As temperatures drop, it’s important to know how to dress a baby comfortably yet safely for sleep.
Fabric and fit are important safety considerations for your baby's sleepwear. For infants to children's size 14, Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations dictate that sleepwear must either be made of flame-resistant fabric, or fit snugly. Flame-resistant fabric must not ignite easily and must self-extinguish quickly when removed from a flame to meet government flammability requirements. Sleepwear that fits snugly does not trap the air needed for fabric to burn and reduces the chances of contact with a flame. Flame-resistant fabrics may be worn either loose or snug-fitting; they're often made of polyester, but cotton can be treated so that it's flame resistant.
When dressing baby for cooler temps, keep these ground rules in mind:
Learn more about baby and child product safety through the Safety Alert program with Consumer Reports and partners. And learn more about baby clothing and crib buying and safety advice in our related reports (crib Ratings are available to subscribers).
The best beds for babies are full-sized cribs, so consider bassinets, cradles, and bedside sleepers with caution. Bassinet and cradle manufacturers can voluntarily comply with the ASTM standard for these products (indicated by a JPMA seal on the package)—and certification can provide a layer of protection—but at present aren’t required to.
If you decide to buy or use a bassinet or cradle, you can’t be too careful. Here are more safety considerations to keep in mind when you’re looking at these baby beds:
Buy certified and buy new. Although it’s not a complete guarantee of safety, buying a certified product adds a layer of protection. Certified products must meet the ASTM standard requirements such as correct spacing of side slats or bars. In 2008, for example, 900,000 Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible close sleeper/bedside sleeper bassinets (200,000 of which also carried the Graco logo or a Disney Winnie-the-Pooh motif) were recalled because the bassinet has metal bars that can be exposed when the Velcro flap that covers them is not properly secured—and the bar spacing exceeded the maximum 2 3/8 inches allowed under the federal crib standard, forming a strangulation hazard. Beware: Some of those bassinets could still be in circulation online and at tag sales and secondhand shops. (See two more babies die in Simplicity bassinets.) Always buy new—the maker is required to put the date of manufacture on the product. Send in the registration so you can be notified of a recall. (See our Guide to a safe, healthy pregnancy and infancy.)
Say no to an heirloom cradle or bassinet. It’s a quaint idea to use one that’s been in the family for generations, but chances are it isn’t up to today’s safety standards. Some possible hazards are an overly thick mattress or puffy sides, both suffocation risks, and legs with an old-style latching mechanism that can unexpectedly release.
Don’t leave your baby unattended in a rocking cradle. Use the hardware to stop the rocking motion before your baby’s bed- and naptime if you’re going to leave the room, and around pets and toddlers.
Don’t use a bassinet or cradle with wheels unlocked around stairs or other children. Lock the wheels as soon as you finish moving the bassinet from one room to another–and keep them locked.
Don’t carry or move a bassinet or cradle with your child in it.
Use only the mattress/pad provided by the manufacturer and only the fitted sheet made for the bassinet, or one specifically designed to fit the dimensions of the mattress/pad. Buy at least three fitted sheets so you have one to use, one for the wash, and one as a backup. Don’t use a pillowcase or different sized sheet as a substitute.
Don’t add stuffed animals or any bedding, such as a pillow, comforter, or blanket, or extra padding like an additional mattress/pad, or a sleep positioner to your baby’s bassinet or cradle; they’re suffocation hazards. Put your baby to sleep in a wearable blanket (swaddle sack) instead of covering her with a blanket. (See more safe sleep tips.)
Don’t let strings, toys suspended from a mobile, or window blind or curtain cords hang into the bassinet. Don’t place a cradle or bassinet near window blind or drape cords (a strangulation hazard). Shorten window blind cords by cutting the looped cords in half and keep them out of your baby’s reach. Position the mobile so your baby can’t reach it. And don’t add any suspended toys on your own. Use only those provided with the mobile.
Place your baby on his back in a cradle or bassinet, just as you would in a full-sized crib. Ninety percent of SIDS cases occur during the first six months of a baby’s life, which is prime bassinet time.
For more information, see our cribs buying guide and crib Ratings and reviews (available to subscribers), and sign up for our free school safety alert program.
Tens of millions of children are needlessly exposed to unsafe products and foods. Each year, approximately 50 children are killed, hundreds are sickened, and thousands are injured by these products. In 2008, the CPSC recorded 563 recalls for 43 million unsafe products. Two-thirds, or 29 million units, were toys, nursery products, clothing, and other children’s products that posed risks of strangulation, poisoning or choking.
Unfortunately, many recall notices never make it to the home of affected consumers. That's why this week, Consumer Reports is launching a major new initiative to deliver critical, time-sensitive information on recalled and unsafe products to the homes of millions of school-aged children. We’ve teamed up with the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to distribute Web-based safety alerts and recall notices on children’s products including toys, food, furniture and clothing.
Learn more in the full Safety blog post, and in the Consumer Reports Safety Alert site.
If you’re sending your child to a child care center, preschool, or other program, you may be nervous about what to do now that swine flu is in our midst. And that’s not unwarranted, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated children younger than 5 years a high-risk group for complications when it comes to this virus. (Infants younger than 6 months old are at the highest risk because they are too young to receive the seasonal or swine flu vaccine.) In fact, children 6 months and older are on the CDC’s list of those who should get vaccinated first.
As of now, authorities expect that children will require two doses of the swine flu vaccine, because their bodies have less experience developing immunity. But other common-sense measures can help prevent the spread of the virus. As we’ve mentioned in previous reports, while the CDC is still determining how severe the swine flu will be this year, they’re also publicizing preventive measures schools and child-care centers can take to offset its impact.
Here are some things parents can ask their caregivers, to be proactive about staying healthy.
According to swine flu advice from the CDC, any child care center or preschool should:
• Make sure all caregivers have received the seasonal flu vaccine, and the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available. This applies to anyone who lives with or baby sits a young child.• Make contingency plans to cover for staff who become ill. • Update staff sick policies so they can stay home if they or a family member are sick. (A doctor’s note to validate illness should not be required.)• Update contact information for families and staff in case of an emergency.• Frequently remind children, families, and staff about the importance of staying home when ill. • Strengthen the school or center’s sick policy to require parents to keep at home any child who has the symptoms of swine flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea or vomiting. Children and teachers should remain at home and away from others until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or greater (without the help of fever-reducing medication). Early childhood programs may want to require longer periods of exclusion before returning to the classroom.• Separate ill children and staff from others if they develop symptoms while at the program, and until they can be sent home. • Enlist the help of a qualified early-childhood health consultant—a licensed health professional, such as a nurse—experienced with health issues in out-of-home care. • Conduct daily health checks, which includes observing all children and staff, and talking with each child’s parent or guardian and the child soon after arriving at the program. Caregivers should look for changes in the child’s behavior, and any signs or symptoms of illness, throughout the day. • Provide adequate time for children and staff to wash their hands with soap and water (alcohol-based sanitizer is a second choice—but not if hands are visibly soiled), and parents and early childhood providers should wash the hands of children who cannot yet wash themselves. Soap, water, and paper towels should be readily available. • Teach children to keep their hands away from their eyes, nose, and mouth, and cover noses and mouth with tissue when coughing or sneezing. • Routinely clean facilities, particularly items and areas that are likely to have contact with young children’s hands and mouths, such as toys and play areas. • If flu severity increases, avoid bringing groups of children from different classes together. Utilize larger play spaces to allow space between children, and conduct activities outdoors when possible. • Encourage families to seek medical treatment for flu-like symptoms early on to potentially decrease the severity of the illness. • In partnership with public health officials, consider closing the facility if flu transmission is high to help decrease the spread of flu among children, balancing the risk of exposure with the social and economic disruption of closing.
What parents can do: • Have your children age 6 months and older vaccinated to protect against seasonal influenza and swine flu.• If your child who is younger than 5 develops flu-like illness, call your healthcare provider as soon as possible to determine if they need antiviral treatment. • Check in regularly with the child care center to find out if other kids in your child’s class are sick (and check the CDC Web site, too, for ongoing updates as they become available).• Keep children home if anyone in the household has flu-like symptoms to reduce transmission to others outside the home.• Review basic hand-washing tips yourself, and with young children.• Look to their early childhood providers and state and local health officials for information and guidance on swine flu in their specific location.• On weekends and days off from school, consider activities that do not involve large crowds, such as home activities or walks, to reduce potential exposure to infected individuals.
So…there is so much today and so little time! We just went to the Peddler’s Craft Fair downtown at Caldwell Park along the river…lots of great vendors with anything from soy candles to gemstone necklaces, hand-sewn items and spicy habanero jellies! We decided to take a break at the Mary’s Pizza Shack booth where we had WONDERFUL pizza, oh yes, we even watched the pizza being thrown by the owner himself…and listened to great live music while enjoying our food.
The fair will be going on today and tomorrow so stop by and peruse the booths and enjoy the beautiful day!
Tylenol recalls infants' and children's liquid medications. The maker of Tylenol is recalling 21 types of infants' and children's liquid Tylenol, because it may be contaminated with bacteria, including Tylenol Suspension, Tylenol Cold, Tylenol Plus Cough, Tylenol Plus Flu and Tylenol Plus Cold/Allergy in cherry, grape, strawberry and bubble gum flavors. The affected products were manufactured between April and June 2008. Learn more in the full Safety blog post.
FDA bans flavored cigarettes. As part of the national effort to reduce smoking in America, the Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on cigarettes that taste like fruit, candy or clove. Talk about a gateway drug–who do you think is attracted to cigarettes that taste like candy? Check out the FDA advisory to parents on the risks associated with flavored tobacco products, and to the rest of this Safety blog post for more information.
Dangers of furniture tip-overs highlighted by new CPSC outreach. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently joined the blogosphere and the Twitter universe, opened a channel on YouTube and created a photo stream on Flickr. In The Tipping Point, a featured video, a mother talks about losing her daughter when the toddler was crushed by a television that had fallen off its stand. "These sites are for the moms, dads, grandparents and others who want to protect themselves, their homes and those they care about," wrote Chairman Inez Tenenbaum in her first blog post. Learn how to sign up in the full Safety blog post.
Well the eagerly awaited Redding Airshow will be here this weekend and the Navy’s own Blue Angels have arrived in full g-force! Sitting at a school track meet the kids are so much more interested in the awesome planes than running! I have some pics to add when I get home!
If a baby clothing label says the garment is 100 percent organic, that means only that the cotton in the clothes was grown without synthetic pesticides and other such chemicals. (See our Greener Choices Web site.)
Since cotton is one of the most pesticide-intensive crops grown, buying baby clothes made of organic cotton may be better for the planet. But keep in mind that an organic label certifies only the growing methods of the fiber in the item, not the way it was processed into fabric.
There’s no guarantee that clothes marked “organic cotton” haven’t been chemically treated. If you want to buy truly “green” baby clothes, check if the tag or manufacturer’s Web site has information on how the clothes were processed and dyed.
See trend-spotting at the baby superstore and organic and natural toys for related information.
Do you buy organic baby clothes or other organic garments? Why or why not? Let us know in comments.
If you opt to use your infant car seat as a carrier, realize that it can be a killer on your wrists, elbows, lower back, and neck if you tote it by the handle or if you put it on your forearm like a handbag.
“The greater the horizontal distance from the weight you’re carrying to your torso, the more stress on your joints, discs, ligaments, and muscles,” says Mary Ellen Modica, a physical therapist from the STEPS program at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago, Ill. It’s equivalent to walking around with three or four full paint cans in one hand—something most people wouldn’t do, but yet, they’ll carry a car seat that way.”
Instead, “Carry the car seat in front of you so you have both hands on the handle,” advises Diane Dalton, orthopedic clinical specialist at Boston University’s Sargent College of health and Rehabilitation Sciences, in Boston, Mass. With the weight of the seat and your baby centered and close to your trunk, the force on your body will be reduced, Dalton says.
Another option: Leave the infant seat in your car and transfer your baby to a soft infant carrier, backpack carrier, or stroller, or use a travel system. Or simply carry your baby in your arms.
How do you carry your young baby around? Let us know in comments!
