Here’s a potentially sticky question for you:  If your child is going to be at a friend’s house, how do you check your friend’s house to be sure it’s safe?  Do you do a pre-visit inspection?  Do you have a frank conversation with your friend?

The not-so-sticky situation is when your child is in the care of someone else in their home.  Then, there’s no reason NOT to ask quesitons about where in the home your child will be allowed and then ask to be able to check the stability of heavy furniture and, for example, of flat screen TVs.

If your child has been injured while in the care of someone else by tipping furniture, contact a child injury lawyer who can answer your questions about holding the person responsible for the injury.  Remember:  In Virginia, a child under the age of 7 is never at fault for their own injury.  Even if your young child had been told not to climb on the furniture and she does, and is injured, it’s not her fault.

If your child has been injured by tipping furniture, contact me at 703-260-6070, by sending me an email at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com, or through my firm’s website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com.  I will answer your questions for free.

Recently, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, released the results of a study on childhood injuries from furniture tip-over incidents.  The researchers used data from the Consumer Produce Safety Commission to analyze  injuries to children between 1990 and 2007.  Their report, published in Clinical Pediatrics, found that young children between 1 and 3 years old were the most vulnerable, that head and neck injuries were the most common, and that many of the injuries resulted from TVs falling on children.

•  Don’t put your TV on top of a dresser.  Children are clever.  They will use the drawers to climb up to get something off the dresser — or from on top of the TV.

• Pay attention to the security of the TV in every motel or hotel room you are in with your child.  And, complain if it is not securely fastened to either the wall or the furniture.

•  Check to make sure any daycare where you leave your child has its TV securely fastened.

Here are other important tips for keeping your child safe from falling TVs.

It’s never the young child’s fault if she is injured by a TV that has fallen on her.  Unfortunately, when a TV falls, a child may get skull fractures or other brain injuries, many of which are severe and permanent.

If your child was injured in Virginia at daycare or in a hotel room, special rules apply if you want to hold someone responsible for causing the injury.  You may want to consult a lawyer experienced in representing children for injuries to find out how to get your child repaid for her losses.  I have represented many children over the years and would be happy to answer your questions and give you information.  You can email me at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com or through our website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com.