Holiday safety tips from AboutKidsHealth
Keep holiday celebrations safe and fun with the following tips from AboutKidsHealth for safe decorations, parties and gift giving.
Preventing burns: Winter safety
Extension cords can get hot. Keep children away from extension cords, and never run them inside walls, under rugs or under furniture.
Real Christmas trees can catch fire when they are dried out. To prevent fires, keep your tree watered, and throw it out when it starts to turn brown or dry out. All trees (real and artificial) should be kept away from candles, fireplaces, heating vents, TVs and other sources of heat.
Decorative lighting can also cause fire and burns. To keep your family safe, always check string lights for wear or damage before using them, and make sure you are using the right lights in the right places. Indoor lights are not weatherproofed for outdoors, and outdoor lights may burn too hot for use indoors. All other decorations should be flame resistant.
Keep holiday celebrations safe and fun with the following tips...
Find more tips for preventing burns over the holidays and during the rest of the winter: Preventing burns: Winter safety.
Keeping children safe at holiday parties
At holiday parties, make sure that a designated adult is supervising children during the festivities. Also, be sure to keep visitors’ purses and coats in a designated area, out of reach of young children—these could contain items such as medicines and lighters, which could harm a child. To reduce the risk of children putting dangerous holiday party items, such as cigarette butts or toothpicks used for hors d’oeuvres, in their mouths, show guests where to safely dispose of these items.
Make sure gifts from friends and family are safe
When buying toys for your children or before giving your children gifts from friends and family, check that toys are labelled for the correct age range, even if your child is advanced for their age. Age recommendations on toys are about safety, not the child’s ability to master the toy or game. If your child is under three, toys should be bigger than the child’s fist to avoid the risk of choking.
It’s also important to check that toys and their batteries (if they are battery operated) are in good condition and that batteries are secure inside the toy. Old batteries can leak and cause corrosive burns. If the toy has parts that can break off or the batteries are easily accessible, these may be swallowed. If swallowed, batteries can cause internal chemical burns or poisoning.
Discover more tips for keeping your family safe over the holidays, including decorating and travel safety tips, in the AboutKidsHealth article, Holiday safety.
AboutKidsHealth is SickKids’ health-education website and features more than 3,500 articles on a range of paediatric health topics. Find more information on winter safety and other health topics at aboutkidshealth.ca.
