Clinical Reference Systems: Pediatric Advisor 10.0
Spanish version
Head Trauma, Prevention of
Most head injuries heal, but any damage to the brain is
usually permanent. Many serious head injuries can be
prevented by taking the following precautions:
- When you drive, place your child in a car safety seat.
When your child weighs 40 pounds or more, use a booster
safety seat. Don't use the regular car seat and lap belt
until your child weighs over 60 pounds. All states now
have child-restraint laws and with good reason: They
reduce injuries by 80 percent and deaths by 90 percent.
- To prevent pedestrian accidents, teach your child to look
both ways before crossing and while crossing a street or
alley. Teach him to use crosswalks and not to run across
the street. Most children cannot safely cross the street
alone until age 7 or 8.
- Never leave an infant of any age alone on a high place
like a bed, sofa, changing table, or an exam table in the
doctor's office. Your baby may unexpectedly roll over for
the first time or wiggle off and fall on his head.
- Always keep the side rails up on the crib. As soon as
your child can pull to standing in the crib, lower the
mattress.
- Don't buy a bunk bed. If you already have one, keep
children under age 6 years out of the top bunk and use a
side rail. Be sure the bed frame is strong enough to keep
the mattress from falling through. And don't let your
children jump on beds.
- Don't buy a baby walker. They do not help your baby
develop walking skills. Thirty-five percent of infants
using walkers have accidents requiring emergency care.
- Don't leave your child unattended in a shopping cart.
- Place a sturdy gate at the top of stairways. Keep the
stairway cleared of clutter. When your child starts to
climb stairs, teach him to hold onto the banister when he
goes down the stairs.
- Keep doors leading to the basement or outdoors closed.
Secure them with an extra latch above the child's reach.
- If you live on an upper floor of a building, install
window locks or guards.
- Don't leave younger children under the supervision of an
aggressive sibling.
- Always supervise your child's outside play until she can
be trusted to stay in the yard (age 4 or 5). Three-year-
olds can't be expected to keep promises not to go near the
street.
- Don't teach your child how to ride a bicycle until your
child is old enough (age 7 or 8) to understand safety
issues such as emergency stops and rules about right-of-
way.
- Never allow your child to ride a bike unless he is wearing
a bicycle helmet. All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and
motorcycles are too unsafe to ride, even with a helmet.
- Forbid trampolines. Serious accidents have occurred even
with close supervision.
|
Written by B.D. Schmitt, M.D., author of "Your Child's Health," Bantam Books.
|
Copyright 1999 Clinical Reference Systems
|
|