Most child safety accidents at restaurants are minor, but they can sure spoil your evening out if they happen to you. And although they tend to be minor, some of the accidents below are also relatively common. The following tips will help you keep your children safe while dining out:
Child Safety at Restaurants
- Watch the hot liquids
Restaurants frequently place scalding liquids, such as hot pots of coffee or boiling water, directly on the table. Kids often reach for these items or knock them over, scalding themselves. One 2-month-old baby managed to pull on the table cloth, dumping a pot of scalding water in her lap. Another common injury occurs when kids grab mommy’s coffee cup (which is often sitting right next to theirs) and take a gulp, sending scalding liquid down their throat. So always watch how hot liquids are placed on the table.
- Be careful with skillet dishes
Don’t assume that kids equate the sizzling items on top of the skillet with a hot plate; the heavy black metal skillet may not look hot to kids at all. If you order one, talk with kids ahead of time to make sure they keep faces and fingers away.
- Children burned by hot plates
The same can go for regular plates. Many Mexican restaurants, for example, cook the dishes on the plate, and so the plates themselves can be very hot. Get children into the habit of testing their plate by quickly touching it with the tip of a finger before they grab ahold of it.
- Alcohol in a child’s juice cup
In 2011, managers at a Michigan Applebee’s restaurant were forced to apologize after serving a toddler tequila instead of apple juice. The boy’s mother, Taylor Dill-Reese, says she knew something was wrong when her 15-month-old started saying ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’ to the walls. He was later found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, which would have made him legally drunk.
Surprisingly, such mistakes are more common than you might think. So to be on the safe side, give your toddler’s juice cup a sniff to make sure it really is apple juice inside.
- Watch the parking lot
One of the most common places for kids to be hit by cars is in the parking lots of restaurants. Families are often forced to wait, and parents can be distracted by company or adult conversation. So bored kids proceed to invent their own fun. Keep the kids closely monitored while waiting outside, and make sure they play in an area away from cars.
- Keep kids occupied
Bored children make for rambunctious children, and rambunctious children tend to get themselves into dangerous situations. So whenever you go to a restaurant, bring an activity for the kids in case you have to wait.