86 HAWAII PARENT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 Infants are more likely to fall from baby walkers, furniture and stairs, according to Stanford Medicine, so baby walkers are not recommended for teaching infants to walk. Toddlers tend to fall from windows and playground equipment, says Stanford. “Infants are usually inexperienced, untrained, unprotected and truly victims of the environments created by adults. Infant losses are tragic, and such losses could be dramatically reduced by safe fall education of adults,” adds Vercruyssen. Practice safe falling maneuvers to reduce injuries. “Falls are not always bad. In fact, locomotion requires one to first ‘fall’ off balance,” explains Vercruyssen. “We must teach safe falling (without injuries) like, especially here in Hawaii, we must teach safe swimming (without drownings).” Dr. Vercruyssen explains there are two basic concepts for reducing injury while falling. First, “when landing on the ground, try to land with as much body-surface-area as for security; and, set window rules for older children: These are a few recommendations to mitigate the risks of fatal falls through glass or screens. Safely step up and down stairs. Set up those safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs to stop curious babies and toddlers from trampling down. Instruct a child to safely go down stairs – often backwards when they are younger – and remove any clutter on stairs to limit accidental falls by all ages. Explore the outdoors safely. Helmets should always be worn to prevent biking, skateboard or other wheeled-activity falls. Playgrounds are a great place to explore and practice new skills, but are they a safe space to fall? Shock-absorbing surfaces such as rubber, synthetic turf, sand, pea gravel, wood chips or mulch make falling safer. Also, note that different playground equipment is typically designed for different age ranges. Offer extra precautions and supervision for infants and toddlers. Preparation is important… “Such losses could be dramatically reduced by safe fall education of adults.”
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