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Injury Prevention for Three- to Four-Year-Olds: At Home

Summary & Participants

As three- or four-year-olds get faster and smarter, parents have to be faster and smarter about keeping them out of trouble. From the bathroom to the playroom, toddlers are experts at finding hazards in the home where you thought there weren't any. Join us as we discuss what you should know to keep you on your toes.

Medically Reviewed On: May 07, 2008

Webcast Transcript

BONNIE BOSWELL: Hello, I'm Bonnie Boswell, and welcome to our Webcast. Well as three or four year olds get faster and smarter, parents have to be faster and smarter about keeping them out of trouble. From the bathroom to the playground, toddlers are experts at finding hazards where you thought there weren't any. Well how can you stay on your toes.

Joining me to discuss injury prevention for three to four year olds is Dr. Calvin Lowe. He is an Emergency Department Attending Physician at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Thank you, Dr. Lowe, for being with us.

CALVIN G. LOWE, MD, FAAP: My pleasure.

BONNIE BOSWELL: Let's talk about who these little people are. They're not quite as oblivious as maybe a two year old, but they're not quite as savvy as a five year old. Describe them for us.

CALVIN G. LOWE, MD, FAAP: Well I have two children in this age range. I know firsthand how energetic, how curious the yare. How they're able to ride tricycles, climb stairs, run up and down stairs. And there are inherent dangers which parents may not know what kind of trouble they can get into.

BONNIE BOSWELL: Let's talk about some of those dangers. What about poisoning. I know that's come up as an issue sometimes.

CALVIN G. LOWE, MD, FAAP: Yeah, one of the things is that the kitchen is the most dangerous part of the house because a lot of things are accessible. The main thing you want to do is be sure to childproof your kitchen, meaning putting latches on the cabinet doors and drawers and so forth. And try to keep things out of their reach. Put things up above in the cabinets that are locked. Using child restraint proof caps, although sometimes children are very curious. They can still open them. But the main thing is to just keep them out of their range.

BONNIE BOSWELL: Well sometimes children have to take medicine. What should you do in that case? Especially if you're dealing with a sitter or something?

CALVIN G. LOWE, MD, FAAP: That's right. Just make sure you read the label that your doctor has put, the actual directions, to make sure that you're giving them the correct dose. A lot of times people have come into my emergency department where the baby-sitter or caretaker has given the wrong dose, either an overdose or an underdose, which could be equally as dangerous.

BONNIE BOSWELL: Scary, too. And should there be an emergency number nearby, say either in the bathroom or in the kitchen?

CALVIN G. LOWE, MD, FAAP: Absolutely. Everyone should know 911. But the other thing is also to have the poison control center at your availability because minutes do count. So the faster you can get some type of medical attention or some type of consultation, the better.

BONNIE BOSWELL: We're talking about some ways that parents can prevent injuries and intervene right away in case of poisoning or something like that. What about 911 and also the whole business of oxygen—you were talking about oxygen?

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