Newborn Safety: Essential Tips to Prevent Accidents & Save Lives

Did you know that accidental and unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children? Accidents happen, and as parents, we do our best to avoid them and create the safest possible environment for our children. But as we learn on today’s podcast, we may need to refresh our knowledge on updated guidelines and common misconceptions. It's so important that everyone has some life-saving skills for their family.

Holly Choi is the Co-Owner of Safe Beginning First Aid, a Lifesaving Society-Certified First Aid Instructor, a CPSAC-Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician-Instructor, and also sits on their national board of directors. She is an expert in all things child safety, including the proper use and installation of car seats, childproofing, and infant/toddler first aid. And she has shared her top four lessons parents need to know right off the bat to keep their baby safe.

The Essential 4 Lessons for Keeping Baby Safe

1. Newborns Can Roll 

There is a huge misconception that newborns are incapable of rolling because they don't have the tone to do it, but because they carry about 30% of their body weight in their head, they can and do use the weight of their heads to flip themselves over. This is important to keep in mind especially when the baby is on an elevated change table. Using straps is very important, always keep at least one hand on the baby, or better yet, consider putting the change pad on the floor!

2. Young Children Have Very Thin Skin

Young children, including babies and toddlers, have very thin skin because it is still a developing organ. This makes them significantly more likely to burn more quickly and deeply. So we have to be very cautious when it comes to not only the sun, but also with regular household items that are hot. One of the leading ways that babies are burned is from hot drinks and accidental spills. Tune in to find out Holly’s personal tips on the best ways to avoid spills!

3. Plush Toys, Blankets & Bed Sharing

Under the age of 12 months, avoid placing soft or plush items in their sleep space. Pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets that they can pull up near their face, or even pile up to use to climb onto and over could contribute to SIDS risk. Bed-sharing with adults can also create a potentially dangerous situation, especially in North American society where beds tend to be soft and elevated. But we understand that this is an important form of bonding for many parents and therefore recommend that you tune in to today’s episode where we discuss this in more depth, as well as the benefits of baby lying on their back vs. their front, and some invaluable resources:

Safer Sleep for My Baby

Helping Parents and Caregivers Create a Safe Sleep Plan

Safer Infant Sleep

A practice support tool for healthcare professionals

4. You’re Probably Using Your Car Seat Wrong

The Canadian Pediatric Society did a study and they found 81% of car seats are misused. It’s so easy to make those mistakes because each brand of car seat is different and requires a slightly different set-up. But they must be used correctly as that is how they were engineered and tested to withstand the impact from a potential crash. Despite our best intentions, children are often not harnessed correctly as misinformation on how to do so is rampant. We recommend getting your car seats checked by someone who is certified.  In Canada you can do so by going to www.cpsac.org/find-a-tech/ 

Don’t fret. Being a new parent is full of challenges and we are all doing our best. But do check out our Newborn Safety podcast to learn even more important lessons in child safety and what you can do to help prevent accidents. 

Listeners to the podcast also receive 20% off of all courses offered by Safe Beginning First Aid. Just be sure to use our promo code!

www.safebeginnings.ca/onlinecourses

Promo code: shefoundhealth