Dressing up your little one isn't as simple and safe as you'd thought it'd be, even something as harmless as a scarf can deem to be a deadly item if worn by a little one that isn't supervised. When children clothing items are poorly designed, they can present actual risks for little ones who are young and oblivious to their surroundings. Clothing, jewellery, and accessories can strangle, suffocate or cause other serious injuries to an infant or young child. They can easily get caught around their necks and on other everyday items. Here are some of the risks clothing items can hold and ways to prevent an injury from happening to your little one.

Strangulation 

Clothing items that have hoods, drawstrings, and any sort of dangly bits that are close to the neck can be very dangerous. Your little one can easily get strangled if the hood or drawstring gets caught on something such as on a car door. Without adult supervision, clothing items like such holds an even higher risk. 

Prevention

• Remove all drawstrings and cords out of your little one's clothes.
• Ensure your little one isn't wearing a scarf or a helmet when they're playing around in the playground.
• Make sure belts, ties and sashes are firmly attached to clothing; make sure they aren’t too long to wrap around your little one's neck.
• Avoid clothes that are hooded or opt for clothes that come with detachable hoods instead. Hoods attached with Velcro are your best bet.

Choking 

Clothes that have buttons or bedazzled bits that aren't sewn all properly can easily get into your little one's mouth and cause choking. Kids as curious beings may mistake those bits as something they can eat and end up choking, a mishap like this can happen in a blink.

Prevention

• Ensure buttons and other small parts are firmly attached to the clothes and won’t easily come loose.
• Avoid clothes with buttons and opt for snaps instead.
• Make sure that blankets and sleepers don’t have any loose threads.

Falling 

Investing in a pair of good and right-fitting shoes can prevent a whole lot of unwanted falls and injuries. If the shoes your little one is wearing is of bad quality, has poor grip and doesn't fit their little feet right; it can lead to them tripping over and injuring themselves.

Prevention

• Make sure your little one wears shoes that fit.
• Ensure their shoelaces are tied up well and are tucked in so they don’t come loose.
• Consider shoes with Velcro straps until your little one can tie shoelaces.
• Choose shoes that come with soles that have a good grip (non-skid soles).
• Heelys (shoes with wheels) is a contraption that could lead to many injuries. These shoes can easily cause your little one to fall. However if your little one insists on wearing one, make sure they’re in a safe area (for example, away from stairs and uneven ground).

Strain 

Little ones tend to experience strain on their back, neck and shoulders when carrying backpacks the wrong way or ones that are too heavy. Because of the heavy weight, there's a chance of little ones developing shoulder, neck, and back pain. This could also lead to long term effects that can cause deformities to their posture and pain. 

Prevention 

• Make sure your little one wears their backpack over both shoulders. This spreads the weight evenly. It also helps protect your child from back, shoulder, or neck strain (stretching or tearing a muscle or tendon).
• Choose a backpack with wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back.
• Adjust the straps so the backpack fits close to your little one's back.
• Make sure your little one doesn’t carry too much in their backpack. The backpack should weigh no more than 20% of your little one's weight. For example, if your child weighs 36 kilograms (80 pounds), then their backpack shouldn’t weigh more than 7 kilograms (15 pounds).

Burns

In the chance, your little one's clothes catch on fire, they should be taught what to do beforehand. Some clothing items can be easily flammable and should be avoided at all cost. 

Prevention

• Teach your little one that fire is dangerous. If their clothes catch on fire, teach them to stop, drop, and roll.
• Dress your little one in pyjamas made of flame-resistant fabrics. These are fabrics such as polyester or nylon that don’t catch fire as easily as some other fabrics. Cotton and cotton blends are not flame resistant.
• Dress your little one in pyjamas with tight-fitting ankles, waists, and wrists. Tight-fitting pyjamas are less likely to catch fire than loose pyjamas. Day clothes, like t-shirts, are not safe to sleep in.