Go Cordless for National Window Covering Safety Month

This post was sponsored by the Window Covering Safety Council as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Seeing as how this is the last day of October, which is strewn with various awareness campaigns, I thought I’d share about an awareness campaign that has recently become very close to my heart.

Last month, I shared the story of my 4 year old son’s encounter with corded blinds on my blog. As a parent, I was aware of the dangers of corded blinds, so I thought I had remedied the issue by wrapping the cords around brackets roughly five feet off the ground, above the reach of my three kids.

But kids are resourceful, and my son found a chair to stand on top of to reach the wrapped cord as he was playing with kitchen utensils from a playset. Out of nowhere, we heard a bizarre scream and went running to the playroom to find the blind cord wrapped around my son’s neck. My husband relieved the pressure of the cord while I cut it off with scissors. Thankfully, my son was able to scream so that we knew something was wrong.

But other parents have reached out to tell me about their children who were not as fortunate. I cannot begin to describe what it feels like to hear these gut-wrenching stories and realize how close they hit home as the bile rises in my throat.

So even though it is Halloween and most thoughts are on cute costumes and trick or treating and piles of candy, today also marks the end of National Window Covering Safety Month. And while I’m dressing up my cute firefighter for a night of excitement and fun, my thoughts still linger back to that day in August when my heart stopped for just a few moments.

If you are a parent, caregiver or someone who often has young children in your home, the Window Covering Safety Council urges you to check your home for exposed or dangling cords because they pose a strangulation hazard. And as a mom who has been through an ordeal due to corded blinds, I cannot plead with you enough to take a second look at your window coverings, even if you think they are safe. Make sure you install only cordless window coverings or those with inaccessible cords if you have young children.

We have since removed all our corded blinds and even corded curtains that were seemingly out of my kids’ reach. And thanks to a very generous friend, our windows are now fitted with cordless blinds, cordless cellular shades or curtains. If you need help finding window coverings, cordless options can easily be identified by the Best for Kids™ certification label. Best for Kids products are currently available at major retails across the country.