Summer Safety: Keep your child safe while having fun this summer

Summer is the long-awaited time of year when children head outdoors to play, and adults fling open windows to let sunshine and fresh air in.

But it is also the most dangerous time of the year. During summer months children play outside more, often with less supervision than in school. Summer-related injuries can range from a sunburn from a day at the beach without sunscreen, to a life-threatening head trauma for a rider without a helmet in a bicycle crash.

Take precautions

Most injuries to children are preventable and there are precautions you can take to help your child's summer be safe and happy.

Water Safety

Drowning is one of the greatest summer risks for children ages 14 and under, so always watch children closely when they are near water. Children age 4 and younger have the highest drowning rate.

• Whenever your children swim, make sure they are supervised by an adult who knows how to swim.

• Watch young children carefully, even if you're not near a pool, lake, river or ocean. Small children can drown in as little as one inch of water, and have drowned in wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, toilets, and hot tubs.

• Install pool fencing and lock the gate.

• Teach your child to swim. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children begin swimming lessons at 4 years old.

• Even if your child can swim, never let him swim unsupervised.

• Keep children in your direct line of sight while supervising them. Be cautious about becoming distracted with poolside reading, socializing with guests, or listening to music with a headset. Children can drown silently and quickly, and many have drowned while preoccupied adults were around the pool area.

• When boating, have your child wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life vest. Approximately 85 percent of boating-related drownings could have been prevented if a life jacket had been worn. (Blow-up water wings and other pool toys should not be used as life jackets or life preservers.) Most states have laws that require children to wear life jackets.

• Set a good example by wearing your life jacket and encourage other adults to do so as well.

• Be aware of undercurrents, tides and waves. Children–and adults–can be swept away by these unexpectedly strong forces. Check for signs posted in the area or check tide charts to know when high tide will be.

• Make sure water is at least nine feet deep before you let your child dive.

• Learn CPR so you are ready for an emergency. Children age 13 and older should learn CPR as well.

Summer Heat

Hot summer temperatures bring many risks for children. Plan ahead to prevent sunburns, heatstroke and other heat-related injuries.

• Sun safety:

  • Protect your children's skin by limiting the time they're in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are strongest.

  • Use at least 15 SPF (sun protection factor) sunscreen on your children before they go outside, even on cloudy days. Reapply sunscreen every two hours and after your child swims.

  • Have your children wear sunglasses to help block UV rays that can be harmful to eyes. Make sure the lenses block UV rays – some "kiddie" glasses don't.

  • Keep your children hydrated. Pack water or juice if they are going to be in the sun or participating in physical activities and remind them to drink even if they're not thirsty.

• Vehicle temperatures: Many children have been seriously injured or died when left in a car during the summer months. Remember these safety measures:

  • Never leave a child alone in a car. Even with a window cracked, a closed car can overheat in a matter of minutes.

  • Make sure all children get out of the car when you arrive at your destination.

  • Keep your car–including the trunk–locked at all times, even in the garage or driveway so a child can't sneak in and become trapped.

  • Teach children not to play in or around parked cars, even at home.

  • Check the temperature of the car seat surface and safety belt buckles before buckling your child in the car.

• Open windows: While it's refreshing to open the windows of your home when the weather turns warm, remember that children can fall out of open windows–even with the screens in.

  • If possible, open windows from the top, not the bottom, so children can't reach the opening.

  • Use window guards. Screens can give way under a child's weight, but window guards will keep him from falling out.

  • Move furniture such as couches and tables away from windows, so toddlers can't access open windows.

Bicycle Safety

Children age 5 to 14 are seen in hospital emergency rooms for bicycling injuries more often than for injuries from any other activity. But many bicycling injuries can be avoided. Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent, and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.

Children are more likely to wear a helmet if their parents or a state law requires them to, but unfortunately, less than half of states have laws requiring bicycle helmets for children age 16 and younger. According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, one study showed that a state mandated helmet law decreased bicycle fatalities by 60 percent.

Follow these tips to keep your child safe while riding his bike:

• Buy a bike that is the right size for your child. Oversized bikes can be dangerous, especially if your child's feet can't touch the ground.

• Make sure your child can operate the brakes.

• Get a helmet for your child that is fitted correctly. Helmets should sit on top of the head with the straps buckled, and should not be able to rock forward, backward, or side to side.

• Have your child wear his bicycle helmet whenever he is on his bike, even if not going far. Head injuries can happen in driveways and on sidewalks – not just on major streets.

• Encourage the parents of your child's friends to have their children wear a helmet. Children are more likely to wear a helmet if their peers do.

• Have your child also wear a helmet when using a scooter, rollerblades, or a skateboard. Knee, wrist and elbow pads are also important for these activities.

• Teach your child the rules of the road:

  • Ride on the right side of the road – with traffic, not against it.

  • Use appropriate hand signals.

  • Stop at stop signs and stoplights.

  • Stop and look both ways before entering or crossing a street.

Playground Safety

Many summertime injuries happen on playgrounds. Falls are the most common cause, but sadly, strangulation is another risk. This has occurred when drawstrings on clothing have become tangled in playground equipment.

When your children play on playground equipment:

• Make sure an adult watches them. Lack of supervision is associated with 40 percent of playground injuries.

• Remove hood drawstrings from your child's jacket and make sure he doesn't wear a bicycle helmet, necklace, scarf or anything that could get caught in the playground equipment.

• Make sure the playground is age-appropriate for your child.

• Avoid playgrounds with asphalt, concrete, grass or dirt under the equipment. Children are twice as likely to hurt themselves if there is not a soft impact-absorbing surface below the equipment, such as mats, shredded rubber, bark chips or fine sand.

Mowing Safety

During the summer while doing yard work, it can be nice to have your children playing outside near you. However, when it's time to mow the lawn, children are safer indoors. When the mower is running, it can be hard to hear children – and difficult to see them if you have a riding lawn mower.

Keep these safety tips in mind when mowing:

• Make sure your child and pets are indoors. Even though they may be on the other side of the yard, children can move quickly and impulsively and may not be aware of the lawn mower blade.

• Turn off the mower if a child comes near while you're mowing.

• Riding mowers were not made for children to ride on, even with an adult. There is too much of a risk of a child falling off and sliding under the mower.

• Clear away any twigs, stones, toys or glass that could be picked up and thrown by the lawn mower.

• Make sure your lawnmower is off and inoperable when you leave it unattended.

Pedestrian Safety

Children age 10 and younger generally have not yet developed the ability to judge how far away a car is and how fast it is coming toward them. So it's important for parents to watch children near streets and teach them pedestrian safety.

• Walk or bike with your child to school when they are younger than 10 years old.

• Teach your child to:

  • Only cross in crosswalks.

  • Look both ways before crossing the street. Check for cars, motorcycles and bicyclists.

  • When crossing, watch for cars turning left or right.

  • Never come from between parked cars to cross the street. Drivers may not be able to see you.

  • If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road facing traffic, so you can see oncoming cars.

Following these summer safety tips can help you and your child have a fun, safe summer.

Source: Children's Hospital Boston Injury Prevention Program