How to Keep Toddlers From Running Away

No sooner do you lift your toddler out of the car, set him down on the sidewalk, and turn to wrestle his stroller out of the trunk than he suddenly darts away. I think most moms tend to stay fit at this age because they are constantly running after their child.

Children ages 1 to 3 tend to be impulsive, so you cannot expect your teachings to ensure that your toddler always will do what is best for her. Toddlers who wander or run away for any reason are at risk and need the adults in their lives to protect them. For example, because of their small size and limited traffic experience, toddlers suffer the greatest number of pedestrian injuries, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

What are steps to keep young children safe, while allowing them freedom to grow and explore? See below.

Why Toddlers Run Away
Most children begin to walk, talk, socialize and solve problems during the toddler years. Toddlers naturally are inclined to discover and experiment with independence. However, they are not yet able to determine what is safe and have not learned to stop and think about consequences. Curiosity and lack of impulse control lead some toddlers to test their new freedom by running away, while others might wander off to look at something interesting.

Stay close to him.
If you’re in a safe, open space where you can see your toddler and he can see you, it’s okay to let him run ahead of you. Most of the time, if you don’t yell or run after him, he’ll stop on his own, turn around to see your reaction, and run back to you when he sees you’re not coming after him. But don’t take any chances if you’re in a crowded area or around cars.

Set Limits, Follow Though
Tell your toddler how you expect him to behave before you begin an errand. But make sure you really spell it out for him. Instead of saying, “Can you be a big boy and hold my hand?” say, “Remember, you need to hold my hand when we’re in the mall.” Expressions like ‘big boy’ often backfire. Toddlers turn around and say, ‘I don’t want to be a big boy!'”

Parents must make clear to toddlers that there are consequences for running away or being wild in public. Tell your child ahead of time that if she cannot stay close or hold you hand, then she must ride in her stroller for a while. Explain that when she is calm and ready to hold your hand while walking beside you, she will be allowed to get out of the stroller and try again. If she tries to run away again, put her back in the stroller and do not waiver, even if she has a tantrum.

Give Specific Warnings
Young kids often forget safety expectations midway through an outing and take off. Instead of simply shouting “Stop!” (which is actually a very abstract concept for a toddler, who has to figure out what it is he’s supposed to stop doing), give a concrete command identifying a specific body part or movement — such as “Thomas, stop your feet!” or “Stay on the grass!”  Once you’ve got your kid by the hand again, reiterate the rules.

Distract and Divert
Young children may not remember their parents’ rules and expectations while on an outing, and they might suddenly run off. Instead of chasing a runaway toddler, call his name or say a familiar word or concrete phrase that will stop and distract him. Give him a hug for coming back to your side.

Make Errands Fun
Singing, rhyming, dancing, marching or jumping can encourage toddlers to stay near you while going from one place to another. To focus her attention while out in public, engage your child by playing simple games, asking her to copy your funny movements, saying silly words to each other or playing “Can You See What I See?”

Encourage him when he does well.
When he resists the urge to run wild, reinforce his good behavior by telling him what he did well. But again, be specific. “It’s not enough to say, ‘You behaved like such a big boy today.” Encourage his actions by saying them back to him. Say, ‘I really appreciated that when I called you, you came back to me.'”

Toddlers as Helpers
Toddlers often try to run away because they are bored. Tell your child you need her help picking out groceries, returning library books or taking your dog to the veterinarian. Most toddlers love to help, so give your child a specific job and she will be less likely to wander.

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Rain, Rain, Go Away

We went from sunny beach days to cold rainy days in a blink of an eye! Just when I put away the raincoats and rain boots, the rain comes. Good thing I didn’t get a car wash after our road trip.

Usually my son, Paulo and I would walk my daughter, Miranda to her classroom when we drop her off at school. If it’s drizzling a little, we’ll still walk her to class. (At pick up time, if it’s raining too hard that I can’t pick up my daughter at her classroom, she and I have agreed on a Plan B. It’s very important to have a contingency plan – for her safety – when our normal routine gets interrupted.)

Click on this photo to link to Paulo's Le Top "Under Construction" tee

This morning, although it wasn’t raining too hard, it was quite windy. So I parked the car, bundled up my daughter in her bright green slicker, and watched her walk from the gate all the way to her classroom with her little rainbow umbrella moving past the other kids. Paulo, nice and warm in his car seat, sadly looked out the wet window and murmured “Bye, Sister! ‘Rada go school.”

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Preparing your child for an Earthquake…

Two minor earthquakes occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area last week (and one this morning). It was the first time my daughter felt one, and it reminded me that it’s time to explain what earthquakes are and prepare her for the steps to take when one occurs. I may or may not be with her when it happens (and it will) and I don’t want her to panic. Preparing her for the inevitable seems like a logical way to do that.

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How to Protect your Child from Playground Germs…or at least try!

I live in New York and ever day I walk by kiddo playgrounds which I am sure (aside from the city dirt and grime) has plenty of germs. In any metropolitan city, or even the suburbs, it is important to get kids outside, playing in the sunshine and most importantly – active and not cooped at home.  So how do you protect your little one from the many germs that reside on public playgrounds?

Firstly – relax. We all follow the smart mommy guide’s anti-germ playbook: regular hand washing, once-a-day kitchen counter wiping, and the like. The vast majority of germs are harmless; experts even say they can be helpful. “Exposure to germs is what teaches young immune systems to fend off bad bugs and mature into efficient germ fighters.”

Secondly – Hand washing is key. Wash before the playground and after the playground. Carry those pop-up wet ones in the car with you at all times. You really can’t keep kids from all the germs in the world. Like I mentioned, actually exposing them to germs (a little at a time) helps build their immune system. Once they are in kindergarten, they are exposed to the same germs so building the immune system now, may help later.

Lastly – public sandboxes are pretty dirty and I would do my best to keep your kids out.

Kids may see the playground sandbox as their own little beach in the city or suburbs, but cats, dogs and other unknown critters consider it a public litter box. Although the risk is small, if your child sticks his fingers into his mouth after playing in sand soiled with animal feces, he or she could get sick with parasites like roundworms, which can lead to fever and stomach pains; or hookworms, which result in painful skin infections and diarrhea. I love handy anti-bacterial wipes! When your kiddo is finished playing, use the handy wipe and then wash them again with soap and water when you get home to remove lingering traces of dirt.

Voila- playing outside isn’t so bad after all!

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Portable Pools Unsafe – New Study by the Journal of Pediatrics

Who here grew up playing in a portable pool at Grandma’s house? Raise a hand? I did! I personally grew up with a pool in my backyard, but remember as a child going to play at friends’ houses or Grandma’s house where there would be a portable pool to make the warm weather heat of summer a little bit more bearable. I live in New York now and even my nieces play in a portable pool on a city roofdeck because pools are scarce in the city…what was really shocking to find out this week was a new study that suggests portable or inflatable swimming pools are a greater danger to children than many parents likely realize, leading to one death every five days in the United States during warm months. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, provides harrowing descriptions of 209 backyard drownings and 35 near-drownings that have occurred in portable pools from 2001 to 2009. Scarily, I found out this study is the first U.S. research to probe the role portable pools have played in deaths or near-drownings.

Researchers restricted their study to include wading pools less than 45 centimeters deep to inflatable and soft-sided pools measuring about one meter deep.

The study, published Monday, June 20, 2011 in the journal Pediatrics, found that 209 children died in these pools between 2001 and 2009. In addition, there were 35 near-drownings reported during the same time period. The researchers reported on accidents that occurred in water depths ranging from two inches to four feet. One accident involved a parent who fell asleep in a wading pool while holding a child. Other accidents occurred during lapses in pool supervision when a parent left to answer the phone or was distracted by yard work. Two 9-year-old girls drowned in an inflatable pool after becoming entangled in a pool cover. In another case, 3-year-old twins died after leaving their home undetected and jumping into a neighbor’s unsecured four-foot-deep portable pool.

According to the study, 94 per cent of children were under age five and 56 per cent of the victims were boys. The children were also more likely to be in their own yard when the incident happened, with 73 per cent of incidents taking place there.

In this Aug. 7, 2007 file photo, Todd Fuentes, 4, left, plays with Adrian Girald, 7, second from right, and Anthony Zollinger, second from left, as his father Eugene Fuentes, right, looks on in a portable pool in Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

“The anecdotal evidence was suggesting that because portable pools are readily available in many convenience stores and malls, and they’re relatively cheap, parents would pick them up, take them home, quickly assemble them, and all this would be done without a lot of forethought about the safety aspects,” said senior author, Dr. Gary A. Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

Why is there a trend in buying portable pools?
Portable pools have become a popular and affordable alternative to expensive in-ground pools or stationary above-ground pools. Unlike the fragile, inflatable pools of the past, portable pools today are sturdy and large, including some that can be filled with as much as water as a small in-ground pool. Large wading pools typically cost $100 or less, whereas very large portable pools can cost $1,000 or less. By comparison, in-ground pools can cost $30,000 or more.

The downside of portable pools?
The downside of portable pools is that they often lack the security fences and gates that most local zoning authorities typically require to surround in-ground and above-ground pools. Among the portable pool drownings that were reviewed by the Pediatrics study, at least 47 could have been prevented if the pool had been surrounded by fencing.

The researchers acknowledge that no single strategy can completely prevent a death or near drowning, and so advocate a multi-pronged approach. On the one hand, manufacturers should develop affordable safety devices for portable pools, including fencing, alarms and safety covers, which are common for in-ground pools. They also say better consumer-education programs are needed to make parents aware of the pools’ risks.

According to the study, children were under adult supervision in only 43 per cent of the cases.

In-ground pools must have fencing on all four sides, while portable pools can be put anywhere on a property, she said. In my opinion, many consumers assume such pools are safer because of their smaller size and that there is only a couple of inches of water, so it’s not that big of a worry. Portable pools can be extremely dangers and should be treated the same way parents see larger built-in backyard pools with the same importance of adult supervision.

“The thing about drowning is that it’s simply different than most other types of injuries, because if you fall from playground equipment, you usually get another chance,” he said. “With drowning, it’s quick, it’s silent and it’s final. That’s why it’s so important to prevent these events from occurring in the first place,” say Dr. Smith.

Note: Researchers obtained data for this study from the four U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission data banks: the Death Certificate file, the Injury/Potential Injury Incident file, the In-Depth Investigation file, and the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

Bottom line mommies and daddies? If you are going to use a portable or inflatable pool – you must be vigilant the entire time, never leave your child unattended and treat it as if it were an actual pool in your backyard. What’s an alternative? I loved sprinklers in the grass as a kid – shockingly they are really fun and kids always find a way to make a game or two of it in the summer heat!

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Bike Safety and Summer Riding for Kids

In 2009, Actress Denise Richards and a friend take her daughters Sam Sheen and Lola Sheen out for a bike ride in their neighborhood. Lola was just learning to ride and Sam was there for support

This past weekend, my fiancé’s niece received her first bike with training wheels! A pretty purple bike with training wheels and a neat bell. It made me think about when I rode my first bike called Starlight (a pink bike with a white basket and streamers)! Bicycling is safer now than ever before, thanks to helmet awareness and bicycle-safety classes! Still, each year in the United States, more than 200 kids under the age of 15 die from injuries involving bicycles, and an additional 360,000 are treated for serious injury in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Kids ages 5 to 15 account for more than 20 percent of bicycle deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Bike crashes send more kids to the emergency room than any other sport. Bike safety helps kids make better decisions and reduce their risks of death or injury.

Here are some fun ways to teach bike safety to kids!

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What age can your child wear a seatbelt?

Kingston Rossdale riding in a taxi, son of singer Gwen Stefani.

I live in New York City and most families in New York City (Manhattan) don’t own cars and often have their children sit in their laps when they travel around the city since it is such short distances. On the one hand, I understand how difficult it would be to bring a car seat with you anywhere you go in the city because they are extremely heavy, but also I think about the safety of the children. I am shocked that there isn’t laws in place to have taxis have car seats or something along those lines of built in car seats with the number of children in the city. According to Wikipedia, “Since 2000, the number of children under age 5 living in Manhattan has grown by more than 32%.” In addition, “The latest details from the 2010 census suggest that Manhattan has become a more attractive place for younger people — it was the only borough to register gains in both children under 5 and in its 15-to-34-year-old population. ‘It suggests an attraction to Manhattan for parents who can afford to live there,’ said William H. Frey, a demographer for the Brookings Institution,” according to the New York Times. Which brought me to the bigger parenting thought of – what exact age is it appropriate to get rid of the car seat and actually have your child use a seatbelt, which would be perfect for taxis in New York!

Here is how to know when your child can safely wear a seatbelt:
Kids can start wearing a regular seatbelt when they can easily rest their back against the seat of the car and bend their knees over the edge of the seat. Usually, this happens when kids are between 8 and 12 years old and around 4′ 9″ tall.

Make sure the lap belt fits comfortably across the thighs (not the stomach) and that your child is not slouching. The shoulder strap should go across the chest and shoulder, and never goes beneath a child’s arm, behind the back, or across the neck. Seatbelts must be worn correctly for them to work properly.

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Preparing for the Inevitable

We recently had a scare in my house. My daughter was screaming in pain for 15 minutes because her skin was hurting. It turned out to be some orange oil got onto some raw skin, but at the time we weren’t sure what it was because nothing was showing on her skin. She is just too young (4-years-old) to really be able to explain her pain and the problem. It was scary and we were lucky that once we washed it off and put hydrocortisone cream on her skin, the pain subsided fairly quickly. It made me think about my first aid supplies and what we had around the house that could be used for just these occasions.

Below is a list of good first-aid supplies to keep on hand and their uses.

• Adhesive bandages/dressings: These allow you to cover wounds and protect them from infection or further damage. Besides it  always make your child feel better to have their favorite character to fix their booboo.
• Gauze pads: Gauze pads absorb blood and pus from wounds. They also wick moisture away from wounded skin to prevent infection and damage to the skin surrounding the wound.
• Antibiotic ointment: Ointments that contain antibiotic ingredients reduce the risk of infection by eliminating bacteria. They also form a protect cover over a wounded area.
• Tweezers: Tweezers come in handy for removing dirt and debris from wounds. You can also use tweezers for first aid for tick bites and to get those pesky slivers out.
• Scissors: To cut bandages.
• Pain Relievers: Child’s acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin in your first aid kit in case of injuries that cause pain and inflammation.
• Instruction Book: Include an instruction book that outlines first aid procedures for wounds, bites and stings, sprains, strains, sports injuries and burns.
• Antiseptic Wipes: These pre-packaged wipes contain antiseptic substances that kill bacteria.
• Cloth Tape: Cloth tape allows you to immobilize minor injuries or secure bandages in place.
• Hydrocortisone Cream: This cream reduces irritation and itching for bites, stings and other skin irritations. My personal favorite and the one I use most often.
• Thermometer: Keep a thermometer handy in case you need to check for a fever.

Here are some things you may have around the house that can be used for first aid:

Aloe for burns after it’s been under running cool (not cold) water for at least 10 minutes. The aloe vera plant can be used to soothe minor burns, scalds and sunburn. Split a leaf open and apply the gel to the affected area to cool, moisturize and promote healing.

Ginger is useful for nausea and to prevent travel sickness. Chew a piece of crystallized ginger or drink fresh infused ginger herbal tea. This can also be useful during pregnancy.

Use an infusion of chamomile flowers taken as herbal tea for nervous upsets, to reduce cramping, and help indigestion. It is also use in a bath to minimize the pain and swelling from a sunburn.

Use an infusion of peppermint leaves in an herbal tea for indigestion.

Frozen veggies can be used as an ice pack.

Baking soda is a safe and effective antacid to relieve heartburn, sour stomach, and/or acid indigestion. Refer to baking soda package for instructions.

Finely ground oatmeal in the bath is just the ticket for a sun burn. If you make it into a paste it can soothe a sun burn, mosquito bites, heat rash and poison ivy.

Witch hazel – A natural astringent which helps heal blisters, bug bites and bruises.

Here is a good phone number to keep on the refrigerator along with your child’s doctor and other emergency numbers:

Poison Control Center 1.800.222.1222
Call the 24-hour toll-free emergency hotline

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Co-Sleeping – Is it okay? How to stop it.

What is co-sleeping? When parents share their bed with their infant. It is pretty controversial in the United States. Is it loving your child or is it not safe?

I know plenty of parents who do it because it is so hard to get their kids to go to sleep…but honestly, the parents I do know that don’t do it have a better quality of life and their children seem to be more independent.

Why do some people choose to co-sleep?

• Encourages breastfeeding by making nighttime breastfeeding more convenient
• Makes it easier for a nursing mother to get her sleep cycle in sync with her baby’s
• Helps babies fall asleep more easily, especially during their first few months and when they wake up in the middle of the night
• Helps babies get more nighttime sleep (because they awaken more frequently with shorter duration of feeds, which can add up to a greater amount of sleep throughout the night)
• Helps parents who are separated from their babies during the day regain the closeness with their infant that they feel they missed

Safety Hazard to Co-sleep?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns parents not to place their infants to sleep in adult beds, stating that the practice puts babies at risk of suffocation and strangulation. And the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agrees.

Other Risks of Co-Sleeping?

• Other children — particularly toddlers — because they might not be aware of the baby’s presence
• Parents who are under the influence of alcohol or any drug because that could diminish their awareness of the baby
• Parents who smoke because the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is greater

Tips to helping your child sleep alone:

1. Eliminate distractions: remove TVs, computers, and other electronic devices from your kiddo’s room to create an environment meant for sleep.
2. Routine, Routine, Routine: establish a bedtime routine where your child takes a warm bath, puts on their PJs, brushes their teeth and then read a few nice bedtime stories together. In this way your child feels more secure about going to bed and helps them out psychologically by reducing nighttime anxiety.
3. Leave the room: leave the room before your child falls asleep so that he or she is not depending on you being in the room to actually fall asleep.
4. No Monsters: add security by giving your child stuffed animals, fav blankies to reassure your children of “happy” things in their room and not scary monsters under the bed.
5. Be consistent: if your child crawls into bed with you in the middle of night, take your wandering kiddo back to his or her room and assure them they must stay in their room and then go back to your bed. Don’t try to explain too much or you will be giving into what they want, for you to stay with them in their room at their bed.
6. Reward: once your child starts to try and sleep alone – reward your kiddos with a favorite breakfast, extra bedtime book, anything to make them realize that if they stay in bed, they can be rewarded (just don’t go overboard!)

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Burns and children in the home – what to do???

It is scary enough baby proofing your house for your children to be protected for your upcoming baby, but what about burns? As much as you try to prevent them, they can happen and do you know the common causes and what you can do to prevent those risks? Silly enough I have a burn under my forearm from trying to make the early-90s snack “Tater-Tots” where the pan seared the underneath of my arm. My cousin Shawn severely burned his hand as a child (when fireworks were legal in California in the early 90s) with a sparkler. I can still remember how upset and scary it was. Even in college, I actually grabbed a hot burner on the stove and gave myself 3rd degree burns. Terrible and more terrible. Heck, as moms we burn ourselves on the curling iron and complain! From kids washing up under a too-hot faucet to an accidental tipping of a coffee cup, burns are a potential hazard in every home. In fact, burns, especially scalds from hot water and liquids, are some of the most common childhood accidents. Kids and toddlers are curious and unknowing with sensitive skin that needs extra protection and caution.

Taking some simple precautions to make your home safer will (hopefully) prevent many burns.

Here are some shocking statistics from the latest National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the United States Fire Administration (part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency):

Injury and death rates:

• Burns are the fourth leading cause of accidental deaths and injuries to infants under age 1.
• The majority of fire-related deaths (75 percent) are caused by smoke inhalation of the toxic gases produced by fires. Actual flames and burns only account for about one-fourth of fire-related deaths and injuries.
• The majority of fires that kill or injure children are residential fires (85 percent).
• The majority of children ages 4 and under who are hospitalized for burn-related injuries suffer from scald burns (65 percent) or contact burns (20 percent).
• Fireworks-related injuries sent more than 3,800 children to hospital emergency rooms in 1997.
• Fires kill more than 600 children ages 14 and under each year and injure approximately 47,000 other children.
• Approximately 88,000 children ages 14 and under were treated at hospital emergency rooms for burn-related injuries – 62,500 were thermal burns and 25,500 were scald burns.
• Hot tap water scald burns cause more deaths and hospitalizations than any other hot liquid burns.

Common Causes
The first step in helping to prevent kids from being burned is to understand these common causes of burns:

• Scalds, the No. 1 culprit (from steam, hot bath water, tipped-over coffee cups, hot foods, cooking fluids, etc.)
• Contact with flames or hot objects (from the stove, fireplace, curling iron, etc.)
• Chemical burns (from swallowing things, like drain cleaner or watch batteries, or spilling chemicals, such as bleach, onto the skin)
• Electrical burns (from biting on electrical cords or sticking fingers or objects in electrical outlets, etc.)
• Overexposure to the sun

Types of Burns
Burns are often categorized as first-, second-, or third-degree, depending on how badly the skin is damaged.

1. First degree is limited to the outer layer of the skin, causing it to be dry, red and painful, but without blistering. A mild or moderate sunburn is an example of a first degree burn.
2. Second degree, or partial thickness burn is more serious, and involves blistering of the skin. This type of burn is also painful, but unlike a first degree burn, the affected skin will likely appear to be moist.
3. Third degree burn is where all of the skin layers have been penetrated and the burned area will be white, charred, firm and leathery. A third degree burn also destroys nerve endings, so your child may not feel pain in the burned area.

Preventing Burns
You can’t keep kids free from injuries all the time, but these simple precautions can reduce the chances of burns in your home:

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