Make Safe Happen – Safe Kids Day

“This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All opinions are 100% mine.”

Keeping the littles safe is something I am constantly worrying about. With two little boys, that are very active, independent and love to explore – it’s no wonder their safety keeps me up at night.

I LOVE living in the city. Being able to walk everywhere, the access to parks + museums and not having to put them in the car seat everyday makes me happy. We love to be out and about, soaking up the city life, but that doesn’t come without it’s concerns – specifically all the cars and busses that go whizzing by!  But aside from traffic safety and teaching the boys to look both ways before crossing the street {when will they really learn that?!} nobody handed us a “How To” guide and unpredictable mishaps inevitably arise – we just have to do our best as parents to protect them as much as we can but at the same time, keep the balance of letting them explore on their own, and get a little messy!

The breadth of safety risks is vast and differs by age, but there are some that extend across all ages. Nationwide and Safe Kids have developed a checklist related to four critical safety areas: TV and furniture tipovers, poisoning, drowning and fire. The checklist shares five easy steps that can help parents easily take actions to prevent accidental injuries for their children:

• Secure TVs and furniture to the wall using mounts, brackets, braces or wall straps to prevent tip-overs.
• Be attentive when your children are near water, including baths, hot tubs and pools. Teach them never to go near or into water alone – an adult should always be present.
• Install a smoke alarm AND a carbon monoxide alarm on every level of your home, including your basement, and place them near sleeping areas. Test both types of alarms monthly and replace batteries annually.
• Prepare a fire escape plan, and make sure your family knows what to do and where to meet in case of an emergency. Practice the plan twice a year – the goal should be to get out in under two minutes.
• Store household products like bleach, detergents, laundry packets, dishwasher liquid or cleaning solutions in their original containers, locked up and out of children’s sight and reach.

All these things are so little, but can make such a big difference in keeping your home safe for the little ones. I am constantly seeing things about securing the furniture to the wall accidents and laundry packet issues with the kids. Such a easy fix for both of those things and definitely not worth the little ones getting sick or hurt over!

For me with these things, it’s easier in our own home – because I know we have baby + toddler proofed pretty much everything. But when we go somewhere else, it’s a whole new ballgame and you can’t take your eyes off the babes for a second or for sure they will get into something they shouldn’t!

I always say – if you are having a little and want Brooks to come over and tear through your house to tell you what you should fix, he’s available for hire! Ha!

Have you heard about Safe Kids Day ? It’s a day to bring together families and the community to celebrate kids and increase awareness around accidental injuries and raise funds to prevent them. Safe Kids Day supports the life-saving programs of Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization working to protect children from accidental injuries, such as drowning, fires, burns, poisoning and traffic injuries.

Safe Kids Day will be taking place across the country through local programs for anyone to participate. You can find out where events are happening near you by visiting the Safe Kids website at https://www.safekids.org/safekidsday/local-events.