Halloween Safety Tips for Parents and Kids

First of all Have Fun and Be safe.

Costumes:

Recommendations of flame retardant material for costumes should be used as this protects your child from the material catching fire easily – this does not mean they should start dashing into burning buildings.

Masks that do not cover eyes, nose and mouth so your child is capable of breathing and seeing. Another option if a mask is too big or constricting is non-toxic, non-allergenic face paint.

Try to have a brightly or lightly colored costume, as black and similar colors are very hard to see at night especially for fast moving vehicles.

Treats:

The FDA recommends no snacking on treats while out trick-or-treating.

I remember growing up we were not allowed so much as to stick our hand in the goodie bag (pillow case). When we arrived home, we each gathered on the floor - all six of us, and dumped our goodies out. Individually we looked over all our candy to make sure nothing was opened or had a hole in it, home cooked goodies were not allowed, as my mother insisted it could be poisoned.

If a child has an allergy make sure to remove this “treat” from the goodie bag or DO NOT ACCEPT it in the beginning, to avoid a trip to the emergency room.

Anything opened, or homemade or fruits such as apples were thrown away or not accepted. If my mother knew the person who provided the baked good or fruit she would allow it but that was a rarity.

Separation:

Write in Pen name, phone, address in a secret place – such as a child’s forearm, allowing each child to easily show a first responder (such as police-person, fire-person, and paramedics) and paint over it with clear nail polish. It won’t be able to be rubbed off and is easily removed if you have acetone or nail polish remover – once safely home.

If, your child has a mobile device, put your contact information on it and as the emergency contact with, phone number, address etc. When setting up the emergency contact, make a contact for the local police vs. calling 911 as 911 will pin your location and you might be sent to the next town rather than the town or location you actually need to contact.

Place money in a child’s underclothing or in a pocket should they need a taxi or to call you.

If, you are not going out with your child(ren), know the names of all attendees and who will be in charge of the group.

Provide a flashlight with new batteries or one of those new key chains that has a new LED light on it for each child.

If you are the parent driving, drive with extra precaution, children tend to be highly excitable and will dash into roads, so as you approach and continue your treating, go slower (generally 5 mph is enough).

Attend events that are organized by known groups such as schools, churches or local organizations.

A reminder for parents (for those older children) it is most important that your child feels safe and IS safe, have a code such as X that they can text you or an accessible known adult they trust where the person texted will call them and tell them they need to pick them up. NO matter where they are, or what happened, or what time it is - it is best that everyone is safe and sound.

And Remember that old saying Safety in numbers, tell people where you are going, who you are going with and expected arrival and departure times.