How do you deal with child suffocation at home? Toddlers are usually at a higher risk of facing suffocation than young infants or newborns. However, all children must be protected from this safety hazard. Child suffocation is a very serious problem that should be addressed by all parents but very few are actually up-to task. It’s for this reason that parents need to take necessary precautions.
Protecting Children from Suffocation
Here are some tips that will come in handy when you want to keep your children safe:
- Always place infants facing up on surfaces that are soft. Mattress covers, comforters, waterbeds and even sheepskin rugs can easily suffocate an infant when the child is placed face-down.
- Avoid crib bumpers and pillows that are designed in a similar manner altogether.
- Avoid putting an infant near plastic bags. Also, don’t put the infant on any mattress that is wrapped with plastic as this is a child suffocation disaster waiting to happen.
- Always put the correct mattress size inside the baby’s crib. Using a smaller mattress size will leave space around the crib where the baby can easily get trapped when moving around.
- The sheets should also fit perfectly around the mattress. If this is not the case, the sheets will come off when the baby is playing and suffocate the young one. You can get sheet holders that are specifically designed for this purpose.
- Child suffocation can also occur when an infant is placed on an adult’s bed. Couches and sofas are also out of the question.
- No matter how convenient it may seem, never allow infants to share a bed with older children.
- Dispose all plastic bags in the house. Dry-cleaning and grocery bags should be disposed immediately after the contents are emptied.
- Keep garbage bags out of children’s reach.
- Balloons parts can suffocate children under seven. After parties, ensure that you collect all balloons, even the un-inflated ones, and dispose them.
How to Be Prepared
After you’ve discovered that a baby is on the way, start safety preparations immediately. In general, parents need to:
- Learn how to resuscitate people with breathing difficulty. Get enrolled to a CPR class which will equip you with the skills needed to handle child suffocation effectively.
- Have emergency numbers on standby just in case the worst happens. This should include:
- Poison control number: 1-800-222-1222
- Your personal doctor’s number
- The numbers for the child’s parents
- The number of a neighbor or the next of kin
- Learn first aid for child suffocation and keep a first aid kit in the house.
- Install CO2 and smoke detectors in the house.
Conclusion
Children see things in a very different perspective. For you to be 100% sure that your house is safe, crawl in a similar manner to a child in order to establish whether or not the surrounding is safe. Limiting the child’s movement by installing doorknobs is also effective in reducing child suffocation incidents. However, leave some room for the child to move around freely because this is what children are supposed to discover their environment.