Falls prevention: babies & young children

About falls and falls prevention

In Australia falls are the most common cause of injuries in every age group. As babies and children start moving around more, they’re more likely to have falls and bumps.

Injuries to children often happen when you don’t expect it, because children grow and develop new skills so quickly.

The best way to keep your child safe is to watch the new skills your child is learning and the new places they can reach and get to – and then adjust your environment to suit.

Falls are part of the growing process. Most falls lead only to bumps and bruises, but they can sometimes lead to a trip to the doctor or hospital.

Bathroom: preventing falls

The bath is a very slippery place, and even adults can fall quite easily. Here are ways to minimise the risks:

Always keep your child within arm’s reach.
Encourage your child to stay sitting down in the bath.
Use a non-slip bathmat in the bath if your bath doesn’t have a non-slip surface.

Bedroom: preventing falls

These tips can help to prevent falls when your child is in their cot or bed or playing in their bedroom:

Remove toys from the cot so your child can’t use them to climb on and then fall out of the cot.
Use guard rails or a mattress on the floor when your child moves from a cot to a bed.
Note that bunk beds aren’t suitable until your child is aged over 9 years.
If you have bunk beds, let your child know that the top bunk is a no-play zone.
Use a night light. This helps to prevent falls if your child gets out of bed at night.
Move, put away or lock up anything that might be unsafe for your child to climb or that your child can use to get to unsafe places.

Furniture: preventing falls

These tips can help to prevent falls when your child is nearby, sitting in, playing with or using furniture.

Bouncers or bouncinettes

Always put the bouncer or bouncinette on the floor when your baby is in it.
Don’t put the bouncer on a table top, bench or anywhere else above floor level. An active baby might move the bouncer and make it fall off a high surface.
Take your child out of the bouncer if you need to move them. Don’t carry the bouncer with your child in it.

Change tables or beds
It’s safest to change your baby on the floor, but these tips can help if you use a change table or bed for nappy changes:

Always keep a hand on your baby.
Never leave your baby unattended on an adult bed or couch.
Make sure that your change table has raised sides that are at least 100 mm higher than the changing surface.

Highchairs

Always use the highchair’s 5-point harness.
Always supervise your child when they’re in a highchair.

Other furniture

Keep furniture away from other objects in the room. This will stop your child climbing from one piece to another or climbing up high on shelving.
Put things your child wants to reach down low, so your child is less tempted to climb up the furniture.
As a last resort, move furniture to a part of the house your child doesn’t use, or put a secure barrier in place so they can’t get to it.

Out and about: preventing falls

These safety precautions can help if you’re shopping or out and about:

Make sure you use the 5-point harness in prams, strollers and supermarket trolleys.
If a supermarket trolley doesn’t have a seat with a 5-point harness, use your pram or stroller instead, or consider using a baby carrier or sling.
Don’t let your child ride on the sides of a trolley or sit where the shopping goes.

Always supervise your child when you’re at playgrounds. Falls from playground equipment can lead to injuries like fractures and dislocations.

Steps and stairs: preventing falls

If you’re carrying your child down the stairs, it can help to use a baby carrier if you have one. This will mean you have at least one hand free to put on the banister. It’s also best to avoid wearing only socks or shoes like thongs and slippers. You can easily slip or trip in this type of footwear.

And once your child can crawl, it’ll be hard to keep them away from steps and stairs. You’ll need to take extra safety precautions:

Use securely attached safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.
Keep safety gates in place until your child is very good at walking up and down stairs independently.
Always open the safety gate rather than stepping over it. Opening the gate sets a good example for children and reduces your own risk of tripping.

Not all gates are safe to use at the top of stairs. Read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to make sure you have the right gate and it’s installed safely.

Trip hazards: preventing falls

Look for trip hazards on the floor and remove them. For example:

Pick up electrical cords.
Put away toys at the end of the day so all family members can go to the toilet at night without tripping over them.
Wipe up spills as soon as they happen – they can make the floor slippery.
Use anti-skid mats under your rugs and floor coverings, or roll rugs away.

Windows and balconies: preventing falls

Many Australian children are treated in hospital each year after falling from windows and balconies. These falls often happen at home and can cause serious injury or death.

These precautions can prevent falls from windows and balconies and around glass doors:

Lock windows or shield them with window guards so your child can’t fall out. In a multistorey house, make sure you can lock windows with a gap of no more than 10 cm. Flyscreens aren’t strong enough to stop your child from falling.
Move objects and furniture away from windows to stop your child from climbing up to look outside. You might need to move things like beds, chairs, change tables and pot plants.
Keep entrances to balconies locked. Always supervise your child on balconies.
Install safety guards across balcony entries, and make sure there are no horizontal bars or footholds that your child could climb on to reach the balcony.
Keep balcony furniture away from railings to prevent your child climbing up and over the railings. Use heavy furniture that’s harder for your child to move around.
Make sure balcony railings are vertical and at least 1 m high. The gaps between railings should be no wider than 12.5 cm.

Things that influence injuries from falls

There are 3 important things that can influence the seriousness of a fall:

The height children fall from – the lower the height, the lower the danger. Children under 5 years shouldn’t have access to heights over 1.5 m, and older children shouldn’t have access to heights over 2 m.
The surface children might fall onto – hard surfaces like concrete, ceramic tiles and even compacted sand are more hazardous to fall onto than softer surfaces. A bed of tan-bark or pine mulch under play equipment provides a softer landing. These beds must be at least 30 cm deep.
The things children might hit as they fall – put sharp-edged furniture like coffee tables and bedside tables in areas where children are unlikely to fall on them. You can also use corner protectors on the edges.

It’s recommended that you don’t use baby walkers. Baby walkers can cause serious injuries. For example, if a baby walker tips over or falls down the stairs, children can suffer head and other serious injuries like fractures. Find out more about baby walkers in our safe baby furniture checklist.