The holiday months bring their own dangers for children. So don't spend the long summer nights in accident and emergency, advises Louise Holden.

Summer brings us out of our houses, into the gardens, the streets and off to new places. It's a great time to be a kid; out on the road until 10 at night, swimming in the ocean, bouncy castles, and hours in the garden just messing about. For parents, it's time for a safety audit. We learn (often painfully) how our homes need to be childproofed - accidents that take place in the garden or beyond are harder to anticipate.

Dr Roisin Healy, director of the Department of Emergency Paediatrics at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin in Dublin has noted that the summer months mark the beginning of a new crop of accidents involving lawnmowers, bouncy castles, weedkiller, bicycles and falls from swings and slides.

"It's hard to protect children in the summer months because we are out of our own environments and it's more difficult to anticipate risk," says Dr Healy. "We would never leave a kettle lead dangling over the counter top at home, but in a holiday home we may not notice that things are laid out differently."

Families in holiday accommodation or staying with friends should take a mental note of the new environment on arrival - are the sockets exposed, are electrical wires overhanging, is there any unguarded water such as ponds or buckets that children might access? Can they get at potentially poisonous substances in the kitchen or bathroom?

But you don't have to travel far to find risks. The garden is a potentially dangerous place for young children. Many gardening tools and products are hazardous to children, such as weedkiller, plant feed, petrol and electrical equipment such as mowers and strimmers. Dr Healy advises removing small children from the garden when mowing the lawn as several children have already presented with serious injuries from lawnmowers.

The single biggest cause of injury in young children arises from falls. Falls from swings, slides, walls, bikes, trees - all those things you can't possibly keep them away from. A number of Holy Communion revellers have shown up with bouncy castle injuries in recent weeks, says Dr Healy. The best defence is supervision, she says. Children will engage in high-risk behaviour if they know that no adult is watching. Absorbent surface material in playgrounds and appropriate height of play equipment for various ages provides an improvement in serious fall injuries.

Dr Healy also strongly advises that children wear safety gear where appropriate. If you can convince cycling and skateboarding kids to wear protective clothing, it could save them a broken limb, head injury or worse. Correctly fitted, bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head and brain injury by up to 88 per cent.

"Research has shown that children cycling in traffic do not respond to appropriately to dangerous situations until they are about 13 years of age," says Dr Healy. "They really should not be cycling alone in urban traffic before that age."

The LUAS could be the surprise hazard of summer 2004, Healy warns. Trams have slower stopping times than cars and a driver who encounters a child on the track may not have time to stop. If you have a LUAS line near your home it might be worth taking your children there for a recap of the Green Cross Code.

Children with burns are a common sight in A&E at this time of year. It is estimated that between 2001 and 2002 as many as 250 children under the age of 14 were admitted to hospital with serious burns as a result of accidents caused by fire, flames, and scalds from hot water, hot oil and fat. Many of these injuries resulted from playing with matches, lighters and flammable liquids, especially petrol. Barbecues and lawnmowers are common culprits here.

According to Glynis Peel, clinical nurse manager at St Ann's Burns Unit at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, parents need to check the home and garden regularly for burns hazards.

"Check your home. Is it safe? Be vigilant and check that all sockets are covered and flexes well hidden. Make sure wires on plugs are not loose and a danger to curious children. Don't leave matches lying around and make sure petrol for the lawn mower is stored where children cannot reach it."

As US paediatrician Dr Susan Baker recently wrote, injury is the last major plague of the young. Of course you cannot guard against every eventuality and you shouldn't spend your summer in fear of disaster. The best you can do, says Dr Healy, is to make a habit of reviewing your environment for safety, be it the home, the garden or the hotel room.