Halloween is an exciting night for children and a busy time for their parents. With such excitement, it’s easy for children to forget basic safety rules.

When emotions are running high, it’s a good time to remember to “use your head.” Plan ahead and plan to have a safe Halloween. Raise safety awareness with your family before the festivities begin. We do the right thing, but we don’t always explain it to children. As you place a saucer under each tea light, or “stop, look and listen” at street corners and in parking lots, tell your child why. They don’t always connect the dots unless you point it out.

Here are some Halloween Safety Tips to keep in mind:

1. Stay sober and alert.

It’s amazing how many family Halloween celebrations involve adults drinking. It’s impossible to monitor children’s safety or your own when you’ve had too much to drink, so don’t.

2. Avoid cuts and burns when decorating.

Carving the pumpkin, placing luminaria in the driveway, and hanging spooky skeletons all present opportunities for injury. If you’re decorating with candles, observe fires safety. Have a good fire extinguisher handy and make sure everyone knows where it is.

3. Observe ladder safety regulations.

According to the NASD, accidents involving ladders cause an estimated 300 death a year in the US, and 130,000 injuries requiring medical attention. Review ladder safety rules and observe them.

4. Make sure “treats” aren’t “tricks.”

Many people these days choose to go to fairs or private parties instead of trick or treating for safety reasons. If your child is going trick or treating, go with them. Make it a rule that nothing is to be eaten until it’s first been inspected by you.

5. Caution your child about strangers and dogs.

Keep your children with you and remind them to avoid people and dogs they don’t know. Many people are taking their dog companions out in costume these days, and even the most gentle of family pets can do something unexpected with all the excitement.

6. Accidental falls is the number one cause of injuries on Halloween night (National Safety Council).

Choose your child’s costume with this in mind. Hem up the hemlines. If you choose a mask, choose one that doesn’t obstruct sight. Stay sober and observe safety rules when decorating.

7. Four times more children are killed in pedestrian/automobile accidents on Halloween night than on any other night of the year.

The CDC suggests these factors make it a high risk: short stature, inability to react quickly enough to avoid a car or evaluate a potential traffic threat, lack of impulse control, and all the exciting distractions.

8. The holiday syndrome.

The excitement, more candy, more parties, less sleep, less nutritious food, and getting off schedule all mean less attentiveness and also possibly illness. Keep routines as normal as you can.

9. Choose safe and sensible costumes.

Choose fire retardant costumes that allow children free movement and good visibility. Be careful about accessories. Even toy knives and swords can cause harm. Give each child a flashlight.

10. Set a good example.

Show that you care about safety and make it a top priority.

By: Susan Dunn

About the Author:
About The Author

© Susan Dunn, MA, Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc. Coaching, Internet courses and ebooks for your personal and professional development. Career, relationships, transition, midlife. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for free ezine.

Spooky decorations, creepy costumes and candy-filled visions spur kids – and often the entire family – into a fun-filled frenzy on Halloween. But don’t let hidden dangers spoil the evening for your ghouls and booys! Here are ten simple Halloween safety and planning tips to help keep fright night from becoming a real scare.

10. Fill ‘em up first: Send trick-or-treaters off with a full tummy so they won’t be as tempted to eat candy before it’s inspected.

9. Have a Trick-or-Treating plan: Accompany young children at all times and send older kids out in a group with strict route guidelines and curfews – and a charged cel phone for emergencies. Don’t forget flashlights or glow sticks for everyone, both to see and be seen.

8. Remember safety basics: Emphasize to kids that Halloween night is no different when it comes to safety. Avoid strangers and dark houses, stay on well-lighted streets on a preapproved route, and take extra care when crossing streets.

7. Decorate with the littlest ghouls in mind: Make yard decorations safe and inviting to all. Secure electrical cords and strings out of reach, use glow sticks or battery-operated candles as light sources instead of real candles, and make walkways clear and accessible. If creating a particularly scary haunted yard, consider including a less-scary approach for younger trick-or-treaters (unless, of course, you want a bunch of leftover candy).

6. Costume for comfort and safety: Dress kids in costumes that are temperature-appropriate, allow free range of vision and movement, and are easily seen in the dark. Accessories like swords, knives and fairy wands should be safely blunted or flexible to prevent injury. Do costumes call for a spooky glow? Flameless battery-operated candles create a ghoulish candle-lit effect and are safe to carry.

5. Carve a safer Jack o’Lantern: Let little ones scoop the insides of the pumpkin and draw the face – always the best designs – but leave the carving to adults or older kids. Create a safer spooky light using glow sticks in two or three colors or battery-operated candles.

4. Check all candy before eating: Inspect candy before allowing kids to eat. Discard candy with broken wrappers, packaging that can be opened and resealed, or that appears tampered with in any way.

3. Keep pets inside all night: It’s safer and less stressful for pets, pet owners and visitors.

2. Prepare for unexpected scares: Assemble a portable first-aid kit to treat minor scrapes, burns or cuts, and include medications for asthma or allergies.

1. Have a get-home plan: Whether trick-or-treating, attending a party, or stopping by the neighborhood carnival, have a plan that works for everyone in case of separation. Identify a location to go to if separated from the group, and attach parents’ names, address and phone numbers to younger kids’ clothing.

By: Krista Fabregas

About the Author:
Krista Fabregas founded KidSmartLiving.com in 1999 to help parents combine safety, livability and style in a home that’s welcoming to family members of all ages. Find more KidSmart child safety, home decorating and living ideas at Kid Smart Living and on the KidSmartLiving at Home Blog.

There are a few things we can do for our feline friends on Halloween night to keep them safe. I know some of these things seem real simple, but with little ghosts and goblins caught up in the excitement of trick-or-treating, our cat friends can be overlooked. This year Halloween is on Friday night, which means there may be more children out and about because parents don’t have to get up the next day to go to work. Typically, this is also a night teenagers cherish to go out with friends, and being Halloween, may have a later curfew than normal. Keeping all this in mind, I have found it best to put my cat, Misty in my bedroom with food, water, and her litter box, with the door closed, so she doesn’t slip out of the house when I’m busy at the door.

If your cat is the outdoor type, then please bring them inside for the night! Sadly, there are people out there who find fun in hurting poor defenseless animals. Why take the chance? Put them in your basement, bedroom, rec room, somewhere out of the main flow of traffic to your front door where you’ll be busy looking at all the incredible costumes kids have access to these days.

Keep in mind, that at the end of the night when your little ghost and goblins come home, candy must be checked! I usually put an old bed sheet on the living room floor and have one child at a time empty their treat bag on it. I then sift through each piece. When Misty (my cat) comes into the room, anything on the floor is automatically hers, so I watch for anything unwrapped that she may make off with and claim as her own. Chocolate is deadly to cats, so make sure there’s none in reach of your cat.

Because Misty is one of my “kids” I usually go to the store and buy her a new toy to occupy her while my two are sifting through and trading their candy.

Black cats are particularly vulnerable to abuse this time of year. Because of the stigma attached to them as “superstitious” or “magical” they take the brunt of abuse. I lost my 5 pound cat named Licorice on Halloween about 10 years ago, do to neighborhood teens who had nothing better to do. I really don’t want to see anyone else out there go through this heartache. It’s so unnecessary. Keep your cats inside away from harm. It takes two minutes to secure them in a room with a door where you know they’re safe. Better to be safe than sorry.

Keep yourself, your little ones and your feline friends safe and happy this Halloween night.

By: Karen Mckee

About the Author:
Karen Mckee – proud pet owner of Misty.