Child Safety
Children are naturally inquisitive and need to be allowed to play, climb, jump and explore their limits. They develop rapidly and must be allowed to test and explore things that involve certain risks. It’s not possible to fully protect against mishaps. The most important thing is to ensure that the child doesn’t have any accidents that are life-threatening or that cause lasting harm. It’s useful if adults can use their imagination to be “one step ahead” in identifying hazardous situations. We can’t rely on small children understanding or remembering warnings when they’re in the middle of a game. It’s not unusual for 3–4 year-old children to experience great leaps forward in their development and learn to master their bodies and their movements better and better. Then it can easily be the case that both the children themselves and adults overestimate the children’s ability, particularly when it comes to road safety.
Road safety
No young child can cross the road by him or herself. The ability to judge distance and speed isn’t full developed in children. As a parent, you can teach your child the rules of road safety by using crossings and only starting to cross when the green man lights up and never letting your child run ahead and using reflectors to protect both you and your child at the time of year when it gets dark. Children willingly imitate adults and adults therefore need to be good models and instructors for their children.
Riding a bicycle
The first bicycle — a tricycle — is often introduced at the age of three. It’s better to wait until your child reaches the age of five before giving them a two-wheel bicycle. Research shows that only at the age of five or six is a child ready to ride a two-wheel bicycle. A bicycle with training wheels makes it easy for children to go fast and to brake by scraping their feet on the ground and it’s common for crashes to occur and for children to fall off.
It’s time to wear a bicycle helmet when the child begins to ride a tricycle! By law, all children under the age of 15 must wear a helmet when riding a bicycle or when being given a ride. The helmet must be CE marked. Choose a helmet approved for a small child with a green buckle, which comes open if the child gets stuck anywhere. When you, as an adult, wear a bicycle helmet, you set a good example for your child.
Travelling by car
Many children travel by car practically every day. Children should face to the rear in the child seat until they are at least four years old in order to provide the best possible protection for the head and neck. Remember to disconnect the airbag if the child sits in the front seat. All car passengers must now wear a seatbelt by law.
Water
Drowning, along with road traffic accidents, is the most common cause of death in the 1–6 age group. Most drownings take place in the immediate surroundings, when a child has been left alone for a short period of time in a bathtub, a pool, a stream or a lake. Small children can drown in a puddle only 20 cm deep. If the child falls over with his or her head down, he or she panics and doesn’t know how to get up. The best way to prevent accidents is through supervision and the use of a buoyancy jacket. Swimming rings and arm floats can give a false sense of security.
Learning how to swim is not only fun but is a lifelong skill and the sooner it’s acquired, the better. Most children aren’t ready to learn to swim before the age of four, but can be trained to get used to water much earlier by playing and having fun in the water with their family. Most people have blown bubbles in the water and have also practised looking under water. Being able to float is the first step towards becoming safe and being more secure in and around water.
Where do accidents happen?
The most common place where children injure themselves is in the home and to some extent in childcare. The most common accidents are falls and injuries caused by crushing and collisions with other children.
Injuries from falls often occur during play on climbing frames and slides, for example. Many playgrounds have worn out play equipment that can be dangerous for children. It’s not unusual for children to crush themselves in a door or in a box, cut themselves on sharp objects or be bitten by insects, animals or other children. In the case of injuries caused by crushing, it may be helpful to keep the injured body part raised and cold at the same time. That may serve to reduce the pain. The same applies if the child has been scalded with hot liquid. Rapid cooling of the injured area is an important first step before seeking help at a health centre or hospital.
Animals
The animals that most frequently cause injuries to small children are, in descending order: dogs, cats, wasps and ticks. If the child receives a deep bite from a dog or cat and the skin has been penetrated, the wound must be examined at a health care centre so a decision can be made on whether to administer antibiotics. In the case of wasp stings and tick bites that become red and swollen, it usually helps if they are bathed with Aluminium Acetotartrate.
Poisoning
The most common cause of poisoning is when a child ingests medicines belonging to parents or grandparents. Many other substances that are common in the household can also cause poisoning or corrosion damage such as fire-lighting fluid, white spirit, cleaning agents and detergents. For that reason, medicines, chemicals and cleaning products must be kept out of children’s reach.
Child safety in Sweden
Sweden is a long way ahead in injury prevention work and is one of the most child-safe countries in the world. You don’t need to travel far to see the differences in approach towards preventive safety work in other countries compared to Sweden.
Despite this, 60–80 children die from injuries and 200,000 children seek emergency medical care each year.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to life, development, play and leisure. At the same time, children must be protected from violence and injury. The balance between development/curiosity and protection from danger is not entirely easy. Perhaps we must accept that children are going to have accidents, but the price paid must not be too high!
