As a family-focused law firm, we are committed to keeping those closest to us safe, especially our youngest family members. Baby Safety Month, championed by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), is an effort to help educate parents and caregivers on the safe selection and use of juvenile products while encouraging others to become safety ambassadors through civic engagement. Each September, Baby Safety Month helps us stay on top of the latest issues around child safety and how we can all do our part to prevent accidents.
Infant and Child Injuries
Exploration is an important part of childhood development and it is our responsibility to keep babies safe while they learn and grow. Unfortunately, injuries among children and babies happen far too frequently, landing many in emergency rooms daily.
Injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). More than 12,000 people between the ages of 0 and 19 die from unintentional injuries every year. An estimated 9.2 million are treated yearly in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries.
Injuries due to falls were the leading cause of nonfatal injury for all children under the age of 15. The leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for babies (less than 1 year of age) was due to suffocation.
Baby Safety Tips
Babies and children count on the adults in their lives to keep them protected from danger. As caregivers, we are responsible for staying as informed as possible on the latest safety regulations and recommendations. Accidents happen, but we can take steps to make injuries more preventable.
We encourage you to review these baby safety tips:
- Ensure car seats are installed correctly. Check online resources like safekids.org and learn about local services, including car-seat checkups.
- Keep cribs free of danger, including loose sheets and toys. More about sleep safety.
- Place cribs and other furniture a safe distance from windows to avoid falls and strangulation on cords within reach.
- Set your water heater to a lower temperature (120 degrees or below) to avoid scalds and burns.
- Install and regularly test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. They should be installed on every level of the house, in all sleeping areas.
- Do your best to baby-proof your home. Inspect your home from your hands and knees and identify areas where your baby could be injured.
- Make child-proofing your home a regular practice. Try to stay a step ahead of your baby’s development.
- Avoid secondhand baby products. If hand-me-downs are necessary, make sure the products are in good working condition and they have not been recalled.
- Stay on top of child product recalls through the Consumer Product Safety Commission or SafeKids.org.
Liability and Negligence
We rely on manufacturers to create safe products and expect the people caring for our children to be responsible. Our team may be able to help when the products you use are found to be defective, or someone is injured due to the negligence of a caregiver.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured, we recommend you talk to a lawyer about your legal options. Our team of attorneys at Panter, Panter & Sampedro are experienced in product liability, personal injury, wrongful death, and other related practice areas. Please contact us if you feel we may be able to help. Call (305) 662-6178 to speak with someone on our team today.
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008). CDC Child Injury Report. Retrieved from: https://cdc.gov/safechild/child_injury_data.html
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (2020). Baby Safety Month. Retrieved from https://jpma.org/page/bsm_safety_tips
Safe Kids Worldwide (2019, September 17). 5 Tips for New Parents During Baby Safety Month. Retrieved from: https://safekids.org/blog/5-tips-new-parents-during-baby-safety-month
