Prevent Airway Obstruction

Child Safety Guide

Home Safety Council research shows that suffocation/inhalation is the second leading cause of unintentional home injury related death for children under the age of 14. Follow these guidelines to reduce the risk of suffocation, choking and strangulation dangers in your home:

  • Click here to find out if your crib model was recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
  • Place infants on their backs in cribs and make sure the sheet and mattress fit tightly to avoid entrapment and suffocation.
  • Remove soft bedding, pillows, toys and stuffed animals from the crib.
  • Consider buying a small parts tester to gauge whether objects present a choking hazard to young children. To approximate the test, use a cardboard toilet paper roll to measure objects and if they fit inside, keep them out of a child's reach.
  • Always supervise children when they are playing and eating. Do not permit children under the age of 6 to consume small, round of hard foods, such as hot dogs.
  • Keep small items including jewelry, buttons and safety pins away from children.
  • The Home Safety Council recommends against the use of latex balloons in homes with your children, as the balloons or pieces of balloon material can become lodged in a child's throat.
  • Make sure that rattles, squeeze toys, teething toys and pacifiers shields are too large and firm to lodge in a baby's throat.
  • Look carefully at toys and pacifiers and dispose of those with small broken parts that could be lodged in an infant's throat.
  • Remove squeakers from squeeze toys. Babies may detach squeakers and choke.
  • Read toy labels and other packaging information and base your selection on age recommendations.
  • Never hang pictures, quilts or decorations containing ribbon or string on or over a crib.
  • Window blind cords can present a serious strangulation hazard. Move cribs and playpens away from windows. Tie up window cords out of a child's reach. If your blind cords have continuous loops, call 1-800-311-7996 to request free repair kits to make them safer.
  • Pull out drawstrings in children's outerwear and remove necklaces, purses and scarves before play.
  • Make sure that children under 6 do not sleep on the top bunk of raised beds. Verify that spaces between the guardrail and bed frame, as wall as the head and footboards, are less than 3.5 inches.