Simplicity Cribs Recalled - Is Your Crib One of Them?

Mattress Support Collapse

Can Cause Suffocation or Strangulation

Camp Chrysalis

Mother's Day Coffee

Attention First Time Moms!

TLC Newborn Invites You!

It's a Mother's Day Celebration

honoring first time mothers. 

All TLC Family Associates will be there. 

Bring your baby and join us Saturday, May 1. 

Space is limited so call TLC at 772-794-7484

to reserve your spot.  Can't wait to see you there!

Breastfeeding Saves Lives

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Rethink Using A Baby Walker?

What makes mobile baby walkers dangerous?  Experts say their very design helps kids move easily - often much too easily.  About three million baby walkers are sold in the US each year and thousands of babies have ended up in emergency departments as a result of injuries that are directly related to their use.  They are generally used in the 2-4 month period after a child can sit up and before he can walk without assistance.  But by giving a child added height, a walker suddenly brings him within reach of hazards such as boiling pots, electric irons and unprotected electrical cords.  And kids in walkers travel so fast - three or four feet a second - that even the most attentive parents may not be able to avert disaster.

The length of time your baby spends in a walker determines how prone he or she is to accidents. In general, the risk of accidents increases in kids who spend an hour or more a day in them.  Babies in walkers plummet down stairs, turn over in walkers that are snagged by cords, door thresholds and carpet edges, roll themselves against hot wood stoves and heaters, fall over concrete curbs or tumble into swimming pools.  Parents should be particularly wary of old style x-frame walkers that are still being sold in garage sales.  these designs have been responsible for many injuries, including a finger amputation when a baby's hand got caught in the closing x-joint of the frame - such models should be discarded.

Parents often purchase a walker in the belief that it will help their child walk sooner.  50% of walker buyers had this impression but the facts say otherwise.  As it turns out, walkers interfere with learning to walk. In addition to decreasing the desire to walk by providing an easier alternative, walkers strengthen the wrong muscles. The lower legs are strengthened, but the upper legs and hips become relatively weak. and it is the upper legs and hips that are most important for walking. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages anyone from using a mobile baby walker and has even gone so far as to call for a ban on their sale in the US.