Despite a warm fall here in Chicago, winter is now approaching and we can’t let our guard down! Have fun and stay safe with these safety tips.
- Don’t overdress your baby. Babies are susceptible to overheating which has been linked to SUID. Heavy coats or clothing may also pose a suffocation risk if left in a crib so follow safe sleep practices.
- When buckling a child into a car seat, puffy coats compress on impact leaving too much space between a child’s body and the car seat harness. The harness should be as close to a child’s body as possible. A good idea is to walk to the car with coats on, warm the car up, remove coats and buckle up snuggly, and place the jacket on top to still keep warm.
- Remove the drawstrings from jackets or hoodies because they can pose a strangulation hazard. It is illegal for children’s outerwear to have drawstring due to the dangers so please remove any drawstrings and report any product that do not comply at saferproducts.gov.
- As daylight gets shorter, dress children in reflective jackets or apply reflective tape to their clothing to make them visible to motorists.
- Wear the right helmet for winter activities that fits properly to reduce the risk of a head injury. Check out CPSC’s ‘Which Helmet for Which Activity’ page for more information.
- Before you think about buying that snuggly sleep sack, snow suit, fun toy, or helmet, check the CPSC.gov website for product recalls.
Have a fun and safe winter season this year and check out the CPSC page on Winter Safety for more information.
