When you look out a window, you can see the sun shining, rain pouring down, snow falling gently, autumn leaves floating, emergency vehicles flashing, police cars zooming, birds soaring, cars racing, airplanes flying, flowers growing, and children playing--the possibilities seem endless!

Windows play an important role in the young child’s day. Young children learn much about their world through observation, and windows provide an opportunity. Natural light shining through windows can brighten everyone’s day. Windows may provide ventilation for a healthy environment. It also is common for windows to serve as a fire escape route.

Unfortunately, windows can also pose risks--more than 4,000 children are injured by falls from windows each year. A fall from even a first-floor window can kill a child or cause serious injury. The wonders of windows can turn into nightmares unless safety precautions are followed.

Emergency situations can arise anywhere, anytime. In preparation, it is important that there be two clearly identified ways of escaping from each room. These escape routes may include windows. Providers should consult with their local fire departments for advice about the feasibility of using windows as escape routes. If the windows can provide an escape route, it is then essential to ensure that the windows can be easily opened in an emergency.

• Check windows regularly to ensure that they are not painted or nailed shut.
• Security bars, though intended to keep you safe from outside threats, can become a trap in an emergency. Window guards, security bars, and grilles or grates on windows should have quick release mechanisms and the mechanisms should be checked regularly to be sure they work properly.
• Ask local fire fighters to practice fire drills with children, including how to safely go out the windows. Many fire departments or community safety groups have model “Fire Safety Smoke Houses” where children can experience a fire emergency and use a variety of different kinds of escape routes, including windows.

Remember, it is important for children to know how to escape through windows in an emergency with the help of caregivers. They should be taught to go out, but not unattended, and never in non-emergency situations. Windows should have secure latches (not locks) that can be easily and quickly opened by all adult caregivers.

Looking and listening through an open window can provide a unique learning opportunity. But as with any activity, safety should be a primary concern. If windows are to be opened, they should have screens to keep out insects. However, screens are not effective barriers to prevent children from falling out. If possible, only windows that are above children’s reach should be left open. For windows at the child’s level, precautions are in order.

• Use “window guards” that only allow windows to open to a specified point. Make sure guards are in compliance with all fire and building code requirements, and that all adults know how to release the window guards for escape in case of fire.
• Position a barrier in front of low windows. Plastic child safety fencing can be attached to the wall on either side of the window for a barrier through which children can still see, but be protected. Furniture is not recommended as a barrier since children may climb on the furniture, resulting in falls and injury.
• Consider planting soft shrubs or dense ground cover under windows. If a fall does occur in spite of the other precautions, the softer landing surface may help avert serious injury or death.

It may be hard to tell if a clean glass door or large window is open or closed. Just running into hard glass can cause minor injuries; breaking through glass can cause much more severe and life-threatening wounds. Glass doors can be made more visible by taping children’s art work to them. Avoid using decorations, such as vinyl decals, that might be put into mouths and cause choking hazards.

When regular glass breaks, it can shatter into hundreds of sharp fragments that can propel through the air, causing injury. An additional danger, especially if the breakage is caused by some type of explosion or blast, is tiny fragments of glass in the air, which can be inhaled and cause serious injury or death. Approved safety glass or tempered glass will break, but not shatter; it is required for doors and recommended for windows, especially those within children’s reach.

Installing safety or tempered glass provides additional safety for children. However, if glass replacement is not feasible, an economical option is to have security film installed. Security films protect against breakage and shattering glass from blasts, flying objects, or vandalism. Additional benefits of security film are that it reduces sun glare (blocking up to 99 percent of dangerous UV rays that can cause skin cancer), provides privacy, and improves energy efficiency.

Children sometimes chew on window sills or pick at flaking paint and eat the chips. If a window sill was painted before 1977, the paint may contain lead and be toxic. Remove any flaking paint, and be sure windows and sills are properly painted.

If window fans are used, they must have safety screens to protect small fingers. Window fans and air conditioning units must be securely bolted in place. Avoid dangling or loose electrical cords on fans and air conditioning units.

Another danger is strangulation when infants and young children become tangled in window covering cords--not only the pull cords, but also the inner cords (the ones that go through the slats). Entrapments may occur when a child pulls on an inner cord and it forms a loop that can hang a child. The risk is greatest when children’s cribs or playpens are placed next to windows. Pull cords should be cut so there is no loop and then fastened high above children’s reach. Continuous-loop cords can be anchored to the floor or wall.

Many newer window treatments incorporate safety improvements, and caregivers should check out the new features or consider installing cordless window coverings. The Window Covering Safety Council offers consumers free retrofit devices for repairing cord hazards on older windows.

In proper working order with lead-free paint, windows can be safe diversions as well as escape routes. Use of safety glass and updated window treatments, combined with correct use of screens, adds to the safety of windows. To prevent falls and strangulation, cribs and other furniture should be placed away from windows. Planning and ongoing supervision of children should help prevent window-related accidents and make the windows safe for watching the world go by.

Connie Jo Smith, Early Childhood Education Specialist, Training & Technical Assistance Services, Western Kentucky University
and Charlotte M. Hendricks, Editor, Healthy Childcare

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207-0001; 800-638-2772; www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/cords.html

Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC), 355 Lexington Ave., Ste. 1700, New York, NY 10017; 800-506-4636; www.windowcoverings.org. This organization offers free cord repair kits.

Arizona Child Care Resource & Referral; arizonachildcare.org/childproof/windowsfty.html

International Window Film Association, www.iwfa.com