September is Baby Safety Awareness Month

Parenthood comes with many challenges. If you are a first-time, young and low-income parent struggling to find their footing it can feel overwhelming raising a happy and healthy baby. September is national Baby Safety Awareness Month, a great opportunity to support all parents and spread awareness on how to keep infants safe from harm.

How Can You Help?

1. Follow Children’s Home Society of Florida on Facebook and Instagram to ‘like’ and ‘share’ baby safety facts and tips throughout the month.
2. Support Healthy Families and Healthy Start programs in your area by purchasing items from their Baby Safety Wish List located below. All donations will be given to local families in need.
3. Try out a few of the baby safety tips below. Even if you do not live with young children, these life-saving tools make a difference when little visitors stop by to say hi.
4. Spread awareness by talking about baby safety with a friend or send them this website.

Baby Safety Wish Lists

In less than three minutes – with just a few clicks of your mouse – you can give baby safety essentials to the families who need them. Purchase an item from one of our Baby Safety Wish Lists on Amazon to make a difference.

Healthy Start Baby Safety Wish List – Big Bend

Healthy Families Baby Safety Wish List – NEFL (Jacksonville Area)

Baby Safety Program Wish List – Western

Baby Safety Wish List – Flagler & Volusia Counties

Baby Safety Wish List – Miami Dade

Baby Safety Wish List – Lake/Sumter/Marion Counties

Baby Safety Wish List — Palm Beach County

Building strong, safe foundations through Healthy Families & Healthy Start

CHS’ Healthy Families program empowers parents to balance their personal and parenting goals – setting the entire family up for success from the very beginning. Parents receive encouragement, practical guidance, tools and resources in the comfort of their own homes. During voluntary weekly sessions with a trained CHS team member, parents learn everything from postpartum care to kindergarten readiness, stress management and much, much more. Among families that complete the program, nearly 100% remain free from abuse and neglect, and they also continue to pursue personal and family goals.

Through compassionate, professional, encouraging support, our Healthy Start program serves pregnant women – many who suffered abuse or neglect as children, struggle with substance dependencies, have a limited support system or struggle financially. Parental education and guidance is provided until the baby turns three years old. Moms can join the program prenatally, as they learn how to care for themselves and their developing babies during pregnancy. They receive referrals to childbirth classes, connections to counseling resources, support to secure safe sleeping arrangements for baby, developmental screenings, and on-going encouragement. Parental education and guidance is provided until the baby turns 3. The ultimate goal is always to create safe and strong foundations for families.

Baby Safety Tips

1. Secure furniture that can easily topple over, like bookcases and dressers.
2. Keep a watchful eye on easily forgotten choking hazards, like buttons, batteries and loose change.
3. Set a purse or cell phone next to the child’s car seat so that you’ll always check the back seat before leaving the car.
4. Place laundry and dishwasher detergent packets out of reach of children since they are easily mistaken for candy.