked place.
• Keep a list of emergency numbers near the phone.
• Lock rooms that are not child proof.
  

• Cut food into bite size pieces. Foods to be especially careful with include grapes, hot-dogs, raw carrots, celery sticks, etc.
• Do not let your child eat while playing or running.
• Avoid foods such as peanuts, hard candy, whole grapes, popcorn, and whole hot-dogs, since they can easily cause choking.
• Do not allow your younger children to play with coins.
• Keep your child away from toys with small parts. Children under age three should not be allowed to play with toys that have parts that are smaller than 1 1/4 inch in diameter and/or 2 1/2 inches long.
• Avoid allowing your children to play with rubber or latex balloons. They can play with Mylar balloons instead.
• Take a first aid course to learn what to do if your child is choking.
• Take the time to look for small items, especially coins, safety pins, tacks, etc in the areas where your children is playing.

• Be cautious of certain dog breeds (Rottweilers, pit bulls, German Shepherds) that account for over fifty percent of fatal dog bites and closely supervise children when in the presence of animals.
• Pet reptiles, including turtles, snakes and lizards, are a common source of infection from Salmonella in children. You should keep pet reptiles away from children under five years old, and teach older children to wash their hands after handling them.

See the Lead Poisoning Guide or take our Lead Screening Quiz to see if your child is at risk for lead poisoning.

Your children should be checked for lead poisoning by a simple blood test if you live in an area where more than 27% of the houses were built before 1950 or if there are a lot of children with high lead levels. Your pediatrician or local health dept. can tell you if you live in a high risk areas. Children may also be need to be screened for lead poisoning if they have any of the following risk factors:

• Lives in or often visits a house that was built before 1950.
• Lives in or often visits a house that was built before 1978 and is being remodeled.
• Eats or chews on nonfood things, such as paint chips or dirt.
• Has playmates or friends that have high lead levels.
• Has family members that work at a place or has a hobby that involves any of the following:
  • radiator repair
  • lead industry
  • welding
  • battery manufacture or repair
  • house construction or repair
  • smelting
  • chemical preparation
  • making pottery
  • going to a firing range
  • stained glass with lead solder
  • brass or copper foundry
  • valve and pipe fittings
  • bridge, tunnel and elevated highway construction
  • industrial machinery or equipment
  • casting ammunition, fishing weights or toy soldiers
  • refinishing furniture
  • burning lead painted wood
  • automotive repair shop
• Lives or plays near an area with any of the following:
  • smelter
  • hazardous waste site
  • lead industry
  • place where batteries are manufactured or repaired
  • house construction site
  • heavily traveled major highway
  • place where cars are abandoned or repaired
• Consumes any of the following products:
  • medicines (especially home remedies) imported from another country.
  • nutritional pills other than vitamins
  • cosmetics like surma or kohl
• Lives in a home in which the plumbing has lead pipes, lead solder or lead containing holding tanks.
• Eats foods that are cooked or stored in imported or glazed pottery.
• Eats foods that are canned outside the United States.
• Frequently chews on keys (which often contain small amounts of lead).

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Also visit:
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Expert Pediatrician - child health and parenting advice
About Pediatrics - Expert Pediatric Parenting Advice
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