Parents: Teach Grandparents Latest Safety Guidelines
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 26, 2007
Contact
Susan Butler, Safe Kids Champaign County Coordinator
(217) 531-4268
Parents: Teach Grandparents Latest Safety Guidelines
Safe Kids Champaign County Offers Child Passenger Safety Workshop For Grandparents
Champaign — On Saturday, December 8th Safe Kids Champaign County will be holding an educational workshop focusing on Child Passenger Safety for grandparents. By attending this workshop, grandparents will learn how to use child safety seats (focusing on boosters) as well as tips on the best way to travel with their grandchildren. With completion of this workshop, grandparents will be eligible to receive a free booster seat. For more information, or to register, please call 217-353-4932.
“People who are grandparents today grew up in a world without car seats, smoke alarms or bike helmets, but also fewer cars on the road and fewer fire hazards in the home. Parents of young children need to let their own parents know that important changes have been made in childcare,” says Susan Butler, Safe Kids Champaign County Coordinator.
Accidental injury remains the number one killer of children ages 14 and under, but modern safety devices contributed to a 45-percent drop in accidental child deaths from 1987 to 2002.
A grandparent’s home might not be “childproofed” with safety gates on the stairs, locks on the cabinets, a fence surrounding the pool and all potential poisons — including medicine, cleaning products and alcohol — locked out of reach.
“Before a child comes to visit, a relative who doesn’t have young children at home should look for potential hazards at and below a child’s eye level,” says Butler. “Pick up any small objects that could be a choking hazard, tie the cords of window blinds out of reach and lock up any matches or lighters.” Safe Kids Champaign County offers these reminders for grandparents who baby-sit occasionally:
- Under IL law, all children under 8 years old must ride in appropriate child restraint whenever they are in a moving car. Bigger kids should stay in a booster seat until they are 4’9” tall and at least 80 pounds. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully, and don’t hesitate to call the manufacturer’s toll-free number if you have any questions. Kids under 13 should always sit in the back seat.
- In a car, always buckle up yourself — your grandchildren learn by watching you!
- Set your water heater to 120ºF or below to prevent scald burns.
- Make sure your grandchildren always wear a helmet when riding a bike, scooter, skateboard or inline skates. For skating and scooters, knee pads are also recommended. (Caregivers need to wear proper safety equipment too — remember, you’re a role model!)
- If there are firearms in the home, store them unloaded and locked up, and lock the ammunition in a separate place.
- Keep the number of the Poison Control Center hotline, 800-222-1222, next to every phone in the home.
- Learn first aid and CPR.
- In any hazardous setting — on a playground, around pools or water, in the kitchen, near traffic, or near stairs or unlocked windows, for example — children should always be under active supervision, in sight and in reach at all times, with an adult paying undivided attention.
For more information about home safety and childproofing, call 217-531-4268 or visit www.c-uphd.org/ccsafekids. Safe Kids Champaign County works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading killer of children 14 and under. Safe Kids Champaign County is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injury. Safe Kids Champaign County was founded in 1996 and is led by Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
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