Accidental falls at home send lots of babies to the emergency room.

Babies and toddlers are prone to accidental falls. Bumps and bruises are an inevitable part of growing up, but falls that cause serious head injuries must be avoided at all costs. Kids below 5 years old are the ones who are more vulnerable to these serious injuries.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports, each year more than 3 million children are treated for fall-related injuries at hospital emergency rooms. A big eighty percent of these falls happen at home. One year in Georgia alone, almost 2,000 children under age 14 were hospitalized due to a fall.

Infants and toddlers are the most vulnerable to fall-related injuries. Most falls at this age are related to stairs, furniture and nursery products. For instance, thousands of children each year are treated for baby walker injuries. The CSPC says at least 80 percent of these walker accidents happened when babies in walkers tumbled down stairs at home.

Remember that young children still have soft heads and bones. A minor tumble for us could be a major tumble for them. Parents with yung kids have to be extra cautious.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Safe Kids Georgia have some good advice to prevent accidental falls that could lead to serious injuries:

1. Install safety-certified baby gates on doorways. Stairways need safety gates as well – one on top and another at the bottom. There are many lightweight, reasnably priced gates available in stores.

2. Lock all windows. Make sure cribs, chairs and other furniture your child can climb on are far from window openings.

3. Soon as your child begins to stand and climb, lower the crib mattress level. Keep stuffed animals and other toys that can be used for climbing out of the crib. Anything that can be used as a sort of ladder is not safe inside the crib.

4. Never leave a baby alone on a changing table, bed or other furniture. Avoid changing infants on furniture such as tables or couches because they can roll off and sustain head or other injuries.

5. Young children must be securely strapped onto high chairs, swings, strollers, shopping carts and other mobile carriers.

6. Baby walkers should be avoided. These have been associated with more injuries than any other baby toy or equipment. Activity centers are a better option, they are safer as the baby cannot go across a room with them, although they allow some movement and stimulation.

7. Install window guards to prevent toddlers from falling out of windows. Screens are not reliable for keeping them from falling.

So let’s take their advice and make sure our kids make it safe and sound – and free from serious injuries – until they’re old enough to walk up and down the stairs and in and out of the house safely on their own.

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