Some Tips to Handle Holiday Stress and Keep Your Family Safe 

This season, the ideal present to open early is the calm and quiet of inner peace—a gift you can give yourself. Inner peace, the ability to remain calm and peaceful in stressful situations, comes from caring for your whole self: mind, body, and spirit. 

And when you’re able to care for yourself, you’ll be in a much better place to care for your loved ones. 

Find your inner calm with these helpful tips. Then, read on to learn how to keep your family safe during this most wonderful, but hectic, time of the year. 

• Get enough sleep: 7-8 hours per night
• Plan and stick to a budget
• Have realistic expectations
• Simplify gift giving
• Consume less alcohol and sugar
• Start or keep exercising
• Avoid “toxic” people and relatives
• Try meditation
• Do not over-commit yourself
• Be careful not to indulge too much in holiday meals. It’s fine to give yourself a break and eat some amazing food—but mix in healthy greens and think about smaller portions. Also, take a walk or bike ride after dinner – it’s great for improving your health, clearing your head, and spending additional time with family.

A happy home is a safe home

While you’re wrapping gifts, trimming the tree, baking cookies, or lighting candles, don’t forget an important holiday task: ensuring your family’s safety.  

It’s easy to overlook safety precautions, says Lindsay Schwandner, M.D., a primary care pediatrician at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. During the holidays, the usual routines are disrupted, and with so many visitors and festivities, children may not receive the same level of supervision.”

Dr. Schwander offers these top safety tips to protect your kids and you:

• When decorating the tree, skip the metal hooks—they're dangerous for little ones. Use ribbon and unbreakable ornaments instead.
• Keep in mind that holly, mistletoe, and poinsettias can be poisonous. Keep plants where toddlers can't reach them.
• String lights along the higher branches of your holiday tree. Small fingers can be burned by the bulbs, and loose parts could cause choking.
• Make sure the decorative lights are in good condition, and replace any broken or missing bulbs or frayed wires.
• When lighting up the outdoors, make sure to use extension cords designed for outdoor use.

Fire awareness

• To ensure safety and reduce allergies, artificial trees must be certified fire-retardant and hypoallergenic by an accredited lab.
• Avoid using candles to decorate any kind of tree, whether artificial or real.
• To avoid a fire hazard, remember to water your live tree every other day so it doesn't dry out.
• Turn off tree lights before leaving your home or going to bed.
• Consider using electric and battery-operated candles.

Safe gift-giving tips

• Make sure the gift is right for the recipient's age by checking the safety label.
• Keep small parts away from babies, toddlers, and any children who put things in their mouths.
• Age-appropriate gifts are important, even for exceptionally advanced children.
• Keep all packaging materials when opening gifts to prevent choking hazards.
• Don't burn colored wrapping paper in your fireplace. Certain ink pigments contain metals that can release toxic fumes.

Holiday travels? Protect your home while you’re away

What’s worse than crowded airports, long lines, rude passengers, the middle seat, and delayed flights? Finding out that thieves have gone Grinch on your home while you were away. Here’s how to make your residence safe during your travels:

We love our social media - so do thieves. Avoid broadcasting your travel plans. 

For the holidays, AAA predicts that 33% of Americans will be hitting the road. When you plan your trip, avoid sharing your vacation details online. Posting that adorable family selfie at the Grand Canyon might unintentionally invite burglars to your house. In addition, AAA suggests that you should not geotagg your hotel photos. Feel free to take all the selfies and pictures you want but save the social media posts about your trip until you're home on the couch.

Tell thy neighbor

If you plan to be out of town during the holidays, inform a trusted person, preferably a neighbor, to watch your property for anything suspicious. Also, have a neighbor or friend pick up your mail and any packages or papers delivered to your porch. Porch pirates are in the nightly news far too frequently. To avoid delivery issues, use a security camera or give delivery instructions for a safe drop-off.

Nowadays with home automation devices, you can add motion sensor lights to your property and program electronics like TVs and electrical lamps to really make your home look inhabitable.

Don’t show off the most beautiful Christmas tree in the world. Or the gifts under it

Like curious children, potential burglars are drawn to wrapped presents. For that reason, it’s best to store gifts and packages out of sight from windows and other visible locations. Relocating your Christmas tree from the picture window may be necessary. Don’t advertise!

Safety doesn’t end with the holiday

Another holiday is over, congratulations! Don't reach for that egg nogg just yet—ensure those big empty gift boxes (HDTVs, Xboxes, monitors, etc.) are disposed of correctly, not left on the street. Your expensive new gifts will be obvious to everyone, including those with harmful intentions. Flatten and fold the boxes to make them smaller for recycling.

Lee Health is here for you

Holiday safety is important, but prioritizing safety all year is essential for you, your family, and our community. Lee Health offers resources and information to help keep all of us safe.

• At Golisano Children’s Hospital, Injury Prevention Specialists conduct year-round injury prevention education through community classes, personal consultations, family programs, and bedside patient teaching.
• The Lee Health Trauma Center offers a variety of informative programs about preventing youth injuries and violence, impaired driving, sports injuries and injuries common to seniors.