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Keep Your Grandkids Safe

Get up to speed on the newest expert advice so your grandchildren will stay safe and healthy in your home

by: Rebecca Felsenthal Stewart, from: AARP, September 8, 2011

Watch out for hand-me-downs. That car seat your neighbor gave you might not be safe to use. Car seats actually come with expiration dates — generally 6 years after the manufacture date. And if you don't know the seat's history, you don't know whether it's been in a crash, which can render it unsafe.

Old baby furniture also poses a risk: While it would be sweet to have your grandson sleep in his daddy's old crib, you don't want to take a chance that the hardware will fail, plus there have been significant changes in crib safety standards over the past 20 years, including limits on the distance between slats and a ban on cutouts to prevent strangulation and entrapment. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently prohibited the sale of drop-side cribs (which have an adjustable side that makes it easier to get a child in and out of bed) because babies have died when the rail detached.

For any children's equipment — new or used — it's important to check for recalls. Go to www.recalls.gov and sign up for recall alerts.

Child Proof Checklist

If babies or toddlers are going to be spending time at your place, it's important to take basic safety-proofing steps:

Outlets. Consider the kind that replace existing wall plates and slide shut when you pull out a plug.

Electrical Cords. Either tape them down or tie them up.

Coffee tables. Cover any sharp edges with padded table guards.

Furniture. Use straps or brackets to mount bookshelves, dressers, TVs and TV stands to the wall, so that they can't tip over if a child pulls up on them.

Stairs. Install gates at the top and bottom of each staircase. The gates at the top of the stairs should be screw-mounted, but it's okay if those at the bottom are pressure-mounted.

Toilets. Babies and toddlers can fall headfirst into toilets and drown, so install toilet locks.

Blinds and shades. If yours have cords, consider replacing them or go to www.windowcoverings.org to find out how to retrofit them to make them safer.

Kitchen. If you can't block the entrance altogether, move appliances to the back of shelves, make sure knives are out of reach, turn pan handles toward the rear when cooking, and buy locks for low cabinets and guards for the stove.