Choose, use baby products with care

Infant, toddler injury rate is on the rise

New parents have an increasing variety of gizmos they can buy to tote or entertain baby — swings and slings, carriers and bouncers. But, in addition to comparing costs and the cuteness factor, it’s important to shop for safety. Then read the instruction manual and follow directions.

A new study out of Nationwide Children’s Center for Injury and Policy suggests injuries involving nursery products are on the rise. An infant or toddler suffers an injury associated with a nursery product every eight minutes in the U.S., with more than 66,000 children age 3 or younger hurt each year while using baby carriers, strollers, walkers and other products.

Handles detach. Products collapse. And, as the nursery rhyme warns, “down will fall baby, cradle and all.”

The study found most injuries happened at home, involved falls, and caused head and neck injuries. Baby carriers were the leading cause of injury, followed by cribs and mattresses, then strollers and carriages.

No product is foolproof. Parents need to remove hazards from their home, follow a product’s directions and age recommendations, always use safety straps and be watchful. As any parent knows, babies and toddlers can get into serious trouble within seconds.

The study, published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, reviewed two decades of emergency-department data from across the nation. Authors Christopher E. Gaw, Thiphalak Chounthirath and Gary A. Smith provide an excellent wake-up call, one that could lead to fewer injured children in the future.

“This is not just an issue for parents. This is a concern for manufacturers as well,” noted Tracy Mehan, manager of translational research at the center.

She pointed to a push to make baby walkers safer, which is credited for sharply decreasing the annual injury rate by 33.9 percent from 1991 to 2003. But this was followed by a significant increase of 23.7 percent from 2003 to 2011.

Some of this increase might be because of greater awareness about concussion. But other factors are also likely at play: busy parents are more distracted by such things as cellphones; more products are available; and babies are just built tipsy — they teeter and tumble under the best of circumstances.

Mehan urges parents to always follow the “four Rs”: research products at websites from trusted organizations; check for recalls at www.recalls.gov; register the product with the manufacturer; and read the product manual.

Information on keeping little ones safe at home is available at http://bit. ly/2n6S4kb, and elsewhere on the Nationwide Children’s website under the “health library” tab.

False police calls an alarming waste

Security alarms are ubiquitous in a big city like Columbus, used to protect such places as homes, pizza shops and even public libraries. But they tend to go off for reasons that don’t involve a break-in: Loud noises, such as a car backfiring or an object falling inside, can trigger an alarm — and a wasted trip by police.

In fact, of 47,566 alarm calls to Columbus police last year, more than 3 in 4 were false alarms.

“False alarms cost money,” said City Council member Mitchell J. Brown. He recently hosted a public hearing about proposed changes to the city code, last updated back in 1998 before people routinely carried such things as cell phones that can alert them to a triggered security alarm.

The council likely won’t vote on reasonable fee changes for several months. But an update is overdue to make property owners more aware and to avoid tying up busy police officers.