Close That Medicine Cabinet...

...And let your child's cold run its course.


Seems those over-the-counter medications don't do a whole lot of good.

Here's the gist:

"The FDA strongly recommends to parents and caregivers that OTC cough and cold medicines not be used for children younger than 2," said Charles Ganley, M.D., director of the FDA's Office of Nonprescription Products. "These medicines, which treat symptoms and not the underlying condition, have not been shown to be safe or effective in children under 2."

The FDA also recommends that anyone with questions contact a physician, pharmacist or other health care professional to discuss how to treat a child with a cough or cold.

As parents, we always want to find a way to make our kids feel better. But in this case, we'll just stick to TLC instead of OTC!

Be Safe!

(c) Suzanne Tucker. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

MySpace and Internet Safety

In all of the hoopla surrounding the latest internet safety measures undertaken by MySpace and Facebook, and spearheaded by our legislators, has anyone stopped to ask why so many children seek community online instead of...oh I don't know...in their REAL community? What happened to getting together with friends in person, rather than texting them, emailing them, chatting online in groups or other forms of electronic communication?

Uh-oh, I sound like my parents. The truth is, I have a Facebook page. There, I've admitted it. And it's true that as a result, I now communicate with certain family members I otherwise speak with only on Thanksgiving. And a very dear friend and I now engage in voracious Scrabulous. So I get it. And I like it. But as a parent I worry.

So clearly the only way to ensure our kids' safety is to be vigilant as parents and to be sure there are safe options out there. At Safety4Kids we applaud the attorneys general and their actions. With our partners at The Creative Coalition, we inaugurated The National Task Force on Children's Safety on Capitol Hill with the goal of ultimately impacting legislation as it regards children's safety. And not just online. But that was an important part of our summit and continues to be a priority for us.

And while we're on the subject of Internet Safety, I'm going to post "SeeMore's Safety Browser" again. We designed this (using the characters from our public television show, SeeMore's Playhouse), to protect your young children when they want to play online like their older siblings. It puts the controls in your hands, allows you to add sites you like and gives you peace of mind when your kids are playing--they can't break away from these parent-approved sites and wind up in unsafe territory. Peace of mind. Now that's a rare commodity these days.

Click on the image below to download our free "SeeMore's Safety Browser".













Be Safe!


(c) Safety4Kids, LLC

Where There's Smoke...

...Unfortunately there's often fire. Statistics are not good. Even with all the fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other products on the market, we're still reading horror stories in the news. And many of these stories involve kids. Kids who didn't know how to handle an emergency situation, kids who made bad choices about how to put out a fire, kids who simply didn't have the information.




So here's a little something that might help. It's for you, as parents, to use with your kids. The idea, of course, is to make these concepts accessible to kids early, so good habits are just part of their lives. If you've got preschoolers, this is for you. Here are some other helpful links:

BeFireSmart for Parents
National Fire Protection Association
American Red Cross

Be Safe!


(c) Safety4Kids and SeeMore's Playhouse