Detergent Pads Can Be A Safety Hazard

Heads Up...

Consumer Reports Video link.

Sum-Sum-Summertime Sunscreen Tips

In Florida, we may use sunscreen throughout the year, but now it's a must.  Summer is coming quickly and carrying a bottle of sunscreen everywhere just follows along with the air conditioners kicking on full-time. 

Having fun in the sun with baby is a wonderful experience... but the joy quickly diminishes when a baby suffers with sunburn.  Older children need to be protected too... and don't forget about yourself!

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has okayed the use of sunscreen for babies under 6 months in minimal amounts on the face and neck and back of hands BUT advises that these young ones be kept in the shade instead if at all possible.  Their skin is thinner and the protective tanning response hasn't kicked in yet.

Here's a couple of links for quick reading to be sunscreen savvy this summer:

Testing Your Sun-Safety IQ

Safety and Prevention

Now go have fun!

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.

Cell Phones and Driving Don't Mix

Whether you are texting, making a call or accepting a call while you are driving you are much more likely to be involved in a wreck.  It's not a coordination thing, it's a brain thing.  People are just not capable of focusing on driving to the degree necessary to remain safe and competent if they are focusing somewhere else.  It's just not possible.  Please follow the link to learn first hand from the people involved in tragic accidents caused by a mere moment of inattention.  See why distracted driving ranks with chemically impaired driving when it comes to likelihood of being involved in an accident.

Safe Sleep? Car Seat or Crib?

Oxygen saturation levels of infants taking long naps in the car seat fall below the oxygen saturation levels of infants sleeping on their backs in the crib. The recommendation now is that babies who are sleeping for an extended period of time sleep safest on their back in the crib - not in the car seat. See the video by clicking here.

Hyperthermia Deaths of Children in Cars

Two tragic hyperthermia deaths in Indian River County in two months. Two babies left in hot cars. One 16 months old, one 5 months old, both boys. The heartbreak and sadness of their families and this community is beyond words.

In 2009 22 children in the US have died as a result of being left in a hot car. Please follow the link to "Hyperthermia Deaths of Children in Cars" by Jan Null, Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at SFSU. Ms. Null writes an excellent piece on the facts of this most preventable of occurrences as well as offers very helpful ways you can remind yourself the baby is in the car. It's a "must read" for everyone who has children.

3 Indiana Safe Kids Public Service Announcements

These 3 videos are very short, very powerful PSA spots from the state of Indiana aimed at reminding all of us about the dangers to infants and young children of co-sleeping, swimming pools and bathtubs. We've watched them here several times and they still have not lost their horror factor.

Minimize SIDS Threat to Babies 1 and Under

Thursday is National SIDS Awareness Day. Read what Amy Royster of the Palm Beach Post has to say about how you can minimize the risk to your infant.

You know if you click on the title of this post it will take you to Amy's article right?

And for the National Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy Loss site: http://www.sidscenter.org/multimedia.html

EEUWW!!! Your Child Swallowed What?

Once your baby gets to a certain age you all know that everything within grabbing range is eligible for the old taste test. So you are on a constant vigil to keep the yuckies beyond the reach of your beautiful, curious, determined little explorer.

But we all know that despite our very best efforts some stuff manages to slip through and we don't know if it's poisonous or not so we freak out! Not to worry - quite so much anyway.

Did you know you can call the Florida Poison Information Center for guidance? Their help is confidential, available 24 hours, staffed by health care professionals and FREE!

Call them about anything your child has accidentally swallowed at 1-800-222-1222. Commit this number to memory, put it on speed dial, post it by the phone. Keep it handy and hope you never need to use it.

Check this link from MSN Health & Fitness for some things your child just might try to sample.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100236978&imageindex=1