In my early days of motherhood, I belonged to an online baby message board. It was a great place to get tips from other moms that had been there before, as well as to share photos of our little ones — this was before blogs were all the rage 😉
I will never forget the story of one mom on my board who lost her little boy in an accident when he climbed on to a dresser and it tipped over on top of him. At the time, I was clueless to the fact that furniture needed to be anchored, and I immediately went out and purchased brackets to secure every bookcase, dresser, and entertainment center we owned. It was a tragic way to learn about home safety and I hope another parent never has to lose a child in this manner because it’s totally preventable.
Beyond large pieces of furniture, flat screen TVs are increasingly becoming a safety issue. Due to their thin designs, today’s flat panels can easily tip over at the slightest bump or nudge, causing them to topple off furniture, potentially causing injury or even death.
Here are a few statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Deaths:
- A child is killed every three weeks from TV instability.
- 176 deaths were reported from 2000-2010 due to tipping TVs; 96% of these fatalities were children 10 years or younger.
- 16 deaths were reported from tipping TVs in 2010.
Injuries:
- There were approximately 89,800 emergency room visits related to TV tip-overs from 2006-2010.
- 71% of tip-over related injuries happen to children 10 years old and younger.
- There were an estimated 20,000 TV tip-over injuries in 2010.
- Tip-over-related injuries grew by 25% from 2006-2010.
Mounting your flat-panel TV is the safest, most secure way to avoid injury.Â
Mounting a TV is quite easy – Most wall mounts can be installed in a few steps with common household tools, such as a stud finder to locate studs in the wall (where the mount will secure to), a drill and a screwdriver. Although the safest option is to mount your flat-panel TV, a safety strap can also help prevent serious injuries from happening.
As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children, but sometimes it’s small things that we overlook that are the most dangerous Please take a look around your home to make sure all of the items you own are secure — it could save your child’s life!
For more information on TV safety, and to find safe solutions for your home visit www.tvsafety.org and www.facebook.com/TvSafety.
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I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Burst Media on behalf of Sanus TV Safety. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, but my opinions are my own.
