As an adult, your role is not only to supervise your child, but also to guide and teach them to recognise risks and be safe.
- Make your home safe: Protect any hazardous places, such as stairs, sharp edges, chemicals and electrical outlets, in your home and yard. Sharp tools and medicine should be kept out of the reach of children, locked away if necessary.
- Support safety in traffic: Teach your child how to cross the road safely. Instruct them to wear a helmet when riding a scooter, balance bike or bicycle. Attach a sufficient number of reflectors to the child’s clothes during the darker times of year. Learn more about reflectors (Finnish Road Safety Council)(Link leads to external service)
- Drive safely: Get the right car seats for your child’s age and height. Always make sure that the child and the whole family wear seat belts when the car is moving.
Safety at water
Always supervise your child while swimming and playing by the water. There is a risk of drowning even in shallow water. Dress your child in water wings or a life jacket and stay close enough and alert. If your child has not yet learned to swim, you must accompany them in the water and position yourself between the child and deeper water.
Teach basic swimming skills from an early age. Even when your child can swim, supervise them, as a sharp drop-off or running out of strength can take the child by surprise.
Remember also that drowning happens quietly and quickly. Therefore, keep your eyes on the little swimmer at all times.
Learn about our swimming schools for children(Link leads to external service)
Safely on the road
Travelling by car
By law, a child must travel in a child safety seat until they reach a height of 135 cm. The Finnish Road Safety Council recommends a safety seat for children up to a height of 150 cm.
Compared to an adult, a young child’s head is larger and heavier in relation to their body, making the child’s neck more vulnerable to injury. Without a safety seat, the belt can go over the child’s neck or abdomen, causing serious injuries in the event of a collision.
The right type of safety seat will ensure that the child’s head is supported and the seat belts are correctly positioned, reducing the risk of injury to the child in a crash.
Learn more about child car seat (The Finnish Road Safety Council)(Link leads to external service)
Cycling
You can transport your child in a child bike seat, trailer or box bike. Both you and your child must wear a helmet, even if the child’s trailer is moving at ground level.
Make sure that the child is securely and firmly fastened. The seat of the bike must be such that the child cannot come in contact with moving parts or fall off the bike.
