Parents and caregivers should be aware of five baby-care items that could cause accidental suffocation, Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation officials said yesterday, based on the foundation’s review of news reports on accidents involving children.
A review of 243 news reports last year, 49 children under the age of 14 died and 279 suffered mental or physical injuries, with traffic accidents, negligence and water mishaps the top three causes of death or injury, foundation officials told a Taipei news conference.
More than half of the children that suffered injuries were under the age of six, they said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Five items — drop-side cribs, shower chairs, thick blankets, crib or bed-rail cloths, and baby carrier wrap cloths — can be dangerous for babies or toddlers, the foundation said.
The US has banned the manufacture or sale of drop-side cribs, as babies might become trapped and suffocate in the gap between the mattress and the sides of the crib, foundation chief executive Lin Yue-chin (林月琴) said.
The lack of seat belts on shower chairs could allow infants to fall down or drown in the tub if they twist in the chair, she said.
Baby-carrier wraps and blankets are also potentially dangerous, as many infants have been suffocated by such products in the US, so they should not be used to carry babies under four months old, she said.
The foundation also urged parents to exercise caution when riding with children on scooters.
Citing National Police Agency data, Lin said that more than 60 percent of injuries suffered by children under the age of 18 in traffic accidents occurred in scooter accidents, as riders are not required to install child-safety seats as car drivers are.
Adults should not use scooters to transport children younger than five, she said.
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