parents as paramount protectors

Having a baby changes someone, and causes parents to suddenly be cognizant of all the exuberance (and risks) of taking care of a young one.  We hear about some common fatality risks, but often it isn't clear exactly what the relative likelihood of a traumatic event are.  As a result, we can sometimes minimize our perception of such risks, and instead focus on trivially important ideas (e.g., using organic medicine, or specific dye-free detergents, etc.)  In this brief article we show that the leading death cause for children are preventable accidents.  There is no point trying to optimize for a healthy life, if we tragically pass due to an early accident.  This should be an important lesson for new parents to make sure to child-proof their homes and be exceptionally vigilant to risks, since they occur by the thousands each year, sending infant deaths to emergency rooms every several hours.  The holiest of all rules is: never leave children unattended.  Don't be dense and assume they are safe "just for a moment".  And even if they are in reaching distance, put additional safety measures in place "just in case" something unforeseen happens.  Something unforeseen is always happening, and laws aren't in place to prevent all possible misbehavior.  We're adults, and children sometimes don't get a 2nd chance from our bad decisions.  Here are two charts to help illustrate the amount of accidental deaths in the U.S. (adding in motor-related accidents would nearly double these values!)  The actuarial data was computed from the CDC (obvious differences can occur when looking across time at different socio-economic groups).

Be attentive behind the wheel!  Be defensive.  Additionally, we can see a break-out of these accident types by following the non-suffocation death cause types below.  Again, carefully examine for potential hazards in some hard foods, break-apart toys, and sleeping environment.  Don't assume that just because everyone else is doing something, say at the gym, that you should optimistically do the same.  Raising a child is more of a responsibility than a game.