KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - This Shopping Season, Shopping Cart Safety

This Shopping Season, Shopping Cart Safety

(WICHITA, Kan.)

As you head to stores this holiday season, be careful when shopping.

Not just of your purchases -- of shopping carts.

Safe Kids USA says shopping carts injure more than 20,000 kids (under the age of 5) every year, nationwide. 84% of children injured their head or face.

The big shopping season kicks off in a few short days.  So while you're wheeling that shopping cart through the stores, be careful.

The Fox family knows that all too well.  Zachariah looks like any other 12 year old,  except for that scar on his head.

"I remember bonking my head," the 6th grader said.  Photographs show what happened after the then four year old fell on his head.

Eight days of hospitalization, two pins in his head, and one blood clot the size of a golf ball.  

His mother remembers it vividly.  She had three of her children with her as she wheeled the shopping cart through a toy store.  Zachariah, her oldest, was running around and grabbing things off shelves.  In an effort to keep him out of trouble, she put him in the cart; another child in a car seat was already in the top seat.    

"He was sitting in the back of the shopping cart," said Toni Freund, "and I turned the shopping cart left, and he goes right, and he just falls out and hits his head."

Almost 84% of injuries involving kids and shopping carts involve head injuries.

The best way to prevent this from happening to your children is to keep them away from shopping carts.

"Kids move around really quick, and they're fast," said Ronda Lusk.  The nurse works with Safe Kids Kansas, and knows a lot about keeping kids healthy.    

"It's so simple, we don't think about it," she said.  "We put them in the cart, and a lot of times we forget.  And we think they're safe in there, but sometimes..." her voice dwindled away.

Sometimes, what happened to Zachariah can happen to someone else.  So when you're shopping, remember Toni Freund's advice:

"Me, I am a mother of four, I'm always in a hurry.  So, you know, the easiest thing for me was to put him in the back of the cart."  She looked down. "Unfortunately, me not spending the extra two minutes of not putting him in the seat.." she looked to her son's scar.  "That's what happened."

Safety Tips from Safe Kids USA:

When taking your children to the grocery store, take these steps to keep them safe:

• Put your child in a stroller, wagon, or frontpack instead of in a shopping cart.

• Ask your older child to walk and praise him or her for behaving and staying near you.

• Use the shopping carts that have a wheeled child carrier that is permanently attached and made part of the shopping cart. Some of these models look like cars or benches attached to the shopping cart.

• If you're placing your child in the shopping cart seat, always use a harness or safety belt to restrain your child. If the belt is missing or broken, select another cart and tell the store manager so a replacement can be in­stalled.

• Never leave your child alone or unattended in a shopping cart and stay close to the cart at all times.

• Do not let your child ride in the cart basket, under the basket, on the sides or on the front of the cart.

• Don't let an older child push the cart with another younger child in it.

• Never place an infant carrier on top of a shopping cart.