Monday, August 30, 2010

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Child Safety & Technology - Cell Phone Texting and Driving Can Now Be Stopped



Where do you draw the line between protecting your child and giving them privacy and freedom? How do you control the use of your child's cell phone?

This blog entry is being driven by a new article I am researching for a work website. I've known that this cell phone tracking/managing technology was coming for a while, and I have been drooling to hear which side of the privacy issue people will sit on. Me?

FACT: Every year texting and driving injures 2X more teens
THAN DRUNK DRIVING

FACT: 25% of fatal car accidents involve a cell phone

FACT: 20% of teens admit to texting nude pictures of themselves


Folks, let me start by saying that I would probably chip my kid - that's right, like you can chip a dog - if they'd let me. I know, I know that sounds terrible. I'd let him turn it off when he was 18 or 30, or something. Nobody wants the villains to know (which of course they would) that your kid is traceable and try to carve out the chip and cause them harm... you can see I've thought about this. It's would be a tough choice. But we can't do that - well, now we kinda can. Read on.

Here's the deal - for $10 per month, parents can now STOP TEENS from TEXTING and DRIVING. This CellSafety* technology apparently SHUTS OFF the phone if it senses movement while your teenager is driving (or in a moving vehicle). It has a SPEED ALERT (and you are notified immediately).

There's more. Using keyword technology (same as other web safety services that are in the marketplace), it can tell if teens are texting about nudity, cyber bullying, guns, suicide, porn. You can block texting in certain areas (like the classroom). Last but certainly not least (and here's where there might be more on that 'chipping' debate), it uses GPS technology to tell you where your kids are, and where they have been.

Thing is fellow superheroes, there are sick bastards/villains in this world that want to harm my child and I know how easy it will be for them to find him. Particularly now that kids are plugged in all the time. Imagine what the future will look like? Nobody likes to hear about those Amber alerts. So if you could buy some extra time, find them faster - would you? What if you could teach teens that what they are doing is putting them in harm's way in real-time?

Spousal Disagreement!
My husband and I completely disagree on this issue. He hates when I mention the "chipping" idea. Probably because (shut your eyes mama-in-law) his parents would have locked him up if they knew half the things he got away with. Yes, I know that we have to let our kids learn a lot on their own. He believes that sometimes you just have to 'let them fall'. And so do I to a certain extent (see last blog entry). My husband survived all the craziness, and so did my brother. But I think they GOT LUCKY. Don't get me wrong, that GPS technology would have probably kept me out of by high school bo's house many a nights!!!! Or not? ;-)

So, how DO YOU manage your teenager's cell phone (and internet) use and will you start taking advantage of child safety technology as it enters the marketplace? I am very curious about your points of view on this. Please comment!

*NOTE: TBrightgeist Media (company I run) WILL BE PAID if you sign up for this offer. That's how I found out this product was coming into the marketplace. This isn't a pitch for the product. I am writing about this because I think its important,. I just like to be transparent when there is any financial gain (even when it's not directly to me) on product links or offers. They also offer a very good WEB SAFETY product that provides similar controls. Ditto on the financial gain thing.

I'll publish the www.Accidents.com when we finish it. Follow Accidents.com on Facebook for other accident safety articles. Yep, THAT was a shameless plug!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

It's the difference between superman and superparent...

We LOVE this article by Parenting Bliss. Here is an excerpt:

All kids get sick, all kids get hurt and all kids receive insults and disappointments. They are better served when we try to teach them how to live in a world that has many challenges, than pretend life is all cushions and pillows.

The ultimate point here is that for sure we should try to protect our children, but they also need personal challenges in order to grow.

It’s the difference between superman and superparent. As much as we would like to remake the world with no rough edges or nasty people – it just isn’t so, nor remotely possible. However, some parents don’t want to believe it -- they think they have figured out how to make it so no one gets sick or says a mean word, so they play superman sweeping in to save the day.

*******

My mom called this the "fishing line" effect. She would cast out the fishing line and let us pull it out (testing the waters) but when she thought she needed to reel it in, she would, but very slowly. Her hope was that we would learn a little through that process.

I don't know how I'll react when Lucas starts to test more dangerous waters. I hope I can use that fishing line effect, but right now I feel like I have to play superman and over-protect. I know my husband tends to disagree. But if I can avoid some extra scrapes and bruises... well then, I will!

Quote for Today...

"Mother Nature is wonderful. Children get too old for piggy-back rides just about the same time they get too heavy for them." ~Author Unknown

Our son is now 9 months old and has his "well" doctor's appointment tomorrow. I have no doubt that he weights over 25 lbs. I'm 5'2". I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to give him piggy-back rides. Maybe I'm too short for piggy-back rides? :-)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Road to a Baby's Round Head - Part 2 - About Week 1


It’s Working!

Lucas has now been in his DOC band helmet for four weeks and we can see a very big difference, particularly above his ears where he was very wide. He also had a deep ridge in the back of his head and that is absolutely gone. The back still looks flat, but we can see that it is starting to fill in at the bottom. The technicians were very happy with the results after only three weeks.

Looking Back - The First Week

Looking back over the last few weeks makes me appreciate how much he has gotten used to wearing his helmet, particularly at night. The first week was miserable. The folks at Cranial Technologies warned us that he would get hot, but we didn’t expect what we went through. I’m not going to downplay it - it was bad! Every kid is different, and our son tends to be a ‘hot’ baby. The first night we took the helmet off after about 3 hours because he was so upset. He woke up completely soaked down his back, and there was really no consoling him. That night I thought we’d never get through it. I think we slept a total of 4 hours.


Sleeping with the DOC band helmet

During the first few days we followed the guidelines (take off every couple of hours to check for sores) and every time we took it off, he was soaked. No sores the first week. I called Cranial Technologies and they told me that it just takes some time for their body temperature to adjust. The second night we broke our rules and let him sleep in bed with us. That made it easier for me to feel for sweat, and when I started to feel it drip out of the helmet, I would take it off for an hour or two (yep, in the middle of the night). I’d set my iPhone timer so that I could wake up and put it back on. I am not going to say it was easy, but by the 4th night he was not leaking sweat out of it anymore. By the fifth day he was definitely sweating a lot less. We also really chilled down the room to 70 degrees and didn’t put him in pajama pants. He is still only sleeping in an onesie. It’s made a big difference. I’ll try throwing a blankie on him but he only kicks it off. Now that he’s adjusted, we are sleeping with the room at 73 degrees and with the ceiling fan.

I was pleasantly shocked by the fact that the helmet had absolutely no impact on him during the day. He completely ignores it. Once in a while when he’s tired he’ll tug on the part by his ear, but only because that’s how he always tells us he’s tired. Funny side benefit - now that Lucas is crawling and scooting, the helmet has saved us from many, many bruises! The helmet does droop down a lot when he's drinking his bottle, so we just make sure to adjust it so that it doesn't get in his way. One other thing - parents have to be careful! We have been scraped and banged by our son's head a few times, and it hurts!

When we went back for our first adjustment (the first time its in a week) they had to do some pretty major cutting in the front of the helmet because it was coming down too low over his eyebrows, and it was hitting his left ear every time he got on his belly to try to crawl. I kept thinking that the helmet wasn’t’ the right size, but Cranial Technologies reminded me that they have to leave room for three months worth of head growth. If you think about how much they grow every month, the size of the helmet made more sense.

A few days after this first adjustment we ended up back at Cranial Technologies. Lucas was getting fairly large red spots at his temples that weren’t disappearing, so we went back and they adjusted it again. That fixed the problem, and we haven’t had any issues with sores since then.

I waited to decorate his helmet until we went for his 2nd week’s appointment, just to make sure that they weren’t going to drastically change anything else on the outside of the helmet. After that second appointment, we went right to Pearl Art Center and bought our goodies. More on decorating the DOC band helmet in my next entry!

Hope this gives everyone some sense of what the expect after they get the DOC band helmet. Best of luck to those considering it or just starting out!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Coupon Alert: Shutterfly 20% off Photobooks and Free Shipping (expires9/1)

You can't beat baby books that are easy to make! Discount expires September 1st according to the website, according to the email it expires Aug. 25th. Who knows, but it's a good deal along with the free shipping which usually boosts the cost. Here's the link!

shutterfly-coupon

Monday, August 16, 2010

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Road to a Baby's Round Head - Part 1

For parents worried about or dealing with their baby's head shape. Warning - this is a long blog entry. You should read it if:

  • You have ANY questions about your baby’s head shape, in the front, sides or back. You are not being OVER PROTECTIVE. You know best, and you should read on. Your pediatrician may NOT be the professional with the right answers.

  • You don’t know the answers to 'What is Plagiocephaly' or 'What is Torticollis'?

  • Your baby is less than 4 months old because you might be able help plagiocephaly through repositioning techniques.

  • If you are a DOC parent, than here's our story. When I was doing my research it was the other parents’ stories that helped me the most…

Cheating tip: if you don’t feel like reading my sob story, skip to the end where I provide ANSWERS/RESOURCES.

The ROAD TO DIAGNOSIS


It was at Lucas’ 4 month check up when I mentioned his head shape to his doctor. I thought something was off because it was so flat in the back, but when he told me that it would be fine as Lucas spent more time on his tummy, I let it go. I told him that Lucas absolutely hated tummy time. No exaggeration, my kid would go into what I call the ‘red devil’ fit because his face and body would turn so red from crying. All we had to do was turn him over and the screaming would start. We didn’t like to upset our child so he stayed on his back. The doc said that “this would pass” as he got stronger. Stronger? He was lifting his head the day he was born. He was already trying to pull himself up using our fingers. This baby was strong and ready. Over the next two months Lucas grew by inches (woo hoo!). He did start pulling himself up early, and was doing so with our help by 5 months. He was thrilled when he was standing, but the ‘red devil’ still emerged at tummy time. I knew Lucas was fine developmentally, but my stubborn child (we’ll blame daddy, ha!) wouldn’t roll over!

At his 6 month checkup we were scheduled to see the other doctor at our practice. We barely made it in the door when she jumped up about his head shape. I got very upset, as any mother would have been. Upset because my instinct was right, because I didn’t push harder two months ago, because I didn’t know there was a real problem – or a solution. But there were answers. For the record (facts I screamed at the doctor as we talked), my child did not sit in a swing all day, or lay underneath a play gym. If anything, his full-time nanny spoiled him by carrying him around way too much! He wasn’t watching television (yet!) and we DID TRY tummy time but were guilty of giving up too soon. Lucas slept on his back as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He actually slept on one of those breathing monitors because I was so afraid of SIDS.

DIAGNOSIS


When I mentioned his crying fits the doctor’s answer was a simple one: let him cry! She recommended we train him by doing 5 minutes of tummy time (play, run, jump, entertain him, but do it), three times a day. Increase it when he can handle the 5 minutes. She also made sure that his neck alignment wasn’t off (Torticollis ) and causing pain or discomfort. In her opinion, it was fine, and this was not a physical or development problem. If it was, there was physical therapy she could prescribe. So what was going on? Our little man knew that we weren’t letting him cry, and he was taking advantage of it! At six months! By the way, after 3 days of these exercises, the ‘red devil’ disappeared and Lucas started to roll over. Three days. Five days later he was sleeping on his belly. So now what? At this point the Doc believed that Lucas could be diagnosed with plagiocephaly. And she believed that the best people to diagnose him were at Cranial Technologies.

I didn’t know what she was talking about until she said, “you know, those kids that wear those helmets? That’s why they have to wear them. To reshape their heads. ” Plagiocephaly is an abnormal head shape in infants and this company has been working on the prevention and treatment since 1986. I had seen kids with the helmets before, but didn’t know why they were wearing it. I thought maybe they had to protect a cut from a surgery, or something else. Maybe a development issue that I just wasn’t aware of.

BLAME and FRUSTRATION
Prescription in hand, I came home upset and incredulous. How the hell did I miss this? If you knew me you would be shocked too. I am a research ANIMAL. I researched strollers and baby carriers for 3 months for the love of God! Why, why didn’t I come home 2 months ago and Google “baby head shape” or something like it? And why, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHY didn’t the other doctor WARN ME that this might happen. Since when do I listen to doctors anyway? Okay, enough. You can’t change the past. Forward we go, and off to Cranial Technologies (website) we went. Babycenter.com also had some great information, and more importantly, links to other blogs from parents that had used Cranial Technologies.

THE ANSWERS/RESOURCES


Most of the information I SHOULD HAVE HAD when Lucas was 4 months old (or sooner) was on CranialTech.com. Really great, useful information that could possibly have stopped the need for this helmet.

In summary:
1. TUMMY TIME IS IMPORTANT because without it, your baby could get Plagiocephaly. Here is a GREAT BROCHURE that explains why.
2. Before 4 months, parents can try repositioning techniques. Tips for repositioning.
3. Don’t leave this to guess-work. Cranial Technologies will give you a very through and wonderfully free evaluation.
4. Here are pictures of different baby head shapes. See if they seem familiar.

After our appointment with Cranial, Lucas was diagnosed with moderate Brachycephaly. The technician said it might somewhat correct itself now that Lucas was starting to sleep on his side and belly. But there were no guarantees. After a certain age, it would be too late to correct it. I’ll tell you more about what we decided (I am sure you already know where that is going), what other options we found, and what factors led to our decision. I just really wanted to get this information out there for other parents.

For parents considering the DOC band, let me know if you want to hear about Lucas’ first few days with it (not as easy as they tell ya, but not that bad either). Happy to pull that from his journal for you. You can follow the rest of our story under the category “Baby Head Shape”. More soon and good luck. Hope this was helpful.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Product tip: Sophie the Giraffe Leash by TutimNYC

We had stopped taking Sophie the Giraffe for walks because we were tired of picking her up and worse, we were afraid to lose her.  After all, my son absolutely adores this thing and Sophie is the only teething toy he really likes.  He attacks those legs with a vengeance and can now fit her entire face in his mouth.  It's a riot.  Oops... back to the point of the post.

Anyway, we are happy to report that a friend found the solution and Sophie is officially on the toy leash by TutimNYC.  They didn't post instructions on their site so here they are for our reader'ns pleasure.  Once you know  how to do it, it's pretty easy.  Thanks to the superheroes at Bambi Baby in Hoboken for teaching me how to leash Sophie!

Tip: I was using pacifier wipes to clean off Sophie when she was spending more time on the floor than in Lucas' little hands/mouth!  Oh, and we now own the paci clip as well.  Yes, we love that too.


Just in case you are wondering, we are NOT BEING PAID to ADVERTISE this product NOR was it received for FREE.


How to (pictures below):

1. Make sure the tag goes across Sophie's torso as shown

2. Pull the leash across Sophie's neck

3. Wrap it around, button and go!


sophie-the-giraffe-tutimnyc-leash

2-sophie-the-giraffe-tutimnyc-leash

3-sophie-the-giraffe-tutimnyc-leash

Another battle against cleaning and bacterias has been won!

Resources:

http://tutimnyc.com/toy.htm

You can buy this product in Hoboken, NJ at Bambi: www.bambibaby.com/

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Storing and Freezing Baby Food - BPA Free Trays

KidCo BPA-Free Baby Food Freezing Trays

Finally!  After months of dealing with different methods of freezing food, I found what I was looking for.  These BPA-free Kidco baby food freezing trays have the key things that we were looking for:

1.  Safety.  BPA-free keeps baby food safe from contaminants.  More on why this is important in another entry.

2.  Cleanliness.  It's very important that we keep food covered.  Keeps out bacteria and freezer burn.

3.  Easy to label.  You can use dry erase markers to label the trays

4.  Price.  These are well priced (less than $9.00 for set 2) compared to others that can go as high as $20 each (Beaba silicone trays)

We bought seven boxes (14 trays) for a total of $59.43.  Each tray carries 7 , 1 oz. servings of food.  Our son is eating 5 oz. of food at each meal so I figured that was enough to get me through about 2o home-made meals!

What else did we try for freezing and storing frozen baby food?

- vs. Silicone:

I have to admit that though silicone trays make it easier to pop the food out (and they are environmentally friendlier) the price made it difficult to buy the volume I needed.  I found silicone trays at Bed, Bath & Beyond but not with covers.

- vs. Taking food out of trays and storing.

Tuperware (even BPA free ones) is bulky and was difficult to stack.  We have limited space and ended up taking up half the freezer.  This wasn't convenient towards the end of a food cycle (we make fresh food every 2 weeks) when we were only storing a few bits of frozen servings.  Additionally, the cubes of food were being touched and handled every time we opened the containers.  That was freaking me out!  If you are going in this direction, make sure that the covers are FLEXIBLE (Target has some nice ones) so that they are easy to close tightly when they have been frozen.  The stiff covers were either tearing or not closing all the way.

-  vs. Ice Cube Trays

No covers! Bacteria.  I was using Saran Wrap or moving it to Tuperware.  See point above.  Ugh.

Best Price found on Diapers.com

So in the end we found the best deal on Diapers.com.  I googled for a coupon, quickly found a 15% off coupon and NO SHIPPING FEES for an order over $50.  The difference between buying from them vs. Amazon or BuyBuyBaby was well over $20 in my pocket.  If you'd like to use my handy dandy new discount code from Diapers.com, see below.  And I also provide links to the different options on Amazon and direct link to Diapers.com below.

Thanks to the ladies at  HappyBaby.com for introducing me to the product at a recent food tasting!

Resources:

Amazon.com Search for Baby Food Freezing Trays (or just search those terms)

Diapers.com link to KidCo Food Freezing Trays (try diapers.com discount code MARC9420 if you are a first time buyer)

Hope this was helpful!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Introducing "Superheroes", A Parenting Blog

Like many moms, I've become a superhero.  That's right, I said it.  In my opinion, being a parent (not just a mom) is just like being a superhero.

During pregnancy we go through the metamorphosis from normal humans to super humans.  Our bodies can suddenly create another being, endure the pain of child birth and once they are born, our super powers emerge!  We have super powers?  Yep, think about it...

  • We can leap from tall buildings.  Weren't we able to jump out of bed after a c-section or natural child birth to feed a baby every 2 hours?  And didn't dad manage to go to work the next day and function?  I bet you leaping from one building to another hurt Superman less than that!



  • We read minds.  How else do we know how to decipher different types of cries?



  • We can tolerate mind control. Aren't we surviving 'advice' from mom, mom-in-law, neighbor, nurse, boss, and others that thought you needed it even though you didn't ask?  And wasn't that  when you JUST had the baby and your emotions were at their all-time high?!  Did I mention no sleep?



  • We have 'Spidey-sense'.  Haven't we caught our baby a million times before he or she hit the ground?

  • And I hear that someday, I may have to take my first bullet.  I've met the parents that survived the first time that a child says " mommy, I hate you!".  My own mom and mom-in-law have both told me that story!  It sounds funny now, but I know it's going to break my heart.


So in actuality, even without all those superpowers, parents really do these amazing things.

This is why I've joined the mommy and daddy blogging world.  To meet other superheroes, fight the villains, share stories about won and lost battles.  It'll be an adventure to explore the world of parenthood with the rest of you.  Raise your hand if you are a superhero of any kind and join our journey!