Child Neglect

Baby-Proofing Your Home

Babies learn quickly in their first year. For new parents, it's a pleasant surprise to see how soon they begin moving and exploring. But turn your back for a moment, and the infant who was squirming helplessly on a blanket is suddenly crawling across the room at high speeds. Children are naturally curious. Tasting, touching and feeling are how infants and toddlers learn about the world around them. Take a moment to look at your surroundings from a youngster's point of view. Then make any necessary adjustments to baby proof your home. Mechanical suffocation and suffocation by ingested objects cause the most home fatalities to children 0-4 years of age. Drownings and home fires also contribute to the death of young children. Suffocation and Choking

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Infants, when placed on an adult bed of any kind, can roll into the space between the wall and the mattress and suffocate. Exercise caution if sleeping in the same bed with an infant. It is possible for an infant to become wedged between your body and the mattress and suffocate. Infants should never be placed on top of soft surfaces like sofas, large soft toys, sofa cushions, pillows, water beds or on top of blankets, quilts or comforters. Babies should sleep on their backs. Crib bars should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart to prevent infants from getting their heads stuck between them. Cribs manufactured after 1974 must meet this and other strict safety standards. The crib mattress must fit tightly so there are no gaps for an infant to fall into. Keep the crib clear of plastic sheets, pillows and large stuffed animals or toys. These can be suffocation hazards. Keep toys with long strings or cords away from infants and young children. A cord can become wrapped around an infant's neck and cause strangulation. Toys with long strings, cords, loops or ribbons should never be hung in cribs or playpens. Similarly, pacifiers should never be attached to strings or ribbons around the baby's neck....