Child Window Danger

I try to post this reminder each summer for parents who have young children. It is so important to make sure your windows are secured. I have seen my kids open the window and push the screen out in a matter of seconds. If you have a two story home, it's a matter of life or death. We fortunately took the time to put window guards on our upstairs windows before we moved to this house a couple years ago. I had talked to a mom whose toddler fell from a second story window. It scared me so bad, I refused to move in until every single window had safety guards. My seven-year-old has figured out how to get the window latches off, but I have tried to remind him about his little brothers. Are your windows secure? Do I sound like a safety maniac today or what?

FROM NBC:Opening windows this time of year may give us a breath of fresh air. But open windows when children are around can be dangerous. thousands of children fall from windows every year. it's a potentially deadly accident that can be prevented.

Lisa Batson/Mother: "Well, it scares me because it's something I haven't thought about."
Lisa Batson, like lots of mothers, never thought of windows as a hazard for her children. But statistics now show as the weather heats up, children fall from windows.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says about a dozen children die each year and four thousand more are injured as a result of falling out of windows.

The problem: window screens appear to be a barrier, but they are not.
Chrissy Cianflone/ Safe Kids USA: "This screen here can be pushed out with a child's weight very easily." Chrissy Cianflone with Safe Kids USA says parents should consider window guards. they are a way to prevent a potential deadly accident from happening.
Chrissy Cianflone/Safe Kids USA: "And they are very easy to install. and they basically fit into the window sill area. they can be screwed into the frame."

The guard costs about 30-dollars and can be found at local hardware stores. It's adjustable and will expand to fit the width of your window sill.

The window guard also has an emergency release.

Cianfone reminds parents, kids are curious.
Chrissy Cianflone/Safe Kids USA:"They're either playing. they have access to the windows because furniture is underneath the windows, so we want parents to remove all furniture from windows."

Another way to prevent falls-a device called a window stop. It restricts just how high a window can open. Many new windows come with stops already installed. Older windows can be retrofitted. They cost about five dollars.

Lisa Batson/Mother: "When you hear something like that and think that could happen to me. I think that is kinda an eye opener." Window guards and window stops just might save a child's life.

Another thought: if you have double hung windows, consider opening the window from the top down. That lets air in your home, but doesn't let small children push on the screen.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Crib Safety

I am working on an article on co-sleeping versus crib sleeping for babies. In the meantime, I found this story:

From ABC News:

Parents are putting their babies at risk when they place pillows and other soft bedding in their cribs, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned this week.

From 2002 to 2004, 241 children under age 5 died in incidents involving nursery products. About 40 percent of the deaths involved cribs, with soft bedding cited as the leading contributing factor. Many of the children suffocated when lying face down on pillows or other bedding, the agency said.
"Less is more when you're talking about the crib," CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said, adding that cribs should be free of adult pillows and blankets, stuffed animals and baby quilts.

To reduce risk of suffocation and sudden infant death syndrome, parents should place babies on their back in a crib that meets current safety standards, the agency said.

Among other incidents of death in cribs, babies became trapped when the mattress was ill-fitting, CPSC said. Old, broken and modified cribs should not be used, and parents should never allow a gap larger than two fingers at any point between the sides of the crib and mattress, the agency advised.

The agency said there were 36 deaths over the same period relating to baby baths and bath seats. All occurred when caregivers left the baby unattended. In many instances, babies slipped out of bath seats, fell out of baby seats or tipped forward or sideways into the water. At no time, even for a few seconds, should babies be left unattended in the tub, Vallese said.

Deaths involving playpens also were high, with many resulting from the use of soft bedding.
Although CPSC has in recent years issued many crib product recalls, Vallese said there were no related deaths during 2002 through 2004 that involved a recalled product or a product that eventually was recalled.

In 2006, the most recent year in which injury data was collected, CPSC counted about 66,400 emergency injuries linked with nursery products among children under age 5. Most of these were related to baby carriers and car seats, excluding motor vehicle accidents, followed by incidents involving cribs and mattresses.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen