Keep Your Grandkids Safe
Most childhood accidents are preventable—but only if you know what to watch for. These child safety tips for grandparents cover the most common causes of accidental injury in young children, and exactly what grandparents can do about each one.
As grandparents, our instinct to keep our grandchildren safe is so strong! It can feel frightening to watch the news, knowing they are growing up in a world that often seems like a precarious place. Viruses, natural disasters, political unrest, global warming: There is so much we can’t protect them from.
But there is also so much we can do. The best child safety tips for grandparents start with understanding the most common sources of accidental injury and taking steps to reduce those risks — something we can all do, but too many of us don't take the time for.
If that's to change, the first step is to know what the dangers are. Do you know what the most common causes of accidental injury in children under five are? Here they are (in alphabetical order, not by risk):
Burns
Choking
Drowning
Falls
Poisoning
Motor vehicle accidents
Suffocation
Most accidents can be prevented. Are you doing all you can to keep your grandkids safe while they are in your home or under your care? Remember that accidents happen in the blink of an eye, and most of us are not as prepared for the impulsiveness of small children as we once were.
Let’s change that and take these important steps to keep our grandchildren safe:
Active supervision is every grandparent's most important safety tool
Never leave a young child alone, especially near water, stairs, flames, or sharp objects. If you have a pool, stream, or fishpond on your property, you need to be especially vigilant. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1-4, and one that can be prevented with some simple steps. All grandparents should read What Grandparents Need to Know: Water Safety, even if the only source of water at your home is the bathtub.
How to childproof your home before grandchildren visit
Be sure your grandchildren play in safe areas and with safe toys, and watch them closely during playtime. Use safety gates to block off stairways and cover electrical outlets. Make sure the dishwasher tabs and laundry pods are out of reach and out of sight, and lock up chemicals and medicines. We share more important tips on babyproofing a grandparent’s home in this post.
Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning, and up to 20 percent of pediatric poisonings involve a grandparent’s medication. Program the number for Poison Help into your phone: 1-800-222-1222. Read more about how to protect your grandchildren from accidental poisoning here.
What grandparents need to know about car seat safety
Injuries suffered while riding in cars is the number one preventable cause of death in children under 13. Of the children 12 years old and younger who died in a crash in 2017, 35% were not buckled up. Use appropriate car seats and seat belts for young children every single time they ride with you. Make sure seats are installed according to both the car seat and vehicle manuals. Car seat recommendations are regularly updated as more and better research becomes available, and it’s important to stay current on the latest guidelines. Find out more about what grandparents need to know about car seat safety.
How can grandparents protect young children from burns?
Young children have no concept of what “hot” means. That’s why it’s so important for caregivers to be extra vigilant about potential burn hazards. A child’s thin, tender skin burns far more easily than adults, so something that might just be uncomfortable to us can cause a severe burn for them. The average home has multiple sources of potential burns, so make sure to read What Grandparents Need to Know About Burn Prevention to familiarize yourself with all of them (and learn my own story about how quickly a child can be burned).
What do grandparents need to know about safe sleep?
Place babies on their back to sleep, and use a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheet in the crib. Nothing but the baby should be in the crib: no blankets, stuffed animals or sleep aids. Make sure any crib you use conforms to the latest safety guidelines. Never put a baby to sleep on a couch or in bed with you. Read more about safe sleep guidelines.
Which foods are choking hazards for young children?
Know the common choking hazards and the foods that are dangerous for babies. These include:
whole hot dogs, or round slices of them
raisins
whole grapes
uncut cherry tomatoes
popcorn
raw carrots
large pieces of meat
peanuts, nuts and seeds
hard candy
chunks of peanut butter or other sticky pastes
taffy or other sticky candy or gum
large chunks of cheese
marshmallows
raw vegetables
Make sure you are aware of any food allergies, which are on the rise and can be fatal. Supervise your grandchildren while they are eating, and don’t let them eat while they are running around or playing. Read more about food and feeding safety here.
Are the toys in your grandchild's life safe?
As grandparents, we're often the ones buying toys—which means the responsibility for choosing safe ones falls partly to us. Over a million children were treated in emergency rooms for toy-related injuries between 2015 and 2019, and many of those injuries involved toys that weren't age-appropriate or had been recalled. Knowing what to look for before you buy—or before you pull something out of storage—matters more than you might think. Read what grandparents need to know about toy safety.
Is secondhand baby gear safe to use?
Many grandparents are eager to pull the old crib from storage or accept hand-me-downs from friends. It's a generous impulse, but safety standards for baby equipment change regularly, and items that were considered safe a decade ago may not meet today's guidelines. Before you use any secondhand gear, check it for recalls and signs of wear. Get the full guide to used baby gear safety for grandparents.
Does sharing photos on social media put grandchildren at risk?
Keeping grandchildren safe isn't only about the physical world. If you use social media (and about 75% of grandparents do) the way you share photos of your grandchildren can create risks you may not have considered. Even photos shared on private accounts can end up in unexpected places, and many parents have strong feelings about what gets posted and where. Learn what grandparents need to know about social media safety.
What holiday safety hazards should grandparents watch for?
The holidays bring hazards that don't exist the rest of the year: candles, Christmas tree lights, poisonous plants like poinsettias, and small ornaments that look like candy to a toddler. Grandparents' homes are often the hub for holiday gatherings, which makes the responsibility for a safe environment squarely ours. Read about holiday safety hazards every grandparent needs to know.
Should grandparents take a CPR and first aid class?
No matter how many precautions you take, accidents still happen. When they do, will you be prepared? You will be if you take these steps:
Take an infant/child CPR class. The Red Cross offers one online here.
Take a class on helping a choking child
Keep emergency contact information, including the number for poison control, in an easily accessible location. Better yet, program them into your phone RIGHT NOW!
If you are caring for your grandchild, make sure you have contact information for their pediatrician and any other health care providers they regularly see.
There will always be things we can’t protect our grandchildren from, no matter how much we wish we could. That makes it even more pressing to take the steps we can to make sure preventable accidents don’t happen.
Keeping your grandchildren safe is important to us, too. That’s why we’ve made the Baby Care & Safety section of New Grandparent Essentials available for separate purchase. It’s the quickest way to make sure you have all the information you need to keep your grandbaby safe from preventable accidents. Find out more about Baby Care & Safety here.
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