‘90s FAMILY : Preventing Danger, Injury

Experts offer these tips for new parents:

* Don’t use a crib that’s older than five years because it may not meet the current standards for crib construction. About 50 babies a year die in accidents involving old cribs, says Ann Brown, chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who calls it “the major (safety) problem for babies.”

* Don’t hang bags on the handles of a stroller. This can make the stroller tip over.

* Get down on your hands and knees and look for potential dangers to a child. Is the edge of your coffee table squared off? You need to get a cushion to put around it. You have to put yourself down on the baby’s eye level.

* Make sure you have everything to change the baby before putting the baby on a changing table or bassinet. And always strap the baby in.

* Mount baby gates at the top and bottom of stairs. Babies can get injuries trying to crawl upstairs. If you want your child to practice stair crawling, leave only one or two treads from the bottom and put the gate above that.

* Don’t use a pressure-mounted gate, which a moving baby can knock down. Use wall-mounted gates. To save money, check stores and catalogues for wall-mounted “pet gates.” They’re identical to baby gates but usually sell for less.

* When you buy a mobile, you’re really paying for the strength of the brackets, not the decorative part, so buy mobiles with strong attachments. And remove mobiles when the baby can stand.

* Don’t use talcum powder, which can cause respiratory problems for baby. Use cornstarch instead.

* If you use drawstring gowns, remove the string after the baby is 3 months old because the baby could get it loose and choke on it. Or use gowns that use built-in elastic instead.

* Always buy age-appropriate toys. “It’s real easy to think your child is advanced, but part of the reason they put that age appropriateness on there is there are small parts they can choke on as the age appropriateness rises,” says consumer advocate Denise Fields.