by Cindy Burch

Created on: August 29, 2008

When I saw this category, the memories flooded back. I raised six children. They were born in twelve years with two being eleven months apart. I spent a lot of time just trying to keep them safe - from everyday dangers and each other!
My fourth child, less than four months old at the time (now twenty nine) was sitting in an infant seat a little too close to the Christmas tree. She reached for a shiny red glass ball-ornament and proceeded to mouth it like it was an apple! There was red glass all around her mouth and she just sat there smiling. It looked like blood but amazingly, there was none.

Her brother, eleven months her senior, (also currently twenty nine) was fifteen months old when he simply knocked the whole tree over and it landed on his rear end and legs. He was on his stomach and what did I do? Since he wasn't crying yet and was breathing, I got the camera.
So, I've come up with some pretty common sense ideas regarding Christmas tree safety...One year, not wanting to deal with the potential disaster when number five child was one year old, I put the Christmas tree in the playpen! It looked stupid but the kids just wanted a tree and were too young to realize just how odd it looked. It also kept the presents out of their hands until it was time to open them. No one including the tree got hurt that year!
Another Christmas, I tied the top of the tree to a ceiling hook. It was still on the floor but this way, it couldn't be knocked over.
Don't hang anything breakable, toxic, or that has the potential to choke or shock (lights) low enough for a baby to reach. Discipline is always an option that some parents never seem to think of. You just teach children that there are some things that they shouldn't touch. If there's some ornament or decoration you hate and it wouldn't harm the child, you could hang it too low and hope they wreck it and they will get the blame.
Keep all wires in the back of the tree and out of reach of teething children. Use an artificial tree for many reasons. They are not as flammable as real ones, you don't need water around it which doesn't always mix with the wiring and your dog may not have as much of an urge to "go" near it.
The bottom line is use common sense. No decoration is worth compromising a child's safety. Remember that these are the times we'll look back on and laugh about. Merry Christmas.

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