Protect Your Child from Injury

The Basics: Overview

Children are at high risk for injuries. But there are things you can do to lower the chances that your child will get hurt.

Leading causes of injury and death for children include:

• Car crashes
• Drowning
• Accidental poisoning
• Fires
• Suffocation
• Falls

The good news is that you can help prevent injuries from events like these by taking simple safety steps.

The Basics: Simple Steps

Prevent injuries inside and outside your home.

Be prepared and learn basic steps to protect your child.

• Use a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt that’s right for your child’s size and age – on every trip.
• Teach your child to swim and closely watch your child in or near water.
• Keep medicines, vitamins, and cleaning products where your child can’t see or reach them.
• Use smoke alarms. Make and practice a fire escape plan for your home.
• Make sure your child wears the right safety gear (like a helmet or pads) when playing sports or doing other physical activity.
• Create a safe sleeping area for your baby, without soft objects (like pillows, blankets, crib bumpers, or toys) in the crib. Always put babies to sleep on their back.

Take Action: Car Safety

Follow these steps to protect your child from injury.

Keep your child safe in the car.

Make sure your child is always buckled in.

• Choose a car seat or booster seat that’s right for your child’s size and age – and for the car.
• Get your child’s safety seat inspected by a certified child passenger safety technician. The technician will show you how to install and use the car seat the right way.
• Have kids age 12 and under ride in the back seat and wear a seat belt that fits correctly.

Set a good example.

• Always buckle your seat belt when you drive or ride in a car.
• Never drive after drinking alcohol or using drugs.
• Never text while driving.
• Follow the speed limit and keep a safe distance between your car and the cars ahead of you. 

Learn more:

• Get tips on how to keep your child safe in and around a car.
• Check out this fact sheet on child passenger safety.

Take Action: Water Safety

Protect kids in and near water.

• Never leave young kids alone in the bathtub – not even for a second. If you have to answer the phone or doorbell, take them with you.
• Teach your kids how to float, and sign them up for swim lessons as soon as they are ready. This can be as early as age 1.
• If there is a pool where you live, be sure it has a fence around all 4 sides. The fence should separate the pool from the house and yard.
• Watch your kids closely at the pool and beach. Follow these tips for safe swimming.
• Make sure your kids wear a life jacket when boating. Use life jackets that fit well and are approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Find out how to choose the right life jacket.
• Get more tips to protect your kids from drowning.

Take Action: Poisons

Keep medicines and cleaning products out of your child’s reach.

• Keep medicines, vitamins, cleaning supplies, and other poisons (like batteries and bug spray) out of reach and out of sight.
• After you use a medicine, make sure to always relock the safety cap.
• Put things like cleaning products away right after every use.
• Put the poison control number (1-800-222-1222) on or near every home telephone, and save it in your cell phone. Poison control is always open.
• Get more tips to protect your child from poisoning.

Take Action: Smoke Alarms

Put smoke alarms on every floor of your home.

Use long-life smoke alarms if possible. These alarms use lithium batteries and last longer than regular smoke alarms. They also have a “hush button” so you can stop the alarm quickly if there’s a false alarm.

If you use regular smoke alarms, replace the batteries every year. To help you remember, change your smoke alarm batteries when you change your clock back in the fall from daylight saving time.

Follow these other tips on smoke alarms:

• Test your smoke alarms once a month by pushing the test button.
• Put smoke alarms on every floor of your home and near places where people sleep.
• Don’t forget to put a smoke alarm in the basement.
• Replace your smoke alarm if it doesn’t work when tested or if it’s more than 10 years old.
• Dust or vacuum smoke alarms when you change the batteries.
• Never turn off smoke alarms. If an alarm goes off because you are cooking, open a window or fan the alarm with a towel to clear the air.
• Get more smoke alarm tips [PDF - 3 MB].

Make a fire escape plan for your home.
Make a fire escape plan [PDF - 215 KB] to get out of your home quickly in an emergency. Be sure your plan includes a safe place away from the house where everyone can meet.

Take Action: Playgrounds and Sports

Play safely.

Make sure your child wears a helmet during active sports, like riding a bike or skateboarding. Use helmets and other safety gear to help protect your child’s head, face, wrists, and knees.

At the playground, check for soft landing spots made of mulch, sand, or rubber mats under swings, slides, and climbers. Just grass or dirt is not enough to prevent injuries from falling.

Use this playground safety checklist to help make sure your local playground is a safe place to play.

Get more tips to protect your kids from:

• Sports injuries
• Falls

Take Action: Sleep Safety

Create a safe place for your baby to sleep.

Suffocation is when a person can’t breathe. Babies are most at risk for suffocation when they sleep.

To help your baby sleep safely:

• Always put your baby to sleep on his back, even for naps.
• Don’t put your baby to sleep on an adult bed, couch, or chair.
• Use a firm sleep surface, like a crib mattress that's been approved for safety and is covered by a fitted sheet. 
• Keep soft objects, including pillows, loose bedding, toys, and crib bumpers out of the crib.
• Share a room with your baby, but not a bed.
• Learn more about how to keep your baby safe during sleep.