Dr. Jennifer Ong is a family medicine physician at The Vancouver Clinic. She enjoys getting to know patients and their families, and serving individuals of all ages.
As a family medicine physician, I tend to see a spike in certain types of childhood injuries once the weather heats up. Here’s what you can do to keep your kids safe:
Protect skin against sunburns
The sun is most intense between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., so it’s better to plan outdoor activities for earlier or later in the day. If you are outside, apply sunscreen liberally and often. Use SPF 30 or higher and reapply every two hours — sooner if children have been swimming or sweating.
If you have an infant less than 6 months old, use a wide-brimmed hat, a long-sleeve shirt, and pants to protect sensitive skin. You may use an SPF 15 sunscreen if other options won’t provide enough protection.
Also, check the expiration date of your sunscreen. I suggest buying a new bottle every year. Exposed to heat, the chemicals in sunscreen will change and not work as well.
Drink lots of water
To avoid dehydration, plan ahead to make sure you have enough fluid. If you’re hiking, drink water before you leave and pack water with you. Stop and hydrate every 20 to 30 minutes and take lots of rests in the shade.
Watch the windows
It can be tempting to throw the windows wide open when the house gets too hot. But this can pose a serious danger to toddlers who can easily topple through screens and onto cement below.
To keep kids safe, open windows wide enough to let air in, but not so wide that a child could slip through. This is particularly important for windows on the second floor and above. Inserting a long piece of wood into the window track can help you prevent kids from opening windows further than you want.
Keep bugs at bay
The best way to protect against bug bites is to prepare your family for the environment. Wear long pants if you’re going to be hiking around insects. Apply an insect repellant with 10 to 30 percent DEET. Use one application per day and rinse it off afterward.
You may use insect repellent on infants as young as two months. Just make sure to keep it away from their mouths and eyes and to rise it off at the end of the day.
Avoid falls and fractures
More bike rides and trips to the park mean more chances to fall and get hurt. Make sure children are wearing the right gear for the sport. Helmets, for example, provide critical protection to young riders.
At the playground, there’s no substitute for a watchful eye. Young children are unpredictable and have difficulty judging risk. Stopping them before they try something dangerous is the best way to keep them safe.
Supervise water play
Before allowing kids in a pool or body of water, parents should examine the area and assess their children’s ability to be safe in the water. Even if a child has had swim lessons, an adult should always be watchful. A lifeguard will help keep a lookout, but no one will monitor your child closer than you.
Remember, drowning may not look or sound like you think it does. It’s a deceptively quiet occurrence and can happen quickly. Drowning children don’t scream or wave for help. Instead, they gasp for air and may tip their heads back or beat their arms against the water.
If a child has swallowed a lot of water while playing, watch for secondary drowning symptoms, which include coughing and rapid breathing.
Double check your car
Most parents don’t intend to leave their child in a hot vehicle — a devastating and deadly mistake. Instead, parents might make a change in their routine and forget their child is in the back. Because it’s difficult to see into a rear-facing car seat, and young children are more likely to be asleep or non-verbal, they are at a greater risk.
Putting a phone, purse or wallet — an item that you always grab before leaving the car—near the car seat can provide an extra level of protection. It’s also important to get in the habit of checking the backseat every time you leave the car.
