Strollerderby : safety

Parenting Without Fear

editors — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Today on Babble:

"Parenting Without Fear"

by Lenore Skenazy.

Our kids are safer than ever. So why are we still afraid?

Read it here.

Leaked Minutes: BPA Makers Fight Back

Miriam Axel-Lute — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT

The public health blog Effect Measure has gotten their hands on a set of leaked minutes from a meeting of representatives of industries that use the toxic endocrine-mimicker bisphenol-A (BPA) on how to counter the negative media about it.

It's rich: They figure getting a scientific spokesperson won't be possible (gee, why?), but are hoping to find a young pregnant mom to do it. They want to emphasize the loss of conveinence to poor folks and busy mothers, appeal to our desire for choices, and make us worry about losing jobs. They don't figure they can win on Facebook and complain about already having spent too much money on this.

In fact it's so rich that I have to acknowledge that while I have no reason to doubt its veracity, if I were writing a satire of how I expected such a meeting to go, it would look just like that. Only it would be shorter and less detailed.

So y'all: You are forewarned. Someone's going to try to tell you BPA is good for you and your kids. It'll be just as insincere and self-serving as it sounds.

Photo of BPA-free sippy cups CC Tiffany Washko, via Flickr.

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Post-Hurricane Video Games Poison Kids

Miriam Axel-Lute — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:30:00 GMT

Hurricanes, of course, do plenty damage. And then there are the many dangers that follow that them, including carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly functioning/ventilated generators.

A creepy little report in the June issue of Pediatrics gives a new spin on this problem: Texas researchers note that in 75 percent of the cases of kids who were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after Hurricane Ike, the generators that caused the poisoning were not being used to keep food fresh or run AC—they were being used to power video games.

I have many conflicting reactions to this.

At first, it almost seems like a joke: Hey look, video games can be blamed for something else!! Did you know they also cause blindness and hairy palms?

On the other hand: Wow. You're out of power entirely and you're going to use expensive fuel to run video games? That is a little hard to swallow. Of course, who am I to talk? Under such circumstances, if Internet connectivity were available, I would probably charge my laptop and run the modem if a generator were already running. Also, from a distance, it's probably easy to underestimate the value of a little familiar entertainment following a natural disaster. (And depending on the weather, video games probably use less power than AC would.)

Then again, if we need a clearer picture of how hard it is for us to wean ourselves and our kids off energy-consumptive habits, even for a little while, there it is.

(Sidenote: researchers suggested that school programs and text-message warnings to children's cell phones should be instituted as a response. No bad thing, but does that mean these kids are running the generators themselves with no oversight? I suppose many of them were teens, so probably, yes.)

Photo CC Rebecca Pollard, via Flickr.

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Tie Up That TV

Amy Kuras — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:01:00 GMT

One of my more terrifying parenting moments was when my daughter was two-ish and watching TV, and I stepped out of the room to take a phone call on my cell. I wasn’t gone two minutes before I heard a horrible crash. It was, unmistakably, the TV hitting the floor, and thank God the next thing I heard was her crying and clearly unhurt or I probably would have died right there.My poor husband, who I was on the phone with, heard "Crash" then me yelling my daughter's name, then"OHMYGODshepulledovertheTVIHAVETOGO" click.

See, kids can and do die from pulling TVs down on top of them, and according to this story from Televsion Broadcast magazine of all places, such accidents are on the rise. Kids under seven are most likely to tip a TV over on themselves. Deaths are rare, but they do happen. Head and neck injuries were most common.

Luckily the fix is easy. Just anchor the TV to the wall with straps or L-brackets. Our new TV came with a little a wire thing to hook it up to the wall. And just in time, since my toddler has an obsession with climbing and had already tried to climb up on the TV stand.

Kid Flies Across Country And No One Notices

JeanneSager — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:25:00 GMT

If it sounds like a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan flick that's popular on date night, you're not far off. A boy used his father's credit card, hopped a plane and was across the country before anyone had missed him.

Only this kid wasn't looking for a lady love for dad. And he went in the opposite direction (East Coast to West rather than Seattle to New York). Oh yeah, and this wasn't a movie.

The thirteen-year-old was a real live boy who stole Dad's car during the night (while he was sleeping), drove thirty miles to an airport and THEN boarded a plane for parts unknown.

Kenton Weaver flew from Florida, where he lives with his father, to California, where his mother lives. But no one one the flight said a word. It wasn't until Weaver was at a ticket counter in California that the boy (who reportedly falls somewhere on the autism spectrum - making this all the more incredible) was found by some sort of authority.

His mom, Kim Casey, says Kenton is extremely bright but his Asperger's means he lacks common sense and inhibitions that would probably have kept other kids from pulling off this kind of feat. But that's another reason the boy's father, Dale Weaver, is shocked no one noticed a thirteen-year-old on a cross-continental flight. Not only did he not have ID, but Dale said his son can be a handful.

Kenton is OK - that's the best part of this story. And apparently has dreams of being a pilot, so a ride in an airplane was probably the highlight of his day, week, month. . .

But how does this make you feel about so-called airport security? Are they so focused on making us take our shoes off and trashing our tweezers that they're missing the big picture? Like thirteen-year-old kids with no ID getting on planes alone?

Image: eFitness

Best Places to Raise Your Kid in America

editors — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Business Week just published their second annual Best Places To Raise Your Kid 2009. This year, they went state-by-state. Towns were judged primarily on school performance and safety, but other criteria like affordability and crime rates were also weighed. So, without further adieu, the top towns to raise your little ones. Do you already live in one them? Should your hometown have made the list? Tell us why! --Andrea Zimmerman

Huntsville, Alabama
Anchorage, Alaska
Gilbert, Arizona
Springdale, Arkansas
Arcadia, California
Fort Collins, Colorado
West Haven, Connecticut
Wilmington, Delaware
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Warner Robins, Georgia
Honolulu, Hawaii
Boise City, Idaho
Mount Prospect, Illinois
Fort Wayne, Indiana
West Des Moines, Iowa
Overland Park, Kansas
Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
Bossier City, Louisiana
Portland, Maine
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Malden, Massachusetts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Eagan, Minnesota
Biloxi, Mississippi
Lee's Summit, Missouri
Billings, Montana
Omaha, Nebraska
Paradise, Nevada
Nashua, New Hampshire
Edison, New Jersey
Rio Rancho, New Mexico
New Rochelle, New York
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Bismarck, North Dakota
Columbus, Ohio
Lawton, Oklahoma
Bend, Oregon
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Souix Falls, South Dakota
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Euless, Texas
Orem, Utah
Burlington, Vermont
Virgina Beach, Virginia
Bellevue; Washington
Charleston, West Virginia
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Casper, Wyoming

Sling Babies At Your Own Risk

Madeline Holler — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Consumer Reports released a list of five things too dangerous for you to buy for your babies. I touched on several of them a while ago -- bath seats and crib bumbers -- and Droolicious also has a round-up.

But let's take a closer look at one of the items the non-profit watch dog group found too dangerous: slings. Slings! Who at Consumer Reports wrote up this recommendation? My childless aunt? Those old ladies chasing me down in the airport to tell me my baby might fall out?

What could they possibly have against slings?

According to their blog and the release, in five years, four babies have died in slings (they don't specify how) and "many" have been injured (they don't specify the number) by skull fractures, contusions, head injuries and abrasions.

Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling. As slings grow in popularity, so do the number of serious injuries. No safety standards exist for slings. We think you should skip the sling and opt for other types of infant carriers, which have safer track records.

Fine. I'm all for government oversight and consumer protections and more regulation. So, sure, bring on the safety standards.And falling babies is a serious, serious matter for sure. But a sling is the one baby item -- the one! -- I actually couldn't live without.

Am I being a jerk when I say babies falling from slings is totally avoidable?

I'd love to know which slings these babies fell out of, because not all slings are alike. The kind they have pictured I used with my youngest -- and hated it. Once he got to be a month or so old, I could see how he might slip out the back. But that's a problem, in my opinion, with so-called pocket slings -- not the entire genre of wearable carriers. They're made to hold the baby as if she's in a purse, not an extension of your body.

Ring slings, though? They rock. And if used properly -- that is cinched up so baby is smushed against you, not swinging low in front of your thighs like a pendulum with every step you take (and you see this sometimes) -- there's just no way baby's falling out.

We make big babies in my family so carrying them in infant carseats is torture. There's no other way to grocery shop until the baby can sit up in the cart. Plus, I Iike having my hands available for something other than holding a baby. My husband's also a big fan.

Consumer Reports says to stick with other infant carriers -- I'm guessing Baby Bjorn- and Ergo-types -- but I've never managed to make those work for us.

What do you think? Has your baby ever fallen out of the sling? Do you agree with Consumer Reports? They also take on sleep positioners and co-sleepers. Do they just have it in for "attachment parents"?

Dangerous Baby Gear: Why Can I Buy It?

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Image: seoullife.net

Six-year-old Goes to Traffic Court

JeanneSager — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:34:00 GMT

He wasn't behind the wheel, but a six-year-old New Mexico boy was sentenced by a judge to traffic court. After all, it was his fault his mother ended up with a traffic ticket.

The boy's mom was pulled over and ticketed for not ensuring her elementary schooler was wearing his seatbelt. Rather than pleading guilty, the mom took the case to court - where she explained to the judge that nothing she does seems to get through to her son the importance of keeping the belt on.

"He took off his seat belt, I pulled over again and put it on and he took it off right in front of the cop," the mom told a New Mexico TV station. The judge agreed something had to be done - and he used his position to make it happen. He told her to take him to traffic school.

It doesn't seem to matter how on message you are with the seatbelt talk, some kids just love to rebel. We switched our daughter out of the carseat and into a booster the second she was tall enough - despite all the parents who told me they weren't as safe - because she couldn't be convinced NOT to move the chest plate down onto her belly. Every time she slipped it lower, I worried about the impact that would have on her internal organs if we were to get into an accident. The booster seat ensures she can't move the belt around, and the impact would be spread across more of her body.

Other parents say their problem is once they move into the booster seat, they can't keep their kids from the fascination of clicking the seatbelt button.

Some kids never test the limits, but there will always be that bunch who do. The best you can do is make sure you never take your kids out for a ride without the seatbelt and to always wear one yourself. I also used the cop next door as an excuse - reminding my daughter that he would have to come arrest me if she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. I'm not lying - it's essentially what happened with this New Mexico family!

The mom ended up taking her son to a seatbelt safety class - judge-approved. He's considering making future offenders and their kids take the same class, but it's not a bad idea for parents who are struggling with the problem - to prevent the ticket, and prevent a horrible accident.

Any other tips, Babble readers? What tricks have you used to keep them belted in?

Image: Edmunds

Kid Falls 40 Feet Into Hands of Superheroes

JeanneSager — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:01:00 GMT

A little girl hanging from a window forty feet off the ground. Two guys walking by her apartment building - one all the way across the street.

The three meet, and oh . . .my . . . Gawd.

Robert Lemire was talking on his cell phone in front of a pizza joint when he saw a little kid hanging from a third story window across the street. He made a mad dash across the street (no, he didn't stop to look both ways) where he met another guy, Alex Day, just walking out of the building from a Bible study class. Together, the two men put out their arms just in time to catch eighteen-month-old Caliah Clark just before she would have hit the ground.

Can we say totally freakin insanely awesome story here? I know that's not exactly fine English but, wow! They couldn't have planned this one on a movie set with stuntmen.

These are two heroes, and since they reside in Boston, and their superhero capes don't get them much farther, here's a reminder to everyone else to GET WINDOW GUARDS if you have a toddler.

OK, off the soapbox, just going to enjoy the high of such an awesome story on a Monday.

Image: Christian Odyssey (not child in story)

Poisoned Teething Gel Kills 84 Children in Nigeria

Kate Tuttle — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:33:00 GMT

An over-the-counter teething medication commonly used in Nigeria has killed more than 80 babies and young children, according to health officials, due to a batch that mistakenly contained a poisonous chemical.

Sold under the brand name My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture ("pikin" means child in West African pidgin), was found to contain diethyline glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze, most likely in place of glycerin, the sweet syrup used to flavor children's medicines and toothpastes. According to the New York Times, counterfeiters regularly replace glycerin with the less expensive (and often deadly) glycol to boost profits. The poison attacks the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Health officials say three-quarters of the children sickened by the bad batch have died, all of them between the ages of two months and seven years.

It's impossible for most of us to imagine the pain these parents face. But it's a valuable reminder of how important good consumer-protection laws are, and how useless they are in the absence of enforcement. If you ever find yourself in an argument with someone who wants to cut funding for the FDA, ask them if they're ever wondered how it would feel to have to wonder, when giving their child some soothing medicine, whether it was truly safe.

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Is It Wrong for Parents to Sell Girl Scout Cookies for their Daughters?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:30:00 GMT

In this not exactly neighborly modern world of ours, eight-year-olds in Girl Scout vests are much less likely to go door-to-door pedaling Thin Mints and Somoas than they once were. So how do 200 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies still get sold every year? Their parents, of course!

CNN reports that parents are increasingly relying on their jobs and connections to make cookie sales for their daughters, who then get the credit. Opinion is divided as to whether this is simply a sensible, safe way to get the cookies sold—supporting a good cause and satisfying America’s sweet tooth—or whether this deprives young girls of the intended lessons of cookie-selling, not to mention creating an unfair playing field in which girls are punished or rewarded for their parents’ success.

It seems clear to me that parents selling cookies when their daughters aren’t even present is not right (and it goes against the recommendation of the Girl Scouts organization). Although, come to think of it, I’d probably still buy a box if I was hungry and had five bucks on me....which just shows how wrong it is for parents to exploit a national addiction like that.

But I used to buy all my annual Girl Scout cookies at work, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. My coworker walked around the office with her daughter, who shyly and sweetly did all the talking. I was always grateful for both the distraction and the sugar fix. I mean, who doesn’t want to buy a box of thin mints from an adorable eight-year-old? (And then eat half the pack while slowly blinding yourself in the eerie glow of computer screens and neon lights…but I digress.)

If it had been my boss’s daughter going around selling cookies, then the dynamic would have been more problematic. What employee is going to refuse to buy cookies from the boss’s daughter? This means that girls with parents in more powerful positions are more likely to sell more cookies—and, alas!, even Somoas play a part in perpetrating social inequality.

Perhaps the most ethically unquestionable and effective way to sell cookies is to have girls set up a booth in a public place. This way, they’re doing the work themselves, they’re not in any danger, and they’re offering passersby a very important public service.

Photo: Once Upon a Plate

New Brit Reality Series is Home Alone With Real Kids

JeanneSager — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:38:00 GMT

A British TV show has taken the early nineties hit that made Macauley Culkin (remember him) a star for ten minutes and made a reality version.

Boys and Girls Alone puts ten girls and ten boys alone in a house - or at the very least, as alone as you can be in a house crawling with cameramen and sound guys - for two weeks to see how kids would really cope without their parents.

Ages eight through eleven, the kids apparently bicker throughout the show (I haven't seen it, so I'm taking this out of reports), and split into mini Survivor-like factions. Producers at Channel 4 have defended the show from beginning to end, pointing out a child psychologist is on hand at all times, and with the show staff around, they aren't alone in a life endangering sense.

Critics, on the other hand, have gone beserk, calling the show everything from a ratings prank to "cruel and abusive."

I'm on the fence on this one. Kids, after all, go to sleep-away camp at eight. They spend weeks of their summer with limited adult interaction, surrounded largely by counselors who are only a few years their senior. And if you think they don't split into factions at summer camp, you haven't heard of Color War. And don't get me started on the mini-factions in the cafeterias of your average school. They're called cliques, and there isn't a school I've seen that escapes them.

On the other hand - because there always is that other hand - there ARE adults at summer camp. And at schools. And they make no bones about stepping in when kids need them (at least good, caring staff don't). A cameraman and sound guy who are told to watch but not interact may be ensuring the kids don't mix bleach and ammonia or accidentally burn the house down when they use the stove, but they're not there to mediate the disputes or offer comfort for a kid who is a little down.

Because these are kids we're talking about. Not even teenagers. Little kids. Kids who need Mom and Dad to give them a hug at the end of the day and say, "it's OK, Susie is being mean right now, but that's part of life" or to lean over and tell Susie to "knock it OFF." They're still developing their social skills, and they are not ready to be left alone for days on end. If you or I tried it, we would be brought up on charges of child abuse, and I'd say rightly so. The accusations of "cruel and abusive" have a ring of truth to them after all.

The kids' psyches are what I worry about the most when it comes to any talk of using kids in rituals or experiments. What do you think?

Image: Sky News

Child Matador's Killing Bulls, Kicking Up Controversy

JeanneSager — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:02:00 GMT

Remember Michelito Lagravere, the child matador who had people up in arms over his sixty kills last summer?

He's back, and he's upped his numbers. Little Michelito killed six young bulls in a ring in Southeastern Mexico last weekend, a feat his parents have sent on for possible inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.

That killing bulls would anger animal rights advocates is obvious - some of Lagravere's fights in his father's native France have been canceled because the boy is bloodthirsty. "He fights in corridas [bullfights] aiming to kill," they say.

But the Lagraveres are getting equal attention from outraged parents for putting their pint-sized son in a dangerous ring with angry bulls. Saturday's fight was initially suspended by Mexican officials based on the pressure of child protection officials and the animal advocates. A judge finally gave the go-ahead based on documentation provided by Michelito's father Michel, a former French bullfighting champion. Michel said his son has been in the ring since he was six years old, and he's never had a serious accident.

I have always found bullfighting to be as abhorrent as dog fighting (I am, after all, a vegetarian), and I'm sickened by the bloodlust exhibited by a child - or an adult for that matter. Still, I can't summon the appropriate outrage over a child being put into a bullfighting ring. Yes, it's dangerous. So is skateboarding. And hockey.

There's also a distinct cultural difference between America and France or Mexico. In the Madeline books, the Spanish ambassador's son, Pepito (the bad hat), showed off his toreador skills to impress the little French girl. My colleague, Cole Gamble, likened child matadors to children armed with a gun and sent into the woods to kill a deer here in America. That too is highly cultural. As appalled as an urban dweller may be at the thought, kids here in the sticks are put through intensive gun safety training courses. They spend countless hours watching an adult prepare for hunting, they do it under the watchful eyes of an adult, and in the end they bring home a deer that the family may well eat off of for a month. Disgusting? Perhaps, but people have to eat.

Which puts this back into the animal rights portion of the argument. Is it necessary for this little boy to be killing his prey? Are these young bulls slaughtered for nothing more than sport? No, and yes.

I don't have a real problem seeing Michelito Lagravere follow in his father's footsteps into a sport that takes cunning and skill - his age be darned. I do, however, have a problem with an eleven-year-old with a bloodlust that is encouraged for nothing more than glory.

Images: Sky News, AP

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Is Going Hard on Handmade Bad for Parents?

JeanneSager — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:36:00 GMT

After a year and a half of ominous warnings that toxins are lurking in our kids' toyboxes, you would think parents would be celebrating the feds' decision to move in and start busting heads.

So what's the problem here?

The over-generalized, blanket "reform" regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) will be putting a lot of parents out of business.

Now who's guilty of making a broad, sweeping statement? Perhaps, but I'm not just talking about moms who make toy food and sell it on etsy. They are the parents who have spent countless hours tweeting updates on Twitter, blogging about the Handmade Toy Alliance fight, and urging us all to write to our Congressman (click here to find out how they voted on the issue, by the way, in the House and in the Senate). And there are a lot of them. I have friends who do the craft circuit for extra cash, and the "children" section on etsy has no less than one thundred fifty thousand items up for sale at the moment - most of them made by a parent. Throw in the kids clothing makers, diaper sewers, and the list goes on - even if it's highly unlikely to have lead to begin with (in organic cotton?), it will have to be tested and tagged - to show parents it doesn't.

Yes, this law will undoubtedly put these parents out of business. But I'm also talking about the parents who like to buy little doodads for their kids - be it on etsy or at the local craft fair - because they're better-crafted and often more intriguing for the little minds, because the clothes are will withstand the test of being crawled and jumped in (where do I get clothes, by the way? The CPSIA calls for anything kids can "reasonably put in their mouths" - for those of us with kids, that's everything but the kitchen sink . . . on second thought, she has tried to suck water from the spigot . . . ).

They're being given one choice now - head to the big box store and stock up on the toys and clothes every kid on the block will have under the Christmas tree. Oh, and because each and everything must be tested by an independent lab to ensure it's lead, phthalate and cootie-free, and those labs like to charge a pretty penny - the price of THOSE toys is going up too. Overall, the big manufacturers will be better able to stomach the costs, but they are sure to pass on any added processing fees to us - the big ol' saps who fall for their kids' wide-eyed, "please, oh pretty please, I want it sooooo bad, I'll be so good."

Should we be making efforts to keep toxins away from our kids? Absolutely. Lead poisioning as one mother said in TV interview I watched, does not discriminate. She said the federal government shouldn't either - at least not in their efforts to keep lead out of kids' systems. Unfortunately, the CPSIA discriminates against parents when it comes down on the side of big business. A lack of research has resulted in blanket legislation in what is supposedly a quick response to a nationwide problem (a year and a half later).

If the government wants to help parents, maybe they should check with a few before the write laws "for us."

Image: Homespuncity (an etsy buy for me - that my daughter has tried sucking on)

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No Kid? No Playground for You.

Miriam Axel-Lute — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:29:00 GMT

Have you ever gone to a playground without a kid? Perhaps as a playful evening date, pushing each other on the swings? Or as a parent-to-be, watching and thinking about how to manage squabbles between children? Or as a single parent looking to meet other parents, but without your kid in tow that day? Or just pausing on a walk to enjoy the sight and sound of joyful children playing?

No more. At least not in Central Park. Because, you know, you might be a child molestor.

Dr. Marty Klein, a relationship counselor, international trainer of counselors, and never one to shrink from a controversial position, is the one who noticed this, and he rips into the illogic of it with characteristic vigor, arguing that while it's hard to imagine how this could actually make kids safer, it sure does fuel the atmosphere of overblown panic over putative "sexual predators" lurking behind every bush. He notes that such an atmosphere not only makes people generally feel less safe, but creates fertile ground for policies that both kill notions of due process and restrict perfectly healthy expressions of adult sexuality.

I'd add that it also leads to children growing up in such a fearful world with such terrified parents that they never experience freedom or learn to be independent and take calculated risks, a world where they are driven even short distances to school because it would be "dangerous" for them to walk, even though the biggest risk for a kid on the way to school these days is where they dart across several lanes of traffic from the car to the school door. Not to mention obesity.

Stranger molestation is awful, but unlike molestation by family members or family friends, it's super, super, super rare. I agree with Dr. Klein: our obsession with it is creepy and not likely to be making anyone safer.

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Is there such a thing as too safe?

editors — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Remember old-fashioned playgrounds? The ones with all sorts of extremely dangerous toys like seesaws (kids can fly off), merry-go-rounds (kids can fly off and get trapped underneath), and those pirate ship jungle gym contraptions with the really tall slides (I don’t even want to discuss the possibilities here). These playgrounds didn’t have rubber matting to cushion a fall. Usually the ground was covered by sand, or wood chips, or even concrete. They were really fun, but it does seem amazing now that we all survived playing on them.

I’m not advocating for the return of these amusement-cum-death traps, but have we gone too far in the other direction? Are we too obsessed with rounded corners, rubber coatings, and plastic slides? Do our precautions prevent our kids from experiencing the world and learning some healthy lessons about safety? CaféMom offers an interesting perspective on this question in the DailyBuzz post Extreme Baby-Proofing.

What is amazing to me is that even with all of the precautions we do take, kids still find ways to make life dangerous. I was taking care of two five year olds the other day and took them to a new and comparatively much safer playground. In the span of a half-hour, one of them took a tumble down the platform steps leading to the slide and the other one got his head temporarily stuck between two bars. And that was with me hovering over them like the safety police! Luckily no one was seriously hurt, but my nerves were pretty frayed by the end of the day.

If you are the type of parent who carefully childproofs everything, I can relate. As of now, my plan is to roll my kids in bubble wrap as soon as they take their first steps. -- Lindsay Armstrong

Do Safety Gadgets Make For Safer Kids or Crazier Parents?

Kate Tuttle — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Quick, what's more likely: getting hit by lightning or having a child fall victim to stranger abduction? If you think it's the stranger danger, chances are you've been watching too much local news and seen too many Amber alerts (it's not even close: while about 100 children are kidnapped each year by non-family members, around 1300 people are struck by lightning). Today's parents, according to an article in the Washington Times, are not only more aware of potential dangers than our parents were, we've gone off the deep end, worrying about our kids far out of proportion to the actual threats they face.

And what are the biggest culprits? Besides the popular media, blame gadgetry. From GPS devices to track down "lost" kids (what could be more fun than to run away and hide from mom and dad, especially if they've already got you in a house-arrest ankle bracelet?) to nanny cams to kneepads for crawling babies, an avalanche of safety-themed merchandise is throwing itself at parents who see their main job as just keeping little Aiden, Jayden and Hayden alive. But what's their impact on actual parenting? Do worried moms and dads instill their babies with love, or fear?

Some experts worry that fear itself is driving a smothering, restrictive parenting style that leaves kids essentially unprepared for independent adulthood. It's not as if we can turn back the clock and let our kids spend hours of each day playing without adult supervision -- if only because it would be nearly impossible to find other kids for them to play with -- and nobody would suggest ditching truly useful safety devices like carseats and sunscreen (though, yes, many of us grew up just fine without them). But relaxing a bit, letting kids grow and learn and even make mistakes without the constant presence of a hovering parent will stand them in good stead.

The article quotes Paul J. Donaghue, a psychologist who has written about parenting and fear, who says a parent's job is "not just about keeping kids safe. If they are safe but you are anxious, it is not helping them in the long run. If they are safe and independent, you are giving them tools for their whole life. They have to practice being independent, and parents have to practice managing their own anxiety."

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2008/11/12/they-say-text-messaging-can-fight-childhood-obesity.aspx

Photo: Getty Images

Why Do People Still Hand Out Unwrapped Halloween Treats?

Brett Singer — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

With this whole election thing, Halloween kind of got pushed to the side. That's not a bad thing. But now that November 4th has come and gone, we can get back to some of the other things in life that matter.

Things like candy.

Now. On October 31st, my children wandered around knocking on doors and requesting sweets. They were given large quantities of them. Most were pretty standard: miniature Kit Kats, Nestle Crunch and other chocolate-based products. A few individual bags of candy corns. The occasional oddball, such as chewy Swee-tarts (mmm... chewy Swee-tarts...).

The real surprise, though, was that in this day and age, some people still give out non-factory sealed Halloween treats.

There was one lazy person who just opened a bag of marshmallows for all of the kids to stick their hands into. Their unwashed, germy hands.

Some people at least meant well. One enterprising young couple had melted different colored chocolates onto mini-pretzels and put them into little bags. When I discovered this clever concoction in my guys' trick or treat haul, I threw them out. I felt bad about it for about two seconds but I just didn't feel comfortable letting my kids eat them.

The reason for this goes back to my own childhood. Some nutjob was putting razor blades in apples (along with other weirdness). Therefore, no candy that wasn't all wrapped up. In a factory. And sealed.

Am I being too uptight? Or do you do the same thing? And if I may go all Jerry Seinfeld on you for a moment, who are these people handing out unwrapped candy on Halloween?

image: dancepartymassacre.com

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Nine-Year-Old Takes Car, Drives to Granny's

JeanneSager — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:25:00 GMT

A nine-year-old Japanese boy apparently decided to avoid over the river and through the woods on his trip to Grandma's house. He just hopped in the driver's seat.

The kid got caught after calls were made to police that an unmanned car was seen rolling down the street. The boy was too short to be seen from outside the car, although he apparently managed the pedals and steering just fine. He came to a stop at a convenience store when he couldn't find his grandmother's house, and police brought him home to his parents.

The boy told them he'd learned to drive by watching his dad and playing arcade games. When he saw the keys in the ignition of the family car, he decided to give it a go. His parents were warned not to leave him unattended in the future.

Since my daughter began climbing around in the car, jumping in the front seat while I unpack the groceries, I've been extra careful about removing the keys. Some parents won't even let their kids play in the driver's seat, but she loves to spin the wheel. Where do you draw the line?

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Clothing Warning! Infant Rash Outbreak

SunnyChanel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:53:00 GMT

Parents can be pretty paranoid. We worry about things that our kids can choke on, things that could poke their eyes and now we have to worry about what they’re wearing, and from a family trusted company like Carter’s no less! About 400 infants developed a rash on their backs. And today, the government, due to the outbreak, has warned of the usage of Carter’s Inc, baby garments with Tag-less labels from their fall 2007 line. That’s about 110 million garments, their knit pieces such as body suits, shirts, pajamas.

There is no recall on the clothing but the Consumer Product Safety commission said if a rash develops to stop using that piece of clothing. They stated that "It appears that a very small percentage of children can be allergic to one or more ingredients in the labels. The solid, rather than stenciled, background on the fall 2007 labels appears to have produced a more pronounced and noticeable reaction among those children who are most allergic to the ink,"

Halloween Not So Festive For Sex Offenders

Kelly Mills — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:35:00 GMT

Most of the year we say, "Hey kids, don't take candy from strangers." The exception of course is Halloween, when we have kids actually solicit for candy, and 'aw yeah' for that. Some states are taking measures to prevent registered violent and child sex offenders from participating in the holiday, a thought that made my fears of pumpkin smashing seem a little more trivial.

In Maryland, 1,200 sex offenders received a letter instructing them to stay at home, turn off the porch lights, and not answer the door. They also received a sign with a scared-looking pumpkin on it, that reads "No candy at this residence". The letter begins, "Halloween provides a rare opportunity for you to demonstrate to your neighbors that you are making a sincere effort to change the direction of your life." And as part of that effort, I think your house is gonna get egged this year.

Other states are adopting similar measures, and in Missouri, four offenders and the ACLU are challenging it. Louisiana has banned sex offenders from wearing masks on Halloween and during carnival season. Are the rules a violation of civil liberties, or a necessary measure? Will they effectively protect kids? You tell me.

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The First Look at Booster Seats Shows - Unlucky 13 Fail

JeanneSager — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:35:00 GMT

That's it. I'm putting my daughter in a bubble. No, really. I bought a gas guzzler because I wanted the most steel I could put between her and everyone else on the road. I kept that little booty facing backward for as long as the law allowed. I went through one of those car seat inspections to make sure I got it right.

I waited until she was exactly 38 inches (by the pediatrician's measurements, not my writer's math) before putting her in a booster seat. And now this: the first ever review of child's booster seats finds a list of dangers lurking in our backseats. Excuse me, did that say FIRST EVER?

What has the Institute for Highway Safety been doing since, oh, I don't know . . . I was a little kid? Because I had one of those protective mothers (and you wonder where I get it from?) who bought a booster seat for her kid decades before they became a mandate in all but 12 states. These days, 21 states require kids be in a booster seat up until age 6. Another 17 (plus DC) require them until kids are 8. That's a lot of booster seat use. And yet this month the Institute issued its first report on booster seats, put together with the cooperation of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

I guess we could say better late than never. And they did come up with a list of winners - 10 in all (and my daughter's is on there, phewww) - and a list of losers (the unlucky number 13). Here's a look at them all. Let's just hope it doesn't take this long for the next go-round.

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Boy Injured Car Surfing on Mom's Ford

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:54:00 GMT

This is one of those awful stories in which parents did something so reckless that you want to mercilessly berate them--but you can't because they have already learned their lesson the very hard way.

In this case, a Utah mother discovered that car surfing is not the best way to bond with your kids. The mother of a 8-year-old and a 10-year-old son routinely let her kids take a ride on the outside of her Ford Expedition while she drove around the block at about 5 mph. The kids would stand on the running board, and hold onto the sideview mirror and the handles inside the car.

This was all fun and games until her son took a fall as she went over a speed bump. He had to be flown to a hospital, where he was treated for critical head injuries. He is now in stable condition. His mother has been charged with child abuse.

As horrible as this accident was, it could have been much worse. A report from 2000 found that nearly 500 people were killed car surfing over a five-year period.

Photo: Mochinbach/Flickr

Back to School for the Plastics Paranoid

Miriam Axel-Lute — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:45:00 GMT

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean half the things your kid touches aren't toxic. Sadly plenty of them are, or might be. If you're still trying to sort out the question of BPA in bottles for your infant, you may just want want to bookmark this one for future reference: Center for Environmental Health and Justice's list of PVC-free school supplies. (Note to self: Since when is a cell phone considered a school supply? Aren't they banned in most schools?)

Photo by the prodigal untitled13

Sarah Palin Sends Son Trig To Prison and Gets Complaint from the Public Safety Commissioner

SunnyChanel — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:06:00 GMT

So you have a two-month-old child, instead of having a member of your family or staff take care of your newborn, you take your kid with you to…prison. And get a complaint from the Public Safety Commissioner in the process…

In June, the Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin took her then two-month-old son Trig along with her on a routine tour of the Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm outside of Anchorage. It is a transitional place between “traditional Correctional Centers and the community”, more pastoral than prison-ish, so San Quentin it is not. Yes, spending as much time with your newborn is ideal, especially for a busy mom on the go, but most would probably skip taking a newborn on a tour of a prison of any sort.

During the tour, the warden drove Palin, with Trig in her arms, around the facility. A couple days after the trip, Palin got a warning from the public safety commissioner because a concerned citizen/nervous nelly submitted a complaint that Palin didn’t strap Trig into a car seat for the drive. Palin said that the complaint was “petty” and no formal actions were pursued.

I'm all for attachment parenting but would you take your newborn to prison and would you not strap in your kid?

Source: MSNBC