Safer Child Products

Although it is important to clean our babies’ and young children’s teeth and gums daily, did you know that “the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends only non-fluoride toothpastes for kids younger than the age of 2.”

Fluoride is important to helping build and strengthens teeth, but too much fluoride can be bad for you. Very young children have not yet learned to spit and are most likely swallowing much of their toothpaste.  Ingesting too much fluoride can cause permanent discoloration of the teeth, such as white spots, or even dark brown spots.  Read more about this condition called fluorosis at http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/oral-care/kids/when-can-you-use-fluoride-toothpaste-on-toddlers1.htm .

In the meantime, talk to your child’s health care provider to see if your child is getting enough fluoride from your water.

Safer Child Products

I was so pleased to learn that my 3^rd grader was being given a presentation on Medication Safety Awareness.  A student nurse came to the school to do a series with them and gave out a booklet called “Medicine is Not Candy”, put out by the Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Part of me wants to say that my daughter knows not to take any medicine on her own, or anything that is not given to her by my husband or I.  However, it never hurts to stay informed and hear it from an outside “expert”. 

According to safekids.org, 165 children per day are brought to the ER after taking Medication on their own. This translates to about 60,000 kids per year being treated in the ER for “accidental unsupervised medication ingestion.” Although this is mostly affecting children under age 5, it is important reinforce the danger with all of our school aged children.

Keep all medicine closed and away, out of sight and preferably in a locked or high up cabinet.  If you have visiting relatives, such as grandparents, who may keep pillboxes in their purse, store the purse on a high shelf as well.

In addition, know the poison control number, 1-800-222-1222. This number is easy to remember, or program it into your phone.  They will be your first contact if you realize your child has ingested something they shouldn’t have. 

Let’s keep all our children safe.

http://www.safekids.org/assets/docs/safety-basics/safety-tips-by-risk-area/medication-safety-infographic.pdf

Safer Child Products

We recently got a new flat screen TV for our family room and were discussing what to do with our old, bulky TV.  We decided to put it upstairs in our guest room.  Though it’s not fancy or sleek, it still works just fine.  We have a small cabinet type table that fits it perfectly.  Did we secure it to the wall you might ask?  Since our kids are now 9 and 12, we decided we didn’t have to.  They no longer climb and hang on the furniture, but both of their bookshelves in their bedrooms are secured to the wall.

A report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) came out stating that the highest numbers of fatalities from tip-overs were recorded in 2011.  According to the CPSC, 1 child dies every 2 weeks from a TV, furniture, or appliance falling on them. This is an easily preventable tragedy.  There are very inexpensive kits available at your local baby store and hardware store to help you anchor your TV or furniture to the wall.

Toddlers and young children get into everything and move fast.  When baby proofing your house, don’t forget to secure these heavy items.

See the report and diagram from the CPSC on Tip Over Injuries and Fatalities.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml13/13066.html

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia13/os/tipover2012.pdf

Safer Child Products

Wintertime often makes it challenging to find activities to do with our kids to keep them active.  For some it is too cold to play outside or not enough snow to play in.  Something that has become popular in our area is “bounce” type places.  There are big warehouses with several blow up mazes and bouncing castles.  The industry has come a long way since the small moon-bounce that would be set up at carnivals.  I always thought this was clever and a relatively safe indoor activity option.  Then I saw the article in the journal Pediatrics Volume 130, Number 6, December 2012.

This article is about Inflatable Bouncer-Related Injuries.  When I first saw this, I imagined that the injuries would be foot and ankle related from landing wrong, but in fact they reported upper extremity fractures were most common relating to collisions.  From reading this article, and looking at how significantly the number of injuries has increased, I infer it is related to the increase and popularity of these bouncy places. 

Like with any other sport or activity, there is risk of injury.  Set some ground rules for your children, like only one person on the slide a time, and limit how many people in the bouncy castle at a time.  

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Safer Child Products

In the last couple of weeks, school violence and safety has been on everyone’s minds.  It is hard to imagine that someone could do something so awful as what occurred at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT.  Why kill innocent children?  It is enough to make a parent sick, and make you not want to let your children out of your sight!  However, this is not realistic and not healthy for you as a parent, or for your children.  Our school keeps all doors locked, except for the front door to the vestibule outside the main office.  We have been assured that in our district, lock down drills are practiced and emergency plans and procedures are in place.  For my own piece of mind, I have to believe that our school does everything they can on a daily basis to protect my children and all the children in the school.  If you are concerned that your school does not have a policy, or think that your school or parent group can use some resources, check out http://safeschools.org/  

However, it is still a scary time, for both parents and children alike.  Remember that children can sense your fear.  I know that I tend to get short with my kids when I am stressed. I am trying to keep that in check and continue our normal routine.  In our house we have limited the access to the news coverage and have decided to make snowflakes as our contribution to the new school.  Have you seen that? This is a great way to get school aged children involved in doing something positive for the students at Sandy Hook Elementary. Here is the link to how you can help, whether snowflakes, or fundraising. http://www.ctpta.org/SANDY-HOOK-FUND.html

 

In addition, here are some excellent resources to help you talk with and support your children cope with tragedy such as school violence. http://nasponline.org/resources/handouts/revisedPDFs/talkingviolence.pdf

http://www.lucydanielscenter.org/page/talking-with-children-about-school-violence

 

Wishing you all a happy and safe New Year.