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Health & Safety for Families

Family
Health & Safety Infants & Toddlers Preschool Age Children School Age Children Self-Care and Wellness Sleep

Keeping Your Family Healthy and Safe

Children are going to fall, crash, slip, and tumble. It’s all part of being a kid and learning what their body can do. But there are little things we can all do to ensure that our child avoids more serious injuries and even death. Dive into our health and safety resources, including videos, articles, tip sheets, and more to see how you can keep your child safe at home and in your community!

Topics include:

  • Car seat recommendations
  • Safe sleep
  • Safety proofing your home
  • Vaccinations, hand washing, and other health topics
  • Checking and reporting concerns within your child care program

Connect with a SpecialistReport an Incident

infant toddler sleep
Health & Safety

The ABC’s of safe sleep

Following the safe sleep recommendations set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) ensures your baby is safest when sleeping. Place your baby on their back to sleep, alone, and in a crib. Avoid loose bedding, blankets, bumper pads, and stuffed toys and pillows. While sharing a room with your baby does promote breastfeeding and reduces the risk for suffocation and SIDS, they should sleep in their own crib or pack-n-play.

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Health & Safety

Is your home childproofed?

  • Set the temperature of your hot water heater to 120 degrees
  • Install smoke detectors on every level of your home and near bedrooms
  • Install covers on electrical outlets
  • Prevent strangling by cutting window blind cords or using safety tassels
  • Secure furniture and large appliances to the wall, so that your kids can’t tip them over if they climb on them
  • Check the floor regularly for small items and toys that younger children can choke on, including marbles, coins, small magnets, and small Lego pieces
  • Use a wall mounted baby gate to secure the tops of stairs

 

Upcoming Workshop - Poison Prevention   

October 27th, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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Car Seat Safety

Staying Safe on the Road

The best way to keep your child safe in the car is to use the right car seat in the right way. Learn more about choosing and installing the correct seat for your precious cargo.

Recommendations

Road injuries are the leading cause of preventable deaths and injuries to children in the United States. According to SafeKids.org, correctly used child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71%.

The type of seat your child needs depends on several things, including your child’s age, size, and developmental needs. Here is more information from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about choosing the most appropriate car safety seat for your child.

Infants and toddlers

All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing seat until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat manufacturer. Most convertible seats have limits that will allow children to ride rear facing for 2 years or more.​

Toddlers and preschooler

Children who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their convertible seat should use a forward-facing seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat manufacturer. Many seats can accommodate children up to 65 pounds or more.

School-aged children

All children whose weight or height exceeds the forward-facing limit for their car safety seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet 9 inches in height and are eight to 12 years of age. All children younger than 13 years should ride in the back seat.

Choosing a car seat

When shopping for a car seat, keep the following tips in mind:

  • No one seat is the “best” or “safest.” The best seat is the one that fits your child’s size, is correctly installed, fits well in your vehicle, and is used properly every time you drive.
  • Don’t decide by price alone. A higher price does not mean the seat is safer or easier to use.
  • Avoid used seats if you don’t know the seat’s history.​
  • Watch the Video: What to Look For When Purchasing a Car Seat

Never use a car seat that:

  • Is too old or does not have a label with the date of manufacture and model number. Look on the label for the date the seat was made. Check with the manufacturer to find out how long it recommends using the seat. Most seats are only good for 7-10 years from the manufacture date.
  • Is cracked or missing parts. Used car safety seats often come without important parts. Check with the manufacturer to make sure you can get the right parts.
  • Was recalled. You can find out by calling the manufacturer or contacting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888/327-4236. You can also visit the NHTSA Website.
  • Do not use seats that have been in a moderate or severe crash. Seats that were in a minor crash may still be safe to use, but some car safety seat manufacturers recommend replacing the seat after any crash, even a minor one. The NHTSA considers a crash minor if all the following situations are true:
    • The vehicle could be driven away from the crash.
    • The vehicle door closest to the car safety seat was not damaged.
    • No one in the vehicle was injured.
    • The airbags did not go off.
    • You can’t see any damage to the car safety seat.

Installing your car seat

Car safety seats may be installed with either the vehicle’s seat belt OR its LATCH (lower anchors and tethers for children) system. LATCH is an attachment system for car safety seats. Lower anchors can be used instead of the seat belt to install the seat, and many parents find them easier to use in some cars.

The top tether should always be used with a forward-facing seat, whether you use the seat belt or lower anchors to secure it. The seat belt and LATCH systems are equally safe, so caregivers should use one or the other, whichever works best for them, their seat, and their vehicle.

Note-All lower anchors are rated for a maximum weight of 65 pounds (total weight includes car safety seat and child). Parents should check the car safety seat manufacturer’s recommendations for maximum weight a child can be to use lower anchors. New car safety seats have the maximum weight printed on their label.

Install Tips:

  • Experts can help you install your car seat. Take time to read the owner manuals for both your vehicle and your car seat. Each type of car seat is different.
  • Not all cars or SUVs allow for a car seat in every place that has a seat belt. Check your car owner manual to see where you can safely put a car seat. Typically the safest place for a car seat is in the middle, back seat.
  • Do the Inch Test. A properly-installed car seat shouldn’t move more than one inch front to back or side to side when pulled at the seat belt path.

 

 

 

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Health & Safety

Safety Considerations

Encouraging safe exploration is an important job for parents and caregivers. Children are natural explorers and risk takers. They move quickly, put things in their mouths, drop or throw things, and love to climb and hide. Learn more about keeping your children safe!

Health & Safety

Water Safety

Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related death in children, especially those younger than 4 and teens. Always supervise when your child is in any body of water, including a bathtub.

Find Child Care

Poison Prevention

Put the nationwide poison control center phone number, 1-800-222-1222, into your cell phone. Call 911 if you have a poison emergency and your child has collapsed or is not breathing.

Health & Safety

Gun Safety

Store guns unloaded and secured with effective, child-resistant gun locks in a locked container out of the reach and sight of children.

Featured Resource

COVID-19 Vaccine Resources for Pregnant Moms

Bringing a child into this world is a time of excitement and uncertainty. Yet, over this past year the pandemic added a heavy layer of fear. With the vaccine now available, you are left with an important decision. We hope this resource can help you better understand what is known about the COVID-19 vaccine and provide resources for you to learn more.
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Featured Video

Vaccinations 101

Patrick Glew, MPH from the Indiana Immunization Coalition (IIC) discusses how vaccines work and common vaccine myths (and truths). If you want to learn about vaccines and why they’re so important, be sure to watch!

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Safety Proofing Your Home

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Scrub up! Handwashing for Children

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Safe Sleep Tips for Cribs

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Lo Último de COVID

Featured Resource

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

RSV is common in children under four, but anyone can get it. In most people, RSV causes the same signs and symptoms as a common cold. Because RSV is so common and can be spread for several weeks, in mild cases (often not diagnosed) it is not necessary to exclude from child care. The best way to reduce the spread of RSV is through frequent handwashing, covering sneezes and coughs, and cleaning surfaces frequently.
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Inspection Reports

Health and safety in child care

Your child’s health and safety are top priority. When selecting a child care program, there are a few health and safety considerations to keep in mind, including cleaning and sanitation practices, ratios and group size and caregiver qualifications. Families can review inspection reports and any validated complaints or enforcement actions for licensed and registered Indiana child care programs. To learn about past complaints for a specific program, visit Child Care Finder and search for a program.

Child Care Finder

Abuse and neglect concerns

If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, call Indiana’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline immediately at 1-800-800-5556. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Reports can be submitted anonymously so do not have to be afraid that anyone will find out who made the report.

Have a concern about a child care program? Learn more about Indiana’s complaint process.

If you have a complaint and/or concern about a licensed or registered child care program, you can report it to the Brighter Futures Indiana Solution Center at 1-800-299-1627 or the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration at (877) 511-1144.

Child Abuse and Neglect HotlineBrighter Futures Indiana

 

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Early care and education news to your inbox

Count on our newsletters to get you the most important early care and education news, when you need it. We send a different newsletter each month to either families, child care professionals, or communities/employers. Sign up for one or all today!

American Academy of Pediatrics. “Car Seats: Information for Families.” HealthyChildren.org. Accessed August 26, 2021.

“Car Seat Safety Tips.” Safe Kids Worldwide. Accessed August 26, 2021.

“Childproofing Your Home.” National Safety Council. Accessed August 26, 2021.

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