Any window treatments that have cords, cables, pulls or strings should be evaluated from a child safety perspective. Even though product designs have improved in recent years, roughly twelve children per year are strangled in the U.S. with a surprisingly high average age of four years old.
Incident scenarios typically involve a child becoming entangled in the cords and then falling or having the blinds fall thereby tightening the cord and restricting the child’s breathing. A child can become entangled in pull cords from a roman shade, corded roll-up, cellular shade, mini-blind, Venetian blind or vertical blind. Whether or not the cord is looped or joined, a child may still become entangled. Children have even strangled in the inner strings of roman shades and mini-blinds.
So, with all of these scary scenarios in mind, what is a parent to do? Well, the safest window treatment is one that is securely installed without any exposed cords or strings. For those of us who already have "corded" window treatments, it is critically important that we keep the cords away from our children and, visa versa, our children away from the cords.
Shortening and separating the cords or using breakaway tassels reduces the likelihood of entanglement but is not enough. Cords need to be kept up and out of reach especially when the blinds are open making the cords longer.
Several cord wind-up products are available which draw the cords into a plastic compartment making them unavailable to a child. The best designs of these are the Secur by All-Teck or the Blindwinder by KidCo.
Our favorite solution, however, is an old fashioned one. A pair of cord cleats mounted adjacent to the window enable you to quickly wrap up dangling cords in a few seconds. We have found this to be the solution that parents are most likely to actually use consistently.
Whichever "solution" you select, it will only be effective if you use it each and every time. And keep in mind that a toddler will soon be capable of climbing and perhaps still becoming entangled. Do what you can to lower the risk associated with your existing window treatments, consider replacement and remain vigilant.