Summer Safety Guidelines for Families

Reduce risk and maximize outdoor summer fun with these summer safety tips.

Before you hit the beach, pool, or backyard, make sure you're aware of this sun safety advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hint: It involves sunscreen and lots of it.

Whether you have a pool or visit one, follow these pool safety rules every time. While swim lessons are important, they don't offer surefire protection against drowning.

As soon as she's tooling around on his first tricycle, your child should know and follow bicycle safety rules. That way, they'll be second nature once she graduates to riding a two-wheeler.

At your child's school playground, the local park, or your own backyard, follow these playground safety guidelines from the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) to lessen the risk of falls and other injuries.

Kids hate being bothered by bugs when they play outside, but the thought of smearing their delicate skin with harsh, chemical insect repellents makes some parents uneasy too. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommendations for the safest ways to keep bugs away.

Kids' bodies do not adapt to hot weather and high humidity as well as adults do. To prevent heat stress and dehydration in your child or teen, follow this advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and make sure your child's coaches and camp counselors are following it too.

While youth sports have undeniable benefits, they also have risks. Every year, kids suffer millions of sports-related injuries, from sprains to concussions to heat-related illnesses. To keep your child safe, know the dangers.

Kids under 8 years old need a little less fluid than adults, but they should drink healthy beverages with meals, plus sip water any time they are thirsty. If they are playing or exercising vigorously, or if it's very hot outside, they'll need more liquids to make up for what their bodies are losing to perspiration.