The tragic death of Mike Tyson’s four-year-old daughter Exodus, who lost her life due to a freak accident at home, might have come as a shocker to parents across the world. But city doctors point out that this is no isolated case.
Statistics show that “a majority of child accidents across the world happen while children are ‘safe at home.’ And it’s no different in our city either, where many of these accidents have proved to be fatal. children in the age group of four and eight are the most vulnerable as they are too young to be left alone, and too old to be under constant supervision.
Thankfully, young parents in urban India are finally waking up to the importance of child safety at home and warming up to the once-alien concept of baby proofing homes. Paediatricians too are doing their bit by educating new parents who approach them with doubts.
Dr Krishna Swarup Reddy, paediatrician, Apollo Hospitals says, “whenever parents come to us for a check-up, we insist on them adopting safety measures around the house to prevent tragedies. One will be surprised at how frequently accidents occur at home. Your toddler is sleeping and you cushion him/her with extra pillows thinking you can slip away for two minutes. That’s all it takes for things to go wrong.”
The significance of accident prevention involving children can never be emphasised enough, believes Dr Nageshwar Rao, chief paediatric cardiologist, Care Hospital. Recollecting a recent case, he says, “There was a case of a baby who was thirsty. With no one to give her water, she drank kerosene from a jar. She was rushed to the hospital after developing a condition we call chemical pneumonia. She was critical and had to be put on a ventilator to help her breathe. Thankfully she survived the worst. Such accidents occur out of sheer carelessness.”
Baby-proofing, though hitherto approached in a casual, haphazard manner, if at all, is now becoming de-rigeur with young, aware parents planning a secure home for their child.
Amita Raj, architect, says, “Previously, the concept of child-proofing the house didn’t exist. But it’s changing now. basic safety measures like furniture with rounded edges, grills with smaller gaps etc., are being followed keenly.” Besides vigilance, Dr Rao says that an important step in preventing accidents is that “children have to be made to understand that certain things are not to be handled or had. Toddlers are quite smart and if emphasised upon, they are bound to obey rules and regulations.”
Mom Speak
Namrata Bhattacharya, employee with an NGO
Outside, we’re on guard thinking accidents can happen but at home we tend to relax and that’s where things go wrong. I have rounded off all furniture edges and cleared everything within my son’s reach so that he isn’t harmed in any way.
Anju Nitin Rajan, homemaker
every room in the house has to be made safe for the child. We now have basic safety measures like protective flaps on switch-boards in place. We also removed glass-topped tables from the house. But still, toddlers can be a handful. Only yesterday I saw my son chewing on a glass bangle. keeping things out of a toddler’s reach is important.
Dr Niharika Nath, Dentist
I have a toddler and know what it means when they say kids can be a handful. It’s not possible to keep an eye on him every second, so baby-proofing the house was definitely our priority. We placed latches out of reach, kept wires out of the way and followed other safety measures that can be taken.
courtesy : deccan chronicle
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