According to a nine year study, there are many visits to the ER on Halloween, and one of the top reasons is finger/ hand injuries. Fully 1/3 of these are lacerations. What can you do to prevent some of these injuries?  For starters, don’t let children carve pumpkins. Adults who carve pumpkins should use specially designed carving knives (not kitchen knives). Finally, don’t leave carving tools anywhere within reach of quick little kidlet hands.

Pumpkin carving isn’t the only hazard of Halloween; read on to learn how to have a fun and safe Halloween.

Halloween Safety Tips: Keep Your Kids Safe For Halloween:

1. Make sure your child’s Halloween costume is safe, especially if your children make their own Halloween costume- no lead paint, no sharp edges, sufficient holes to see and breath through if the costume covers their face, and make sure it’s visible in the dark (even if you or another adult are with them while trick or treating).

2. If your children want to go trick or treating for Halloween, go with them. If they are old enough to not need you with them, then they are too old to go trick or treating anyway, so don’t let them use that argument. For a safe Halloween experience, try to stick with trick or treating at the homes of people you know, or at least only visit homes that are well lit and have an open gate. Your kids should not eat any items that aren’t packaged (such as loose, unwrapped candy, fruit, etc). Go through their entire goody bag before they are allowed to eat anything from it, and throw out anything that looks even remotely suspicious.

3. If you decorate your home for Halloween, and especially if you use candles inside pumpkins, be sure that the Halloween decorations are safely far away from trick or treaters who come to your home, so they don’t trip or risk catching fire. It’s dark, children come in droves, and their peripheral vision is often blocked by masks. It may even be better to not leave decorations outdoors that can be potentially dangerous (put them inside your window on the windowsill).

4. If your children go to a Halloween party, stay as a chaperone (the host may even appreciate the help). If your children are going out with another adult to trick or treat, make sure they know to stay close to the adult, to not run off anywhere at any time, to avoid strangers or anyone they don’t recognize (even if they are dressed as their favorite character), and to not take candy from anyone in a car or on the street.

5. Stay on the other side of the road when egg’ers, tp’ers, or groups of teens (or adults) in any way vandalizing are roaming the streets (and start heading the other way, keeping your children very close by). Keep a cell phone with you to alert the police (vandalizing is illegal). Don’t confront anyone, even if you know the owner of the car they are vandalizing- just call the police right away and keep yourself and your children safe.

6. Host a Halloween party yourself, complete with the best aspects of Halloween- candy, games, costume contest, spooky decorations, maybe some activities such as decorating their own halloween cookies or a ghost pinata. This keeps all the children safe and indoors, yet still have lots of fun.

7. Offer safe, wrapped treats for trick or treaters who visit your home, preferably treats that are not likely to be choking hazards. Treats like twizzlers, bite-sized chocolates, etc tend to be a safe way to go, and children like these.

8. Have flashlights, a fully charged cell phone, and emergency numbers readily available before the night begins, just in case.

Have a Safe Halloween!