Young people have harder time getting credit. More than one in five people between ages 18 and 34—22 percent—have been refused in the last year for a credit card or other loan, according to a recent survey by FindLaw.com, a consumer legal Web site. Fifteen percent of that age group were turned down for a credit card within the last year. Four percent were turned down for each of the following: home mortgage, home-equity loan, car loan, student loan. (Learn more about your baby's college fund.) The survey says individuals aged 18 to 34 were more than twice as likely to be turned down for a loan as any other age group. Read more in the full Money blog post.
Tooth Fairy payouts up 13 percent. Following the Dow Jones to see how the economy is doing? You might want to check another economic indicator: The Tooth Fairy Index. The promising news—for kids, anyway—is that the Tooth Fairy is paying out an average of $2.13 per tooth this year, up 13 percent from last year. According to a national poll sponsored by (no surprise) Delta Dental of Minnesota, the Tooth Fairy pays anywhere from 5 cents to $50 for recently-lost baby teeth placed carefully under pillows before bedtime. (Learn more about how to brush your baby's teeth.) Read more in the full Money blog post.
Graco is recalling 1.2 million of its Harmony high chairs after 24 children were injured in tip-over accidents caused by a defect in the chairs. One of the children suffered a hairline fracture to the arm while others sustained bumps, bruises and scratches to the head and body. Astoundingly, there were 464 reports of the high chairs coming apart before the recall.
The screws holding the front legs of the high chair can loosen and fall out and/or the plastic bracket on the rear legs can crack causing the high chair to become unstable and tip over unexpectedly, according to the recall notice from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
This recall involves all Harmony high chairs. They were manufactured from November 2003 through December 2009 and on the market until this month. They are no longer in production. Multiple model numbers are affected (check the recall notice for details). The model number can be found on the label on the underside of the foot rest.
Retailers that sold the seats include AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies "R" Us, Toys "R" Us, Sears, Target, Target.com, Walmart, WalMart.com, Shopko and USA Baby.
The CPSC is telling parents and caregivers to stop using the high chair and contact Graco to receive a free repair kit at (877) 842-3206 or via Graco's Web site.
Learn more in the full Safety blog post. And see our high chair buying advice and high chair ratings for more information.
If a child stops breathing, and their heart stops beating, you need to act fast. Every cell in the body needs oxygen to survive, and if the blood stops bringing fresh oxygen, the cells begin to die. That can quickly lead to brain damage and death.
Chest compressions and rescue breaths can make the difference between life and death for a child who has stopped breathing. So every parent should know how to provide life support for a child, until the emergency medical services arrive.
This is what the American Heart Association’s guidelines recommend:
See the full Health blog post.
“Dinner’s in half an hour,” I told my 14-year-old daughter as she stood with the refrigerator door open, scoping out a snack.
“I know,” she mumbled, closing the refrigerator. She then rifled through the cupboard, her upper lip curled at the lack of satisfactory snacking material in the fridge. Then suddenly her eyes gleamed as she discovered the box of shortbread cookies I’d hidden at the back of the shelf.
“No,” I said, waving a sauce-covered spoon in her direction. “If you can’t wait, then find something healthier. There’s plenty of fruit and cheese in the fridge.” She rolled her eyes in disgust, grabbed an apple, and walked out in a huff, clearly displeased with the paltry range of allowed pre-dinner snacks.
Snacking has become almost second nature for most of us. We’ve become a nation of grazers, relying on a steady stream of food, all day long. A March 2010 study published in the journal Health Affairs looked at the food intake of 31,337 children and adolescents ranging in age from 2 to 18 and found that 98% of children in 2003-06 were daily snackers. That’s a 24% increase over the numbers from 1977-78. And it’s not just the number of snackers that have increased, it’s how much they’re eating. Researchers saw an increase in the size of the snacks (around 50-76 grams per snack—about 1 ¾ – 2 ¾ ounces—depending on the age group) and in the number of extra calories from all those snacks—about 168 more for kids in 2006 than for kids in 1977. (See related: One in five children has risk factors for heart disease.)
What are they snacking on? My daughter’s preferences were a good indication. The study found an increase in how much candy and salty snacks kids were eating, with a decrease in the amount of fruit. They also were drinking more fruit drinks, sports drinks, and fruit juices. And, no surprise, desserts were a typical type of snack.
There are different schools of thought on snacking. Since most children eat smaller amounts at meals than adults, they may need to refuel more often. But the conclusion drawn from the recent snacking study was that children seem to be moving toward a “3+3” type of eating system—meaning, three meals plus three snacks—each day. Even with smaller appetites, I wonder if that kind of steady stream of (usually) high-calorie food gives most kids time even to feel hungry before they chow down again. If they’re not eating because they’re hungry, why are they eating at all? Out of boredom? Because a teacher says it’s snack time? Or is it simply because the vending machine is there?
As a teenager, it’s almost mandatory that my daughter sneer at anything I ask her to do—such as cutting back on snacks a bit, in this case. She’s going to snack no matter what, especially since, as the data says, I would be fighting against a societal snacking trend. But I also know that if I make the healthy snacks easier to reach, then maybe she’ll reach for those. Maybe, by keeping an ample supply of fruit and baby carrots around, and slicing some low-fat cheese into grab-able portions, while keeping the cookies and chips scarce, she’ll be more likely to snack on something healthier–at least when she’s home. And just maybe she’ll take some of those habits with her away from home, reaching for the apple instead of the bag of chips when presented with the option.
—Erin Gudeux, senior project leader, sensory department
As promised, the Consumer Product Safety Commission today issued a warning to parents and caregivers who use slings for their infants. The agency said, "be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age." It also urged parents of preemies, twins, babies in fragile health and those of low weights to use extra care and consult their pediatricians about using slings. (Learn about car seats for preemies and low birth weight babies.)
The warning came a few days after Inez Tenenbaum, the CPSC's chair, spoke to an industry standard-setting group. “We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies," she said.
The CPSC is investigating at least 14 deaths over the past 20 years associated with sling-style infant carriers, including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than four months of age. Many of the babies who died in slings were either a low birth weight twin, were born prematurely, or had breathing issues such as a cold.
Slings can pose two different types of suffocation hazards to babies. In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling's fabric can press against an infant's nose and mouth, blocking the baby's breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two. Additionally, when a sling keeps an infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate. The CPSC recommends that parents and caregivers make sure the infant's face is not covered and is visible at all times to the sling's wearer.
Read more in the full Safety blog post.
Get advice for infant car seats for preemies in our infant car seat Ratings, available to subscribers, and see our baby front carrier safety tips for related information.
Earlier this week, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, made some remarks about the risks of infant slings. “We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies," said Tenenbaum at a summit hosted by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. "So the time has come to alert parents and caregivers.” She said that a general warning about slings would likely be made by her agency very soon.
At Consumer Reports, we’ve raised concerns about slings before. Last fall, we noted that we knew of at least seven babies who suffocated in baby slings over the prior 11 years, and 37 infants who were seriously hurt. Those injuries included skull fractures, broken bones, and serious bruises. Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling. Because of those incidents, and the lack of safety standards, infant slings are on our list of products not to buy for your baby.
We also reported that our research uncovered two deaths associated with one sling model, the Infantino SlingRider. According to government investigators, two newborns died from anoxia, or lack of oxygen, while their mothers carried them in Infantino slings.
On November 4, 2009 we wrote to the CPSC and said that “we believe that the Infantino SlingRider poses a substantial product hazard” and encouraged the agency to consider a recall on the product before more babies die. But on December 23rd, another death occurred. A representative for the family told us that a 3-month-old infant suffocated while being carried by her mother in an Infantino SlingRider during a shopping excursion.
Read the full Safety blog post.
Learn more about safe ways to transport your baby, such as strollers, infant car seat carriers, and front or hip carriers—as well as safety tips for using soft front and hip carriers.
When: Sat Mar 13, 2010 7pm to 11pm
Where: Mt. Shasta Mall, 900 Dana Drive, Redding, CA 96003
MORE INFORMATION:
Event Description: We will be at the Mt. Shasta Mall Saturday March 13th, 2010 excepting registrations for the AWESOME Kids Unlimited Institute of the Arts 2010 Summer Show Camp. We will be having a live radio remote and a special drawing during the event. Come see us! You can find out more information or register online at http://www.kuia.org
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Although quite chatty now, our daughter wasn't an early talker. I clearly remember the worry I felt when her doctor expressed mild concern over her lack of words. As a parent, it's hard not to obsess over such developmental milestones, and you do what you can to help your child learn and grow.
One tool many parents turn to are educational DVDs for babies and toddlers, some of which focus on language. However, a new study suggests that such tools do not actually help young children learn new words or improve their overall language skills. The study focused on the Baby Wordsworth DVD, which is part of the Baby Einstein series.
Ninety-six children aged 12 months to 24 months participated in the study, and half watched the DVD regularly for six weeks. Parents were told to use the DVD as they would any other type of children's media, allowing them to decide whether they would watch the DVD with their child.
Every couple of weeks, the researchers tested both groups' knowledge of the 30 words featured in the DVD by showing the children pairs of pictures and asking them to point to the one showing the word. The parents were also interviewed about their child's use and understanding of these words.
At the end of the study, there were no differences between the groups in overall language skills, or in the numbers of words understood, words said, or pictures identified.
Learn more in the full Health blog post.
For related information, see Are high-tech toys worth it?
Safe ways to transport infants include strollers, handheld infant carrier/car seats, and strap-on carriers. (See our Safety blog post on the safety concerns about some infant slings.)
Here are some safety tips for using strap-on front- and hip-carriers:
Though parents may be eager to "graduate" their child from a rear-facing infant seat to a forward-facing seat, it potentially exposes their child to greater risk.
A 2007 study published in Injury Prevention, a publication of the British Medical Journal, and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that the standard advice of turning a baby from rear-facing to forward-facing at one year and at least 20 pounds puts a child at greater risk for severe injury than if they were to remain rear facing. The study states that children up to 23 months old are about 75 percent less likely to die or sustain serious injury in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing one.
A rear-facing seat spreads the force exerted on a child's body during a crash more evenly across the entire body; limits the motion of the head reducing the potential for neck injury; and keeps the child more contained within the shell of the child restraint than a forward-facing seat. The benefit of a rear-facing car seat was particularly great, the study found, in side impact crashes. (See our Ratings of infant car seats, available to subscribers.) In Sweden, which has very low child-passenger injury and death rates, children often ride rear-facing up to 4 years of age. (See concerns about keeping older children rear-facing.) The American Academy of Pediatrics and many child-passenger safety advocates have expanded their recommendations to suggest that infants and young children remain rear-facing up to the maximum height or weight limits of their car seats. Most convertible models offer the potential of keeping your child rear-facing until he weighs up to 35 lbs. (See our convertible car seat Ratings, available to subscribers.)
Consumer Reports recommends that all children from birth to at least 23 months of age remain rear-facing in a child car seat that is appropriate to the child's height and weight.
See our full convertible car seats report for more information.
