Bring extra treats with you when you go out trick-or-treating this Halloween. This way, you will have already examined it and you can be sure it's safe. If you do allow your child to eat some of the treats he gets while out, he should not eat anything until you have had a chance to examine it for him.

For more last-minute Halloween advice, see our related posts:

Be safe while trick-or-treating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of deaths among young pedestrians (ages 5 to 14) is four times higher on Halloween evening that any other evening of the year. Drivers should be extremely cautious on Halloween. For more safety tips, see the full Safety blog post.

Recall: "My Baby Soother" pacifiers. Earlier this week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued an announcement urging parents and caregivers to stop using “My Baby Soother” pacifiers due to a choking hazard. The pacifiers, distributed by T & L Trading of Brooklyn, NY, fail to meet federal safety standards because the nipples can separate from the base easily, posing a choking hazard to infants and toddlers. T & L Trading has refused to recall these pacifiers, despite the fact they are in violation of the law. See the full Safety blog post.

Three more companies recall shades and blinds. Almost one million roman shades and roller blinds were recalled this week after three more children became entangled in the cords. Fortunately, the children were discovered before they were further harmed—unlike three other children who strangled on the cords of blinds and died. Learn more in the full Safety blog post.

Trim the tree? Deck the halls? Trim the budget is more like it. This holiday season, according to the new Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll, consumers are cutting back their holiday spending and using creative ways to fill the gift gap. Luckily for them, our survey reveals that grandchildren and grandparents stand the best chance of getting something this season. See the full Money blog post.

Out in left field. Whether you’re photographing a World Series game or your child’s soccer match, capturing sharp images while freezing the action in a sporting event poses two special challenges: You’re far from the action and your subjects may be moving quickly and unpredictably. Learn the only practical way to conquer the distance problem in the full Electronics blog post.

Brakes are one of the most important features you can evaluate when shopping for a stroller. Some checks in the store can help you find one with the most effective brake system.

Check that any stroller you intend to buy has a good parking brake, one that's convenient to operate and locks two wheels. Parking brakes on two wheels provide an extra margin of safety. Some two-wheel parking brakes are activated in a single stroke by a bar in the rear of the stroller frame. Others require two actions and have foot-operated tabs above each rear wheel.

When brakes are activated, plastic cogs engage with the sprockets of the rear wheels. Avoid models that can hurt your feet when you engage or disengage the brakes with light shoes or bare feet.

In addition to parking brakes, most jogging strollers have bicycle-type hand-operated brakes–important to help you slow down when cruising at a fast clip. Some pricier jogging strollers have hand-operated brakes on the front or rear wheels. (See all stroller types.)

Using a stroller might seem intuitive, but it’s easy to make mistakes in setting it up and wheeling it out. Here are some common lapses and how to avoid them so that your buggy doesn’t become a risky ride for your child.

1. Failing to make sure the stroller is fully locked into its “open” position before strapping in your child. It’s easy to skip this step when you’re in a rush, and some strollers require force and effort to make sure they lock. Make it a point to listen for that all-important click every time, or the stroller might fold in–with your child in it.
2. Forgetting to buckle up your child, even if you’re just wheeling him or her up the block, or going slowly. You never know when you could hit a bump that could cause a nasty tumble, so make sure your little one is properly strapped in.
3. Failing to brake. It only takes a slight incline to send the stroller rolling away from you. Put your foot on the brake when you take your hands off the stroller, even if you’re stopping for just a moment.
4. Treating your stroller like a shopping cart. Parents often toss a shopping bag or purse around the handles, but if the stroller wasn’t designed to carry that extra weight it could tip over. Having a basket or storage area under the stroller helps, but be sure to check the directions for weight limits before you stash items there.
5. Using a hand-me-down without checking its history. A stroller purchased years ago for an older child might have since been recalled. Before you dust it off for reuse, check with the manufacturer or the Consumer Product Safety Commission for product alerts. Even if it hasn’t been recalled, there are other reasons you might want to consider buying a brand-new set of wheels. Stroller safety standards are regularly reviewed, so newer models might be a better bet. They might also have new features that make them easier to use.

See our stroller Ratings and stroller shopping tips for more information. And see the Consumer Reports Best Baby Products guide, available in our bookstore and in bookstores nationwide, for more baby buying advice.

Two infant deaths this year in Infantino slings raise concerns about the product. Participants at a recent ASTM-International meeting on sling carriers discussed the design of the Infantino “bag-style” sling and how it could contribute to suffocation and obstructed airways. That can happen for two reasons—either the baby’s face turns inward and becomes covered by the mother’s clothing or breasts, or the baby is placed in a position where the infant's head falls so far forward that the airway is closed off. Read the rest of the post on our Safety blog.

We think there are better ways to transport infants, including strollers, handheld infant carrier/car seats, and strap-on carriers.

Here are some strap-on front and hip carrier safety tips:

• Read the instruction manual and the warnings on the product before you first wear it to make sure you’re using it properly.
• Before using a carrier at any time, take time to put it on properly. Check that the straps are fitted and adjusted correctly, and the buckles, snaps, straps, and adjustments are safely fastened into position and secure.
• Sit down when placing your baby in the carrier and when taking him out.
• After your child is seated in a carrier, with her legs securely in the leg openings, adjust leg openings to the smallest size possible without cutting into her thighs or seat.
• Make sure your baby can breathe easily when in the carrier. His nose and mouth shouldn’t be obstructed in any way, and his chin should not be pressed against his chest, which carries a risk of asphyxiation.
• Don’t transport your child in a carrier on your back unless it’s made to be worn that way. Note that infants who can’t hold their heads up should never be carried on an adult’s back under any circumstances.
• Use the carrier according to the manufacturer’s weight recommendations. To avoid back and neck strain, stop using a front carrier when your baby reaches 20 pounds, or anytime you feel uncomfortable.
• Until your child can hold her head upright (around 6 months old), she should ride facing toward you with head support.
• Be careful when bending, leaning forward, or going through doorways when wearing a carrier. If you have to reach down, bend at your knees to make sure your baby stays upright. Don’t bend over at your waist.
• Use a carrier only for standing or walking. Don’t use it for sporting activities like running or bicycling or when cooking, cleaning, carrying a load, or driving.
• Don’t use a carrier to hold your baby in a car instead of a car seat.
• Don’t leave a baby in the carrier while putting it on or taking it off.
• Don’t put your baby in a carrier that’s not attached to you or another caregiver.
• Stop using a carrier if any parts or components are damaged, missing, or broken.
• Consider his and hers carriers of you and your partner want to use a strap-on or hip carrier frequently and you’re not roughly the same size. To wear a strap-on or hip carrier safely, adjust the straps exactly right. If you have a separate carrier for each parent, you won’t have to continually adjust the carrier to trade back and forth or be tempted to make a too-quick adjustment.
• If you want to use your strap-on carrier outside in cooler months, consider getting a carrier cover (we have not tested these). It slips over most brands of strap-on soft infant carriers so you don’t have to stuff your bundled-up baby into a carrier or zip your coat around him.

The Shasta Animal Welfare Foundation is hosting a Halloween Pet Parade and Costume Judging

from 11:00 am to noon at the south side of the Sundial Bridge on Halloween. The registration will begin at 10:15am and the cost is $10 per entrant. For more information visit the Shasta Animal Welfare Foundation’s website www.ShastaAnimals.org or call 238-8300.

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Coldstone Creamery is hosting an Ice Cream Social with proceeds benefiting the Foothill High School Art Club on Tuesday, October 27th from 5pm – 8pm.  Coldstone is located at 1030 E. Cypress Avenue in Redding, hope to see you there!

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When Nintendo debuted a new handheld gaming system—the DSi—last April, I knew I would have two highly convincing and eager boys (ages 8 and 9) to contend with. After the Nintendo hit the shelves, Zach and Jonah counted up their birthday money and allowance, and along with their current DS Lite systems, headed to a local gaming store to trade it all in for the latest DSi.

And with the holidays approaching, you may be wondering whether it’s worth the money to upgrade to another system, yet again. Here are some additional features that the DSi has that the 2006 model DS Lite lacks:

• Two cameras, which are used for taking pictures and video.  You can morph the shots into silly images of the person—such as making them wider or thinner, drawing on the person’s face, adding graphics and much more.
• A sound recorder used for recording voices (or any sounds) of your friends and family, and like the camera, you can leave it at that—or you can change the pitch and speed of the voices or sounds. Zach and Jonah both enjoy using this feature on unsuspecting adults, recording them on the sly (myself being one of the victims). They then play it back making me sound like a chipmunk or something out of a scary movie. Lucky for me, the recorder can only record up to 10 seconds of voice clips.
• A Web browser that allows you to check e-mail and surf the Web. But it won’t play video, so if you’re getting the DSi in hopes of checking out YouTube videos, this device isn’t for you. You might also want to set up Parental Controls (instructions available from Nintendo.com) so that you can control what sites your kids are able to access (similar to the way you would control your home computer).
• A convenient feature that I appreciate is the DSi Shop that you access from your DSi. Games are priced by points rather than a dollar amount. It comes out to a penny a point. You first buy the points (You can’t “earn” points; they must be purchased) to obtain games or applications from the store. Points can be purchased with a credit card directly from your DSi shop or you can buy a point card form your gaming store. Some parents (myself included) might be asking, “Why not just skip the point process and purchase the games directly?” But I won’t complain too much, since this feature still enables players to get more games and/ or applications without leaving the house (Read: No need to load everyone up just to go pick up a game).  Some games are available for free; others are 200, 500 and 800 points (in dollars that’s $2.00, $5.00 and $8.00).
• The DSi can be utilized in the way an MP3 player is (although my kids have yet to use this feature). You must first save your music to an SD card and the card is then inserted into the DSi. The SD card is not included and must be purchased separately (a 2 GB SD card will cost approx. $10-$14). Also, the format of the music has to be in AAC format.

How well does the new DSi hold a charge? Well that all depends on the brightness setting of your handheld. At its brightest, the DSi will last 3 to 4 hours, the DS Lite 5 to 8 hours. The lower the brightness the longer your charge will last. Along those lines, the DSi takes 2.5 hours to charge vs. the Lite’s 3 hours.

Additionally, you can continue to play most DS games that you may already have. It will not support Guitar Hero games or the Tony Hawk Motion game (because of additional accessories required for those games and no port in the DSi is available for them) and the DSi doesn’t accommodate either Game Boy or Game Boy Advance games (no slot for those either).

Zach says the “camera option is by far the best.” Jonah says he “likes the Web browser more than anything”. And occasionally, they’ll even play games on the DSi.

The DSi is currently available in 4 colors (black, light blue, pink, and white) and retails for $170.

—Ina Gozenpud, associate product analyst

For related content, see video game consoles and how to handle carsick kids.

 
Safe co-sleeping with infants? At the recent ASTM International meeting, some final details were being worked out on a safety standard for bedside sleepers–bassinet-like devices that connect to an adult bed, allowing the baby to be within arms reach of parents. But there have been a significant number of injuries and fatalities with co-sleepers sold as recently as last year. Learn more in the full post on our Safety blog.

New York's Suffolk County moves to ban drop-side cribs. If it's signed into law, it will be the first place in the country to ban the sale of drop-side cribs. Lawmakers expressed concern over the estimated 90 deaths and 11,000 injuries associated with drop-side cribs between 2005 and 2008. Learn more in the full post on our Safety blog.

School bus safety for kids. Many parents worry about sending their most precious cargo off on the bus each morning, but riding a school bus is considered one of the safest forms of transportation, about seven times safer than passenger vehicles. The greatest risk with school buses is when children are getting on and off. Learn more in the full post on our Safety blog.

Tiny turtles blamed for salmonella outbreak. Even though tiny turtles were banned as pets more than 30 years ago, they were apparently to blame for a large salmonella outbreak in 2007 and 2008. Sickened were 107 people, mostly children, in 34 states. One-third of the victims were hospitalized. Learn more in the full post on our Safety blog.

Halloween Haunt Night & Spooky Lagoon

October 23rd-24th, 2009, 6:00-9:00 pm. 1st night not as scary as the 2nd night.

Redding’s only Haunted House on Water! View the rooms while being pulled through in a raft, go trick or treating, participate in a costume parade, enjoy the carnival games, food and snacks! Another Red Ribbon Week event (an alcohol, tobacco and drug free event).

Time: 6:00-9:00 pm

Individual Fee: $5- ages 3 years & older, children 3 and younger FREE.
Family packs: $30 = 4 meals deals (hot dog or corn dog, chips, & beverage), 8 tickets for each person

44 Quartz Hill Rd., Redding , 96003

For more information call 530-225-4479