Halloween Health And Safety Tips For Adults

Halloween-related safety advice is almost exclusively aimed at parents with children to protect... but razor-hiding Halloween candies and other (probably) urban myths aside, it's important that adults keep health and safety in mind, too. How can you enjoy a safe but fun Halloween this year?

Relax And Enjoy Yourself

Are you worried about razor blades hidden in apples, kids throwing up after eating buckets of candy, or jack-o-lanterns burning your house down? Halloween is one of the most fun and memorable holidays for kids, and mom and dad can enjoy this night too! (Hell, you can have all the fun in the world on this spooky holiday even if you don't have any children at all!)

How? Our health and safety tips will keep everyone physically safe, so long as you stick to them. But you should consider your mental health even before you get to that part. If there is any aspect of Halloween that you are particularly worried about or just something you really don't like the thought of, don't make that thing part of your Halloween celebration.

Does the thought of Trick or Treating freak you out? Skip it, and have an indoor Halloween party instead! Do you tremble at the thought of making your kids' costumes yourself? Just buy them, but make sure they are not highly flammable.

Holidays give families a great chance to (re)connect and build memories. Research shows that families who enjoy holidays and special traditions together have stronger bonds. But if you are stressed, Halloween will not be any fun for you or anyone else in your family. So remember to relax and enjoy the holiday together with your kids. Have fun, even if it involves a little more sugar than you would usually be comfortable with.

Keep Germs Away

Many people feel that Halloween really ushers in the fall. That might be true, but Halloween also, unfortunately, marks the start of the flu season. As if COVID wasn't enough, you now have to worry about the flu, too! Trick or Treating offers plenty of opportunities to catch the influenza virus as well as, of course, COVID-19.

(For the record, yes! This is indeed an update to an older article. By now, everyone knows that hand washing is super important, so if we take our COVID precautions seriously, we do reduce our risk of catching the flu, too. Still, you could definitely benefit from a flu shot, which the CDC recommends for nearly everyone aged two and up!)

Oh, by the way, if you're having an indoor Halloween party, you'll want to make sure that everyone's had their COVID shots before you invite them to your home!

Drive Safely

More kids die in car accidents on Halloween night than at any other time of the year. That's one spooky statistic you don't want to become a part of. Parents should always accompany their children when they go out Trick or Treating to stop them from darting back and forth across seemingly safe roads in an effort to collect as many treats as possible. You can stay visible in various ways — flashlights are one option, while a reflective waistcoat is another possibility. You can even dress up as a road worker and make safety look cool! 

If you are going to drive your car on Halloween night, drive more slowly than usual and be on the look-out for Trick or Treaters who forgot to look left and right, and who didn't stick to the appropriate places to cross the road. Perhaps you could also consider simply staying in and having your own Halloween dinner party. There will be plenty of neighborhood kids looking for treats, after all.

Halloween, Alcohol And Sugar Overdose

Stay Sober(ish)

Are you already looking forward to sampling some of the many creepy but terrific-looking Halloween cocktails? Enjoying a drink or two is a great way to spice your Halloween celebration up, but make sure you don't get absolutely sloshed this night. 

Drunk driving is only one reason to stay sober. If you are going to drive, you should obviously do the right thing and make sure that you don't drink any alcohol at all. There are more drunk driving incidents than usual on Halloween night, so you should also be extra careful if you are a responsible driver. 

If you are enjoying an adult Halloween party and are not going to drive, you have no reason to show that level of restraint — or do you? You are probably going to have some of those nice jack-o-lanterns around your home. If you are drunk, you are much more likely to set yourself or your house on fire. What's more, you won't be able to react as quickly or as effectively. Consider having a "designated health and safety guard" even if you're getting together to get drunk.

Don't Overdose On Sugar

Americans will spend an estimated $2.3 billion Dollars on Halloween candy this year. It's no wonder most Halloween health tips are about candy consumption. Those tips are, of course, mainly aimed at parents — how can you help your children avoid overdosing on Halloween treats? If you are a parent yourself, and one who is already a veteran of previous Trick or Treat sessions? Then, you have probably discovered that raiding your kids' candy stash late at night is a great way to stop them from “poisoning their bodies with all that sugar”!

If you are a friendly neighbor, aunt, or grandparent, you'll have even more liberty to binge on the Trick or Treat candy you have left over after Halloween is over. You haven't got any children to share your treats with, so you'll have to get rid of it all by yourself, right?

Here's the thing: avoiding candy is not only for kids. Consuming lots of sugar in one go will give you an upset stomach and will do weird things to your blood sugar levels. At first you may feel hyperactive, nauseous, and even a little high. When the glucose is gone from your blood steam, you will feel tired. If you avoid a candy binge and have a few treats a day, perhaps at different times, your teeth may decay instead. Candy contains nothing that is actually good for your body, and it messes your metabolism up. Be warned.

Avoid Halloween Fires

We don't need to tell you that candles can cause a fire, but there is a little more to fire safety than that. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) advises folks who want to create that special Halloween atmosphere with a jack-o-lantern to use a flashlight or other battery-operated light source instead of a real candle. They also warn that any candle that you do light should be far away from doorways, and that kids and pets should be closely watched if there are candles around.

Don't think you are exempt — though tea lights can be quite safe if you follow some simple rules, decorations are still the first items to ignite in the majority of reported fires, the NFPA reports. Mind your ghost and witch decorations, watch out for dried flowers or pieces of fabric (including Halloween costumes that drag or wave behind you), and keep kids and pets within your sight.

Keeping your exits free from obstacles that could prevent people from leaving your house if a fire does break out is a sensible precaution all year round. Parents should also practice a fire drill with their kids and talk about fire safety quite regularly, and Halloween is a great opportunity to talk about staying away from candles and other possible sources of a fire, and to set up a fire routine in your house.