Safety: How much is too much?

Photo by storyvillegirl on Flickr

I was recently looking through this list of 10 Surprising Safety Hazards on Parents.com & wondering: do we really need to be afraid of all these things? Some were really good tips, like keep your guests' purses & wallets out of baby's reach. We all know how much little kids like to rifle through a new bag & there are likely to be items inside that could pose a choking hazard or cause other injuries. The stats on pet-related injuries were striking as well: "About 100,000 children under age 10 are treated in hospital emergency rooms every year for dog-bite-related injuries, according to the CDCP. The majority of attacks happen in familiar places by a dog that belongs to the victim's family or friend."
However, the second item on the list was latex balloons. I'm not saying they're okay for babies to play with, but the stats quoted don't really make me thing it's a very likely accident: "Since 1973, more than 110 children have choked to death when chewing on or blowing up latex balloons." That works out to two or three kids a year, compared to cited number that up to 900 suffocate in soft bedding annually. On the other hand, the amount of exposure to balloons versus pets or bedding is vastly different.

There are so many sources of fear & guilt about parenting these days, often as a part of marketing a product to help you solve the 'problem' that you didn't know you had. I found it quite overwhelming initially & had to fight the paranoia that books, marketers & even other parents seem to want you to have. When it comes to safety, I'm not going to say I'm against doing any babyproofing, but how much is too much? I've seen ads for padded helmets for children learning to walk or crawl--isn't this too much? What does that do to a child if they're never allowed to take any risks? Do they learn if they're not allowed to make mistakes that result in the occasional bump or bruise?