Safety Concerns
Concern for your baby’s safety began during pregnancy. Safety during infancy includes having them go back to sleep exclusively, car seat restraints and preparing your home for a toddler, mindful of choking, fall, and drowning hazards.
Car Safety
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear facing 5 point harness car seats until age 2.
“Children should remain in a car seat, then a booster seat with shoulder harness, until they are at least 8 years old and also taller than 4ft 8in.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
After that we of course strongly recommend shoulder harness seatbelts in the back seat. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding the passenger seat until 13 years of age.
Buckle-UP!
Helmets
Broken bones will heal even stronger than the original bone, but broken brains do not, causing long lasting detrimental effects.
Wear Your Helmets
Fortunately instilling safe practices at a young age will often translate into teens and young adults who make safe choices independently.
This can include wearing helmets but can also include the considerable dangers of smoking, vaping, drinking, drugs, and unprotected sex.
Summer Safety
Summer safety includes regular use of sunscreen, bug spray and tick checks. It also means minimizing drowning risk.
“Always practice rigorous pool safety including draining the pool while not in use, hard pool covers, alarms and fences. Swim lessons are important for your child to be comfortable in the water and to learn water safety. Drownings are a leading cause of death in toddler and school age years.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
While not as an immediate concerns as drowning, sunscreen and other tools to avoid sunburns is crucial for long-term minimization of skin cancer risk.
Wear Your Sunscreen
