Twins: Double Your Pleasure...Double Your Childproofing!

Twice the fun, and twice the worries! At Safety4Kids, we worry about safety for children in every aspect of their lives. Double that for twins! There are child-proofing concerns that are particular to parents of twins.

Jen Jonson is back to tell us about it.

Twins. Our daughter was two and a half when I found out I was pregnant. I was overjoyed, my husband was happy. My doctor did an ultrasound and I found out I was having twins. I was overjoyed, my husband was in the dark. For six weeks I debated telling him and when I finally did he was totally freaked out. I should have freaked out too, but could only think how lucky I was. I had managed to wrangle a third child out of him without even having to try.

Twins are a whole new world of worry even for a (somewhat!) experienced mom. From the minute the nurse brought them in to my hospital room in their shared bassinet and told me, "We can do this here because we know what we're doing, but you should never put them down together in a bassinet," I realized that this was a whole new universe of safety precautions. Unlike learning to diaper my singleton (twin mommy lingo for the easy one!) which the nurses told me time and again I'd master, this nurse was telling me that there were things I would never be able to do with my twins unless they were under the supervision of medical personnel.

We were lucky, my sister is married to a twin, my husband's boss is a twin, my sister-in-law has twins and somehow I joined a great playgroup with experienced twin moms even before I became one myself. The precautions you need to take are somewhat different from those that any mother with more than one child will need because you have two that are basically on the same page. This means that they will both have more abilities to get into trouble and less understanding that what they are doing is dangerous.

My twin daughter has already proved herself to be the more prudent of the two and my son the quintessential boy. If you decide to have your babies share a crib (as we did) you should watch out for signs that one is becoming mobile and try to have another crib (even a porta-crib) on hand so that you can move one right away. Our twin boy gave us the message that they needed to be separated loud and clear when we woke up one morning to find him lying on top of his helpless sister. Not a very safe situation. They do sell crib dividers that can prevent this from happening but if you are tilting the mattress (for digestion issues, which it seems many twins have) be prepared for this movement to happen sooner than you think.

One twin issue experienced by my sister-in-law was using toys as weapons. All siblings do this but you need to be particularly cautious with the toys you give twins who are at approximately the same developmental point at the same time. I remember how horrified she looked when I gave her a wooden tea set for her daughter. What looked like a quaint toy set to me was all hard corners to her. Once they reach a reasonable age (different for every child) you can settle down but you do need to protect them especially if they are left alone in a room even for a minute while you do something wild and crazy...like go to the bathroom!

Cooperation is also a dangerous thing. This means that you should be especially vigilant when they start communicating with each other. One can hold the toy in the playpen as a step while the other climbs up and hoists themselves over the side. A singleton can do this but it will be easier and quicker when the child has an accomplice.

My friend Fran, mother to a 5 year old, 3 year old and 18 month old twin boys was surprised by how much more childproofing she needed to do with her twins. "I needed to put up safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs as soon as they started moving, I never needed to do that with my older ones because I could always watch them." I was a little slow to do this. When my 3 year old came and told me her 9 month old brother was at the top of the stairs (literally a second away from plunging to the tile floor of our basement), I realized Fran was right. You need to do more AND do it sooner with twins.

Our pediatrician once told me that the most dangerous time in a child's young life is from the time they start walking until they are about two and a half. I think that time line for a twin starts in the womb and goes until they are about three and a half, possibly longer. Get as much help as you can (husband, family members, babysitters, mother's helper) once they are moving because during this critical time you really need to play man to man defense. You should also try to have one room, or area, in your house which is completely childproofed. There will always be moments with twins (getting into/out of the car for example) where you will need to leave one alone. And always remember to try to enjoy this short period of time, while you're worrying!

(c) Igor Balasanov. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

How's My Nanny...Now You Can Really Know!

At Safety4Kids, we are forever searching for people and organizations that care as much about children's safety as we do. We believe we have found such a person in Jill Starishevsky, founder of HowsMyNanny.com. Here is her story.

As the mother of two beautiful girls, ages nine months and three years old, and an Assistant District Attorney of child abuse and sex crimes in New York City for the past ten years, my number one priority has been to look out for the safety and welfare of children.

Last March, while attending a prosecutor's training program at the Police Academy, I was eating lunch on a park bench and noticed two young girls playing alone on the jungle gym. The girls, who appeared four and six years old, ran over to a woman who was engrossed in a book. I realized that this woman was their nanny and the children were essentially unsupervised. I observed the girls play for nearly an hour as the nanny continued to read. These girls could have easily run off into the busy Manhattan streets or been lured away by a stranger. I wanted to communicate to the girls' parents about the substandard care their daughters were receiving, but I had no way to contact them.

As a working mother, I knew I would want to be notified if my caregiver was being negligent. So I created a communication tool where parents can be informed of any praiseworthy or problematic behavior occurring between the child and the caregiver. HowsMyNanny.com is that tool that enables the general public to report behavior they observe in a secure and confidential manner.

In order to sign up for membership, parents log onto HowsMyNanny.com and provide an email address where they can be contacted. Within a week, parents receive a 4x7 inch license plate with our website and a unique identifying number that attaches to the child's stroller. Should a concerned citizen want to report an "event" to the child's parents, it's simple. Just go to HowsMyNanny.com, put in that child's unique license plate number, describe what you saw and the parent is instantaneously notified via email. The good Samaritan could even choose to remain anonymous to the member.

While HowsMyNanny.com was initially conceived with the intention of making parents aware of negligent nannies, it has grown and expanded to provide positive feedback as well. There are many insecurities that are associated with leaving your child alone with someone other than family. Even parents with the most wonderful nannies breathe a sigh of relief when they are told that their nanny lovingly treated a boo boo or sang softly while they pushed an infant on the swing. It was with this in mind that HowsMyNanny.com incorporated "praise reports". Such feedback will open up the lines of communication between you and your nanny and help to continue your positive relationship in the future.

Most workers who provide important services are monitored in today's world--police officers wear badges, health care providers are drug tested, teachers are given year-end reviews. Why shouldn't a nanny taking care of our children have some oversight? In essence, the license plates are another precaution to ensure the safety of our children, much like installing childproof locks on your cabinets, protective covers on your outlets, or gates at the top of your stairs.

An added benefit of the HowsMyNanny.com license plate is the deterrent effect. Research indicates that when the trucking industry employed a similar technique, the rate of truck related accidents plummeted between 20-53%. Simply put, accountability encouraged drivers to be safer. This is the goal of HowsMyNanny.com--encouraging nannies to be diligent caretakers.

When Safety4Kids contacted me and invited me to blog, I was thrilled! It is so important to keep our children as safe as possible and the more people involved in that effort, the better. As a contributor to this blog, I will provide timely, relevant and interesting information you can share with your nanny. Periodically, I will have fun and educational activities that your nanny can do with your child. Please feel free to suggest any activities that you have found children enjoy. Use this as a forum to ask all those questions you have and don't know who to ask: should I get a "manny" (male nanny)? How do I make sure I have a reputable nanny? What questions should I ask when I interview a prospective nanny? Should I put my nanny on my insurance?

I look forward to a lively dialogue--an exchange of ideas generated by concern for the safety of our children--from which we all can learn and grow.

Photo courtesy of Lucie Sanchez.

Buckle Up Your Child on the Information Highway!

At Safety4Kids, we are leading the way for many children's safety initiatives, and one of the most compelling is in the area of Internet Safety. In order to keep children safe while online, we developed "SeeMore's Safety Browser", a proprietary web browser designed to provide a safe, educational and fun online experience for preschool children and their parents. SeeMore's Safety Browser offers a simple interface and access to safe, parent-approved content.

We believe parents should make the decisions about what their children view online, so we designed SeeMore's Safety Browser to be a virtual "seat belt" on the information highway. Buckle-up your child with our browser, and you and your child can enjoy hours of worry-free fun together.

How does it work?
Once the browser is installed and activated, you, as the parent, make the decisions about which websites are appropriate for your child to view. While SeeMore's Safety Browser is active, your child cannot surf the World Wide Web. We have designed this interface to prevent any accidental link to the outside web. This is the critical difference with our browser: no amount of clicks on web links can lead your child out of this safety zone. We have also disabled the functions that would allow access to the web. And we have disabled the system functions on your computer, so that function keys and command keys are inoperative. Your child can enjoy hours of fun on their favorite sites and never be exposed to other applications or websites.

Do I get to choose what my child sees?
Yes. Your child is buckled up, and you are in the driver's seat! SeeMore's Safety Browser comes pre-loaded with some appropriate content, but you can modify that content at any time, adding and subtracting sites you deem acceptable. And as your child grows, so does the browser! We designed it to be fully customizable.

Is it really safe?
Yes! In SeeMore's Safety Browser a user cannot exit the browser without a password. This is a critical but often overlooked issue. If the exit process is not managed, the protection provided is lost.

How can I get it?
Click here and download your SeeMore's Safety Browser, absolutely free, either in Windows or Mac format. Installation and registration take only a few minutes. No information about your child is required.

IMPORTANT--The secret to the browser is to click in the upper left corner area to gain access to the control panel.


Buckle-Up Your Child on the Information Highway and Enjoy the Ride Together!

(c) Anita Patterson Peppers. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
(c) Anneke Schram. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

It's a Nutty World...And Some of Us Have to be Careful!

I'm one of the lucky ones when it comes to food allergies. I can go anywhere and eat anything. But Rebecca, now 26, has suffered from food allergies since she was a kid. Her parents were attentive and responsive and she learned to navigate the world of food to stay safe. Here's her advice.


When it comes to food allergies, vigilance is the key. I am not a doctor or an allergist, but I do write this from the standpoint of a person who is horribly allergic to nuts and fish.

The first step is determining which food (s) your child is allergic to, and I would suggest going to an allergist if possible. Most allergies are unfortunately discovered through trial and error; when I experienced a horrible itching in my mouth and throat after eating tuna fish and, later, cashews, I knew I had a problem and simply avoided these foods. But as time went by, I discovered that my reactions were not limited to just these foods. I decided I needed to know the extent of the allergy and I went to see an allergist. She pricked both of my arms up and down with very small amounts of extracts from a range of nuts and fish, as well as other types of foods. I left her office being sure of what I could and could not eat.

Of course, that is not the end of the problem or the story, and eating out is a constant concern. It is not always obvious which ingredients kitchens are using. Which is why I always ask questions before I order and make sure that the wait staff in a restaurant is aware of my allergies. Still...it's a minefield! Several years ago I ordered a salad from a hotel in Miami, and after my first bite felt my mouth burn and tingle like crazy. It turned out that they had used ground hazelnuts in the salad dressing. Years later I ordered clams at a fancy restaurant (the one type of fish I am not allergic to is shellfish) and my voice dropped several octaves as my throat began to close. The broth, it turns out, was not clam broth but instead made from a variety of discarded fish parts.

Stores and restaurants are getting more aware of allergies (or, more specifically, of the legal ramifications of customers who have allergic reactions!) and putting labels such as "nuts may be found in some of our recipes" on anything from boxes of cookies to the tops of menus. But that is a fairly general warning leaving it up to the child or the child's parents, to ask and make sure that the ingredients do not contain any problem foods. This goes for children eating at friends' houses, with friends' parents, or at school.

And given that parents will not always be with their children when on playdates or at school or at restaurants, they should make sure their children know to ask a few simple questions--it could save their lives. Also, parents should inform schools of their child's allergies and anyone else their children see frequently, such as friends and the friends' parents.

Something else that is a must is that the child carries around Benadryl allergy pills, which cured me in both of my above allergy experiences. It should be noted that Benadryl causes extreme drowsiness after it is taken. My folks keep Benadryl in the car, in their bags and briefcases, and I never go anywhere without a stash of my own. For extreme allergic reactions such as anaphylactic shock, I carry an epinephrine pen ("epi-pen") which needs to be prescribed by a doctor. Another smart item is a MedicAlert bracelet, which lists your child's allergies on it in the case of an emergency and which provides critical information to doctors.

Food allergies can be scary and in some cases have dire consequences. But if both parents and children are as fully equipped as possible with knowledge and medicine, the resulting peace of mind will be worth everything!

(c) Chris Brink. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

Related WebMD Information:

• WebMD Video: Ultimate Food Allergy

Getting to Know Your Teens!

At Safety4Kids we focus most of our attention on educating parents of very young children about the need for safe and healthy habits in their daily lives. Dr. Rich Lerner picks up our safety and wellness baton and carries it into the teen years, where the lessons learned at a very young age certainly pay off! But there are, of course, a lot of things to know as we navigate the teens, and Rich will be providing some great information and tools for parents.
Here is Rich's first blog entry...of many!


GETTING ACQUAINTED: PROMOTING "POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT" BY EMPOWERING TEENS

ALL young people have strengths. By virtue of the fact that childhood and adolescence is a period of enormous change and growth, every young person has the potential to have a better--healthier, safer, more positive--life path. Parents and other adults in the lives of youth--teachers, coaches, or mentors--can turn a child's potential for healthy development into reality.

The path to positive youth development is traveled when parents identify the resources or supports for health and well-being that are present in their homes, their schools, and throughout their communities and when they link these resources with their children. But, two questions come to mind:

--What are these resources for positive development?
--How do we align them with our children?

Resources for promoting safety, health and well-being can be found wherever young people live, learn, play, and work. These resources involve:

--Other people (parents, teachers, mentors, leaders of faith institutions)
--Community institutions (schools, libraries) and facilities (parks, playgrounds, sports fields, hiking trails; and out-of-school-time programs, such as 4-H, Boys & Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA, or Big Brothers/Big Sisters)
--Opportunities for youth and adults to work together as partners on valued community activities (on chambers of commerce, on school boards, or on volunteer or service organizations)
--Access, for example, assuring safe streets and neighborhoods so that youth can travel to and from out-of-school-time activities, or providing transportation between these activities and home

In future entries, I will explain the three things that parents can do to make certain that these resources become building blocks for positive development for their teens. I call these "The Big 3:"

1. Positive and sustained relations between youth and adults
2. Opportunities for young people to learn essential and valued life skills
3. Youth participation in, and leadership of, valued family, school, and community activities

In my next entry, I'll be focusing on the instances of positive development, so stay tuned!

Rich Lerner is the author of the upcoming book "The Good Teen"

(c)Elena Elisseeva. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

Have Fun This Summer...Safely!

Dr. Bruce Bonanno is a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians and he's here to share a few personal stories from the ER. Dr. Bonanno will be contributing regularly to our Safety4Kids blog, and I know you'll find his perspective interesting and very helpful.

Dr. Bonanno's Expert Advice:

I love summer, don't you? I live in New Jersey and when I think of summer, I think of the sun, sand, and surf. My favorite summertime activities include windsurfing and golf. What does summer mean to you? Depending on where you live, it could be swimming, bike riding, rollerblading, family trips, picnics and barbecues, or outdoor concerts. The list of things we all enjoy doing in the summer is endless.

I have been an emergency room (ER) doctor for over 20 years, and sometimes I can also have a different view of summer. Every day I see what happens when people aren't careful in the pursuit of having summer fun and they end up "visiting" me. So when I think of summer, I also think of all the things that go wrong. The list of health problems that occur in the summer is also endless.

Over the years, I have worked in all kinds of ERs--urban, suburban, rural, mountain, and beach areas. The summer injuries and illnesses that all areas seem to have in common include head injuries and broken bones from falls, food poisoning, drowning, and drug overdoses. I know that some things are beyond a person's control and are unavoidable, while others may be preventable or the damage could be limited.

"I didn't think I was in the sun that long" is the number one excuse for people I see with sunburn. And if they are seeing me in the ER, it was TOO long. Always use a sunscreen

"I was just going out for five minutes" is the No. 1 excuse I hear from people who didn't use safety equipment when using bikes, blades, boards, or scooters.

The second most common excuse I hear is that the safety equipment is "uncomfortable to wear." If I hear either of those excuses, it usually means that you are very uncomfortable now in the ER and you are spending more than five minutes of your time! You can fall even when you are just standing still.

Don't you love the food at barbecues and picnics? I'm also sure you don't like vomiting or having the diarrhea that comes with eating bad food. A simple rule to follow is to not eat hot food that has become cold, or cold food that has become hot.

Drowning occurs more often in fresh water and pools than in salt water. Young children, adolescents, and people who are intoxicated are most at risk. Never swim alone, never leave young children unattended when near water, and know the area you are swimming in.

I worked in an ER that was located next to an outdoor concert center and not far from beach areas. Come springtime, the concert schedule is announced, and we are always jammed with patients on the days of the concerts. The majority of illnesses and injuries are related to drug use, whether it's alcohol or other substances. There are not only overdoses of these substances, but there are injuries that result when people are unable to control themselves because of the effects that drugs have on their coordination. It always amazes us in the ER how some people end up missing the concert they had come to see!

Children will be rushed to emergency departments nearly 3 million times in the summer for serious injuries, according to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign. Nearly half of all deaths from unintentional injuries (accidents) in children occur from May to August.

I will write in more detail in the coming weeks, but some quick tips for now are:

Ride Safe: When in a vehicle, children should be properly secured in child safety seats and seatbelts, and should ride in the back seat.

Swim Safe: Children should always be supervised near water, including bathtubs and pools. Personal flotation devices should be used on boats and during water sports.

Wheel Safe: Children should wear properly fitting helmets and other protective gear when riding bikes, scooters, skates or skateboards. Teach children rules of the road such as safely crossing streets.

Walk Safe: Children younger than 10 shouldn't cross the street alone.

Play Safe: Children should be supervised at playgrounds and should play on safe surfaces such as mulch, rubber, or fine sand. They should also wear appropriate protective gear when playing team sports.

Keep in mind that you can use many of the tips all year long.

What would summer be without the fun things we like to do? So remember, have fun this summer. Just do it safely!

Bruce Bonanno, M.D., is an emergency physician and a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Playground image courtesy Safety4Kids.

Children Need To Feel Safe, Too!

At Safety4Kids, our concerns for children's safety cover a wide range of topics; many of them are tangible--the things we can all see. We want children to wear a helmet when riding a bike and we want parents to be vigilant when their kids are in a swimming pool. But what about the safety issues that are harder to see? Here is Sheila Josephson to share her perspective. Sheila will frequently be offering her expertise as a therapist, as we address issues of concern in the area of emotional safety.

Sheila's View On Emotional Safety for Children.

"Bless the beasts and the children, for in this world they have no voice, they have no choice...Light their way when the darkness surrounds them, and give them love, let it shine all around them".

Emotional safety for children--what does that mean and how do we, as parents, achieve it?

Children have no voice--they have no way of dealing with the world without our help. In a loving environment they thrive and develop emotional maturity but without guidance, love and acceptance, they can grow up fearful, lonely and without hope for their future.

It's difficult to define emotional safety; it is different for each of us as adults. It's different for each child, too. However, the one common thread is how a child feels about himself--his self-esteem or self-respect. It's the sense of his worth or importance in the world.

This feeling of being someone who is respected and loved is difficult to achieve for all of us, especially children, who don't have the emotional tools to acquire this sense on their own. In fact, their world is oftentimes a scary place, filled with complex challenges, such as making friends, doing well in school, overcoming fears of the unknown. Helping them is an enormous task--one of the most difficult task any parent has. It is challenging and rewarding at the same time--seeing your child's face when you've helped him through a life task is indescribable. The reward is enormous.

But how do we help build self-esteem in our children? Through praising them when they've done a task well, teaching them important life lessons, encouraging them in their efforts to learn and supporting them in their struggles when things are difficult for them.

And perhaps the most important of all--showing them how much they are loved.

There are two ways of teaching children--with praise or with criticism. Praise builds self-esteem; criticism makes children feel hopeless and inept. For example, if a child has a particular difficulty learning to read, it is wretched for him to hear that reading is easy and he's stupid if he can't learn. Watching his face light up when you've praised him for reading his first word is priceless. The same happens when he has used the potty for the first time or he has helped with the new baby without seeming jealous. Each time your child hears your praise, he feels a sense of accomplishment and love. Without it, he doesn't learn to negotiate life with ease and a strong sense of self.

Parenting seems overwhelming at times, especially when we are sleep deprived, worrying about finding a job or looking for child care. But we all want the best for our children. Being patient and taking the time to teach our children through praise and encouragement will go a very long way toward ensuring them a happy and productive life. And we all want that in the end.



"Bless the Beasts and the Children" by Barry De Vorzon and Perry L. Botkin
Lyrics@ EMI Publishing

Some Things Even I Can't Control!

Vivian, a mother of this beautiful boy, has a very personal, and very scary story to share. Fortunately, it has happy ending. Sometimes the most important thing any of us can do is simply talk with one another and share our thoughts, our feelings, and our experiences. It helps us all. And it's the beauty of this online Safety4Kids community where we hope our bloggers and our audience alike, will get much helpful information.

Vivian's Story.
I have a love affair with what some people like to call control. I like to call it planning ahead. I have dinner planned at breakfast. I always carry an umbrella. I may or may not even have a perfectly filled out "in case of emergency" card in my wallet.

You won't be surprised to know that I also planned to have a baby. I didn't plan but hoped to have a boy and luckily Benjamin Thomas was born a healthy little guy on December 1st, 2004.

While reading every baby book on the planet (again, not controlling, just thoughtful) I anticipated every problem. Fever? Infant Tylenol. CHECK! Teething? Homeopathic teething tablets, Motrin, cold chewy toys. CHECK!

I was going to be a great mom. Observant and pro-active, but also laid back and cool. Our pediatrician would love and admire me. Other mothers would ask me how I did it. It was all under (dare I say) control until my son Benjamin turned 1, and my hearty eater suddenly started to dismiss food he once loved, and began to not just gag but actually choke on an almost daily basis.

Mercifully, being a control freak (uh, I mean planner) I had taken the Red Cross infant/child CPR class. I cannot stress highly enough the importance of that class. I have to tell you, when I signed up I never ever thought I'd have to use it and then all of a sudden I had to administer CPR on my own son almost every day.

To make a very long story short, it turns out that my son had low muscle tone, which applied even to the muscles in his jaw. This was something that none of the many books I read talked about. Benjamin needed to go to speech therapy where he learned to chew properly, and eventually stop choking. It was a long, difficult and expensive process, but I'm happy to say that although my 2 1/2 year old son is still a picky eater, he hasn't choked in over a year (knock on wood.)

I'm not sure I have a moral to this story except to say that if you do one thing as a parent, please take infant/child CPR. You have no idea when it might come in handy. The CPR rules are different for babies than they are for adults, and even if you are certified in adult CPR, you don't necessarily know what to do if God forbid your child chokes. I think the other moral of the story is no matter how much you plan, and read and study, being a mom is full of surprises. Most of them good, some of them bad, and we all need to learn to roll with them. I'm not saying I'm good at that yet, but I'm trying.

For more information on Infant/Child CPR please visit the American Red Cross.

Please leave a comment if you've experienced this. And if you have, I hope, like me, you had a happy ending.


Photo credit: Vivian Connolly

Make A Splash This Summer...Safely!

Chances are likely that your child will spend a lot of time in the water this summer, cooling down from the hot weather and feeling happy and refreshed. The two most likely places they will go to get wet are beaches and pools. This experience should be a joyful one, not a dangerous one, so use the following water safety tips for your children and let them get the most out of their summer vacations without worry or danger.

Beach Safety
According to the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, 300 children under the age of 5 die of drowning each year, and another 3,000 are hospitalized for near-drowning accidents. A child can drown in a very small amount of water.

So, at the beach, NEVER allow your child to swim without an adult or without close adult supervision, even if s/he knows how to swim, is an accomplished swimmer, or is wearing flotation devices. Only bring your child to beaches that are properly patrolled by lifeguards, and swim with your child as close to a lifeguard as possible. If you are watching your child from the shore, never face away from the water, not even for a split second. Tell your child not to dive into unfamiliar waters, and make sure you both follow all rules and directions provided by the lifeguards at the beach. Also tell you child that if s/he is in any trouble in the water, immediately call or wave for help.

Given how important your responsibility is as a parent at the beach, do not drink alcohol, as it could impair your ability to both swim with your child and watch your child from the shore. Also, report any hazardous conditions to a lifeguard.

For sun safety tips, please refer to our link on Safety4Kids. And a great source for more information on beach safety is available on the San Diego Lifeguards page.

Pool Safety
Also according to the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, about 50% of all drowning deaths in the U.S. involve children in private swimming pools.

As is the case with the beach, NEVER leave your child alone or unattended in or near a pool, either private or public, even if your child is wearing swim aids [Note: do not use air-filled swim aids as they can be dangerous choking hazards]. Either go into the pool with them or watch them like a hawk from the outside of the pool while they are in the pool. A child sitting or walking around near the pool should definitely not be unattended either; in a split second they could fall over the side into the pool and you might not hear or see them do so.

For a private pool that is connected to your house, put a tall fence with self-latching gates around the pool so your child cannot wander into it. Many towns have safety ordinances about fences around private pools. Keep rescue equipment and a phone by the poolside, and always remove toys from the pool after use so your child is not tempted to go back in to play with them. Do not forget to secure the pool area when you leave with your child to go back to the house.

Two other excellent preventative measures are: learn CPR, and teach your child how to swim.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a great page on pool safety for children.

Children need to have fun and summer is an especially fun time for them. If you can have peace of mind at the same time, you may just have a little fun yourself this summer!

Here Comes The Sun...with apologies to The Beatles!

Today I asked my friend Jen to share her sun story with all of you. I think you will find it all too familiar. As a mother of three little ones, Jen has much to share in the way of personal experience. You will be seeing a lot of her!

Here Comes the Sun...

My own mother is hard-pressed to find any clothing my sister and I wore as small children, and she saves EVERYTHING. The thing is, we never wore anything but diapers. Growing up in Hawaii you didn't need anything else claims my mother. We were as brown as little bears and spent the better part of most days on the beach. Even when we got to school we were forbidden to wear shoes and had to leave them in the car as we enjoyed our barefooted days.

I suppose we were lucky that we were both fairly dark-skinned but when I go to the dermatologist (as I do once a year) I can still see that "grew up in Hawaii" figures prominently on my chart. That early exposure is often the trigger for adult cancer, a kind of cancer that will affect one in five Americans over a lifetime. Scary.

Our three kids all got my husbands skin, which initially made me think there must have been a mix-up at the hospital. They are fair and pink and frankly just too ghostly looking for anyone to think it might be okay to leave them in the sun for any amount of time. However, even African-Americans need to be wary of exposure, no skin type is immune.

When my first was smaller I was absolutely insane about her exposure. I maneuvered the sunshade on her car seat constantly as I went about my errands. I lathered her up with sunscreen when appropriate (after they turn 6 months, though the AAP now says it is okay for younger babies but you should check with your pediatrician) and kept her inside between 10 and 4 on the sunniest summer days. This worked out great, until she started camp at age 3 at the beach. I lathered her up, bought her a huge hat, sunglasses and dressed her in long sleeves and pants. She looked like an old man while her buddies cavorted around in sundresses, shorts or (gasp!) tank tops.

When we took our yearly trip to the shore she was usually content to stay in the house as she wasn't crazy about sand. At 3 1/2 she discovered that she loved the sand, the water and the beach in general. I could no longer keep her sequestered under the umbrella, she loathed hats. I continued to lather her up and try to get her interested in an indoor activity during the most brutal heat of the day but there was no denying that someday not too far away she would actually have a tan line from her suit no matter what I did.

I loosened up a bit and when our little ones came I realized that you could only do your best with the sun protection because these little creatures also need fresh air and the ability to move around without 10 layers of clothing. I still put sun block on in the morning if she is headed to camp and before we get in the car for the beach. The spray kinds seem to work well and evoke the least amount of complaints from her. I use a stick on her face to avoid getting sunscreen in her eyes. I try to remember that the ears and neck are super important spots to cover up as they are common cancer sites. I also make plans for outdoor activities for 3:30 or later so we can enjoy ourselves with a minimum of sun stress.

My daughter knows that the sun isn't scary but like everything we enjoy (food, tv) too much isn't good for us. She loves the beach and playing outside with her friends but if she's going to sit and do something quietly she opts for a shady spot. We can't protect them from everything, nor should we want too, but if we teach them now we can try to protect them from the worst things.

Posted by Jen of Safety4Kids

Safety4Kids Loves Parents, Too!

Hi, I'm Michelle and welcome to the Safety4Kids Blog! In the coming weeks and months, I'll be sharing thoughts, experiences, and expertise on the subject of children's safety. I'll be discussing topics as wide ranging as seat belts, bike helmets, poison prevention, and internet safety. At Safety4Kids we are dedicated to providing you with the information and tools necessary to keep your kids safe and healthy.

I'm going to be offering you great educational tools to use with your kids; you'll find music and video to download and share with your kids, and lots more. So be sure to bookmark this page!

I work with a great support system at Safety4Kids, and together with our Safety Council, we represent the information and interests of great organizations like the
American Red Cross, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, The Creative Coalition and many more. I will be inviting friends from these organizations to blog along with me! They'll offer advice, tips, ideas, and sometimes just share thoughts and even frustrations. And we hope you'll share yours, too. Post your comments and let us know what's on your mind.

It's a big world and it can be an unsafe place for kids. But if we all work together, become informed and educated, and then educate our kids, we can make this world a safer place.

Ok, let's get started!

Summer is here and if you're like me, you're concerned about keeping your kids safe while ensuring they still enjoy themselves! Finding that balance can be difficult. Summer Safety is a minefield all its own: sun, hydration, you name it. The only way to really protect yourselves is to have as much good, clear information as possible. We've prepared some tips for you, in PDF format, so just click here, download them and keep them handy for your family.

Tomorrow my friend Jen is sharing her sun safety story. I bet it will sound familiar!

Stay safe!