Safer Child Products

Recently at Basketball practice, my daughter fell and scraped her knees; Better than getting a concussion for sure.  Then I was preparing food with a friend and she cut her finger.  My daughter seemed to have a reaction yesterday to some fruit she was eating, for the first time in 11 years!  

Before we know it spring will be here and there will be many more scrapes and bruises from outdoor play.  Do you keep a First Aid Kit with you?  Perhaps you should.  I always have Band-Aids in my purse, but I’ve often thought about how I could be better prepared for emergencies while we are on the go.  

When we are out and about, we are not always near running water and soap, so I try to   keep antibacterial hand gel in my purse and in my car.  However, that is not what I would use for cleaning a scrape.  I think I’ll put antiseptic wipes on the list.  And after the food reaction yesterday, I realized that I should keep anti-histamines on me too.  I never have something to help headaches when I need it, so perhaps I should include that.  I believe we have CPR masks in our cars, but would I have the courage to use it if I needed to?  I hope so; definitely include that in the kit, as well as rubber gloves.  But Band-Aids alone only do half the job.  We need to keep antibiotic ointment on hand for those scrapes and scratches as well. What else should we pack in our First Aid Kits?  How about Tweezers?  These come in handy when trying to remove a splinter or ticks. 

 For a more comprehensive list and more emergency preparedness go to http://pediatrics.about.com/od/firstaid/a/05_firstaid_kit.htm

Safer Child Products

June 20, 2011

We all know that we need to wear sunscreen to protect ourselves and our children from the harmful rays of the sun that can cause sunburns and cancer, but do you know that eyes can get a sunburn too?  It is called Photokeratitis and according to Simon Eye Associates and the American Optometric Association, this causes “painful symptoms such as red eye, gritty feeling in the eye, excessive tearing and extreme sensitivity to light.” 

There are harmful long term effects as well such as cataracts and macular degeneration, so protect your own and your child’s vision by using sunglasses that block out as close to 100% of of both UV-A AND UV-B radiation as you can find and sceen out “75 –90% of visible light.”  Also, be sure that the glasses do not distort your vision.

Encourage your children to wear their sunglasses when they are playing outside, at the beach or pool, and even when playing sports.  A hat is helpful, but is not enough to protect your eyes from the harmful rays.

www.visioncenter4kids.com has additional tips and facts about protecting your children’s eyes from Sun Damage. They explained that children’s eyes have “larger pupils and clearer lenses, so when spending time outdoors, a child will receive 3x the UV ray exposure as an adult.”

Set a good example for your children and wear your sunglasses!  Good quality sunglasses do not have to be expensive!

Safer Child Products

Spring is finally here.  If you’re living in the North East where the weather has been warm and lovely, you and your children are spending more time outside.  How wonderful!  Children need fresh air and exercise but we as adult caregivers need to be especially aware of neighborhood safety this time of year.  I noticed that my own daughter gets excited when she sees friends and neighbors drive by.  She wants to run up to them, unaware that she could be hurt by a moving car!  We must teach our children not to chase after a ball into the street, or run into the street for any reason.  Small children will not be seen by  driver, and even if they are, the driver may not have enough time and space to stop prior to hitting the child.  This would be a tragedy that could have been prevented.

Children are often badly hurt when playing in the driveway when a car either pulls into the driveway, or backs out of a garage.  Parents and caregivers must be vigilant about watching our children and keeping them safe.  Do not let children play in cars. In fact, keep cars locked.  Perhaps it is worth blocking off your driveway when the children are outside playing.  I have seen preschools do just that!  Here are 2 ideas of things you can purchase to alert drivers that there are children outside playing, http://www.amazon.com/Kidkusion-Driveway-Safety-Sign-Pack/dp/B0002KWTHK

however, you can use anything, a chair at the end of a driveway, a cone, a soccer net, a trash bin.

Stay alert and protect our children. http://www.mychildsafety.net/child-driveway-safety.html