Childproofing Your Home During The Holidays
How do I make my Christmas Tree a safer decoration for my kids?
Christmas time is so much fun for families and such a great time for starting new traditions. When my little ones were tiny, I had a three foot Christmas tree that I put up, out of reach, so that the children couldn't come into contact with the Christmas tree. They could see it and see how bright and shiny and fun a Christmas tree was, but they weren't allowed access to it, so they were safe. They were too tiny to discipline, to say "No no," and I just picked a few of my favourite Christmas tree ornaments and put those up that year. I used a small version of the Christmas tree that year and it worked out great. It's also important to make sure that when you're lighting candles on the Christmas tree, to make sure that your baby doesn't have access to that and any of the decor that can be pulled down on top of them. That it's just secured, and it's probably a good idea that year when you have a baby that's just really tiny and just getting into harm's way constantly to maybe tone down the decor that year and only pull out maybe half or a third of the boxes. You'll get to it soon enough, but less is more when you have small babies.
How can Christmas wrapping and trim be a danger to my children?
We have small babies, and it's Christmas time, it's best to be a minimalist when decorating for safety reasons. When wrapping gifts, just use wrap. Stay away from decorating the gift wrap with bows, with ribbon that could pose a strangulation hazard, any type of tape that they could ingest and choke upon. Don't decorate the gifts with ornaments; the child will have access to that and if they are glass, they could break and choke. It's just not safe. So it's easier to go with, again, less is more with the Christmas holiday.
What are safe Halloween costume choices for children?
Choosing a safe Halloween outfit for your child is pretty easy nowadays because it seems that the manufacturers are getting pretty wise to child safety orientated outfits. Make sure that the Halloween outfit fits, that if your child is a size 4T, buy a 4T, because you don't want them to be tripping on something that's too long. Also make sure that if the Halloween outfit comes with a mask, your child wears it at home but not when they're out parading that evening on Halloween night when it's dusk and they're not able to see. It's important that they are able to see peripheral and straight ahead. And then, also make sure that the Halloween outfits are fire retardant, because many people have Jack'O Lanterns or other types of paper lanterns to light their way and you don't want their little outfits catching on fire.
How do I keep my children safe during trick-or-treating?
Always supervise your child to keep them safe during trick-or-treating at Halloween. You make sure that you are one step ahead of them. Make sure you that you have a flashlight when out trick-or-treating. Make sure that you don't let them eat a piece of candy until you have inspected that candy. You are there not just to be vigilant and to supervise but to have a really fun time with them trick-or-treating. And having a flashlight, whether you have one to actually find the way, and maybe giving one to your child, just to have fun, is also a great idea. Put something on your child to distinguish them from all the other trick or treaters when it gets really dark, perhaps some fluorescent glow-in-the-dark jewellery around the neck, to make sure you don't get separated. It's a very good rule of thumb.
