KEEPING KIDS SAFE - MNHQ NEED YOUR TOP TIPS

[AbbyMumsnet]

Hi all, we need your words of wisdom re' keeping kids safe. The areas we want to cover are:

At home - safety gadgets, bath-time rules etc.

Road safety (pedestrian/cycling awareness etc)

Out and about with you (e.g. WWW's tip of writing your mobile number on your child's arm if you are out somewhere busy where they might get lost).

Out on their own - how do you discuss the topic of "stranger danger" without terrifying your child? Does your child have a mobile for emergencies? Etc etc.

Please, please add them here, as soon as poss!

Thanks.

Be sparing with your use of yelling "stop" when you are out - by refraining from doing it all the time, I know that if I yell at the top of my voice, DS will stop no matter what.... .

Also, more generally, teach them about hazards instead of just protecting them from them - for example, DS know exactly why he is not allowed on our drive/ near the gate (busy road) and therefore has the common sense to extend it to equivalent situations at friends' houses. Those of his friends who don't have the same rules at home are nightmare play dates as I literally cannot take my eyes off them.

If we are out and they lose us they must stop where they are as soon as they realise, and we will retrace our steps and find them. If they were to try to find us, then they would be much 'more' lost.

bump - savlon and plasters at the ready.

sound obvious but the only way they will learn road safety is to actually WALK places rather than go in the car.

If they are newly out of the buggy, give them the choice of reins or a walking strap(strap attached to your arm at on end and theirs at the otehr)-they will feel like they have chosen and you will have peace of mind if they suddenly bolt off.

agree with the 'tell a mummy' if they get lost, or else find a shop worker ( eg if we are in brent x) and tell them.

Also make sure they know your ( eg mine and dh's) full name - often kids don't know their parents' names - so a message can be read out over the tannoy.

Re: stranger danger - dd2 is too young for this but I have drummed it into dd1 that if she is taken by someone she must scream as loud as she can.

I also find myself trying to memorise what they are wearing just in case......

Yes, Caterpillar, we say that. If you get lost in a shop do not leave the shop - Mummy and Daddy will never leave you behind and will always come looking for you. Tell a person working in the shop or a mummy with children in a buggy that you are lost.

Deffo agree to ensure that someone has "responsibility" for specific child/ren when out and about.

Do not pat dogs if we do not know who they are.

Agree re stairgates not just being for toddlers: we have one at the top of a very steep flight of stairs just outside DS's bedroom - sleepy wrong turn during the night when going for a wee (or disorientated mate on a sleep over) = broken neck. (I'm a lawyer - I have exaggerated concerns about harm befalling other people's children at our house ). Will also be useful in drunken scenarios in years to come...

Just to build on Donnie's stranger danger point - I have told mine to yell, "help me/ I don't know this man/woman" if someone was to try to take them, otherwise people might just think it's a child having a tantrum and politely look away . I think this is more likely to at least raise suspicion?

When I take my children out in crowds, I try to wear something bright, unusual and eyecatching at shoulder to head level (not that I'm advocating wearing a cybermans mask - a bright scarf or similar will it )

If I am easy to spot in a crowd, I am more visible if we get separated.

Thanks for all this - brilliant stuff so far, but please keep 'em coing.

Message withdrawn

No toys or running in the kitchen (as there are hot things and sharp things!)

I've taught ds1 that if he is lost then he must be a tree and put some roots into the ground right where he is. It sounds silly but he remembers that rather than going looking for us. We will always come and find him no matter how long it takes but he must stay in one place.

Message withdrawn

I taught my dd my mobile number ( she's 7)
If we go out somewhere crowded I always say 'if we get separated, let's meet there' ( and name a place)

Once your children are older, and you start leaving them home alone, as well as ensuring they'll follow your rules around the house, make them aware which neighbours/other houses they can go to in an emergency, along with your telephone number, and any others which might be useful.

Agree with bosch re discuss what to do if there is a fire.

Always use the back of the hob when cooking and teach them that ovens, radiators, kettle etc can be hot. Also lightbulbs .

Safety catch on cupboard doors which contain cleaning materials (if they can't be stored high up out of reach)

Always put the youngest mobile child in the car first.

Join up with the 'Traffic Club' and get some great books re road safety.

Remind your friends/relatives without young children not to leave windows open - and if they are sash windows to open the top half, not the bottom one.

Oh yes, do teach your children how to react in a fire.

Might be a good idea if they don't actually put it into practise though...mine did (without my knowledge) and we had to replace a panel in the conservatory roof.

Wherever possible, put children into the car from the passenger side, not whilst standing in the middle of the road.

My mum resently visited from South Africa and brought the sweetest book about being touched by strangers. The book is about a little crocodile that goes walking and how everybody asks him if they can touch him and his answer is always: No, this is my body and only I can touch it, until he gets to his mommy and then says that mommies and daddies can touch but no one else. My daughter is only 18 months old but I do think that it is a good way to get a difficult subject across without scaring her when the time comes.

we've taught ds (2.6) 'name' of house (ie number and street)

He knows our full names - and his.

He knows that when he is walking on a busy road he always has to hold a hand.

We always wait for the green man to come on at crossings (Red man stop - green man cross the road! - learnt at about 20 months)

Getting out of the car - hold on to mummy or stay touching the car until mummy gets you (on the odd occasion that he needs to be taken out then I have to go and switch a button on the drivers side so I can leave the dog in the car but lock it)

We taught him 'hot' at a very early age - and he responded correctly and comments that the oven and hob can be hot quite regularly - also never approaches oven when it is open.

Always ask dog owners if you can stroke their dogs before approaching (we have dog, so ds inclined to be over friendly, but this seems to be working now)