I'm Noni Hazelhurst. In this program we'll show you simple, inexpensive ways to make
your home safer for your children. As well, you'll meet experts from the organisations
and industries relevant to our topic who are going to give you the information that you
need to feel confident that you're prepared for any eventuality.
To address the issue of child safety in the home, a whole series of standards have been
developed to guide building practices and product development. These standards, together
with the information provided in this video, should help to ensure that you, the parents,
stand a much better chance of making it through those first few years of your child's life
without a visit to the casualty ward. While we're using a modern home for demonstration,
the ideas and concepts that you're going to see in this video are equally applicable
in any kind of home. Let's have a look and see what we can find inside.
In our everyday adult lives we face all kinds of risks, but there are things that we do
to minimise those risks to ourselves, wearing seat belts for example, or checking the temperature
of the shower, or wearing oven gloves when we're dealing with hot dishes. As parents,
it's our job to try and teach these self-preservation skills to our children. However, until they're
old enough to learn them, children and especially toddlers need our constant attention and constant
supervision. Unfortunately, we can't watch them every single minute of every single day,
so it's really important to plan ahead.
This is John Jarrett. He's my husband. Hello darling.
Hello.
He's an actor and a builder and I suppose most importantly the father of four children,
so he's well aware of some of the potential hazards in a home. And in the kitchen, I guess,
cupboards are a good place to start.
Especially the lower cupboards with little kids running around that might have dangerous
cleaning materials under the sink for instance, or unsuitable foods, heavy tins that might
fall on their little feet. So the best thing to do is to fit these child-resistant latches
like these. These are a piece of cake to put on. Simply screw it on. Piece of cake.
Ovens can be a problem too. When the doors open, not only is there a risk that the toddler
might burn itself, but these doors look quite appealing as a little platform for someone
to jump onto. And if it's one of those free-standing models especially, there's a risk that the
whole unit could topple over. So where you can, keep your oven door shut and make sure
they're well secured.
Now with saucepans.
Well if they're out like so, a child can jump up and pull it down onto themselves. Now if
they're in, they're over the hot plate and they could heat up and melt. So always make
sure the handle is turned outwards.
There are products you can buy that help to keep toddlers' hands away from elements, but
the best prevention is to get into that habit of turning the handles out. Now I see an electric
joke.
Yes. Now I've got a cousin who pulled one of these things down onto herself and scalded
herself badly, burned her arm. So it's always best to tuck the leads into the back of the
bench and wherever possible, get one of these sprung leads as an alternative.
So children in the kitchen can be a problem. They can get under your feet, they can burn
themselves on hot dishes, they can slip. Ideally, when you're cooking, try and keep them out.
Yeah, if you're capable, you can build a barricade or there's always a playpen.
So to sum up, in the kitchen area, remove all dangerous materials from lower cupboards.
That includes vitamins and health products. Fit child-resistant latches wherever possible.
But where you can, keep your oven door shut and make sure they're well secured. Keep saucepan
handles turned outwards, not over another element and not out over the edge of the stove.
Fit curled cords to appliances wherever you can and always push the cords to the back
of the bench. If possible, keep the child out of the kitchen, preferably in a playpen
or behind a barricade. Every day we use chemicals in the home to
help ease the domestic burden from floor cleaners to garden pesticides. Now the danger with
children is the burning effect of some of these chemicals if they're swallowed or if
they come into contact with eyes or skin. So the question we need to ask is which of
the products in my home are harmful to my child? To help us to answer this question
and to tell us what to do, this is Suzanne Routley from the Household Cleaning Products
firm Benquiza, Australia. Suzanne, are all cleaning products harmful?
To be on the safe side, you should consider that all household cleaning products are harmful.
If for example a child swallowed a mouthful or two of disinfectant, they would be very
ill but they wouldn't be permanently damaged. If a product is extremely harmful, then it
should have a warning label that will state exactly that on the label.
Because children investigate anything, they can get out easily, don't they? That's how
they learn by tasting and feeling and touching. What should we do if a product has a warning
label? First of all, read it and take note of exactly
what it says and if possible when you're purchasing a product, you should always try and choose
one that has a child resistant closure on it just for additional safety.
It would be nice to think that these child resistant lids were a complete guarantee of
safety. No, unfortunately you can't guarantee that
they are perfectly safe. What you should do is use a child resistant closure in conjunction
with a few other things. In most homes, household cleaning products are usually stored under
the sink. What you should do is take your plates and put those in that cupboard and
then move your household cleaning products up into the higher cupboard. Unfortunately
it's not as convenient but it's certainly much safer.
And the other point to consider is not to rely solely on those special latches that can
keep children out of the cupboards because unfortunately they can be left undone.
So laundry chemicals should be treated the same way.
Oh yes, very simple straightforward things like concentrated laundry detergents and pre-washed
stain removers can be extremely harmful to children. So they should also be kept up on
a high shelf and certainly not left just sitting out on the washing machine.
Now Suzanne, a lot of children have been very badly burned by dishwasher detergents. What
are the specific problems with these? A very common scenario is where someone will
have stacked the dishwasher, they will have put the detergent into the dispenser and then
for some reason they've been called away. If this leaves the dispenser and the door
open then that's very inviting for a toddler to come along. And obviously the dishwasher
door is just at toddler height and this would give them access to the detergent as a concentrate
and that's likely to burn their throat if they swallow it. Another situation which is
equally as bad is where someone has stacked let's say a bowl or a baking dish right at
the front of the dishwasher. This means that during the cycle when the dispenser door opens
and releases the detergent it can't open fully resulting in a sludge forming, a sort of wet
detergent sort of sludge in the bottom of the dispenser. This is also at toddler height
when the door is opened and they could then put their finger into that and then into their
mouth. That's extremely dangerous and something that should be avoided at all costs.
Now I suppose another problem would be in garden sheds and garages where people transfer
chemicals from one container to another. The situation that should be avoided at all costs
is when you transfer a chemical from its primary container into something like a lemonade bottle
or another food container because without those warning labels on it you're unlikely
to know just how dangerous it is and if a child would go into the garden shed and drink
that then you've got no idea of knowing what the poison is. The critical situation when
a child has actually swallowed a poison is knowing what that poison is and that information
comes from being able to read exactly from the label exactly what the product is so that
a doctor or the emergency services can then give you information to either induce or not
induce vomiting.
So with some products if they're swallowed vomiting would be the best thing to do and
with others that's not the case?
Yes that's very much the case. Certain products will actually burn the child on the way down
and as a result you don't want to induce vomiting because they'll burn on the way coming back
up again. It's very important to read the instructions on the bottle because if there's
a warning label on the front then there's usually first aid instructions on the back
and that will tell you to either induce vomiting or not. It's extremely important to have a
bottle of syrup of Ipacac in the house so that you could give this to your child to
induce vomiting if that's what the instructions say.
I suppose there would also be everyday medicines like vitamins or contraceptive pills say that
might be lying around the house that we don't think about. Are these potentially harmful
to children as well?
Yes something as simple as multivitamins or regular medicines that are left lying around
the home although they might be extremely useful for the person that they've been prescribed
to they can be very dangerous to toddlers. A couple of examples are as little as three
iron tablets could be enough to kill a toddler and yet iron tablets a lot of women take them
these days and they're often just left lying around. They're bright red in colour and could
be extremely attractive to a little one who thinks that's a lovely sweet. Other medicines
such as the contraceptive pill or a lot of the medicines that are prescribed to the elderly
maybe the grandparents those medicines should be kept not in a top drawer but up on a high
shelf because a toddler will always mimic what they see their parents or grandparents
do and they might want to take them and that can be extremely dangerous. Things that we're
usually not aware of as being dangerous can often be very harmful.
And I suppose there are parents who in desperation to get their children to take medicine have
called them lollies?
Yes that is certainly and I can feel for the parents in trying to get them to take the
medicines but it's very very dangerous because those lollies can be potentially dangerous
if they're taken in quantities by the toddler or the toddler might actually pick up another
bottle of medication and take those thinking that they're going to be the sweets that they
might have had on the weekend.
So to sum up with dishwashing machines stack them to allow the dispenser to fully open
and only put detergent in when you're ready to go. Buy a kids safe dishwasher if you can.
With packaging read the label. Keep out of reach of children labels should be put away
in a secure cupboard. Use original containers. Make sure you have the poison information
centre's phone number to hand. Throw out old medicines and don't call pills sweets.
Consider older people who leave medication on toddler height bedside tables. And oven
cleaner is very dangerous. Buy a small container and put it in the outside bin after one use.
Here in the bathroom let's have a look at some ways to prevent the most common bathroom
injury, scalding. Now most young babies and children are scalded because unlike adults
they don't jump out if the temperature of the water is too hot. They just stand there
and yell ouch. So the water temperature is crucial. Adults can stand quite hot water
but for babies and small children the water needs to be quite a bit cooler to be comfortable.
At 50 degrees it can take quite a few minutes for a child's skin to burn but once the temperature
starts to rise to say 55 it can scald them in a matter of seconds. So always check the
temperature of the water with your elbow not with your hand. Now the reason for this is
that your hand might have already been in hot water say washing up and so it isn't
sensitive to heat. Your elbow won't be confused and it will give you a true picture of the
bath's temperature. There are some hot water heaters that can be adjusted to limit the
temperature of the water to 50 degrees. So talk to your energy supply company, your plumber
or electrician. When you're filling a bath either run the hot and cold taps together
or the cold tap first. Never run the hot tap first and make sure you turn the taps off
really tightly. Statistics show that bath time drownings are one of the major causes
of water related deaths in the home. Now what tends to happen is that you'll be bathing
the young child in the bath and the baby is left outside and it calls for your attention.
You go to it leaving the toddler in the bath. Now the toddler might stand up, call for you
and slip over. So firstly you should always have a non-slip mat in the bath but you can't
rely on that. If you're bathing a young child take the baby into the bathroom with you.
Never leave a young child unattended in the bath even if it's in the care of an older
child and if it's a young baby you have to bath get into the bath with her. The key is
supervision at all times. That means you can't answer the phone if it rings. You can't answer
the door if there's somebody there. Take the phone off the hook or take the child out of
the bath. So to sum up, always check water temperatures, secure the taps so the hot can't
be turned on accidentally, always have a non-slip mat in the bath and never leave a baby or
young child unattended in or near the bath. While we're in the bathroom let's have a look
at electrical safety. This is David Neville from Prospect Electricity. Well safety with
electricity is all about common sense and that's especially important here in the bathroom
because electricity and water just don't mix. So David what sorts of things are we looking
at? Well the main things we're looking at is to keep appliances like shavers and hairdryers
out of harm's way from the sink for instance in the bath, to turn off at the power point
and unplug the appliance and put them away and also avoid using one of these floor heaters
in the bathroom. Right. What about the rest of the house? Will we have a look? Sure. Okay.
David I guess power points, they're a great temptation for children. They can be. Children
often try and insert foreign objects into power points. One of the simple safety steps
that can be taken is to buy some safety plugs and insert them into power points right throughout
the house and that avoids the child being able to access any of the live parts in the
power point. Is this the safest way to deal with electricity? Well there's no device at
all that covers every conceivable dangerous situation in the house but safety switches
go a long way towards achieving that. Safety switches can be installed in the meter board
or individually in power points throughout the house and they work quite simply in most
cases by detecting a fault and then cutting off the power flow. Are safety switches very
expensive? Not really. In most cases homes are already installed with them so it may
pay to double check. In other cases people can contact their local electricity supplier
for more information on safety switches and in situations where they may be renting the
landlord could also be helpful with providing information and help with installing them.
And do you have any other safety tips you can give us? Well people should avoid overloading
their power points. That could cause blackouts or in extreme cases fires. What they should
do if they're wanting to run a number of low power appliances like stereos and videos and
so on is to use a power port. That's the best solution. Ok thanks very much. Thank you.
So to sum up safety with electricity, power points, use protectors, check whether your
house is fitted with a safety switch. If it's not call your local electrician or your electricity
supplier for more information. Take extra care where moisture is present and put appliances
away in the bathroom and don't overload your power points. And on the subject of water
and electricity, if you have a child that still wets the bed, don't use electric blankets.
A nice hot cup of tea, very relaxing, but it brings up the problem of children being
scalded by hot drinks. Now it could be that the adult accidentally spills some or the
child might want to see what it is that you're drinking, pull the cup over and scald itself
that way. The best thing you can do is to keep these potential hazards completely out
of the way. Just remember that hot drinks, hot foods from the microwave, hot water in
the sink, even mop buckets full of hot water all have the potential to scald. So be prepared
by getting into safe routines. Now while we're in the living room, have a look out for pointed
corners. A child's head could be easily hurt on these pointed corners and the same dangers
can be elsewhere in the house as well. You should try using these corner protectors.
When using heaters of any sort, guard them securely, whether it's a small electric heater
or a wood burner like this one. And use one of these guards to stop them climbing upstairs.
There are so many injuries from falls on stairs and these include children getting under the
feet of an adult. To be safe, stop children's access to stairs top and bottom. They're also
good for keeping babies in or out of a room. Another thing to consider is the use of door
stops. A number of children have lost fingers when the door has closed sharply through wind,
other children or even the parent. So things to look out for in general living areas? Avoid
general burning dangers from heaters, hot drinks, irons. Look out for furniture with
pointed edges, rugs on slippery surfaces, children unsupervised on stairs. Don't store
toys high up as younger children may try to reach them and fall. The main problem from
toys is the small parts that can cause younger children to choke. This can happen when you
have an older child and the toddler or baby gets access to toys unsuitable for their age.
For instance, these little building blocks left lying around. Also when toys become damaged
or are of poor quality to start with, pieces might fall off. If you think a toy is unsafe,
throw it out. Most toys will have a guide written on them regarding their age group
suitability. This is not an intelligence measure but a warning that there are parts that could
be swallowed. Bunk beds. Great fun but because of the danger of falls, unsuitable for young
children. If you must have bunk beds, use them with proper safety rails. Children should
be at least eight or nine years old before they're allowed to sleep up on top. Some children's
cots are poorly designed in such a way that they can crush fingers. There are also injuries
from limbs or the head getting stuck in openings. So when you buy one, look for the relevant
safety standard. And while still in the bedroom, when you're using a change table to do baby's
nappy, make sure she can't roll off while you're getting a nappy or whatever. Also never
leave a baby on the bed or on furniture. Murphy's law suggests she'll learn to roll the minute
she's in a dangerous position and it's a long way down. So to sum up, if you must have bunk
beds, use them with proper safety rails. Some children's cots are poorly designed. So when
you buy one, look for the relevant safety standard. Make sure that your child is playing
with toys designed specifically for their age group. Don't store toys high up as younger
children may try to reach them and fall. One of the challenges of rearing young children
is trying to feed them without getting covered in mush yourself. Now always make sure that
the high chair is stable and fitted with a safety harness. Too many accidents happen
when children can wriggle out of the high chair and fall on the floor. One of the main
food related problems with children is choking. Babies and toddlers can easily choke on hard
foods like nuts, bones, raw carrots and apple. If you're not sure whether you're feeding
your baby the right food, check with your local baby health professional and never try
to feed a distressed child because they naturally inhale to scream and may choke. Most babies
go through a stage where they put everything they can into their mouths and they're usually
mobile at this stage as well. Basically anything smaller than a ping pong ball is a potential
choking hazard. David McAllister from the Royal Life Saving Society shows us what to
do if a child is choking. If you have a suspected choking patient, no matter what the age of
the patient, there's two basic things that you need to remember. Number one is you need
to try and get the patient into a position where gravity is going to assist with removing
the obstruction. Number two, you need to give the patient four firm back blades between
the shoulder blades. The bigger and the older the patient is, the firmer the blows need
to become. If you've got somebody this size, the things that you need to do is you would
support the child's chin and head area, you put the rest of the body of the child along
your forearm and you roll them forward so their head is lower than their body. You would
then give four firm back blades in a downward action using the heel of the person's hand.
That way you won't cause any damage to the spine, etc. in that area. If the baby or the
child is a little bit bigger and you're not as strong or strong enough to hold them into
that position, then you could sit down on a stool or chair supporting the head in the
same method and the body of the person, you'd roll them forward and lay them over your lap.
The head again is lower than the body and you would deliver the four firm back blades
in that action. If the child is bigger again or you have an adult patient, then the best
position to get them in is down on the floor on their side. The way you would do that is
you get right down onto the ground, you roll the person onto their side and once again
supporting the person's head, you would give them four firm back blades in that action.
And you can see once again the head is pointing towards the ground so that you've got gravity
assisting. Choking can happen all too easily and quickly. If you get down on your hands
and knees and have a look around, you'll be surprised at the bits and pieces you'll
find hidden on the floor. So to sum up, be aware that many ordinary household objects
are potential choking hazards. Coins and button batteries are particular hazards. Be aware
of the hard foods that are unsuitable for young children. When feeding children in a
high chair, remember to use the harness so the child cannot stand up and fall. There
have been far too many deaths as a result of house fires. But to drastically reduce
this threat, there is one simple device that should be installed in every home, the smoke
detector. This is David McCurdy. He's a fire prevention officer. David, why have these
devices been so effective in reducing the death threat?
Well, the main problem in a house fire is the smoke that's given off the materials
when they burn. When you're asleep, you don't wake up from smoke. You can't smell the smoke.
So a smoke detector's there to wake you up.
In the early stages of the fire?
In the very early stages of the fire. It senses the very small particles of smoke and lets
off a shrill tone which will wake you up.
Why doesn't smoke wake you up just when you smell it initially?
Well, on occasions it will. But normally it's carbon monoxide will put you into a deeper
and deeper sleep. So you lose consciousness.
So without the smoke detector, you may not wake up till it's too late or you may not
wake up.
That's correct. And if you do wake up, the time you've got to get yourself and very importantly
your children out is going to be very limited.
So the smoke detectors are really effective?
Oh, very effective. And a lot of local councils are now putting them in their procedures to
make sure they go into buildings.
Right. And where can you get them if they're not compulsory with your council?
You can get them from your local hardware shop. They're very cheap and easy to install.
They only take a few minutes to put up. They are your best guarantee against the fire.
What about fires that might happen during the day?
Most fires start in the kitchen. So it's probably worthwhile we go and have a look in there.
Let's go.
If you have a dry chemical extinguisher and a fire blanket fitted on the wall like this,
you can put out most fires before they get out of control. It's very important though
to have them secured on the wall like this away from the main danger which would be the
stove. So you can easily get to it in a fire situation.
What other fire dangers are there in the home?
Other fire dangers, we have a lot of trouble with electrical wiring, faulty wiring. If
you have an electrical safety switch fitted to the house, that can eliminate a lot of
those troubles and it will greatly reduce the chance of a fire happening.
Alright, so to sum up, fit smoke alarms, fit an electrical safety switch. If you can afford
it, keep an extinguisher and a fire blanket in the kitchen in an easily accessible position
and make sure the extinguisher is a dry chemical one. And if you're a smoker or you have any
reason at all to use a lighter or matches, make sure you keep them well out of the reach
of children because they'll see you using them and naturally want to copy you.
Incidentally, child accident prevention agencies discourage the use of baby walkers, not just
for medical reasons but...
It doesn't really matter whether it's muddy or clear, water is very attractive to young
children. And while in Australia we're lucky enough to have the climate to justify backyard
pools, private pools are a great hazard to young children. Now Kim Pizzachimi has had
a lot of experience with safety fencing. Kim, why is it that safety fencing is so important?
The idea of the fencing is to separate the child from the hazard. Unfortunately, children
drown quickly and silently because when a small child's head becomes immersed in water, their
natural reaction is to cry out for mum. This immediately fills their lungs with water,
which is why drowning is so quick. It is so important that we make sure that the potential
drowning hazards are fully secured or eliminated. So if your child does escape from view, they
won't get into any trouble. How can we make pools and spas safe for our
children? Pools must be fenced with an approved child
safety gate. How does a safety gate work?
It is a device that cannot be opened by young children. With this fence it is quite safe
for your child to play in the garden. However, if they are swimming, always watch them and
if you have friends over, don't prop the gate open for convenience. And think twice
about putting things against the fence as the more determined child may climb over it.
What about ponds and paddling pools? Well for ponds, buy a fencing panel and fit
it over the water. Another idea is to empty the water and fill the pond with sand until
the child is older. Always empty paddling pools after use and store them where they
cannot fill up again with rainwater. And spas?
If it is inside the house, it should be emptied after use and should be secured by a lockable
door and lock the door. Also, never leave children in the bath or pool while you enter
the phone. This is very important as so many children drown while the parents are on the
phone. Truly, it doesn't take long at all for them to drown.
There are lots of other potentially dangerous places where water can collect, such as post
holes in the garden, buckets or rainwater containers. You should keep the lid of any
top loading washing machine firmly closed and nappy buckets high up on a shelf or in
a cupboard with the lid firmly on. Generally, if a child is in the process of drowning,
it hasn't been in the water for very long and the parents are usually nearby. If the
child has stopped breathing, David McAllister from the Royal Life Saving Society will show
you what to do.
If you find a baby or young child in your swimming pool and you think they may be unconscious,
it's important to follow a few basic steps. They are D, R, A, B, C. The D stands for danger.
The R stands for response. The A stands for airway. B is breathing and C is circulation.
Whilst you're checking those, or before you start, it's just as important that you get
an ambulance to the scene of the accident as quickly as possible. You need to send a
bystander into the house or to the nearest phone to ring triple O. You would then follow
those steps. The first one we would assess is D, which is danger. You need to make sure
that the environment that you're working in is safe and that you don't put your own life
at risk. The next step is R, which stands for response. The way you would do that is
to squeeze the baby's shoulders very gently and shout a simple command. If there is no
response from the baby, the next step is to immediately roll them onto their side. You
need to lift the chin and you would assess A, which stands for airway. The way you would
do that is to lean over the baby, have a look into their mouth and make sure it's clear.
If it wasn't, then you need to get your fingers in and sweep the obstruction out. Once you've
checked airway, the next step is to check for B, which is breathing. The way to do this
is to lean over your patient, get your ear as close as possible to the baby's mouth and
nose and listen for any breathing. While you're listening, you need to look down here at the
chest for any chest movement. If the baby is not breathing, then you should put them
back onto their back and start resuscitation. You need to lift the chin very gently so that
the baby is basically looking straight up. The other hand supports the hard parts of
either side of the skull, keeping your hand away from the fontanelle at the top. You should
not tilt a baby's head all the way back. It's very important that you don't do that. If
you do, you could kink their airway and prevent air from going to the lungs. You would then
cover the baby's mouth and nose with your mouth and then you would just breathe from
the cheeks, so it's a very gentle puff. The five puffs are done this way. Between each
breath you'll notice that you should be looking for any chest movement. Once you've done that
and you know that the lungs are full of air, the next step is to check for the pulse, which
is C, circulation of our steps. The way to do this is just to feel next to the Adam's
apple into the carotid artery. If you can feel a pulse, then you know the heart is beating.
In this case, the heart's beating but the baby is not breathing. You therefore just
continue breathing at one breath every three seconds. The way that's done is puff gently
and turn and look at the chest. Two, three. Two, three. It's a good idea to count to yourself
to get the cycles correct. Between each breath you should just turn your head slightly and
watch the chest movement. That way you know that air is entering the lungs. You should
continue at one breath every three seconds or 20 breaths per minute. After approximately
a minute of expired air resuscitation, you should then check a pulse again. If the pulse
has stopped, then we need to go down here under the chest and give the baby an artificial
heartbeat. If the pulse is present, then you should just continue one breath every three
seconds until you've got an ambulance at the scene of the accident. The way you do the
chest compressions is to locate up under the chest, find the bottom of the sternum or the
breastbone, put two fingers next to that on the lower half of the sternum and compress
the chest approximately half an inch or one and a half centimetres. You need to do 15
compressions to two breaths of air in a 10 second cycle. That way you're getting six
cycles to the minute and that would be done in this method. One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. The two important
things to note here is softer and quicker. You would continue this cycle now until your
ambulance arrives at the scene of the accident. It's just as important to still check for
this pulse after the first minute and then every two minutes. If the pulse does happen
to return and you're lucky enough for the breathing to return also, then what you should
do with the patient is roll them back onto their side, lifting the chin and that should
keep them breathing until the ambulance arrives. So to sum up, never leave a child in any water
without adult supervision. Consider all potential water hazards. Keep your top loading washing
machine lid closed, the nappy bucket out of reach and secured with the lid, empty buckets
and other containers with no secure lid and fence spas and pools. And when you go visiting,
make sure there isn't a water hazard in your friend's garden. Above all, supervise.
Australia's got one of the highest dog ownership rates in the world and while dogs like this
particularly can make great family pets, like so many other things in the home, there's
a lot to think about. Kirsty Sexl is a vet and animal behaviourist. She's going to show
us why things can go wrong and what we as parents can do to help to minimise those problems.
Dogs make good pets because they're used to living in a pack. They're used to having a
leader and a follower and your dog should feel confident where his position in the pack
is at the bottom. The most common dog bites are when the family pet bites and it's often
because the dog doesn't realise that it should be at the bottom of the family pack. It often
obeys what mother might say and what father might say but it doesn't recognise children
as being more dominant to it. So it's very important that the dog is fed last, you don't
let it sleep on the furniture and it's a good idea to get the children to also train the
dog as well, to get the dog to sit and drop so it knows it has to obey commands regardless
of which human is asking it to do something. Often dogs take the place of children. They
are treated like children, they sleep in the same bed, they're fed at the same time and
these dogs find a new baby a real threat because they think they're dominant to the baby and
it's very important for these dogs to realise that they really need to go down that hierarchy,
that the baby really is higher than them in all circumstances.
There's some very important things you can do before you bring your new baby home. Firstly,
take your dog to the vet, make sure your dog is fit and healthy. Secondly, do some obedience
training with your dog. When you do get the baby home, make sure that you don't only deal
with the dog when the baby is not around. It's important that the dog learns that baby means
good things so try and feed your dog, pat your dog when the baby is around so the dog
will associate the baby with positive and good things. But be careful not to let the
baby get too close while the dog is eating and most importantly never leave your dog
unsupervised with a young child. Accidents only take a split second and tragedy can occur
very quickly. When you're introducing your dog to other children, it's a good idea to
get the child to hold out the knuckles towards the dog. If the dog doesn't sniff, it's probably
a good idea not to pat the dog. If the dog does sniff the knuckles, then always pat the
dog underneath the chin and on the chest, never on top of the head because that's a
very threatening thing to do to a dog and the dog might bite.
Even if your dog is friendly with you, it may not like children because it may not have
had any exposure to children and if your dog is unfriendly to children, you really want
to seriously consider the risks involved in keeping such a dog. If you don't already have
a pet, you may be worthwhile considering waiting until your children are a little bit older
because dogs take time and energy just as children do.
To sum up, if you don't have a dog, consider putting off buying one until the children
are school age. If you already have a dog, introduce the dog to the new baby, include
the dog in your day to day routines, keep babies well away when feeding the dog and
never leave babies or young children together with dogs unsupervised.
And talk to your vet. Make sure that your dog is healthy and regularly wormed. Any medical
problems like skin irritations or ear infections can make your dog unfriendly when it's being
approached or patted.
While we might spend most of our time with small children in the house or in the garden,
many of us would travel a number of times each week, even daily in the car. Now there's
no doubt at all that if a person has a car accident and they are effectively restrained,
that the likelihood of injury is greatly reduced. From babies through to school aged children,
there are effective ways of restraining your child.
Michelle Booth is the road safety manager at the NRMA, Australia's largest motoring
organisation.
The proper use of child restraints is the most important action we can take to ensure
the safety of our children when travelling in vehicles. Now laws do vary slightly between
states and between countries, but essentially the facts are the same. Child restraints save
lives and by child restraint we mean a device that is specially designed to carry children
in a vehicle and approved to the Australian standard.
The child restraint must always be properly fitted in the vehicle and that means that
you should follow all instructions when installing the restraint. Make sure the top tether straps
and the adult seatbelt, which is holding in the restraint, are properly adjusted and they
shouldn't have any slack. With baby or infant restraints such as this capsule, the restraint
should never rest on the seat in front. Make sure the baby is secured properly and comfortably,
again according to the instructions. Check that the harness, which is holding the baby
in, and the tether straps are secure and that any blankets are placed over the straps. Child
seats are suitable for children from about 9 kilos, which is around 6 months of age,
up to around 19 kilos, which can be around 4 to 4 and a half years of age. Again the
restraint must be properly fitted in the vehicle and it's important to follow all instructions.
With the child seat you should push it back into the car seat as far as possible to minimise
any movement in a crash. Make sure you adjust the harness firmly so that there are no twists
and also not too firm that it's too tight on the child. After the child seat you should
consider placing your child into a booster cushion. Now a booster cushion must be used
in conjunction with either an adult seatbelt or a child safety harness. You should use
a booster cushion or choose a cushion that has some back support and some side support
and also has a sash guide so that the seatbelt can feed through the sash guide and not rub
on the child's nickel face. So to sum up, it is very important that the restraint you
choose for your child is most suitable for your child's weight and for your child's
height. It is also essential that you keep your child in that restraint for as long as
possible, while ever that child is under its weight restrictions. If you are going to fit
a restraint in the car yourself, you should read and follow the instructions that come
with the child restraint. You should also look in the owner's manual that comes with
your vehicle for advice on where the child restraint anchorage points are in your car.
You can also have your child restraint professionally fitted in your vehicle and for advice on
where this can be done, you should seek out your local traffic authority or motoring organisation.
You should never leave your child unattended in a vehicle. You should also make sure you
have plenty of fresh air circulating in the vehicle and on a warm day, think about placing
some sort of sunscreen on the window to minimise the amount of sun that comes in on the child
because children do dehydrate in warm weather. If you have a garden, there is nothing better
than letting the children out to play when it is fine. The most important thing is to
have an area where a young child can play without wandering off unnoticed. A fenced garden
is ideal. If not, for smaller children, a playpen is a great idea. You will always know
exactly where they are. Swings are great value but make sure yours has got a soft seat. Too
many accidents are the result of children being walloped on the head by hard swing seats.
Sand pits can be a great source of fun. Try to keep them covered though when they are
not in use as cats find them a convenient toilet. If you keep poisons in your garden
shed make sure that they are in the correct containers but keep the door locked at all
times and use a quality padlock. When you drive off, always make sure you know where
your children are. Too many children have died or been seriously injured by their parents
driving over them in their own driveway. And a large number of children receive severe
burns from open barbecues and bonfires. Again, it is vital to keep an eye on the children
at all times. To sum up, cover sand pits, soft swing seats, lock your shed, fence your
yard, keep children away from open fires and never move your vehicle without knowing your
children's whereabouts. Insist on the use of safety helmets when using bicycles and
when in the sun remember that young children's skin is very prone to burning and that early
over exposure to the sun is linked to skin cancer later in life. Put a hat on them, cover
them up and use UV protection cream. Your local hardware shop or department store should
stock most of the products that you have seen and installing them is generally not difficult.
One or two of the items might be a little bit costly but what price can you put on your
children's safety? Our main message is be aware, try to minimise risks, watch your children
as much as possible and take sensible precautions. Stay safe.