baby safety month

Baby Safety Month: Six checks that could make your home safer

September offers parents and caregivers a reminder to inspect sleep spaces, car seats, secondhand baby gear, and the everyday places where hazards can hide.

A baby lounger may look soft, cozy, and perfectly suited for sleep. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe.

On Sept. 10, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned families to stop using 2,355 CooCooBaby baby loungers. The agency said the loungers didn’t meet federal standards for infant sleep products and could expose babies to suffocation, falls, or entrapment.

The warning arrived during Baby Safety Month, recognized each September. Parents and caregivers can use the month to take a fresh look at the places where babies sleep, ride, bathe, and play.

Keep sleep spaces firm, flat, and bare

The safest infant sleep space is usually the simplest one.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends these practices for babies up to age 1:

Put the baby on their back for every nap and overnight sleep.
Use a firm, flat mattress in a crib, bassinet, portable crib, or play yard that meets federal safety standards.
Use only a fitted sheet.
Keep pillows, loose blankets, stuffed animals, crib bumpers, sleep positioners, and other soft objects out of the sleep space.
Don’t use weighted blankets, weighted sleepers, or weighted swaddles.
If the baby falls asleep in a swing, stroller, carrier, sling, or car seat, move them to an approved sleep surface as soon as possible.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns against using inclined products, including rockers, gliders, and swings, for infant sleep.

The AAP recommends room sharing for at least the first six months, but it doesn’t recommend bed sharing. That means keeping the baby’s crib or bassinet in the caregiver’s room, but not putting the baby in the adult bed for sleep.

Check the car seat, even if you’ve used it for months

Babies younger than 1 should always ride in a rear-facing car seat. Children should remain rear-facing until they reach the height or weight limit set by the seat’s manufacturer, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Parents and caregivers should check that:

The seat is appropriate for the child’s current height and weight.
The seat is installed according to the instructions from the car-seat and vehicle manufacturers.
The harness fits snugly and is positioned correctly.
The seat hasn’t expired, been recalled, or been involved in a crash that could make it unsafe.
The seat is registered with its manufacturer so the family will receive recall and safety notices.

Certified technicians can inspect car seats and teach caregivers how to install and use them. Safe Kids Durham County, led by the Duke Trauma Program, offers car-seat checkups and other injury-prevention programs.

Families can call 919-323-5073 or use the Safe Kids inspection-station locator to find assistance.

Look up hand-me-downs before using them

A crib, high chair, stroller, or other piece of baby gear may still look sturdy years after it was purchased. Its safety standards may have changed, however, or the product may have been recalled.

Before using secondhand baby gear:

Find the manufacturer, model number, and production date.
Search the CPSC recalls and product warnings database.
Confirm that the product has all its original hardware.
Find and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Check for cracks, loose parts, damaged straps, or other signs of wear.

Don’t donate, give away, or resell a recalled product. Follow the federal notice for instructions on receiving a repair, replacement, or refund, or disposing of the product safely.

Get down to a baby’s level

One useful childproofing test is to crawl through the rooms where a baby spends time. From floor level, it’s easier to spot objects that might end up in a child’s mouth.

Look for:

Button and coin batteries
Magnets
Coins
Medicine and vitamins
Cleaning products and laundry packets
Liquid nicotine and vaping supplies
Small toy parts
Cords, plastic bags, and other choking or strangulation hazards

Button and coin batteries are especially dangerous. A swallowed battery can burn through a child’s esophagus in as little as two hours, according to Poison Control. Keep loose batteries locked away, and make sure battery compartments on toys, remotes, key fobs, and other devices close securely.

Medicines, vitamins, cleaning products, and other dangerous substances should be locked up. Child-resistant packaging isn’t childproof.

For a suspected poisoning, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or visit Poison.org. Call 911 immediately if the child collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can’t be awakened.

Stay within reach around water

Babies can drown quickly and quietly, even in a small amount of water.

During bath time, keep the baby within reach at all times. Gather towels, soap, clothing, and other supplies before putting the child in the water. If something elsewhere in the house needs attention, take the baby with you.

Homes with pools or spas should use several layers of protection, including:

Fences
Self-closing and self-latching gates
Door alarms
Pool alarms
Secure pool or spa covers

The CPSC also recommends setting household water heaters to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower to reduce the risk of scalding.

Secure the rest of the room

Babies become mobile quickly, sometimes before adults expect it.

The CPSC recommends that families:

Anchor dressers, bookshelves, televisions, and other heavy furniture to a wall.
Replace accessible corded window coverings with cordless versions when possible.
Use hardware-mounted safety gates at the top of stairs.
Secure cabinets containing medicines, cleaning supplies, knives, matches, and other hazards.
Use tamper-resistant electrical outlets or covers that children can’t easily remove.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms regularly.

No safety device replaces adult supervision, and determined toddlers sometimes defeat even well-installed locks and latches. Baby Safety Month offers a good reason to check those protections again before a child discovers the weakness first.

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