Pretty smart decorating

While decorating the house is at the core of what makes holiday gatherings so wonderful, the very items that bring the winter holidays to life also contain a great many dangers.

The following are holiday safety tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics to help you make the next few weeks as safe and fun as possible:

Trees

• Artificial trees should always be clearly labeled “Fire Resistant”.
• Live trees should always be fresh with green needles that don’t break off and that are hard to pull off from the branches, and if the tree trunk end has sticky resin (is it good or bad to have a sticky resin?).
• All trees should be setup away from fireplaces, radiators and portable heaters. Make sure you water your tree often, as a very dry tree will catch fire more easily.

Lights

• Use outdoor lights for outdoors and indoor lights for indoors
• Check all lights for burned out bulbs, frayed wires, broken sockets or loose connections.
• Never use electric lights on a metallic tree - the tree can become charged with electricity and a person who touches the tree could get electrocuted.
• Plug all outdoor electric decorations into circuits with ground fault circuit interrupters to avoid potential shocks.
• Turn off all the lights on when no one is home or the last person is going to sleep – the lights could short out and start a fire.

Decorations

• Use non-combustible or flame-resistant materials for all decorations.
• Choose tinsel or artificial icicles of plastic or nonleaded metals. Leaded materials are hazardous if ingested by children.
• Never use lighted candles on a tree or near other evergreens.
• Always use non-flammable holders for candles and place them where they will not be knocked down.

Fireplaces

• Be careful with "fire salts” - they contain heavy metals that can cause intense gastrointestinal irritation and vomiting if eaten.
• Do not burn wrapping papers in the fireplace. A flash fire may result as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely.

Toy Safety

• Follow recommended age ranges on toy packages - toys that are too advanced could be a safety hazard for younger children and contain parts that are too small for young children and are a choking hazard.
• Read instructions carefully before buying a toy or allowing your child to play with a new toy and show him or her how to use the toy properly.
• Don’t allow small children to play with holiday gift-wrapping, like bags, paper, ribbons and bows. These items are suffocation and choking hazards.
• To prevent both burns and electrical shocks, don't give young children (under age ten) a toy that must be plugged into an electrical outlet. Instead, buy toys that are battery-operated.
• Remove strings and ribbons longer than 12 inches from toys before giving them to young children as these can strangle a small child. Watch out for pull toys with strings

Holiday Gatherings

• Remember that not all homes are childproofed for the ages of your children.
• Be vigilant for hidden holiday dangers such as beverage glasses within reach of small hands – many glasses may contain alcohol during the holidays and look a lot like “kids drinks” such as milk (eggnog) and juice (wine).
• Before allowing your child to go to a party at another home, ask that family if they have a gun and if so, be sure that the guns are stored ( unloaded and locked) - in a gun safe - with the ammunition locked up separately.

Happy decorating!

© 2005 Pediatrics Now.
All rights reserved. PEDIATRICS NOW is a trademark of Pediatrics Now.

[back to Salem News Archive]