Pets are found in millions of American homes. If you don't already own a pet, at some point your child may ask for one. If you already own a pet, your child may want another one. So how do you decide?

Each year, about 200,000 children get hurt on playground equipment with injuries serious enough to need treatment in the emergency department. About 15 children die each year from playground injuries. While many of these injuries happen on home equipment, most occur at school and public playgrounds.

A swimming pool can be very dangerous for children. If possible, do not put a swimming pool in your yard until your children are older than 5 years. Help protect your children from drowning by doing the following:

Many parents have questions about their children's prescription medicines. Labels can be hard to read and understand. But it's important to give medicines the right way for your child's health and safety.

Children can get very sick if they come in contact with medicines, household products, pesticides, chemicals, or cosmetics. This can happen at any age and can cause serious reactions. However, most children who come in contact with these things are not permanently hurt if they are treated right away.

Young children may put anything in their mouths. This is part of learning. Many household products can be poisonous if swallowed, if in contact with the skin or eyes, or if inhaled.

Tips and ideas for fire protection.

TV violence needs to be taken seriously. TV violence can, and does, lead to real-life violence. You can reduce your child's exposure to TV violence.

Raw milk is milk that comes straight from a cow, sheep, or goat. Raw milk is not pasteurized (heated to kill germs) or homogenized (processed to keep the cream from separating from the milk).

When a child receives his or her first tricycle or bicycle, a lifelong pattern of vehicle operation is begun. A bike is not just a toy, but a vehicle that is a speedy means of transportation, subject to the same laws as motor vehicles.

Many infants die during sleep from unsafe sleep environments. Some of these deaths are from entrapment, suffocation, and strangulation. Some infants die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). However, there are ways for parents to keep their sleeping baby safe.

Because of illness or injury, some children need to receive transfusions of blood and blood products. This procedure may be frightening for parents and their children. Many parents are also concerned about the safety of transfusions. While blood supply in the United States is considered very safe, parents

Many people think that the only people harmed by tobacco use are smokers who have smoked for a long time. The fact is that tobacco use can be harmful to everyone. This includes unborn babies and people who don’t smoke.

Did you know that about 80% of teens in the United States don't smoke? They've made a healthy choice.

Children are exposed to sexual messages every day—on TV, on the Internet, in movies, in magazines, and in music. Sex in the media is so common that you might think that teens today already know all they need to about sex. They may even claim to know it all, so sex is something you just don't talk about.

Some parents may not be comfortable talking with their children about sex and sexuality. However, if children aren’t getting the facts about sex and sexuality from their parents, they could be getting incorrect information from their friends or the media. Here is information from the American Academy