You might think all those straps that secure furniture to the walls look like overkill, but consider this: Just a few months ago, a 7-year-old (yes, that’s 7 years not 7 months) Plano girl was fatally injured after the family television tipped over on top of her.
Tipping furniture is one of the top five hidden home hazards listed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which estimates that 2,600 children younger than 5 were treated in emergency rooms for tipping-television injuries in 2005. Some tips for keeping your tubes secure:
• Use a child safety strap or angle brace to secure heavy furniture (and possibly the TV itself) to the wall.
• Position your TV on a low piece of furniture, and push it as far back as it will go.
• Make sure your TV stand can support the weight of your TV and
• Its accessories and is not prone to rocking or tipping.
• Keep anything your child might try to climb to reach (toys, movies, video games, books, etc.) away from the TV area. Don’t position VCR or DVD players on top of the TV, because children could try to climb up to reach them in order to play a movie.
A University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study of local tipping cases in 2003-04 found that three out of four parents questioned said the accident occurred because a child was climbing on the set.
