Yahoo Autos I'm an ER pediatrician. Here are 7 things I never let my kid do
Kids will be kids, and accidents happen, but certain activities carry more risk than others. Injury is still the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and unfortunately, many of these are preventable.
We spoke to pediatricians who are also parents about things they’d never let their children do because of the heightened risk of injury or death, and how to make sure your child is as safe as possible.
Ride in the front before they turn 13
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of unintentional injury and death in the U.S., per the CDC. Children should always be in the backseat with the proper restraints, the experts note.
“This means using the appropriate size and type of restraints — whether that’s a car seat, booster seat, seatbelt — for their age, height and weight,” Dr. Brent Kaziny, medical director of emergency management at Texas Children’s Hospital, tells TODAY.com.
While it may be obvious to buckle up younger children, parents also need to be vigilant about school-aged children and preteens, the experts say.
Even if a child seems large enough to ride in the passenger seat, stick to this hard and fast rule. “My kids will not ride in the front seat before the age of 13, which is the recommended age that kids can move to the front,” Dr. Katie Lockwood, a primary care pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, tells TODAY.com.
“The (front) airbags are potentially dangerous to children, whose skeletons are still developing and aren’t the right size to be in the front,” says Lockwood, adding airbags can cause rib fractures, punctured lungs and injuries to the head, neck and spine.
No matter how much pressure kids put on their parents because their friends ride in the front, Lockwood stresses that 12-year-olds and younger go in the back, no matter how short the drive.
Jump on most trampolines
Unfortunately, the highs of this beloved backyard accessory may not be worth the lows. Some trampolines are riskier than others, the experts say.
Dr. Ee Tay, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, tells TODAY.com that public trampolines or trampoline parks are out of the question for her kids. “There’s just so many broken bones and orthopedic injuries,” says Tay, adding that the uncontrolled environment and greater number of kids increases the risk of collisions and falls.
“It depends on the weight of the child, how hard they can bounce, how high they can jump, if there’s another child next to them. ... It’s just very unpredictable,” says Tay. Other trampoline-associated injuries include lacerations, concussions and spinal injuries.
While he does see many trampoline injuries, Kaziny says he thinks there are ways to do it safely. Trampolines that are in-ground or have enclosure nets are safer, and parents should always supervise trampoline sessions, minimize the number of kids jumping at once, and make sure there aren't significant differences in age or weight among kids, says Kaziny. (The same applies to bounce houses.)
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recommends children under 6 do not use trampolines at all, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children only use them in supervised training programs for gymnastics or other sports.
Ride an ATV
“My kids will never, ever go on an ATV. ... They are so dangerous,” says Tay, adding that the all-terrain vehicles cause many preventable accidents among children. This applies to both riding and driving ATVs, though most are built for just one person.
Motor sports have become increasingly popular in the U.S., and ATV-related injuries are on the rise, TODAY.com previously reported.
ATVs do not require any training or a license, Tay points out, and children often don’t have the ability to properly judge speed or distance. “They just kind of go at it,” says Tay. The heavy machines can also flip easily.
Although ATVs do come in youth sizes, Kaziny says he commonly sees parents get an ATV that the child won't outgrow too quickly. “The child ends up being on something that’s really not age appropriate ... from a size and power perspective,” says Kaziny.
The AAP recommends that no one under the age of 16 ride or operate an ATV, and that this is the most effective way to reduce ATV-associated injury or death.
If parents choose to let their child ride an ATV, Kaziny recommends making sure it is age-appropriate, the child is wearing a helmet and other protective equipment, and that they follow safety measures.
