Safety for Your Child - Birth to Six Months

Did you know that hundreds of children younger than 1 year die every year in the United States because of injuries — most of which could be prevented.

Often, injuries happen because parents are not aware of what their children can do. Children learn fast, and before you know it, your child will be wiggling off a bed or reaching for your cup of hot coffee.

Car Injuries Car crashes are a great threat to your child's life and health. Most injuries and deaths from car crashes can be prevented by the use of car safety seats. Your child, besides being much safer in a car safety seat, will behave better, so you can pay attention to your driving. Make your newborn's first ride home from the hospital a safe one — in a car safety seat. Your infant should ride in the back seat in a rear-facing car seat.

Make certain that your baby's car seat is installed correctly. Read and follow the instructions that come with the car safety seat and the sections in the owners' manual of your car on using car safety seats correctly. Use the car safety seat EVERY time your child is in a car.

NEVER put an infant in the front seat of a car with a passenger air bag.

Falls Babies wiggle and move and push against things with their feet soon after they are born. Even these very first movements can result in a fall. As your baby grows and is able to roll over, he or she may fall off of things unless protected. Do not leave your baby alone on changing tables, beds, sofas, or chairs. Put your baby in a safe place such as a crib or playpen when you cannot hold him.

Your baby may be able to crawl as early as 6 months. Use gates on stairways and close doors to keep your baby out of rooms where he or she might get hurt. Install operable window guards on all windows above the first floor.

Do not use a baby walker. Your baby may tip the walker over, fall out of it, or fall down stairs and seriously injure his head. Baby walkers let children get to places where they can pull heavy objects or hot food on themselves.

If your child has a serious fall or does not act normally after a fall, call your doctor.

Burns At 3 to 5 months, babies will wave their fists and grab at things. NEVER carry your baby and hot liquids, such as coffee, or foods at the same time. Your baby can get burned. You can't handle both! To protect your child from tap water scalds, the hottest temperature at the faucet should be no more than 120°F. In many cases you can adjust your hot water heater. If your baby gets burned, immediately put the burned area in cold water. Keep the burned area in cold water for a few minutes to cool it off. Then cover the burn loosely with a dry bandage or clean cloth and call your doctor.

To protect your baby from house fires, be sure you have a working smoke alarm on every level of your home, especially in furnance and sleeping areas. Test the alarms every month. It is best to use smoke alarms that use long-life batteries, but if you do not, change the batteries at least once a year.

Choking and Suffocation Babies explore their environment by putting anything and everything into their mouths. NEVER leave small objects in your baby's reach, even for a moment. NEVER feed your baby hard pieces of food such as chunks of raw carrots, apples, hot dogs, grapes, peanuts, and popcorn. Cut all the foods you feed your baby into thin pieces to prevent choking. Be prepared if your baby starts to choke. Ask your doctor to recommend the steps you need to know. Learn how to save the life of a choking child.

To prevent possible suffocation and reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), your baby should always sleep on his or her back. NEVER put your baby on a water bed, bean bag, or anything that is soft enough to cover the face and block air to the nose and mouth.

Plastic wrappers and bags form a tight seal if placed over the mouth and nose and may suffocate your child. Keep them away from your baby.

The information in this in this post should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on the individual facts and circumstances.

This article is courtesy of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Side-impact safety with car seats

Sunshine Kids has gone where no other car seat company has yet to go by releasing behind the scenes video footage of their car seat safety test. In these test you will notice that the body of the "dummy" is completely contained, the head is totally protected and the neck is fully supported. Even with all the safety precausions they have taken to ensure your childs safety, it is chilling to watch what happens to a baby and childs body during a side impact collision. While side-impact events make up only 25% of all accidents, they account for a majority of the most severe injuries that occur. Click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page to view the videos http://sunshinekidsbaby.com/info_side_impact_safety.asp.

Orbit Baby achieves Oeko-TexR Standard 100 certification

Parents today are more concerned than ever about the chemicals to which their children are exposed. As part of their overall Green initiatives, Orbit Baby is committed to reducing harmful materials in all of their products. Since fabrics are what children touch and sleep on the most in car seats and strollers, Orbit has recently achieved Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certification for all the micro-fiber upholstery fabric on our products. They are the first car seat and stroller manufacturer to achieve this milestone, and this certification makes our products industry-leaders in chemical safety and hypoallergenic qualities. Besides being the only valid certification of its kind, Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 is very thorough in the substances it addresses: over 100 compounds are restricted, ranging from harmful heavy metals like lead and arsenic, to many known allergy-inducing and irritating chemicals. Also restricted are substances such as pesticides, phthalates, dyes, and VOC emissions. If you would like to read further about Oeko-Tex® Standard 100, you can find more information by clicking here. Or click here to learn more about the Oribit products.

Micralite Toro stroller get's a rave Consumer Report review!

Micralite Toro Stroller has received rave reviews from Consumer Reports. Of the hundreds of strollers tested, the Toro is rated the top luxury stroller. Experts at the Consumer Reports National Testing and Research Center tested hundreds of strollers to determine which product performs best. The tests were based not only on government and industry standards, but also on durability, safety, maneuverability and ease-of-use. Of all the strollers reviewed, the Toro received the highest marks across all categories for luxury strollers. Click here to learn more about the Micralite strollers.

Bugaboo launches online community called "Bugaboo Friends"

This month Bugaboo launched Bugaboo Friends, a new online community on bugaboo.com for parents, grandparents, best friends and anyone who is interested in staying on the go. Share stories, product tips & tricks, pictures, videos and experiences with people from all over the world. Bugaboo Friends inspires its community to move and explore new places and provides the exclusive privilege of hearing Bugaboo news first.

One of the most exciting features of this campaign is the creation of new films that bring to life the phrase, “Just because you become a parent doesn’t mean you have to stop exploring.” The embodiment of this statement, along with bringing the story of Bugaboo functionality into the context of the world, allow these films to build a connection between Bugaboo and their consumers.