Crib Safety Tips

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission more infants die every year in accidents involving cribs than with any other nursery product. In addition, thousands of infants are injured seriously enough to require hospital treatment. Below are a few crib safety tips. This safety list is by no means complete, but it is a good place to start.
Safety Tip One:

Put your baby to sleep on his or her back in a crib on a firm, flat mattress. Make sure there is no soft bedding underneath your baby. This will help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and prevent suffocation.

Safety Tip Two:

Never place your infant to sleep on an adult bed, water bed, or bunk bed. Babies up to 18 months can suffocate in their sleep when their bodies or faces become wedged between the mattress and bed frame or the mattress and wall.

Safety Tip Three:

Never put a crib, child bed, or furniture near window blinds or drapery. Children can strangle on window cords or fall through screens. If local fire codes permit window guards, install them. Make sure all drapery or window blind cords are out of a child’s reach. CPSC receives numerous reports of strangulation deaths on window blind cords. To keep cords out of reach of children, use tie-down devices, or take the cord loop and cut it in half to make two separate cords. Consumers can call 800-506-4634 or visit windowcoverings.org/20.html to get free repair kits.

Safety Tip Four:

Never use strings to hang any object, such as a mobile or a toy or a diaper bag, on or near the crib where a child could become caught in it and strangle. If you have toys with cords or elastic for hanging, cut the strings/cords off.

Safety Tip Five:

To prevent strangulation, never tie pacifiers/teethers around your child’s neck. Remove bibs and necklaces whenever you put your baby in crib or playpen.

Safety Tip Six:

Always lock the side rail in its raised position whenever you place your child in the crib. As soon as your child can stand up, adjust the mattress to its lowest position and remove the bumper pads. Also, remove any large toys — an active toddler will use anything for climbing out of the crib.

Safety Tip Seven:

When your child reaches 35 inches (890 mm) in height, he/she has outgrown the crib and should sleep in a bed.

Safety Tip Eight:

Never use plastic bags as mattress covers. The plastic film may cause suffocation.

Safety Tip Nine:

Check all crib hardware; tighten all nuts, bolts, and screws frequently. After a crib is moved, be sure all mattress support hangers are secure. Check hooks regularly to be sure none are broken or bent. Open hooks may allow the mattress to fall.

Safety Tip Ten:

Secure bumper pads around the entire crib and snap or tie in place at least in each corner, in the middle of each long side, and on both the top and the bottom edges. Cut off any excess string length.

I hope that sharing these tips with you will share a child's life. Please share this information with anyone who have a baby. This above information comes straight from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They put out a brochure on baby safety that all parents should read.

Baby Food Allergies - How To Identify And Avoid Them

by Christine Albury

Many parents find the risk of baby food allergies one of the most worrying aspects of introducing new foods to their baby. But there are simple steps you can take to minimise potential problems and make your child's introduction to solid food a safe and happy one.
Allergic reactions take place when your baby's immune system mistakenly treats a harmless substance as a harmful one. Baby food allergy symptoms include diarrhea, eczema, nausea, constipation and watery or red eyes. Very rarely, a serious reaction known as allergic shock can occur. This can cause the throat and tongue to swell dangerously, which could lead to choking. In this situation, professional medical help must be sought immediately.

Baby food allergies should not be confused with food intolerance. A baby with food intolerance would have difficulty in digesting a particular type of food, which can be caused by many other things besides an allergen. In either case, diagnosis should be made by a medical professional.

In order to prevent baby food allergies such as these, or to identify foods to which your baby reacts, it is important to follow these simple guidelines --

1. Try to delay feeding your baby solid food until he is at least 6 months of age. His immune system will be better developed by this stage.

2. Only introduce one new food at a time and wait for a few days to see if a reaction occurs. It will then be easy to spot the "problem" food and eliminate it from your baby's diet.

3. Avoid foods that are known to be more likely to cause allergic reactions. Examples of such foods include eggs (particularly the whites), shellfish, gluten and citrus fruits.

4. Decide whether or not your baby is at a particularly high risk of developing allergies -- for example, do you suffer from an allergy yourself? This can often lead to an increased risk of allergies for your baby, although not necessarily to the same allergen (i.e. the substance responsible for the reaction).

5. Discuss any concerns with a medical professional.

Whilst it is sensible to be cautious, it is still important to remember that baby food allergies only affect around 8% of children. So try to keep things in perspective, introduce new foods individually and stay alert for possible reactions -- these measures will give you the confidence to safely introduce the delights of solid food to your little one.

Christine Albury may be contacted at http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/ admin@homemade-baby-food-recipes.com. Click here to view more of their articles.
Christine Albury is a mother of four and the author of http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com, a site which deals with the many aspects of feeding and caring for baby throughout his/her first year.

Ways to Help your Child Fight Childhood Obesity

Halloween, slumber parties, birthdays — sometimes, it seems like childhood is one big food fest. It is difficult to deprive your child with special delicacies and delights when all her friends are having a grand feast.

However, this simple condition can bring about more trouble than you can think of. Treating your child occasionally may be good, but giving them the chance to devour every sweets and treats that they want could mean one big problem — childhood obesity.

In some instances, some people claim that genetics can play a major part in childhood obesity. It does, but not as big as the role that parents do. It is a falsehood that genetic materials induce a child to be heavy at an early age.
For the greater part of the population, genetic materials may establish the lower maximum values of people’s weight, but people themselves establish the higher maximum values by their food choices. In addition, since most kids cannot simply set the limits and choose the food that they need to eat, it is the duty of the parents to set the limits.

You do not know how to do it? Here are some tips that will help you keep track of your child’s food and eating regimen and help him fight childhood obesity.

1. Happy Halloween!

As the only festival dedicated almost completely to overeating on “sugar-laden treats,” Halloween holds an extraordinary place in hell for most parents dealing with childhood obesity.

This can understandably be a very tough time for your child to get through, but you can make it easier. Try focusing on the real spirit of the season and make a special haunted house for the kids, or let them have a “spooktacular” party with ghost stories, rubber spiders, and the old “spaghetti intestines and grape eyeballs” game.
For younger kids, a costume party with pumpkin painting and other activities is always fun. The important thing is that you shun away your kinds from any signs of sugary sweets.

2. Overnight trips

The first solo sleepover can be nerve-wracking for both you and the host parents. Kids old enough for slumber parties and overnight trips are typically at least starting to manage some of their own food and diet regimen, which helps.
Spend some time with the parents in advance of the event to give them a briefing on what your child might potentially need, and make yourself available via phone for any questions they might have.

Provide them with healthy snacks that they can eat and give them nutritious to cook.

3. Calorie-conscious kiddos

It is important to teach your child about the kinds of foods that they are expected to eat. Splurge some time teaching your child the comparative calorie substance. That will make your child make better food choices.

It is better to teach them early how to read food labels to help boost their food awareness.

4. Snack on the right foods

Children are very vulnerable to snacks; hence, it would be difficult to remove them. The only best way to prevent childhood obesity is to allow them to snack on the right foods. Give them some apples instead of a bar of chocolates.

Keep in mind that eating is a habit. If your children’s eating regimen has been accustomed to healthy eating from the very start, they will grow healthy and strong.
Indeed, fighting childhood obesity is not a problem. It is just in the manner parents teach their children the right stuffs to eat."


chidi bonny may be contacted at chidibonny@yahoo.com. Click here to view more of their articles.
obesitytopics.com is a free information site that offers articles and resources on Obesity. If you want to read or share information on Health & Fitness, you're always welcome!