Rise in hurt tots could be avoided, says Plunket

HELPING HANDS: Proper adult supervision can keep tots safe.PHOTO/FILE A-230714NZHCCKINDY08

Concerns have been raised over the safety of tiny tots in Wanganui with a rise in the number being injured.

Data released by ACC shows 1045 injury claims were made for children under 5 in Wanganui between January and November this year - up from 985 claims made for the same period in 2013.

Plunket child safety adviser Sue Campbell said more could be done to prevent injuries in under-5s.

"A lot of these accidents are preventable and by that we mean that if the adult is aware of the age and stage that the child has developed mentally, then they can make some changes to the home environment where the majority of these accidents happen," she said.

"We don't mean to stop children learning and developing, taking a bit of risk and having fun, but just to stop the serious injuries from occurring. We are talking about things like preventing falls which is the key hospitalisation for children under 5.

"The range of injuries that we see are huge. Falls are the biggest one, followed by poisoning when children get access to household cleaners or medications - these things need to be kept out of reach and out of sight."

She said families needed to be extra careful around Christmas and new year.

"It can be a very stressful time for a family, and adults may not be as careful with their kids as they normally are, due to so many other things happening.

"It is important to always have an adult in charge of looking after the kids."

Child carer Bwyn Pardoe said children under 5 often had tumbles, knocks and bumps while learning about balance. "Accidents are very common when children are learning to walk and co-ordinate their bodies," she said.

"Some of the most common accidents I see with under-5s are falling over or bumping into tables and bench tops. There's nothing serious though - accidents are just a part of the learning process."

Nationally, there were 106,322 ACC claims for children under 5 years old from January to November this year and 105,842 for the same period in 2013.