Thursday, September 17, 2009

Children and Window Cord Safety

Parents and parents-to-be have a million things on their minds when it comes to raising their children. But every parent needs to be aware of child safety, and this begins in the home.
Children’s rooms are the best place to start. According to child-safety experts, the typical focal points for decorating a child’s room – windows, cribs and bedding – also hold the greatest potential danger to a child’s safety.
To make sure your child’s room is a safe one, consider the following:
Window Areas: Never place a crib, playpen, bed or any type of low-standing furniture near a window. In exploring their surroundings, young children can accidentally fall through an open window or window screen, or become tragically entangled in a nearby window cord. Whenever possible, place cribs and furniture on a non-windowed wall.
The Window Covering Safety Council recommends you make the right choice and only use cordless window products in young children’s bedrooms and play areas. Owners and renters should replace all window coverings in the home made before 2001 with today’s safer products.
However, if you wish to keep your older window coverings (i.e., purchased before 2001), visit our ‘How To Retrofit’ at www.windowcoverings.org/safety_design_tips.html section for instructions on how to retrofit these products'

Product Innovations:
When it comes to choosing window treatments most consumers consider color, style, and even privacy. If young children are around the home, then cord control should be another important factor in selecting your window treatments.
Although today’s window fashions come with built-in cord-safety features, the Window Covering Safety Council believes cordless window coverings are the best choice for use in children’s bedrooms and any area of the home where children spend time playing.
In fact, cordless designs are rapidly gaining favor with consumers and decorators because of their “clean” look and streamlined design. Most traditionally corded window fashions are available in “cordless” styles through the use of spring-loaded mechanisms, battery- or motor-operated lift controls, or simple wand pulls. When combined with the scores of new fashion looks in today’s window coverings, consumers can pick from a wide choice of high-style cordless designs.

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