Safety Practices and Policies

When it comes to infants and toddlers there are many potentially hazardous situations and/or safety threats that are common.  The first and one of the most important is SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.  As a child care professional, it is our responsibility to be properly trained through a 2 hour course which provides us with appropriate information to avoid SIDS in our child care facility.  Placing a child on their back, in an approved crib or pack n play and checking on the infant every 10 to 15 minutes while sleeping to insure that they are still breathing.  Removing all crib bumpers, stuffed animal, pillows and blankets from the child's sleep reduce the risk of SIDS as well as making sure they are sleeping in an appropriate area.  It is not safe for an infant to sleep in a bed with an adult or on a couch, a crib or a pack n play are the safest sleep areas.  Families can provide the same sleep environment at home to make sure that they are doing everything in their power to reduce the risk of SIDS.

The next potentially hazardous situation is when infants learn to roll.  They go from non mobile to mobile in a split second which calls for major safety precautions to be taken.  Infants that can roll are capable of rolling off of a changing table.  While it is nice to think that we always pay close attention to children on the changing table, now it is vital to make sure that we are keeping a close eye and hand on these mobile infants now.  Keeping one hand on a child at all times while they are on the changing table is a policy that must be followed, especially when a child is able to roll.  With at least one hand on the child at all times, they are less likely to fall off the changing table without being caught first.  Much like SIDS, it is important for parents to follow the same policies at home to ensure that their child does not take a tumble at home. 

Mobility gets increasingly more as an infant continues to grow.  They are now not only rolling over but are crawling across floors and into unsafe areas.  This is the time when children get into chemicals and end up in the hospital for eating poison from cleaning supplies.  There is a policy that requires child proofing, safety gates across doorways and safety locks on cabinets with dangerous materials in them.  Making sure to childproof an area where children are can reduce the risk of them getting into chemicals and/or cleaning supplies and being poisoned.  Encouraging parents to childproof their homes just as if they were a daycare facility will help reduce the risk of this hazardous situation in the child's home. 

Along with increased mobility, children start to explore objects that they come in contact with.  Infants often explore objects through the use of their mouths, placing objects in their mouth is expected at this age.  Child proofing much like in the above example, placing safety gates and lock up to keep children out of areas that are harmful to them.  As well as keeping small items that could be a choking hazard out of the safe infant play area is so very important.  Making families aware that placing things in their mouth is normal in infancy will help parents to understand the importance of keeping small objects away from their infants.  If families provide the same safe environment at home, they will be less likely to have an infant choke or eat something harmful to them. 

Last but not least, when infants grow into toddlers they increase mobility again.  Toddlers begin walking but their walk starts off as a wobbly, very unsteady walk.  During this time period toddlers experience a tremendous amount of falls daily.  It is policy that a safe, age appropriate environment is provided for infants and toddlers.  Sharp objects that could potentially hurt a falling toddler should be nowhere to be found.  Corner pads should be placed on the sharp corners of objects that must exist in the room in order to prevent injury during a fall.  Providing a safe environment at home is just as important as the safe environment at daycare.  Families can take the same safety precautions at home in order to reduce the risk of injury to their infant or toddler. 

Work cited -

 

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition and health in early education. (5th ed., p.51-52). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Retrieved from http://1133713068.reader.chegg.com/reader/book.php?id=80252c435dbd973346a415a0da02b5be&page=24