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When the weather is pleasant outside, many people open their windows to let the breeze in. While the fresh air feels good, open windows can pose a danger to young children.
Jade Elliott spoke with Jessica Strong, Community Health Manager, Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, to discuss window safety and how to protect your kids on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast.
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Each year in the United States, 15 to 20 children under the age of 11 die and nearly 15,000 are injured because of falls from windows, said Strong. Most of these injuries and deaths occur during spring and summer months, and most often when children are unsupervised.
To help protect children from accidental window falls, Strong offers the following tips:
• Don’t depend on window screens to protect a child from falling out of a window. Screens are designed to easily pop out in case of a fire or some other emergency when leaving through a window is necessary.
• Keep windows closed and locked.
• If you do open a window, make sure it is inaccessible to children.
• Keep furniture or anything children can climb on away from windows.
• Teach children only to open windows with permission and help from adults.
• Install locks, guards, and other safety equipment in your windows to make them safer and more difficult to open, or open wide, without an adult’s help.
• Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows.
• Most window falls occur when children are left alone. There is no substitute for supervision.
For more information, please go to the Primary Children’s Hospital website at primarychildrens.org/safety.
The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.