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Life Guide U.S. essentials
English

If there are small children at home, put window stops on windows and balcony doors; a window screen is not protection

  • High value
  • Evidence B
  • Buys life
  • For: Child under 3, Child aged 3–18
  • Costs a little
  • Takes minutes
  • No willpower

In plain words

A pair of stops costs a few dozen CNY. New York City installed window guards free in high-risk households and visited to explain how to use them; in one borough, reported child falls dropped by half over 3 years. New York later passed a law requiring landlords to put guards on homes where children live. A window screen pushes open and does not count as protection.

Cost

A pair of window stops or a child safety lock costs a few dozen CNY. Installing takes ten minutes.

What you get

Starting in 1972, New York City ran a program called “Children Can't Fly,” giving out window guards free in high-risk neighborhoods and visiting homes to explain them. Reported falls in the Bronx fell 50% from 1973 to 1975. New York City then amended its health code to require landlords to install window guards in apartments where children aged 10 and under live.

Notes

Don't put beds, sofas, boxes or anything else a child can climb on next to windows and balcony edges. A screen only keeps out mosquitoes and falls out if pushed, so don't treat it as a guard. You also don't need to live high up to need this: in the U.S. data, most falls happened on the second floor or lower.

Evidence grade
B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
Sources
  1. Spiegel CN, Lindaman FC (1977). Children can't fly: a program to prevent childhood morbidity and mortality from window falls. American Journal of Public Health：「Significant reduction in falls resulted, particularly in the Bronx, where reported falls declined 50 percent from 1973 to 1975」，1976 年纽约市卫生法典修订「to require that landlords provide window guards in apartments where children ten years old and younger reside」. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.67.12.1143
  2. (2021). Unintentional Window Falls in Children and Adolescents. Academic Pediatrics：2007 年 1 月至 2017 年 8 月全国电子伤害监测系统 38,840 例急诊就诊，「The majority of falls occurred in children under the age of 6 and were related to falls from a second story or below」. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.07.008

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 1, tip 11. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer