Children With Scarfs

[kristina]

Hi

Up until now we have always let children wear scarfs when outside we just tuck them inside their jacket/coat! Had a parent come in today who said at her childs other nursery they are not aloud to bring in scarfs due to health & safety?!!

What does everyone else do?! I know I had my scarf and hat on today!!

 

Kris

[louby loo]

We use our common sense!! Yes we let them wear them especially in this kind of weather, we risk assess and we are always with the children. Unfortunately we do not have free-flow outdoors which means we are always out with them - no 'hidden areas' as such (if you get my meaning) so the risk is very low.

I know in our area - Essex - we had that very unfortunate incident. (very local to us).which does make you think twice about the risks of strangulation, but we also need to keep the children warm and trust out own judgements.

xx

[Inge]

I would let them wear scarves... children can be taught how to behave while wearing them, and in this cold it is better the children keep warm outside.

 

I assume the risk is children pulling them around their necks. . I assume they also don't have anything like it in dressing up, scarves, necklaces, cloth that can be used in same way etc.

 

or getting caught on climbing frame with a scarf , which with supervision can be addressed.

 

Inge

[HoneyPancakes]

I,ve stopped scarves this year after my then four year old was almost strangled last year. Last year there was a bit of a 'craze' for the 'scarf game', which came over from France. All came in Some of my children have very nice short mufflers which serve the purpose without the risk.

 

Honey

[Greenfinch]

We try to encourage no scarves during most of the winter as we have often had children arriving at nursery with the scarf only draped around their necks like a fashion accessory as part of the matching set etc.

I would use common sense though and in severe cold weather, we too would ensure that the children are wrapped up warm and if parents want a scarf that's fine.

[Guest]

I know what everyone is saying but this just reminds me of a very interesting statistic:

 

'You are more likely to be killed by one of your own shoes than you are to win the jackpot on the national lottery.'

 

Pretty much everything has the potential to be dangerous, we do need to be careful that we teach children to understand risk and staff to acknowledge the value of supervision with the youngest children.

[HappyMaz]

'You are more likely to be killed by one of your own shoes than you are to win the jackpot on the national lottery.'

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'killer heels'.

 

Some of our children wear scarves and showing them how to put them on properly so they'll be warm and safe is all part of getting togged up to go outside.

[hali]

children need scarves in this bitter weather as others have said showing them how to wear them and correctly tucked well in to coats should not cause issues.

[Beau]

To be honest I would be questioning the setting on its supervision if they think that scarves pose such a risk to small children. Obviously there is a hazard but with good measures in place the actual risk of a serious injury would be minimal.

[kristina]

Please excuse my spelling of the plural of scarf!! Didn't think it looked right but hey ho!

[narnia]

when we help children with scarves, we tuck the ends under their armpits, inside the coat, 'to help keep you extra snuggly warm'...............my mum used to do it to us and it stops the losse ends from dangling around outside the coat, and yes, it does keep them extra snuggly warm!

[Guest Spiral]

Ah well,

there's something else to add to our risk assessment! I'd rather we were safe and warm.

 

Can't win can you? I remember not so long ago (this year) watching a dvd from our County's advisory lot about learning and different themes abroad. It had children playing with scissors (not little ones), drawing pins, paperclips, paper cutters etc, etc.

 

Not a problem if totally supervised, but if something goes wrong it is the practitioner that feels the brunt of it, the manager who gets challenged and we're making the nanny state even more precious and ensuring that blame is the name of our culture.

 

It's a difficult one, but I'm up for risk assessing and allowing children some freedom (supervised).

 

As long as you can see the children and your ratio's are good, I would consider having scarves. If we do ban them, will we ban braces, belts, hats with strings to tie them up etc.

 

Worth thinking about.

 

Spiral.

[Guest Spiral]

when we help children with scarves, we tuck the ends under their armpits, inside the coat, 'to help keep you extra snuggly warm'...............my mum used to do it to us and it stops the losse ends from dangling around outside the coat, and yes, it does keep them extra snuggly warm!

 

 

Love that Narnia, great idea that we'll probably adopt too! Thanks,

Spiral.

[Guest]

We don't allow scarves when 'wheelies' are out after close shave (many years ago) with one getting wrapped around a tricycle as the child peddled. If bikes and prams are not out we let the children wear them. We also had a more recent incident with ribbons tied on the fence on a windy day. The child was excited dancing in and out then paniced and manage to wrap himself around his neck on relatively short length of ribbon

[Guest]

But a. you were there to supervise and help him out of that situation and b. he has learned a very important lesson about being careful and how easy it is to get yourself in danger.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Guest

[Guest Spiral]

But a. you were there to supervise and help him out of that situation and b. he has learned a very important lesson about being careful and how easy it is to get yourself in danger.

 

 

That is a huge concern - ROSPA launched a thing last year stating that many children were having accidents abroad and in parks where they were not used to concrete - because over here just about every child is used to cushioned surfaces.

 

It is difficult to find the balance, but necessary to learn from experience.

 

Spiral.

[Guest]

But a. you were there to supervise and help him out of that situation and b. he has learned a very important lesson about being careful and how easy it is to get yourself in danger

 

Who said I was supervising when the incidents happened? They are setting policies following reviews after incidents that I was reporting in response to the thread title.

[Guest]

Sorry, Biccy, the way you described him and ribbons really sounded like you were there - it sounded so vivid!

 

We must not wrap our children in cotton wool, it is sooo unhealthy. I'm not saying that anyone here is suggesting that we should though.

 

Life is full of risk, we must expose children to it in a carefully supervised way or they will never learn to assess and deal with it themselves.