Cooler weather and shorter days mean that the children will be indoors a lot more for the next six months, increasing the potential for serious injuries around the house.

Although this should surprise no one, the truth is that few parents ever think about household safety until a child is injured.

For example, where are you storing the cleaning products? If you have a toddler, under the kitchen sink is the wrong answer. In 1996, more than 1.1 million children under age 5 were unintentionally poisoned. Eighty died.

Out of reach is the right answer. Keep the number of the poison control center near the phone. And always keep a bottle of ipecac syrup, which induces vomiting, in the medicine cabinet.

The medicine cabinet, if also out of reach of little hands, is the right place for keeping medicine.

When my brother-in-law Edward was 11, he stood on a hamper, leaned out the bathroom window, lost his footing, and fell two stories onto the basement hatchway.

Edward, a star athlete who at 44 still knows how to fall, was uninjured. However, each year, more than 120 children, half of them under 4, die in that way.

About 2.5 million children under 14 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to falls. Of these, 14,700 had fallen out of windows.

The cause? Curiosity. In Edward's case, it was dark, and he had just stepped out of the shower when he thought he heard a noise in the backyard. Toddlers are even more inquisitive for less reason.

Windows that are not emergency exits should have window guards, which prevent the lower sash from being raised more than a few inches to let air inside. The guards, available at hardware stores, cost just a few dollars and are easy to install.

If you are a renter with children under 10, ask your landlord to install the window guards.

Remember Cooties, the 1960s-era game that tested the manual dexterity of 7- to 10-year-olds?

When my middle sister was 3, she stuck a loose piece up her nose and ended up in the emergency room, where it was removed with more than a little discomfort for both doctor and child.

Each year, 121,000 children, mostly boys, are treated in emergency rooms for toy-related injuries. Most injuries result when the tykes fall off tricycles and wagons, but some occur when toys are used as projectiles. Children under 3 put everything in their mouths. They can choke to death.

Federal law requires toys to be labeled for age appropriateness. Check when you buy a toy. Even though we all hope little Dexter will be a doctor, that junior doctor's set contains a fake thermometer that a 2-year-old can stick in his eye or down his throat.

After watching me burn my finger on a charcoal grill, my Aunt Carmella told my mother that I probably would never do it again.

She was wrong. I burn my finger on the kitchen stove once a month, mostly because I'm not paying attention.

However, the burn on my 8-year-old finger was much more severe than any I suffer today. Children have thinner skin that burns more deeply and quickly than adults'; touching the stove can have more serious and long-lasting consequences for them.

These thermal-burn injuries, which account for 75,000 emergency-room cases annually, are caused by hair curlers and curling irons, room heaters, ovens and ranges, irons and fireworks.

Scald burns are caused by hot tap water and hot food and liquid spills in the kitchen. Keep children out of the kitchen while preparing food. To prevent scalding, keep the temperature of the water heater at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or below, or install an anti-scald device on faucets.

Preventing thermal-burn injuries is obvious. But for some reason, fireworks bring out the child in too many adults for everyone's good.

Except me. I still have a scar from a misfiring salute 35 Fourth of Julys ago.

October is Fire Prevention Month, so chosen to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871.

Residential fires kill 800 children a year and injure 47,000. Most of those children killed are under 4. Careless smoking and children playing with lighters and matches are the primary causes.

Since 1994, federal law has made disposable and novelty lighters child-resistant, reducing the incidence of child-caused fires. Still, it's smart to keep matches, gasoline, lighters and other flammable materials out of reach of children.

Laws in many states require automatic sprinkler systems in new residential construction.

Smoke detectors should be installed in every bedroom and on each level of every house, including the basement. Detectors should be tested every month and the batteries should be replaced every year.