5 safety tips I learned from my village

Most of the safety lessons I carry around instinctively, I learned the hard easy way by watching friends make the mistakes. Thanks to my village, I know that breastfeeding is not sufficient birth control and that I should never fly in flip flops. Here are five family-safety tips from my peeps:

1. Don’t put your car seats on high surfaces. Car seats tend to fall off tables and couches. It happened to my friend Joanne. Her baby flipped from the coffee table to the floor in seconds. Ouch.
2. Create your own family disaster plan. Because one time, Wendy told me that she watched the Oakland Hills burn from her college dorm room. Now that you’re someone’s mom, you gotta be prepared! I hadn’t updated mine since 2009 but I did it this morning.
3. Teach toddlers to cross the street silently. VDog told us this and she knows from being a nanny. She’s hella smart.
4. Baby-proof a hotel room (or in-law’s house) with duct tape. Carry along a little kit to keep your kids safer on the go. Debbie takes her three young children everywhere and knows how to tie it back and strap it down.
5. Role play to teach little ones about fire safety. Rookie Mom Whitney, queen of the costume box, knows how to get the kiddos to stop, drop, and roll. Do you?

What lessons have you learned the easy way (by watching your friends make mistakes)?