Child Safety
In-car Child Safety:
The importance of car seats for babies and children:
Road accidents cause the deaths of many children every year. Accidents have increased significantly since 2015 due to several reasons (such as distracted driving). Such accidents are difficult to prevent if the driver uses smart devices while driving. Meanwhile, even if you drive safely, this does not necessarily mean that other drivers do.
Having your child sit in a properly-installed car seat, that is appropriate for his age, in the back seat, would help protect your child, and reduces the risk of suffering from serious injuries in road accidents; whose victims are mostly children.
Types of child car seats:
Car seat types vary depending on the child's age and weight, as well as the vehicle type. Car seat types include:
| Appropriate car seat type | Age range | Weight |
| Rear-facing car seat for infants | Birth to 6-9 months | 0-10 KG |
| | Birth to 12-15 months | 0-13 KG |
| Convertible car seat | Birth to 4 years | 0-18 KG |
| | Birth to 6 years | 0-25 KG |
| Forward-facing car seat | 9 months to 4 years | 9-18 KG |
| | 9 months to 11 years | 9-36 KG |
| Booster seat | 4-6 years | 15-25 KG |
| | 4-11 years | 15-36 KG |
| Wedge pillow | 6-11 years | 22-36 KG |
| | 4-11 years | 15-36 KG |
Guidance on choosing the right car seat for your child:
- There is no such thing as the "best" or "most efficient" seat. The type of each seat is bound by the age and size of the child, as well as proper installation and proper use.
- Seat's high price does not necessarily mean that it is the best.
- It is recommend that the seat filling is comfortable for your child's head, providing the necessary head support, especially when travelling.
- Make sure that the fabric of the seat absorbs moisture, and that this fabric is removable for cleaning purposes.
- Make sure that the car seat has a sunshade cover to protect your child from the sun.
- Make sure that the car seat is easy to remove and install into the stroller.
Child safety at Home:
Most common accidents:
- Playing with chemicals (medicines, detergents, cleaning products and others).
- Toy-related problems.
- Falling down.
- Burns.
Child safety at Home:
Home injuries and accidents can occur at any time; some of their causes are obvious and others may not be easily noticeable. Below are guidelines for you to prevent such accidents in each of the following places:
Kitchen:
- Keep your children away from the kitchen when cooking.
- Keep the handles of pots and pans away from the outer side of the oven, and make sure that you use the internal cooking stoves rather than the ones near the outer side of the oven.
- Keep hot food away from the reach of children, and do not leave it on the edges of table surfaces.
- Keep sharp objects away from the reach of children, and place them in closed cabinets.
Bedroom:
- Make sure that the child's bed or crib is safe and that it has railings to prevent your child and falling on the ground while sleeping.
- Avoid putting cotton toys near your sleeping child to prevent any accidental suffocation.
Bathrooms:
- Observe your child continuously when he is taking a bath. If you had to leave them, even to get a phone call, you must take him out of the shower with you.
- Make sure that the water temperature is suitable to avoid burns.
- Keep electrical devices (such as: Hair dryers) away from water, and make sure the devices are disconnected while the child is taking a bath.
- Make sure that all bathroom and laundry rooms are closed.
Electrical Safety:
- Cover unused electrical plugs with their own covers.
- Place the wires inside their own insulation panels and keep them away from the path of children's strollers.
- Chemicals (medicines, detergents, and others):
- Place all medicines, detergents and cosmetics in the upper shelves or in closed cabinets; children do not differentiate them from sweets.
Toys:
- Makes sure to buy toys that are appropriate for the age range of your children.
- Be careful when using toys with sharp edges or those consisting of small parts.
- Always read the instructions that come with toys to learn about the age range for which such toys are manufactured, and learn more about ways to clean those toys.
- Caution is necessary when children are playing with toys that consist of small parts that may lead to suffocation (like: small balls).
- Keep children's toys away from newborns.
General Guidelines:
- Make sure to have a first aid kit in your home.
- Make sure to keep the house doors locked to prevent children from going out to the street without supervision.
- Make sure that your house windows are secured to protect your children from falling off.
- Keep furniture away from windows to prevent your children from climbing them and reaching the windows.
- Make sure to install safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.
- Keep plastic bags away from the reach of your children.
- Keep cigarettes away from the reach of your children.
- Keep weapons away from the reach of your children. If you have a gun inside your house, make sure that its magazine is empty and that the gun is well-hidden while bullets are kept somewhere away from the gun.
- Stay near your child when he is sitting on high seats and chairs.
- Keep your lighters and matches in high closets.
Children and Passive Smoking:
Effects of passive smoking on children:
Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of passive smoking, which include:
- Unexpected sudden death of infants (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
- A child who lives in a family who smokes during the first 18 months of life has an increased risk of a range of respiratory diseases, including bronchitis, and pneumonia, and is more likely to catch colds, coughs and middle-ear infections.
- Asthma: A child who is exposed to smoke at home is more likely to develop asthma with exacerbated symptoms and increased incidence of asthma attacks. Such children also tend to need relevant medicines for a longer period of time.
- Cigarettes and ashes could lead to burns or eye injuries.
- Children who grow up with smoking parents or family members are three times more likely to start smoking.
Limiting the risks of passive smoking:
- Do not smoke inside the house.
- Do not smoke inside the car.
- Do not smoke inside the closed areas.
- Avoid taking your children to places crowded with smokers whether in outdoor or indoor (like coffee shops).
- Seek restaurants and places that prohibit smoking.
- Advise your children to stay away from smoking atmospheres.
- Make sure that your children's schools and daycare centers prohibit smoking.
For further information: