Halloween Safety Tips for Rural Moms

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Erie Insurance.

Do you have a safety routine for your Halloween?  Today, I’m sharing tips from Erie Insurance along with some of my best Halloween Safety Tips for rural moms to ensure you have an awesome Halloween experience!

Halloween can be a fun, yet nerve-wracking holiday for parents.  Children running around en masse, dressed in costumes and masks, hoping to fill their bags with treats is a joy to watch.  It’s also a joy to make sure you prepare your home for trick-or-treaters to help have peace-of-mind so you can thoroughly enjoy the event.

When we were kids, Halloween was a much safer experience. We still had to be careful to be treated and not tricked, but things weren’t quite as scary as they are now, even in small towns and rural areas.  Though we may have to take more safety measures than we used to, Halloween can still be lots of fun, just follow some simple Halloween Safety Tips to help keep your kids safe.

Halloween Home Safety Tips for Rural Moms

Clear a path.  Prior to Halloween, take time to check your walkways for potential hazards like errant stones, gardening equipment and toys.  Check your yard, too, for things like fallen branches and large stones.  Most children will stay on your path to your front doorway, but some will stray.

Speaking of doorways, be sure to inspect your railings and make sure they are secure.  If you need minor repairs, now is a great time to fix it!  Also, avoid having any potentially hazardous decor near your doorways or path to your home, like pumpkins lit with candles.  Use battery powered candle lights instead or instead of carving the pumpkins, use bright paints to create fun designs.

Light the way by making sure your exterior lights are functional, including flood lights to help create a safe path.  Also keep an interior light (or two) on.  If you are away from your home during trick-or-treat time, this will discourage any mischief makers or potential thieves from visiting your home.  Also lock all your doors, including car doors, that you are not using.

Check to make sure your farm animals and pets are also secured during the trick-or-treat time.  Constantly opening your front door can make it easy for your dog or cat to escape, you may want to keep them in a secured room or area of the house that night.  Even the friendliest pets can get nervous or scared around too many strangers, too, so it’s better for them to sit this activity out, too.

If you are unable to clear a path to your front door or there are potential hazards you aren’t able to clear out, consider having alternative trick-or-treating candy stations.  Set up a table at the end of your driveway to pass out candy or pair up with a neighbor to hand out candy at their home.

Even whey you take every precaution, sometimes something may happen or someone may get injured on property during Halloween time.  It’s very important to make sure you are fully covered with the right homeowners insurance policy, such as one from Erie.  Do take the time to check and/or update your policy prior to Halloween.

Halloween Trick-or-Treating and Costume Safety Tips for Rural Moms

If you are taking your little ones outside your home for Halloween, only go to houses you trust. The best rule is that if you don’t know the person that lives there, or have friends or family in the neighborhood who know the area, you probably shouldn’t be knocking on their door. We all know kids love to fill their Halloween buckets and this may limit that.  You can certainly supplement your trick-or-treat experience by visiting neighborhood businesses or by having fun festivities and trick-or-treat stations around your own home.

Older kids don’t want to trick-or-treat with their parents, but it’s a good idea to never let your kids go trick-or-treating alone, no matter their ages. Even for kids that know the neighborhood like the back of their hand, the buddy system is super important. The more buddies, the better!

Be seen! It’s really important that kids are noticeable on Halloween. So many costumes are dark colored, making it hard for cars to see kids running into the street, especially on rural roads where there are often no street lamps to help provide light.  Reflective clothing is a must! Another option is light-up clothing with built in fiber optic lights.

While we’re talking about lights, a flashlight is a must if you plan on being out after dark. You can use a regular flashlight or go with something Halloween-themed, just make sure they have fresh batteries in them to illuminate the way throughout the entire night.

Speaking of parties, it’s not unusual for families to skip the trick-or-treating altogether. Some neighborhoods are even banning it for the safety of the kids. In place of traditional trick-or-treating, many schools, churches, and community organizations will have Halloween parties or trunk-or-treats. These options are also great for younger children – an after school event still allows them to have fun but get to bed at a decent hour!

Consider the weather. This isn’t so much a safety tip as it is a reminder. If you live in a place that can get chilly at the end of October, it’s good to choose Halloween costumes that have layering capabilities. In addition, you might want to buy a costume a size larger than your child wears so that it can be layered on top of warmer clothing. You can’t really show off an awesome Halloween costume if you have to wear a coat over it!

Other things to consider when choosing a Halloween costume for your child are:

• Trip-resistant hems. If the hem is too long, you may want to shorten it and ensure they have room to move freely without tripping.
• Comfortable shoes.  Blisters are no fun to have any time of year and too tight or restrictive shoes can cause your child to injure themselves.
• Flame-resistant materials.  Check the labels of your costumes, wigs and accessories to ensure they are made of flame-resistant materials.
• Nonrestrictive vision.  With Halloween accessories, like glasses or masks, make sure that your child can still clearly see the path that they are on.  It’s better to remove things like sunglasses when it’s dark or chose another costume if the mask obstructs vision to avoid accidents.

You’ll also want to consider securing your name and phone number somewhere on your child’s costume, like taping it to bracelet or sewing into the hem.  No one every wants to thing about their child getting lost, but during the flurry of Halloween trick-or-treating, you may get separated from them.  It’s important to have your child memorize your phone number and address, but if the child is scared, they may not be able to recite it and having it handy on their costume can help reunite you quickly!

Even though we have to be a little bit more diligent about Halloween safety then we used to, it’s still a favorite holiday for so many families. Do you have any tips to share?