Controlling the Chaos: Holiday Safety Tips
In a recent year over 3,000 children, ages birth to five years, died in the United States due to unintentional injuries according to the National Safety Council*. That’s over eight children every day! Many injuries and accidents are preventable. Potentially deadly situations are often overlooked by parents and caregivers. Awareness is key in keeping our children safe.
Preparing the holiday meal is a big job. Even bigger when you’ve got a toddler hanging off your leg. With the holidays upon us, the “Paranoid Sisters” Lisa Carter and Lori Marques authors of Child Safety Made Easy have a few suggestions for parents and caregivers to follow while cooking the holiday meal:
- Assign an adult to watch over little ones outside of the kitchen. With hot baking dishes swishing by, pots of boiling water being carried to the sink, every burner on the stove working double time and a scalding hot oven opening and closing, you don’t want children running through the kitchen.
- Check your fire extinguisher. Is it in proper working condition? Do you know how to use it?
- Put any sharp objects into the sink immediately after use. You don’t want a wandering little one to come in and pull it off the counter.
- Use the back burners first, then use the front ones when the back ones are full. Be sure to turn the pot handles in.
- Use the same supervising system during kitchen cleanup as during cooking. Empty all glasses with alcoholic beverages into sink so little ones don’t accidentally take a sip.
*National Safety Council(1997) Accident Facts
Safety is often overlooked in the excitement of the holidays. These are worthy items to remember during the holidays especially to make sure one’s fire extinguisher is adequate and ready to use. Kristy