Is Your Baby Safe At Home? Baby Bodyguards Discusses 5 Potentially Fatal Dangers You Never Thought Of

    BROOKLYN, NY, July 15, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Our home. When it comes to our children we want it to be the epitome of safety. It is the area we can exert the most control over, and the one place where we can be sure our little ones are secure... Unfortunately, when it comes to home safety for young children, a lot more needs to be done. The statistics are staggering! One in four children nationwide will be injured due to an accident at home, requiring a visit to a hospital emergency room.

In 2009 the New York City Child Fatality Report had this sobering passage, "More than two thirds (68%) of all child injury deaths resulted from unintentional injuries, most of which (55%) occurred in the home." The majority of these fatalities occurred in the infant to four year old population.

We all know about falls from unguarded windows, poisoning from prescription medicines, suffocating from plastic bags, choking, fire, and burn prevention, drowning in bathtubs and pools, and unsecured firearms. But according to Fred Ilarraza, the CEO of Baby Bodyguards (an NYC-based leader in "baby proofing" homes and environments), parents and caretakers should get to know these 5 overlooked potential dangers:

- Car seat installation appropriate to age, weight, and properly installed. Car seats can prevent 50% of injuries and fatalities but only if car seats are installed correctly. Statistically, nine out of ten seats are installed incorrectly. Salesmen are not necessarily the best car seat installers. (Try to get someone with appropriate certification to make the installation).

- Tipping (crush death). Bulky TVs are heavy. On top of a wobbly table, you have the potential for disaster... Bookcases can tip over as well as fish tanks, dressers, appliances, etc. Get them bolted down or positioned so they can't crush a curious child.

- Tugging (tablecloth pulling, or pot handles on the stove) become most problematic. Too many toddlers have tugged on the tablecloth during a festive dinner only to bring down a scalding pot of coffee on themselves. Pets, too, find a dangling tablecloth irresistible and are not immune to horrible burns. A variation to tablecloth tugging is pot handle pulling when the handle faces forward. Always use rear burners!

- The correct staircase gates - Staircase gates should be a no-brainer....but many people are concerned about ruining a wall (understandably) and use a "pressure" style gate which children invariably are able to push right through and which loosens over time. Often a gate is utilized with a latch that the child learns how to open. There are gates which provide both safety and maintain aesthetic beauty. (Ilarraza reports that Baby Bodyguards once safety gated an elaborate castle-styled mansion belonging to a Hollywood celebrity, and used sixteen different type gates to blend into the surroundings, as well as custom-made electrical outlet protectors, and table and furniture corner padding.)

- Product Recalls - Unfortunately, too often the items we bring into our homes may turn out to be unsafe. In the last three years alone we have seen cribs, car seats, baby food, beds, clothing, carriages, toys, medicine, and dozens of other items being recalled due to contaminates by pathogens, chemicals, or unsanitary preparation, as well as poor and/or dangerous production quality. Keeping up with recalls is almost a full time job. Today, we have people passing down items from one member of a family to another and it becomes even harder to keep track of past recalls. When buying a product, particularly from CraigsList, or other auction or swap sites, make sure to look up the model and product on the manufacturer's web page to guard against getting a recalled item.

www.BabyBodyguards.com maintains a free Recall database which can be accessed to check on a specific manufacturer or product.

The five overlooked dangers take only a few minutes to be corrected in your home, but can save you grief and anguish for a lifetime. Most of the items can be taken care of by yourself or a handyman at minor expense. If you need additional help, hire an established babyproofing service.

Baby Bodyguards is NYC's premiere full-service child safety company dedicated to creating safe environments for children to grow and thrive while giving parents peace of mind. The Baby Bodyguard family consists of hand-picked Pediatricians, Nurses, Emergency Medical Technicians, Firemen, Contractors and Craftsmen, all of whom share the same passion for child safety.
Website: www.babybodyguards.com

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