How do I keep my baby safe?

You can keep your baby being diligent at all times. Even when a parent is diligent, accidents still happen, sometimes with tragic results. Being aware of ways to keep your baby safe is the beginning of preventing an injury.

The most common injuries for infants and toddlers are from motor vehicle accidents with the improper use of car seats, burns, falls, drowning and the ingestion of poisons.

In a car a baby should always travel in the middle of the back seat. Read the directions of the car seat before putting your baby in it. The car seat should be appropriate for the child’s weight and age. The seat should be facing towards the back of the rear seat, never in the front seat with a passenger air bag. Always insure that the baby’s head is stable in the seat. You can do this by rolling a blanket and placing it around the baby’s head. The harness straps should come over the baby’s shoulders, be snug and lay flat, not twisted. The harness clip should be at armpit level to hold the shoulder straps in place.

The American Academy of Pediatrics had stated that if there was 100 percent proper use of car seats there would be 53,000 less injuries and 500 less deaths every year to children under four years of age. It can be expensive not to have a car seat. In Manatee County, someone traveling with a child not in a proper restraint can be fined $60 and have three points put on their license.

Burns are the second most common accidental injury for children under age four. No one expects to have a fire in their home. As a family, develop a plan of escape in case of a fire. Every home should have at least one fire extinguisher. They need to be checked annually and replaced every six years.

Burns from hot liquids or hot surfaces are another source of injury to babies. Do not carry hot fluids when baby is in your arms.

Never trust that your baby is not going to roll off a bed or a changing table. Keep the sides of the crib up and firmly secured. You never know when that first time to roll over is going to occur.

Drownings happen very quickly. Never leave a baby or a child unattended in or near a tub, pail, toilet or pool of water. Young children may drown in as little as two inches of water. If you have a pool or hot tub, fence it. Nationally drowning is the leading cause of injury related deaths in children younger than one year of age.

Once babies start crawling the dangers multiply. Keep plastic bags and wrappers out of reach. Any small object that can be placed in the mouth is potentially hazardous. Make sure a garage door can not be lowered on a child. Keep furniture away from windows so that children cannot climb up and fall off the furniture or out of a window. Use gates on stairs. If you have blinds with long strings, fold the strings up so that the baby cannot potentially strangle.

Young children love to put things in their mouths. If you think your child has put anything in his mouth that might injure him call poison control at 800-222-1222.

Being a parent is a full-time job with no time off.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 1:06 PM with the headline "How do I keep my baby safe?."