Fireworks Safety

Summertime is here. Summer brings outdoor fun, picnics and celebrations for the Fourth of July. For many people the 4^th of July means fireworks. A good fireworks show can make lots of good memories for your family and can be a wonderful end to a family holiday picnic. Make sure your celebration is safe by educating your family about fireworks safety.

If not handled properly fireworks can cause burn and eye injuries. According to the US consumer product safety commission, each year 250 people on average go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the days around the 4^th of July.

These injuries are not limited to kids; 61% of the injuries reported are adults, 32% are kids under age 14 and the rest are teens.  About 14% of fireworks injuries are due to using sparklers incorrectly, 17% involve firecrackers, 21% involve roman candles or reloadable shells, and the rest are other types of products. Fireworks injuries can happen with both backyard displays and public displays.

Using some types of fireworks at home is not legal in all areas, so be sure to check the local laws. If you do use home fireworks, use these safety tips to make sure you have a safe and memorable celebration.

• Never make your own fireworks. Buy fireworks from a reputable dealer, and make sure they are legal. Legal fireworks have a label and manufacturer’s name and directions. Illegal fireworks account for many injuries.
• Always use fireworks outside. Have a bucket of water and a hose nearby in case of accidents. Pay attention to weather conditions. If the weather is very dry or windy, don’t use fireworks. Wait for better weather conditions.
• Point fireworks away from your home, buildings, brush, trees, and flammable substances. The national fire protection Association estimates that local fire departments respond to more than 50, 000 fires caused by fireworks each year.
• Soak all used fireworks in a bucket of water before throwing them in a trash can.
• Before lighting any fireworks, make sure you have a safe place to light them. Make sure all spectators stay safely back from the lighting area; only the adult lighting the firework should be in the area.
• Don’t hold fireworks in your hand or have any part of your body over them while lighting.
• Wear eye protection while lighting fireworks
• Don’t throw or point fireworks at anyone.
• When lighting fireworks, light one at a time.
• MOVE back quickly after lighting the firework. Fireworks have been known to backfire or shoot off in the wrong direction.
• NEVER allow children to play with or light fireworks
• NEVER try to relight a firework that was a dud or that has not ignited fully.
• Don’t allow kids to pick up pieces of fireworks
• If you give your kids sparklers, make sure they keep them away from bodies, faces, clothes and hair. Sparklers can reach a temperature of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to melt gold. Set up a bucket of water to dispose of used sparklers, make sure kids don’t drop them on the ground. Go over safety rules for sparklers with kids and enforce them.

If anyone is injured, seek medical treatment immediately. If eye injury occurs, don’t touch or rub the eye as this can cause more damage. Don’t flush the eye or put on any ointment. Lightly cover the eye, and seek medical attention. For a burn, remove clothing and run cool water over the burned area and seek medical attention.

Fireworks are meant to be enjoyed. Be safe if you use fireworks at home or attend a public fireworks display and leave the lighting to the professionals.

Learning to talk

One of the most exciting milestones for parents and children is the child’s first word. For most kids, this happens around one year of age. Parents can encourage language learning, starting before birth!

Babies can hear before they are born. Scientists say that babies can hear music, sounds, voices and especially mom’s voice while they are in the womb. Newborns will recognize music and voices they heard before birth, so it’s never too early to talk to your child!

Newborns communicate with parents without language. Your baby will communicate by crying, looking, listening, smiling and facial expressions. Babies learn very quickly how to communicate with parents with cries and when parents respond to their babies cries baby learns that he can communicate with others.

Babies love to listen to voices so talk and read to your baby often. Look directly at your child’s face and just talk or sing! Hold your baby and read to him. As your baby grows she will begin to coo, make gurgles and babble. Imitate her sounds, look baby in the eyes and say her noises and coos back to her. When you babble with your baby you are teaching her turn taking and conversation, even when you don’t use any words.

As your child grows the early sounds become babbling-usually a string of sounds such as dadada or bababa.  This is an important way that babies practice making sounds. You may even notice your child practicing babbling when he is alone in the crib after waking up from a nap. Your child loves it when you repeat his sounds back to him, and also when you describe his world. Talk to your child, sing to your child, and read to your child and you will be providing him with lots of sounds and words, an important part of learning language. Play games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake to help your child get connections between actions and words.

Before your child ever says her first word, she understands lots of words. This is called receptive language. Usually, by six months of age your child will understand her name, and by 9 to 12 months your child will begin to understand many words. He will probably understand words such as no, names of special people in his life and names of objects that are important to him.

At about this age your child will be able to communicate with you quite well without words, maybe by pointing or gestures. Your child will get his message across by using non-verbal means such as waving bye-bye, shaking her head  “no”,  pointing when he wants his cup or toy or holding up both arms to be picked up. Name these actions for your baby when he does them to help him make word connections. Describe what is happening in baby’s world, maybe describe what you are doing when you get her food ready or name body parts when you give baby a bath. Describing baby’s world gives him exposure to lots of different words and sounds. Reading is another good way to expose your child to words and sounds. As you read a book, point to a picture and name it, then ask your child to point to the picture in the book.

All of the language, talking and reading to your child will pay off when your child says that first word, usually around a year old. The words will keep coming quickly after that. By age two your child should be saying short sentences and can follow simple instructions. By age three years children can follow instructions with two or three steps and can understand most words. Sentences are more complete and longer and most speech is understandable to strangers. By age 4 kids understand grammar and can use plurals, pronouns and even sing a song or rhyme from memory.

From the beginnings of making sounds to your newborn to repeating babies sounds back to her, reading, talking and singing parents play an important and exciting role in helping their child learn to talk and communicate.