Each year, more than 10,000 people get hurt by holiday lights, decorations and Christmas trees.

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It’s enough to make you say “bah, humbug.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission tracks hospital emergency room visits due to holiday paraphernalia in order to help improve safety during this festive time. But how can you protect your family from the dangers of (gasp) a plastic fish singing “Jingle Bell Rock”?

Carol Ball, of Safe Kids Georgia, offers these tips to parents who want to safeguard children from preventable holiday injuries:

1. Only give your child age-appropriate toys. If you have more than one child, make sure to label and keep toys separate to avoid a mix-up. Little kids can get hurt by big kids’ toys.
2. Never allow infants and toddlers to use toys with small parts that could be choking hazards. If the part fits entirely inside a standard cardboard toilet paper tube, it is small enough to pose a serious choking risk to your child.
3. Make sure bikes, skates, skateboards or scooters have a safety helmet to go along with them.
4. Keep decorations and other items with sharp edges well out of reach.
5. Make sure your tree is fresh, green and watered frequently. Keep it away from heat sources, such as vents, candles or fireplaces. Only buy fire-resistant artificial trees.
6. Turn off Christmas lights when you go to bed and blow out candles when you leave the room.
7. Make sure all smoke alarms have batteries and test them to make sure they work. Have your family develop a home fire escape plan with two ways out of each room.
8. Keep poisonous, decorative plants, such as amaryllis, holly and mistletoe out of reach of children and pets.Keep the numbers of your local poison control center and emergency room handy.
9. Remove all wrapping paper from the tree and fireplace areas immediately after you open gifts.
10. Use common sense when you decorate. Indoor lights go inside. Outside lights go outside. Never use more than three standard-size lights per single extension cord.

Looking for more holiday tips for you and the kids? Read about healthy eating strategies and discover where you are on the single-parent stressometer.

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