Safety Issues
Each year in Australia it is estimated that around 6,500 children will seek medical attention from injuries involving nursery products (125 children a week). 540 of these injured children will be admitted to hospital and 10 children will die.
For further information about nursery safety issues visit the following websites:
NSW Office of Fair Trading
SIDS (Sudden Infants Death Syndrome)
Kidsafe NSW has a number of resources and publications which address a range of child safety topics. For further information click here.
The NSW Commission for Children and Young People have released a report titled "Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy: the New South Wales Experience".
As part of the study that led to the report, the sudden unexpected deaths of 186 infants after they had been placed for sleep were examined. The deaths occurred in the three year period from 2000 to 2002.
Of the 186 infants who died suddenly and unexpectedly:
- 41% were placed for sleep in an unsafe position (13 face-down; 63 on their side)
- 59% were placed for sleep with a pillow or head covering (78 had pillows; 73 had doonas, quilts and/or blankets).
- 58% were exposed to tobacco smoke (71 during pregnancy; 88 after birth).
The report found that sudden unexpected deaths in infancy is the second largest group of possibly preventable deaths of children under 18 years.
The report can be downloaded by clicking on the following link
Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy Report