While accidents happen, there are a number of steps parents can take to cut down on the risk of their children sustaining a brain injury. Follow the five steps below to keep your child’s brain safe!

1. Your child should wear protective gear, including an approved helmet, for contact sports such as hockey, lacrosse, and football, as well as for high-risk activities like bicycling, horseback riding, skateboarding, and rollerblading.
2. Make sure your children practice good safety while riding in automobiles. Infants under one year of age who are under 20 pounds should ride in rear-facing child safety seats placed in the back. After that, children should ride in front-facing convertible and booster seats until they reach a height of 4’9”. Children who outgrow their booster seats should ride in a lap and shoulder belt in the back seat until the age of 13.
3. Choose a car with excellent safety standards that has passed “crashability” tests. Avoid driving SUVs without stability features that are known for rolling over.
4. Ensure your children recreate safely. Make sure that your children don’t play on unsafe playground equipment. Landing areas should be soft, and equipment should be in good repair. Trampolines should be on level ground and should be surrounded by safety netting, and trampoline play should always be supervised by adults. Pools should be surrounded by fencing or fitted with alarms so that children can’t enter them without supervision. Guards, parents, and caregivers should be educated in CPR.
5. Make sure that young children under the age of 3 don’t play with toys or objects that are choking hazards. Children under the age of 8 should not play with latex balloons.