That quickness that makes them so effective in protecting adults is the precise feature that makes them dangerous to children. The impact of the airbag hitting a child can cause severe injuries and even death.

What can you do to protect your child from an airbag injury?

Children 12 and under should always ride in the back seat (weight is the most important factor but the age of 12 is a general guideline – therefore a 13-year-old who is lightweight should still ride in the back seat).

Children 12 and under should always be secured with the safety device most appropriate for their age and weight. See this Florida child injury lawyer blog for guidelines on which devices are appropriate for which children.

Ensure that safety seats and booster seats are properly installed by reading the directions and following them. Every seat is different. Do not assume that you know how to install your current seat because you have installed one previously.

Ensure that safety seats, booster seats and seat belts fit properly

One such death was that of 13-month-old Aiden Truett who stopped eating and began vomiting. Doctors attributed the symptoms to a viral upper respiratory infection, but were forced to re-evaluate after treatment only led to worsening symptoms.

X-rays revealed the baby had swallowed a button battery, which was quickly removed surgically. Two days later, however, the baby started coughing blood and soon died.

Before doctors could remove the small battery, it had already burned a hole in the baby’s esophagus and damaged his heart. In the past, such batteries were not strong enough to cause such massive damage, but today’s batteries are supercharged for their small sizes and have caused a sevenfold increase in serious injuries and death since 1985.

Deaths are still very rare, fewer than 10 since 2004, but 3,500 button battery ingestions occur annually and today’s stronger batteries are causing more serious injuries. Every organ that encounters a button battery is a risk.

Vocal chords have been damaged, leaving children suffering from a lifelong whisper. Digestive tract injuries have caused children to undergo multiple surgeries and require feeding tubes. Children are not the only population at risk for these injuries. Our elderly have mistaken the buttons for candy and medication.

The worst offenders are batteries that begin with the number 20. They measure 20 millimeters and are the strongest of today’s tiny power plants. Batteries numbered 2032, 2025, and 2016 cause more than 90 percent of serious injury.

In 60 percent of child injuries, the child has removed the batter from an electronic device, not found it loose. Store your battery powered devices in a safe place.

Read the full article here.

Staying off busy roads is not enough. More than half the 135 children who die in bike-related car accidents are killed on minor roads or in residential areas. They don’t have to – bike helmets reduce the risk of severe brain injury by 88 percent.

Make sure you set a good example for your child. You are a role model whether you like it or not. Your approach cannot be “do as I say, not as I do.” Children are always watching you for what is acceptable behavior.

Use hand signals in traffic and always ride responsibly. Ride on the right side of the road with traffic. Don’t let your child be one of the 75 to 85 percent of children who ride bikes without helmets. Show them that using a helmet is the only way to bicycle.

Even though you may be riding responsibly, sometimes injuries occur due to the fault of others. Helmets significantly reduce your risk of needing a Daytona Beach personal injury lawyer.

Today’s researchers are now finding that many things that we traditionally thought of as innate human traits such as happiness and talent are actually more a result of nurture instead of nature. That means that we have control over how happy or talented we are. It’s a mistaken belief to think that some people are born more talented or happy than others. Studies show that talented and happy are the way they are because of their actions and behaviors, not any innate trait.

I recently read a fascinating review by Nancy Shute of USNews.com of the latest book to show us that there are many steps we can take to make ourselves happier parents. The book, Raising Happiness, was written by Christine Carter, a sociologist who studies happiness and also a mother.

Carter’s advice to parents is founded on solid science and provides often simple solutions such as why praise is a much more powerful tool to promote good behavior than punishment or nagging.

The book review mentions two simple steps to more familial happiness. You determine when you are happiest with your kids and what part of your normal day with your family routinely causes suffering. Step two is to structure your day so that you routinely get those happiest moments every day and so that you eliminate those routine pain points.

The review gives the example of bed-time reading being the favorite time of day for the author, but she couldn’t always be home at that time so she switched the bed-time reading to after-school reading so she could be sure she would have that time.

Another thing the author did at that bed-time reading session was to talk with her children about three good things that happened that day. This is another simple but powerful technique that research has shown makes significant improvements in happiness and self-confidence.

The review said that Raising Happiness is full of simple, powerful steps you can take to increase your happiness as a parent and the happiness of your children. It comes well-recommended.

Right now, they’re giving away free car seat IDs. Now is your chance to be better safe than sorry. Car seat ID tags may not seam very important now, but in the event you happen to be involved in a car wreck, truck accident or other type of traffic injury, a car seat ID will provide potentially life saving information to emergency responders, not to mention family contact numbers.

All car seat IDs from My Precious Kid come with self sealing lamination and a luggage loop. To be eligible to receive one of the free IDs, you must currently be pregnant or have given birth or adopted a baby on or after August 1, 2009. If you are not eligible, the IDs are available for sale also.

In addition to this offering, the blog boasts great information like how to obtain free stuff (diapers, etc) for your baby, and insightful product reviews. I recommend a visit to all my parent readers.

It is difficult to do everything well, and this is another example of that reality. These convertible seats purport to “grow with your child” but in the end may do more harm than good. That said, not all convertible seats are dangerous. Parents should consult the Institute’s test results to identify their particular model before discarding it for a new one.

The booster seats that turned out to be dangerous did a poor job of properly placing the shoulder and lap belts in the appropriate places relative to a child’s body. No recalls have been announced yet, but the results were announced only yesterday. If you cannot afford a new seat, remember that even a substandard seat is better than using an adult seatbelt on a child.

The Best Child Booster Seats

• Britax Frontier: model: #E9B54H6

• Clek Oobr: model: #OBM1U

• Combi Dakota backless with clip:  model: #882066

• Cosco Juvenile Pronto, models #22491/#22255/#22275

• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster, models #22888/#22829

• Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless with clip, models #3401913/#340XXXX

• Cosco Juvenile Pronto: models #22491/22255/22275

• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster models #22888/22829

• Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless with clip models: #3401913/340XXXX

• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR, model #22223-CIP

• Recaro Vivo, model #351.00.MM14

• Recaro Young Sport, model #340.00.MM14

• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR model #22223-CIP

• Recaro Vivo model #351.00.MM14

• Recaro Young Sport model #340.00.MM14

The Worst Child Booster Seats

• Alpha Omega model: #22469

• Alpha Omega Elite models #22149/22148

• Alpha Omega Luxe Echelon model: #22799

• Combi Kobuk, model #8970

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe, models #22800/#22862/#22865

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1, model #22790/#22795

• Combi Kobuk model #8970

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe models #22800/22862/22865

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 models #22790/22795

• Evenflo Express, models #3292198/#329XXX

• Evenflo Sightseer, models #2692198/#269XXX

• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe backless with clip, model #0304001DRM

• Evenflo Express models #3292198/329XXX

• Evenflo Sightseer models #2692198/269XXX

• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe backless with clip models #0304001DRM/22178/#22177

• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite, models #22465/#22456/#22195/#22187

• Safety 1st All-in-One models #22178/22177

• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite models #22465/22456/22195/22187

Stocking hangers have become popular as a way to hang those well-loved holiday stockings without drilling holes or using other hardware in you home. These heavily weighted ornaments come in all shapes and sizes: stars, penguins, reindeer, you name it.

However, the stockings that hang from them are very attractive to children, with their bright colors, bells and bows. Within one hour of a Florida mother hanging a stocking on a star shaped hanger, her 18-month-old son pulled on the stocking causing the heavy hanger to fall off the mantel and strike him right between the eyes. Luckily his father was a plastic surgeon with some surgical supplies at home. He patched the boy up on the spot.

Not every child has been so lucky. Another suffered a deep puncture wound to the forehead and another child’s toe was crushed from these heavy stocking hangers. No deaths have been reported yet, but one child began vomiting (a symptom of brain trauma) after a stocking hanger fell on his head. He suffered no permanent injury.

Most of the injuries children suffer from falling stocking hangers probably hurt the parents more than the children. The vomiting boy’s mother said she was sick to her stomach with worry as she rushed her boy to the emergency room. For that reason alone, I’d keep my hangers packed and save them for later years.

Dads have to be careful too during the holidays. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that 13,000 Americans suffer holiday decoration related injuries that require emergency room treatment. Whether it’s falling from a ladder or a staple gun accident, the holidays are not a time to throw caution to the wind.

When you’re cutting through packaging, slow down. Also Make sure your candles are in safe places. Both these situations have caused injuries in holidays past. Make your holiday a merry one. Play it safe.

ANSWER: Under Florida law, there is no specific age at which children become old enough to be held negligent. The rule is that children behavior is tested by what is reasonable under the circumstances, including age, experience and state of mental development of the child.

That is unless the child is doing something that usually only adults do like driving a car or boat or flying an airplane. Then the child is held to a higher standard of behavior – they are required to do the activity with the skill and care of an adult.

If the child is engaged in normal behavior for children, then the question is whether or not the child has the experience, intelligence, maturity, training or capacity to act with the care the situation requires. If so, then the child can be held liable for negligence. If not, then they can’t. That question is one that only a jury can answer. It is not for lawyers or judges to say. The specific facts of each circumstance and each child must be weighed by the jury. Every case is almost always very different.

As for the instructor or facility, the question of whether or not they can be liable for your daughter’s injuries is also a very fact intensive question. If either had a duty to protect your child from injury and breached that duty, they may be held liable. Answering those questions requires further information.

A jury would have to consider it reasonably foreseeable that injury could result from leaving the two girls without supervision. If a jury did decide it was reasonably foreseeable, that jury could find negligence if the instructor told the kids to stretch and then left the room to make a phone call.

However, if the instructor taught the children proper stretching form and watched them while they performed all their stretches, then it’s unlikely a jury would hold the instructor liable for your daughter’s injuries.

The specifics of each case are most often discovered during interviews called depositions where lawyers have an opportunity to question witnesses under oath. One important issue in a case like this is whether or not you as a parent signed a liability waiver. If you waived your right to sue the instructor and facility, then that document is binding.

The Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog urges you to take simple steps to ensure your safety and the safety of your child in traffic. Driving on Florida’s roads is almost always the most dangerous thing we do each day by a long measure. In the United States alone, car accidents are responsible for one death every 13 minutes.

One simple step can go a long way in reducing traffic fatalities: use proper restraints for you and your child. Using proper child-safety equipment in your car or vehicle can decrease your child’s risk of suffering injury by 80 percent. That bears repeating … 80 percent. Just putting your child into a car seat reduces their risk of injury by 80 percent.

Let’s review the different types of child safety equipment available today for cars, trucks and other vehicles. Different types of safety restraints are appropriate for children of different ages.

For infants younger than one year, their weight determines the appropriate safety seat. If they weigh less than 20 pounds, you should use a rear-facing infant seat. If your child is larger however, in the range of 20-35 pounds, you should use a rear-facing convertible seat instead of a rear-facing infant seat. In either case, be sure to fasten the car seat to your vehicle’s back seat.

If your child is between 35-40 pounds, you can turn them around into a front-facing convertible car seat. Remember though to always fasten this car seat in your back seat, not the front.

Once your child weighs more than 40 pounds, it’s time for a booster seat. Booster seats are typically appropriate from the age of four to eight and should be used until your child is at least 57 inches tall. Once they have grown to that height, they can safely use regular seat belts as adults.

For each of these child safety devices, make sure the seat top is at least one inch above your child’s head. If it is not, head, neck or back injury can result.

Now that you know which type of seat is appropriate for your child, let’s look at proper installation and other common questions:

Proper installation for rear-facing seats

• Strap everything down tightly and securely. Be sure the car seat is strapped to your back seat tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the seat moves more than one inch in any direction, you haven’t installed it securely enough.

• Improperly installed car seats can be just as dangerous as not using one. Never put a rear-facing car seat in your front seat if your front passenger air bag is active. In that position, the air bag will hit the back of the seat where your baby’s head is. Serious injuries and death have resulted from such impacts.

• Check that the car seat does not allow your baby’s head to fall forward. If your car seat did not come with an angle adjustment mechanism, you can change the angle yourself safely by simply inserting a rolled-up towel or something similar under your child’s car seat at the place where your vehicle’s back and bottom meet.

• Still having trouble? There may be a certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician in your area who can help. Just Google CPS Technician.

Troubleshooting

1) If your baby slides to the side or down in his or her car seat, never pad under your child. Always apply padding around him or her. Don’t use safety inserts unless they are manufacturer approved for that specific car seat.

2) Premature babies should not ride in car seats unless they have been tested to see if they are able.

Proper installation for forward-facing seats

• Again, check that the car seat is strapped into your vehicle tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the car seat can move one inch in any direction, you haven’t secured it well enough.

• Make sure the shoulder straps are at or above your child’s shoulders.

• Check the instructions to be sure you have run the seat belt through the correct path for the seat to face forward. It can be easy to run the seat belt through the path meant for the rear-facing position.

• All vehicles newer than September 2000 have tether straps that run from the top of the car seat to anchor it to your vehicle. Tethers protect you child’s head from moving too far forward in the even of an accident or abrupt stop. If you have an older car, buy a tether kit and install it. Do not use a tether kit meant for a different seat.

Troubleshooting

1) All children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat. If you absolutely must transport more children than can fit (safely) in the back seat, the next best option is to have a child who is in a forward-facing seat ride in the front. If you must do this, move your vehicle seat as far backwards as you can. The goal is to move the seat and the child as far away from the dashboard and air bag as you can.

2) Remember, these safety precautions are simple and should be followed by everyone who drives your child. If your child is driven by someone else (child care or school, etc), they are in the right seat for their age and weight and the seat is installed properly. Ask your day care center to read their written protocol for driving children. Check to see if it includes provisions for driver’s licenses, staff-to-child ratios, and supervision by someone other than the driver.

Proper installation for booster seats

There are only three things you need to do to properly install a booster seat:

• Booster seats require both the lap belt and shoulder belt portions of the seat belt. Never allow a child in a booster seat to wear just the lap belt portion. That exposes him or her to severe head and neck injuries in the event of an accident as there is no restraint to secure the upper body from moving.

• The shoulder belt must cross the center of your child’s chest and shoulder. If the shoulder belt is not in the middle of the chest and shoulder, it can cause internal injuries in a crash.

• The lap belt must be placed across your child’s upper thighs, not his or her belly. Again, if the lap belt is placed across the belly, internal injuries can occur.

Troubleshooting

1) If your car’s back seat has only lap belts and no shoulder belts, you should not use a booster seat. Instead, find a forward-facing car seat that is built for older and larger children. In addition, some travel vests are compatible with lap belts. In some types of vehicles, you can install aftermarket shoulder belts.

2) Manufacturers sell two different types of booster seats: high-back and backless. Use the high-back models if your car does not have a head rest or if your car has low seats. The backless variety are more convenient because they are easier to move from car to car. In addition they are almost always cheaper.

Adult seat belts

Once your children are about 4′ 9″ tall, they can wear adult seat belts. Just be sure the fit as described in the booster seat section above and that children do not put the shoulder belt behind their back. Also, never let children share seat belts.

Childproofing your home is one of the most important aspects of ensuring child safety because parents and children naturally spend quite a bit of time at home.

The trick to childproofing your home is to understand that childproofing will never be 100% effective. Trust but verify, as they say. Trust your childproofing will help but always verify that your child is safe.

That means supervising your child at all times, especially in the kitchen and bathroom and near water. People think that when their baby is in a baby bath seat that the child is safe and being held securely. Well once a month, a parent walks away from a baby in a bath seat that wasn’t securely fastened or otherwise malfunctions and the child drowns.

Childproofing in an important first step, but do not rely exclusively on childproofing.

When childproofing, the best place to start is on all fours. Literally get down there and crawl around your house. That’s the best way to find the dangers that face a child. Crawl around every room taking note of what is in reach from the floor to about 40 inches above. Also check carpets where pins or coins can be hidden.

The Kitchen:

To keep dangerously hot substances out of reach, use the back burners on the stove and turn pot handles toward the back of the stove.

Keep anything made of glass, anything sharp, and appliance cords away from the edge of counters and tables where children can reach them.

The bathroom:

Do not allow your hot water heater to heat water to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Your child can suffer third degree burns in just three seconds from water that is 140 degrees F.

Install locks on medicine cabinets. Even seemingly harmless items like mouthwash can be dangerous for a young child.

Request your medicines come in child-resistant packaging. But keep in mind that child-resistant is not childproof. Lock medicines in locked medicine cabinets.

Remove sharp objects from a child’s bathroom. Razors, scissors and blow dryers have no place in a child’s bathroom and should be kept in your bedroom or bathroom, locked and out of children’s reach.

The Bedroom:

Be wary of old cribs. They don’t make ‘em like the used to – for a reason. Safety standards have improved so much that furniture built even a decade ago might have some of the sharp edges, wide slats and corner post protrusions that today’s safety standards prohibit as potentially deadly.

Always lock your blinds whether they are up or down. If not locked, the inner cords will have enough slack for infants and toddlers to pull them around their necks and strangle. Window blinds sold after November 2000 have attachments that prevent this from happening.

If you have older blinds and want to modify them yourself, visit the Window Covering Safety Council where you’ll find easy-to-unerstand pictures and instructions for installing safety devices to make your window cords safe.  Free safety kits are also available.

Around the house:

Frayed electrical wires or flammable materials near heat sources are fire hazards. Maintain smoke alarms in every bedroom and on every floor. Check the fire alarms when you and your child sleep away from home.

Even a small amount of carbon monoxide can kill a small child. Put carbon monoxide detectors in every sleeping area and maintain their batteries.

Falling down stairs can be especially dangerous. Stair gates can help prevent such injuries. Don’t forget to use them at the both top and bottom of stairs.

Install covers over all electric outlets.

For emergencies:

Keep emergency numbers in easily findable and readable places near telephones. Include phone numbers such as the poison control center, pediatrician and a neighbor by every telephone. Also, post your address in large, obvious print so that guests, parents, caregivers, and children can rely that information without thinking to emergency personel.

Maintain a current, fresh first-aid kit.