On Saturday, as usual, Ms. Li pushed out the shopping cart, pushed away the children’s seat board, carried her 4-year-old daughter into the car, and put her 6-year-old son, who also shouted to take the car, into the car. Ms. Li left the shopping cart to choose goods, while the two children played by themselves in the car.
After a while, not far away came the voice of his son crying. It turned out that the son fell head to the ground and blood flowed. Go to the hospital for a check, skull fracture.
Nowadays, many parents use shopping carts as food baskets as well as temporary [strollers]. Some children are naughty, wandering around in the car and even standing on children’s chairs. Some children are curious and stand in the car basket to look at the goods on the shelves from time to time. When they see what they like, they are especially excited and stretch out their hands to get them.
This will easily cause the shopping cart to overturn.
Are shopping cart falls common?
U.S. Data show that 24,000 children suffer accidental injuries from riding in shopping carts every year, which is equivalent to 66 children every day and one child suffers from shopping cart accidents every 22 minutes. Falls account for 70.4% of accidental injuries, more than half of which are head injuries.
Although most of them are soft tissue injuries, concussion and intracranial injuries double every year, mainly in children aged 0-4.
In fact, shopping carts are only allowed for children under the age of 3, and the maximum load on the cart board is only 15kg. Overage children will make the car [top-heavy] and easily overturn.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has given the following guidance on the safety of shopping cart children, suggesting parents to adopt alternative methods or take safety measures to avoid accidents.
What are the alternatives?
Instead of putting your child in a shopping cart, you can try these alternatives:
- Some people take care of the children when shopping. Use baby carriages or children’s braces; Let the child follow you and don’t run away without authorization. Don’t take your children shopping. Try to buy online when no one is looking after the children.
What safety measures should be taken?
If you still want your child to sit on the shopping cart, be careful to only let him sit on the child seat of the shopping cart, and anywhere else in the shopping cart is even more unsafe.
In addition, the following security measures should also be taken:
- Use seat belts for children; If the seat belt is damaged, re-select a shopping cart; Children have to sit in front of their parents. Don’t leave the child alone in the car; Do not let children stand in the shopping cart or lie prone on the edge of the shopping cart; Don’t let your child stick out of the shopping cart. Do not put children’s baskets above the goods in the shopping cart. If your child cannot sit upright in the child seat, you should use child braces, strollers or leave him at home. Don’t let the child push the shopping cart hard or climb the shopping cart from outside the car.
For the sake of children’s safety, Clove Mommy hereby reminds all parents and friends not to use supermarket shopping carts as [strollers], but also to pay attention to children’s hands and feet and not to be hurt by car iron racks.
Responsible Editor: Katherine