Children can say and do the funniest things. They can amuse their parents with laughter and delight them with a smile. But children also can get into trouble, sometimes even putting themselves in danger of physical injury as they discover and learn about the world around them. To help raise awareness of ways parents can help make their home a childproof, poison-safe zone so they can protect their children from unintended injury, Houston Northwest Medical Center will recognize the month of June as Home Safety Month.
 
“Even the most watchful parents may not be able to keep their children completely out of harm’s way all the time,” says Kathryn Ziegler, M.D., internal medicine physician and pediatrician on the medical staff at Houston Northwest Medical Center. “But steps can be taken to help prevent children from having accidents at home.”

Dr. Ziegler offers the following tips to help parents childproof their home while giving their children the freedom to explore and become more familiar with their surroundings.

• Never leave a child alone around stairs, keep stairways free of clutter, and install safety gates with hardware at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Place child-safety covers on all electrical outlets.
• Check around the house for items that could pose a choking hazard, such as safety pins, coins, paperclips, jewelry or screws, and put them out of the reach of children.
• Put a safety latch on the drawer where knives, forks, scissors or other sharp utensils are stored.
• Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove when cooking.
• Lower water heater temperature to 120 degrees to prevent scalding.
• Never leave a child unsupervised in a bathtub.
• Select a toy box without a lid.
• Never keep soft pillows, blankets, comforters or plush toys in the crib.
• Check swing-sets and play equipment for rust, splinters and sharp edges.

Childproofing at home also includes making sure children cannot get into poisons that can be inhaled, swallowed, or enter the body through the eyes, ears or skin. Poisons range from seemingly innocuous items such as diaper rash ointment and perfume, to corrosive oven cleaners and gasoline.

“When you think of poisons, the first things that come to mind may be household cleaners, antifreeze and pesticides,” says Dr. Ziegler. “But there are many more products lurking in your bathroom cabinet, hiding under your kitchen sink, or lying in wait on your garage shelf that can cause harm if used improperly, by the wrong person, or in the incorrect amount.”

Dr. Ziegler encourages parents to make their home a poison-safe zone by:

• Leaving products in original packaging and never transferring substances to food or beverage containers.
• Keeping all harmful household cleaners, medications, paints or pesticides in cabinets or drawers that have either a lock or safety latch.
• Buying products that have child-resistant packaging.
• Storing food and cleaners in separate cabinets or rooms.
• Never referring to medicines or vitamins as “candy” or other names that appeal to children.

“The key to keeping you and your family safe while surrounded by products and substances that can potentially cause harm starts with reading labels,” says Dr. Ziegler. “Reading the label tells you how to use the product safely and effectively, as well as how to store it properly. Labels also may have first aid instructions and phone numbers to call for help or additional information.”

For more information about a wide range of topics to help you keep your infant, toddler, adolescent or teenager healthy and safe, visit www.hnmc.com/ChildSafety. In cases of medical emergency, Houston Northwest Medical Center’s Level III emergency department is staffed by physicians and health care professionals with advanced trauma training. Three private rooms in the hospital’s Fast Track area of the emergency department were recently updated to cater to the needs of youngsters with specialized medical equipment in child sizes and hard surface flooring for a healthy environment. The Fast Track Unit is designed to care for patients whose complaints are less urgent or life threatening, such as cuts that require stitches, sprains, sore throats and other minor illnesses. The unit is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. and is staffed by a team of medical professionals who are experienced in caring for children.