Warning!!! Window Blinds Danger

Most of us remember a few years ago when the major window blinds manufacturers altered their designs because of the risk of children choking in the cords. Most changed the strings to two side by side rather than a connected loop. We went right out and switched all of our blinds to the new type and felt much safer. But the other night we had a wake up call. Our kids had gone to bed awhile earlier, but the little ones were still running around upstairs as they usually do. We suddenly heard the three year old screech and a bit of a ruckus. My husband went up to investigate only to find out that our son had gotten the two cords tangled together and then had somehow gotten them stuck around his neck. He panicked and started pulling and choking and got a pretty decent red scrape before our nine year old, who sleeps in the room right next to him, had freed him. It all happened very fast, and everything in this case turned out fine. But I shudder to think about the "what if's." What if I had not been home and one of the older kids had been babysitting and not paying close attention? What if my older son had not been only steps away at the time? What if my little guy had not been able to make any sound so no one had realized what was happening? Soooo scary. So I wanted to post this alert as a reminder to be vigilant. The new blinds design is indeed safer - UNLESS the kids have been playing with the cords and gotten them tangled. In that case they are as dangerous as the old ones had been. So as you do your weekly cleaning just take the time to make note of the cords and be sure they are tangle free. It only takes a minute to help make sure your kids are safer.