Parent Extremis

Earlier this year the news story broke announcing that Melamine had been found in infant formula made and sold in China. The result was over 50,000 ill babies and sadly, a few dead babies. Melamine is a chemical with many uses, among which is the ability to appear as a protein when dangerously and illegally mixed into food substances.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says there is NO SAFE LEVEL of Melamine in infant formula. A contradiction indeed, they are also telling parents not to overreact or change their baby’s diet at this time. The levels found are extremely low, however, you be the judge. The FDA has established a section of their website for Melamine information.

Yahoo! Reports from the Associated Press:

According to FDA data for tests of 77 infant formula samples, a trace concentration of melamine was detected in one product — Mead Johnson’s Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron. An FDA spreadsheet shows two tests were conducted on the Enfamil, with readings of 0.137 and 0.14 parts per million.

Three tests of Nestle’s Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron detected an average of 0.247 parts per million of cyanuric acid, a melamine byproduct.

The FDA said last month that the toxicity of cyanuric acid is under study, but that meanwhile it is “prudent” to assume that its potency is equal to that of melamine.

And while the FDA said tests of 18 samples of formula made by Abbott Laboratories, including its Similac brand, did not detect melamine, spokesman Colin McBean said some company tests did find the chemical. He did not identify the specific product or the number of positive tests.

Questions and Answers to you questions about Melamine. What is Melamine? What do I do if I think my infant formula contains Melamine? Melamine Information? Symptoms of Melamine poisoning?

Enfamil released a statement today saying that the FDA testing was inaccurate.

Well, folks, more products have been recalled. Products that your children might be playing with this minute. Please read below and make a note of these toys and the contact info in case you or someone you know owns these toys.

RECALLED: Cobra Electronics Children’s Two-Way Radios with Rechargeable Batteries. The batteries can leak and cause chemical burns. These toys were sold at Toys R’ Us in August and September of this year for about $30. They are made in China. If you need more information, contact Cobra Electronics at (888) 252.9889 or visit www.cobra.com.

If you return this product you will get a free-replacement and a 20% off discount towards a future purchase.

RECALLED: JA-RU recalls My Little Train Classics Toy Trains because of a choking hazard. The toy contains small parts that can detach and act as a choking hazard for young children. Made in China they are imported by JA-RU located in Jacksonville, Florida. They were sold nationwide from March 2007 through October 2008 for about $2. JA-RU can be reached at (800) 231.3470.

RECALLED: The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in conjunction with CORAL has recalled Swim N’ Score Dive Sticks because they pose a risk of impalement injury. They were sold at Modell’s Sporting Goods Stores from August 1999 until October 2008. Children can fall or land on the sticks in shallow water and suffer impalement, eye and facial injuries. If you have any of these, please contact Modell’s at (800) 275.6633 or visit www.modells.com/recall

To sign up to receive regular email notices about product safety and recalls visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website at www.cpsc.gov.

Johnson & Johnson, a Merck Consumer Pharmaceutical Company has announced this week, November 10, 2008, an urgent nationwide recall of the Infants’ Mylicon Gas Relief Dye-Free Drops. The medication is an over-the-counter simethicone-based formula to relieve gas. A batch of the medication is being recalled due to the possibility of metal fragments in the medication. This is a precautionary level recall and the potential for serious medical illness is low. It is, however, possible that small metal fragments reached the medication during the manufacturing process.

If you have given this product to your child you shouldn’t worry, any problem should be temporary and resolve without treatment. You should contact your doctor or pediatrician if you suspect you gave this medication to your child.

The two lots of Infants’ MYLICON® GAS RELIEF DYE FREE drops non-staining 1 oz. bottles included in the recall are:

Product Code #	Lot #	Exp	Product
71683791111-1	SMF007	09/10	Infants’ MYLICON® Gas Relief Dye Free Non-Staining Drops 1 oz.
71683791111-1	SMF008	09/10	Infants’ MYLICON® Gas Relief Dye Free Non-Staining Drops 1 oz.

Consumers can find the lot numbers on the bottom of the box containing the product and also on the lower left side of the sticker on the product bottle.

If you have questions about this recall you can reach the company at this number, 1-800-222-9435 or online at www.mylicon.com .

SOURCE

Have you gotten a flu shot yet? Have you gotten one for your children? The Flu is more dangerous for children than a common cold. When they are under the age of five influenza can frequently send children to the hospital for dangerously high fevers and dehydration. Complications occur most often in children younger than two. Children with asthma and diabetes are at especially high risk for complications. The CDC reports that during the 2007-2008 flu season, 86 children died from flu-related complications.

You do not have to get the flu.

There is a vaccine. You have to get vaccinated every year for a new strain of flu. The virus mutates from year to year and that is why a vaccine from last year won’t protect you this flu season. The CDC recommends that all children over the age of six months get a flu vaccine.

The first time a child under the age of nine gets a flu vaccine he will need two doses of vaccine given at least 28 days apart or more. The first dose “primes the immune system and the second dose provides actual protection. My own pediatrician explained to me that young children have immature immune systems and in order to have complete immunity to the flu virus, they need two doses of vaccine.

The sooner you get vaccinated each year the better. If you find it is November or even December you can still get a vaccine. The peak of flu season isn’t until later in the winter. It’s never too late. Get the vaccine. You can get it at your doctor’s office or even more easily at a local grocery store pharmacy or local drug store flu clinic.

SOURCE

Does your little tot carry around a blanket, a stuffed animal or is he still constantly connected to his binky, or pacifier?

This is all very common behavior, devotion and dependency on an object for comfort.  These objects are commonly known as a lovey.  These objects of comfort provide a calm reminder when you, the parent step away and the child experiences some anxiety.  They lovey is familiar, providing smells of home or reminders of you.

Loveys are more common for toddlers and younger children but sometimes a baby will become connected to an object before their first birthday.  Security items can include pacifiers and a thumb, a blanket or cloth diaper.   You may notice that this object never leaves their hand or their sight.  Sucking has a calming affect of babies reminding them of feeding times when they were close to the parent or caregiver.  Soft blankets are soothing to the touch as well.

Parents often worry that their child will never give up their lovey and often joke that he or she will walk down the aisle dragging their nicknamed blanket or go off to college still sleeping with a pacifier or sucking their thumb but you shouldn’t worry too long.   Children will give up their objects in time and there isn’t any harm in sleeping with a certain blanket or stuffed animal into their teen years.  We all have favorite sheets or pillows, so do children, the comfort and familiarity are the same.

Thumb sucking can harm tooth development and lead to the need for braces and orthodontic devices, if you are worried about your child sucking their thumb too long, speak with your child’s dentist and pediatrician for ways to help them wean off.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in conjunction with Carter’s are advising parents that their clothing with tag-less heat transfered labels are causing rashes in some children. A small percentage of babies and children have developed rashes on their upper back and neck. The affected clothing was manufactured in various countries and sold at Carter’s stores and other retail chains as well.

The clothing that is causing this rash is associated with the Carter’s Fall 2007 line of clothing. It uses a label on the inside back of the garment that has a raised surface with a solid background. This advisory does not apply to the current product lines that use a label with a stenciled background. See the photo below for an image of the label.

If your child develops a rash stop wearing the garment and if the rash persists contact your pediatrician. Some doctors will recommend applying a little bit of anti-itch cream or a moisturizing cream like Aquaphor.

These labels are safe and are not the ones included in this advisory.

Babies and young children are also very susceptible to rashes and a variety of skin conditions including baby acne, eczema and impetigo.

Babies and children have very delicate skin and soon after birth it is common for them to get minor rashes and bumps on their skin that don’t offend them.  However, more severe rashes and allergies are also all too common and require diet modification and sometimes antibiotics.  If you aren’t sure what is appearing on your baby or child’s skin you should see your pediatrician for a diagnosis.

Once again I am taking a break from parenting issues to pass along some serious information that might help save your baby or the life of a baby you know.  Please please read below and make sure you do not have any of these products. These recalls are direct from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC.  You can click on the link for further information about what to do if you have one of these recalled products.

First, there was a recall of 2,000 Convertible Cribs by Playkids USA.  This crib can entrap and suffocate an infant, and in fact, a five-month old baby in Brooklyn died in August as a direct result of this faulty product.  The sides of these cribs are made of mesh that expands.   A gap can open up between the mattress and the side and an infant can slip between the side and mattress.   With any crib or pack n’ play be sure that the mattress is very tight fitting.  Mesh sides are designed so that a child who rolls over and cannot roll back is able to breathe through the mesh siding.  But that mesh should be very tight.

There was also a recall of about 800 Baby Walkers made by the My Way Corporation of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  These walkers were sold exclusively in Puerto Rico too.  The hazard of this walker is that it does not meet the voluntary standard size and can fit through a standard size doorway.  It is also not designed to stop at the edge of a stair as most walkers are nowadays.

EcoChildsPlay is giving away a free Medela Nursing Camisole.  Visit the site and enter this awesome giveaway.

Medela products are and have always been free of BPA.

My son is nine months old and I am not even thinking of weaning him anytime soon, but I’m getting mixed messages because all of those PARENTING emails I get each week are starting to mention weaning so I’m starting to think about when I will do it and how I will do it. I have been breastfeeding since Noah was born and for the most part it has gone well for both of us but it has definitely been drastically reduced as we have introduced regular solid foods.

Many women wean after six weeks or three months if they return to work, some set a goal of six months or a year or two plus years. While I am a champion for breastfeeding mothers I whole-heartedly support all mothers and their choices for whatever works best for them and their families. Pediatricians often recommend that babies who are fed formula switch to whole milk at age one. Also, my own pediatrician said I should start whole milk at age one but that if I wanted to continue breastfeeding I could.

Most recently the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that women nurse for a minimum of one year and into the second year if possible because of the significant health benefits for both mother and baby.

Regardless of when you decide to wean and for whatever reason, consider a few things to make the transition easier on you and baby. Wean over a period of at least a few weeks, choose a calm time so that this is the only major change happening at this time. Make an effort to spend extra time with your baby to make up for lost breast-time. Increase one-on-one time, cuddle, read and be close. Don’t be surprised if you experience some emotional changes from the hormonal shift. Take time to nurture yourself, ask for support from your partner, friends, and family.

SOURCE: PARENTS.Com

I’m not a big fan of following any “method” of parenting to a -T-. I feel more strongly that each child’s personality needs different kinds of care and stimulation and when you claim to follow a certain method you are closing off your options to other parenting resources that might actually make sense to you.

Authoritative Parenting is often seen as the evil step-sister of Attachment Parenting. Authoritative Parenting is built on two components, Parental Responsiveness and Parental Demandingness. This can be seen as love, warmth and nurturing VERSUS discipline and control. The parents have to choose how they balance this concept. Some opt for much more demanding and control and others act with a majority of love and warmth with only occasional control.

According to a University of Minnesota publication here is the core of Authoritative Parenting:

Parental Responsiveness (love, warmth, nurturance): Parental responsiveness is the extent to which parents respond to the child’s needs in an accepting, supportive manner. It is a very powerful force in the development of children, and most children probably do not get enough. Nurturance helps children feel loved, secure, and cared about, and it fosters children’s acceptance of discipline and parental demands. There are many ways to respond and nurture children, including listening attentively spending time with children, being available, and giving more attention to that which pleases and less to that which does not (”catch them being good”).

Parental Demandingness (discipline, control) Demandingness is the extent to which a parent expects and demands responsible behavior from children. This dimension includes both setting and enforcing rules or limits on children. In order to be enforced, rules must be clear, reasonable, developmentally appropriate, fair and just, mutually agreed upon, flexible, and emphasize what to do rather just what not to do. Enforcement of rules is much more than just punishment. Indeed, punishment is probably the least effective of the alternatives available. Monitoring and understanding children’s behavior, preventing misbehavior, rewarding good behavior, and guidance are more effective tools.

Wow! Here we are nine months old and just finally getting around to baby’s first cold. Me? I have been sick since Saturday morning so we’re going on a week-long cold for me at this point. Noah didn’t get a runny nose until very late Tuesday night. It was so sad really, to see usually smiley face all covered in sniffling, drippy snot.

Once I had been sick for a few days and continued of course to nurse him I was prepared and fully armed to care for a potentially sick baby. Ironically, we had been at the doctor on Monday for his nine-month well-baby check-up.

Recent controversy aside, it is usually best to let a cold run its course without the use of symptom-treating over-the-counter medications. Most doctors will recommend for adults, extra rest and sleep, increased fluids (water, hot tea, juice) and Tylenol for a low fever and general malaise.

For babies older than two months you should always contact your pediatrician for the baby’s first cold as the doctor may want to see them to rule out any other illness. But, you should take an occasional temperature to make sure that any fever is low, as that is just the body fighting the germs. Fevers higher than 100 (one hundred degrees Fahrenheit) are cause for more worry and you should visit the doctor.

For babies and toddlers who have a common head cold, the following is suggested:

Saline nose spray, infant Tylenol, the use of a cool mist humidifier, extra fluids (water, breast milk, formula), rest, a warm bath is relaxing and sitting in a steamy bathroom while the shower runs is also good for loosening chest and nasal congestion.

I don’t know that this site was intended for information like what is to follow, but this is a Parenting site and I suspect most of the visitors are PARENTS and there is crucial - life-saving information that needs to be passed on and shared and spread around, NOW. Please read on, this is important.

Another baby product has been recalled. The Simplicity Drop Side Crib is being recalled because there are problems with the crib’s hardware size. The drop side can come off of the track and detach. That creates a gap that can trap and suffocate a baby.

About 600,000 of these cribs have been sold by the following retailers, AAFES, of Dallas, Texas; Babies“R”Us, of Wayne, N.J.; Burlington Coat Factory/Baby Depot, of Burlington, N.J.; K’s Merchandise (out of business); Meijer Distribution Inc., of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Nebraska Furniture Mart, of Omaha, Neb.; ShopKo, of Green Bay, Wis.;Target, of Minneapolis, Minn.; Wal-Mart Stores Inc, of Bentonville, Ark.

Here is the description of the affected cribs:

Description: This recall of Simplicity drop side cribs involves models that used a different style of hardware from those cribs recalled in September 2007. The recalled model numbers include: 8620, 8745, 8748, 8755, 8756, 8778, 8810, and 8994. The recalled drop side cribs have a date code, which can be found on a label on the headboard under the mattress support, which ends in 05DH, 05GB, 06DH, 06GB, 07DH or 07GB (examples: 1806 DH or 0507 GB). The recalled model names include: Aspen and Crib N Changer Combo, Gabrielle, Camille, Providence and Shenandoah. Only the brand name “Simplicity” can be seen on the label on the headboard.

For more information about who to contact if you or someone you know has this crib, click HERE.

I didn’t read many parenting books when I was pregnant because I didn’t think I needed to read a million and five theories about how and when to hold and feed my child.  I wasn’t interested in the scare tactics that many of the books utilize to get parents on board with their “methods”.  Ultimately, I believe that children need tons of love, non-physical discipline, age-appropriate, relevant and rational limits, good role models, a strong family network and exposure to a wide range of activities and experiences in order to become healthy and well-adjusted individuals.   I suspect that most parents would agree.

One of the parenting-method theories is called Attachment Parenting.

Those who subscribe to Attachment Parenting believe they are raising children to become highly empathetic people able to form strong interpersonal connections. “Attachment Parenting challenges us as parents to treat our children with kindness, respect and dignity, and to model in our interactions with them the way we’d like them to interact with others.”

The eight principles of Attachment Parenting include Preparing for Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting; Feed with Love and Respect; Respond with Sensitivity; Use Nurturing Touch; Engage in Nighttime Parenting; Provide Consistent and Loving Care; Practice Positive Discipline; and Strive for Balance in Your Personal and Family Life.  A description of these principles can be found here.

I really like some of the concepts of this “method” but I can’t wholly support any one method of parenting that is so structured.  It can be too challenging and confusing and also it tends to make mothers feel inadequate.  As mothers, we have enough guilt and worry about how we are mothering, we don’t need the added stress of feeling as though we need to follow the rigors of someone else’s recommended model for our behavior.  I do agree that babies need a lot of physical contact and that this specific contact does make them feel safer, more loved and therefore well adjusted children in this world.   For example, a mother should use a baby carrier OR sling because she wants to and needs the convenience not because she if fearful that if she doesn’t she will harm her child or cause irreversible emotional damage.

Do you practice Attachment Parenting, what can you say about it?   Do you feel it has made you better as a parent?  How so?

Links are, in my opinions the BEST baby item out there. Of course everyone has a favorite item but I found these to be endlessly useful for a long period of time. They are a safe toy, a simple toy, with many uses.

You can link a few of these together and they are perfect little textured-multi-colored easy-to-hold “toys” perfect for newborns, babies and toddlers.  I love these multi-purpose, all-age toys.

They are made from molded plastic which is not known to have lead, a common concern these days. You can clean them with a disinfectant-wipe or just toss them in the dishwasher or a pot of boiling water for a few minutes.

I keep a few links hooked together in the car as a toy while we drive. I also keep a few in the diaper bag, a great distraction when we’re in line at the grocery and the baby just needs a distraction NOW! And they also are excellent when you are in the teething stage because the plastic is easy for little hands to hold onto and “chew”.

Links are also good for LINKING other toys to an object for entertainment purposes. You can use a few links to hold a stuffed animal toy to the edge of a stroller. And since you can “link” them toys won’t drop on the floor.

There are a bunch of different brands that make a variation of the link: Fisher Price, Kids II, and Sassy’s links are BPA-free.

They retail for between $3.99 and $5.99 a package.

It’s no secret that I like to make a big deal about product safety. It’s a big concern of mine for many reasons of which I won’t bore you with now except to say that my dad is kind of a big deal and he makes decisions that are saving lives. Children’s lives.

When I come across some good data I like to share that with my readers. The best way to keep kids safe from inevitable product failures and product misuse is to spread the word.

There is no end in sight to the number of options you have when looking for baby gear. The stroller, crib and car seat options are endless and often mind-boggling for a mother-to-be. The price ranges are vast too, but expensive DOES NOT MEAN safer. There are $500 highchairs that collapse with kids in them. There are also $60 car seats that get recalled because the LATCH straps fails to tighten correctly.

There are 7,300 injuries a year caused by high chairs. (7,300 is the number that is REPORTED, there could be more) Most often, babies will tip over, and slip out through the bottom and get strangled by the waist belt in the process. When you are in the store looking for a high chair, ignore what the store says is the “mot popular” chair. Also ignore the cutest chair. There are more important safety guidelines to consider before you look at superficial details like pattern and style.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILD SAFE IN A HIGHCHAIR

* Make sure the chair has a wide base, that the legs are spread out and sturdy, this gives the chair a lower center of gravity and a reduced chance of tipping over. In the store, give the chair a push and see if it can tip easily.

* Always lock the chair before putting your child in it.

* Buckle all the crotch straps and keep them comfortably snug.

* Don’t stray too far from a child in a high chair. It is only a semi-restraint. Children are flexible and curious and determined. Often they will get one leg out of a strap and then they can climb over the top.

* Don’t let other children play around the high chair while a baby is in it.

* Don’t trust a high chair to keep your child safe, you must keep an eye on the kid at all times.

SOURCE: Parenting Magazine April 2008