National Recall – Baby Crab

By Safe Kids
Nov. 29, 2009

On Nov. 23, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of more than 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs, including Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo.

The CPSC urges parents and caregivers to immediately stop using the recalled cribs and find an alternative, safe sleeping environment for their baby.

The drop-sides of the recalled cribs can detach in one or more places due to problems with the cribs’ plastic hardware or improper installation of the drop-sides. 

This creates space between the drop-side and the crib mattress where infants and toddlers can become entrapped, leading to suffocation.  Falls can also occur if the drop-side detaches completely.

The CPSC is aware of 110 incidents of drop-side detachment, including 15 entrapments and 20 falls. 

Four of the entrapments resulted in suffocation deaths: a 7-month-old in Gouverneur, N.Y.; a 7-month-old in New Iberia, La.; a 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va.; and a 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y.

The cribs were sold in the United States and Canada from January of 1993 to October of 2009 for $100 to $400.

Major retailers included BJ’s Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Meijer, Sears, USA Baby, and Wal-Mart stores and online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com.

For more details, including how to receive a free repair kit that converts the drop-side to a fixed side, please read the CPSC recall notice.  Do not attempt to fix the cribs without the kit.

Source: USA Safe Kids

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Do an Angel Tree Today

By Colleen Hughes
Nov. 28, 2009 

Our angel tree is up! Good thing too, because three wonderful handmade angels have already arrived.

My favorite ornament so far is an adorable felt choir angel from MaryEllen Befring in Loves Park, Illinois. I want to hang it next to the cutest felt choir mouse sent in last year. (Yes, the mouse has wings!)

Mary Ellen also included Christmas greetings to our staff: “I hope you enjoy displaying little Annalisa on your tree as much as I enjoyed creating her. I am so very blessed by the stories in ANGELS ON EARTH, and wish all of you continued success.”

Please get out your sewing baskets and craft buckets, and put together an angel for our tree. Soon, we’ll post the history of the Angels Tree, with a video of the staff decorating, and we’d love to feature your ornament online.

 

Send it to:

Angels on Earth Angel Tree
16 East 34 St
New York, NY 10016.

 

Help make this year’s tree the best one yet.

Source: Guide Post

 

Editor’s Note: Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH. She’s been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Please do an angel tree in your neighborhood and help a child that will not have gifts for Christmas

Safety Tips: Shopping Carts

By Consumer Reports
Nov. 27, 2009

As people crowd stores for those all-important holiday bargains, it’s important to keep child safety in mind—especially when it comes to shopping carts.

Though they may seem sturdy, shopping carts are deceptively unstable, especially when you’ve got a baby in an infant carrier perched on top, or a squirmy toddler who won’t stay in his seat.

It’s no wonder shopping carts are among the leading causes of head injuries to young children.

To prevent shopping cart injuries from falls and tip-over, keep these cart precautions in mind:

 

DO:

• Always use seatbelts to restrain your child in the cart’s seat and keep an eye on her. That’s the best you can do if going shopping with your children can’t be avoided and you decide to use a shopping cart.

 

• Use a stroller, wagon, or soft carrier instead of a shopping cart.

 

• Have your child walk once he gets older.

 

• Have another adult come with you to watch your baby while you shop.

 

• Leave your kids home with another adult on your shopping days, if you can.

 

• Shop online so you don’t have to trek to the store with your baby.

 

DON’T:

• Leave your child alone in the shopping cart unsupervised.

 

• Let your child stand up in a shopping cart.

 

• Place an infant carrier on top of the shopping cart.

 

• Let your child ride in the cart basket.

 

• Let your child ride or climb on the sides or front of the cart.

 

• Let older children push the cart when there’s another child in it.

Source: Consumer Reports

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Family Photos

By Beverly Beckham
Nov. 28, 2009

After I resurrected old slides from the cellar and scanned them (with a scanner I bought online for less than $100), I downloaded the photos to my computer. It was time-consuming but easy and so worth doing. There, on a 20-inch screen looking better than expected, was my past.

Not all of it, but a big chunk of it. My old house, my old neighborhood, my neighbors. My friends. My dog, Buttons. My Aunt Lorraine. And both my parents, so incredibly young.

My father bought a 35 millimeter slide camera in the summer of 1957 and for a year he and that camera were inseparable.

Eventually, he took it out just for occasions. Holidays and birthdays. School dances. Proms, graduations, my wedding. The birth of my son. My father chronicled decades.

He finally bought himself a big metal projection screen sometime in the 1960s but for most of my childhood, when he wanted to show his slides, he tacked a white sheet to the parlor wall.

Because this was a makeshift screen, the images wavered, the pictures were creased, and more often than not the flowered wallpaper showed through.

 

High-Tech Images

The photos on my computer screen do not waver. Some are flecked with dust and some are a little out of focus and most are a strange shade of orange, but they look better to me than they looked 50 years ago.

I study every one. I inspect the background — the trees my father planted, tiny in some pictures, huge in others, the white lattice trellis he built, the two weeping willows that a hurricane blew away, the rock garden my mother loved, the neighbors’ fences, the neighbors’ bare backyards.

It’s the neighborhood that pulls me back, the place I called home from the time I was 7 until I left to get married my house, street.  The life I lived and the life I left there.

I make a file and call it “neighborhood.” Easy to do, just click on the image and drag it into the file and there it is. And when I finish clicking and dragging, I have the option to add a song. So I do. And I have my first slideshow.

My father would be proud.

 

Onscreen Enchantment

I show my grandson, Adam, when he comes to visit. “Want to see what I did?” I ask and because he is 5, he doesn’t hesitate.

“That’s the house I lived in when I was just a little older than you,” I tell him. “And that’s my friend Elaine. And that’s my friend Rosemary. And that’s my dog, Buttons. And all those people?

Those are my neighbors who came over to see me and take pictures the night of my senior prom.”

It is a short slideshow, just two minutes, and when it is finished Adam says, “I love it, Mimi” and asks if he can make a slideshow.

“Of course,” I say, because that’s what you say to your grandchildren. “What do you want it to be about? Your neighborhood? Mom? Or Dad? Or Charlotte? Or your friends? We can do anything you want.”

And he says, “I want to make a movie about Lucy and me.”

Lucy is his 6-year-old cousin and in the beginning it was just the two of them, Lucy and Adam, only ten months apart, always together, at my house, at their houses, in a playpen, in the living room, in a double stroller, inseparable.

I have hundreds of photos of Lucy and Adam on my computer. We look through them, and then Adam clicks on the ones he wants.

We make a file. We call it Lucy and Adam. He moves around the pictures until he has them in an order he likes. Then he deletes some. Then he chooses a Beatles song, “From Me to You.”

 

Lights, Camera, Action

We press play.

And there on the computer screen is Adam’s first movie.

It’s a long, long way from a sheet on a wall to this. And yet, though the technology is different, the images crisper, the process easier, the moment is the same.

My grandson and I are sitting side by side watching people we love on a screen. His mother returns to pick him up.

She sits with us. She smiles. My other daughter stops by with Lucy. Then my husband comes home. Then Lucy’s dad.

We add more chairs and play the movie again and again.

Source: Grandparents

 

Editor’s Note: Beverly Beckham is an award-winning columnist who writes for The Boston Globe. She has five grandchildren.

We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Jenny’s Pearls

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Nov. 29, 2009

Do you know what “Joy logy” means? It is the study of caring, sharing, and listening and Sacrifice.

This was written by Mr. Jeineke in 1975

We would like to know what you think: dan@youngchronicle.com

What is a Joyologist? A joyologist then would be one who studies joy logy. Frankly our world could use a great many joyologists whose mission in life is to actively research the effects of discussing and sharing joy. The research could branch out into how joy affects our careers, family lives, and friendships. The very act of doing the active research should spread jubilation throughout the world and bring about positive results. What a fun job!

All one needs to start with is to share the words joyism, joy logy, and joyologis with others. Use the words daily and make them a part of the world’s vocabulary.

The upcoming year is going to challenge us all. Here is something we need to think, this is from an unknown reader. It is called: Nothing More Important than God.

 

 By Unknown

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. “Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!” Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

“A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere — Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?” “Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.” “Then give me your pearls.”“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess — the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my favorite.”  “That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again, “Do you love me?” “Daddy, you know I love you.” “Then give me your pearls.” “Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.” That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.” And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. “What is it, Jenny? What’s the matter?” Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, Daddy. It’s for you.”

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure. So like our heavenly Father.
What are you hanging on to?

Source: Joyology

Holiday Home Safety

By American Baby
Nov. 29, 2009

As you’re sprucing up your home this season, keep an eye out for these common holiday trip-ups, fire hazards, and other safety snafus.

Merry and Bright: Carefully inspect holiday light strings each year and discard any with frayed cords, cracked lamp holders, or loose connections. When replacing bulbs, unplug the light string and be sure to match voltage and wattage to the original bulb.

 

Lights Out: Always turn off holiday lights when you leave the house unattended or when going to bed.

 

Fresh Is Best: Try to purchase a freshly cut tree, as they are more resistant to ignition. Keep your Christmas tree watered and away from open candles.

 

Timing Is Everything: Use an outdoor timer certified by CSA International to switch lights on and off. Lights should be turned on after 7 p.m. to avoid the electricity rush hour.

 

Check for the Certification Mark: When purchasing light strings, extension cords, spotlights, electrical decorations, gas appliances, or carbon monoxide alarms, look for the certification mark of an accredited certification organization such as CSA International, UL, or ELT to ensure that the products comply with applicable standards for safety and performance.

 

One and Done: Never connect more than one extension cord together; instead use a single cord that is long enough to reach the outlet without stretching, but not so long that it can get easily tangled.

 

The Great Outdoors: When hanging outdoor lights, keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal rain gutters. Use insulated tape or plastic clips instead of metal nails or tacks to hold them in place.

 

Climbing Up: Using a ladder when you put up lights? Choose the correct ladder for the job and double check for a certification mark to ensure your portable ladder complies with applicable standards.

 

Keep the Gas Behind Glass: Do not use your gas fireplace if the glass panel is removed, cracked, or broken, and only allow a qualified service person to replace fireplace parts.

 

Sound the Alarm: Test your smoke alarms monthly to make sure they work, and be sure to install smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms on every level of your home — especially near sleeping areas.

 

Filter-Friendly Furnace: To help prevent CO hazards in your home, have a qualified heating contractor perform a yearly maintenance check of your furnace and venting system, and clean or replace your furnace filter frequently during the heating seasons.

 

Clean the Clutter: Do not store combustible materials such as gasoline, propane, paper, chemicals, paint, rags, and cleaning products near your gas furnace. Gasoline or propane cylinders should be stored outside the home.

 

 

Source: CSA International   Parents

 

Editor’s Note: The information on this Web site is designed for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care.

You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your pediatrician or family doctor.

Please consult a doctor with any questions or concerns you might have regarding your or your child’s condition. Originally published on AmericanBaby.com, November 2005.

All content here, including advice from doctors and other health professionals, should be considered as opinion only. Always seek the direct advice of your own doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others.

We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Recipe of the Week – Football Turnovers

 

By Family Fun
Nov. 28, 2009

 

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) box refrigerated piecrusts (two 9-inch crusts)
• 1/2 pound meatballs, cooked
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Milk for glaze

 

Instructions

To make a batch, first set out the crusts to bring them to room temperature (about 15 minutes) and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, cut the meatballs into small pieces, then place them in a small saucepan with the tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool thoroughly.

 

One at a time, place each crust on lightly floured waxed paper and use a floured rolling pin to flatten it slightly into a 10-inch circle. Use a biscuit cutter to cut seven 4-inch circles from the dough, then reroll the dough scraps to get 3 more dough circles.

 

Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling onto half of each circle, leaving about a 1/2-inch margin at the edge, then sprinkle on about 1/2 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese. Use your fingertips to moisten the edges of the dough with water, then fold the uncovered half of the dough over the filling and press the edges together to seal.

 

Crimp the edge with a fork, then transfer the turnovers to a lightly greased baking sheet and poke each one twice with a fork for vents. Brush each one with milk, then bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 20 small turnovers

 

Source: Family Fun

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know your favorite receipt. dan@youngchronicle.com

Recipe of the Week: Chicken Pot Pie

 

by Mary Sellers
Nov. 28, 2009

Description

A quick dish for family, guests, or ..

Ingredients
large can chicken,
1can mixed vegetables
1 cup self rising flour
1 tbls ground sage
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 stick margarine
1 small onion, diced or 1/3 cup dehydrated onion
1 tablespoon dehydrated celery or 1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp -2tsp greek seasoning

Directions
save flour and margarine, and set aside.
mix all other ingredients and dump in a chafing dish (small-med)
dump the flour on top and spread it evenly over the top.
now slice the butter over the top.
bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden blown

Cook Time: 1 Hr

 

Source: Eversave

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

How We Sleep with Newborns

 

By: Steven Dowshen, MD
Nov. 28, 2009

 

Does your baby sleep through the night?” is one of the questions new parents hear the most. And the bleary-eyed moms and dads of newborns almost always answer: “No.”

Newborn babies don’t know the difference between day and night yet — and their tiny stomachs don’t hold enough breast milk or formula to keep them satisfied for very long. They need food every few hours, no matter what time of day or night it is.

 

How Long Babies Sleep

A newborn may sleep as much as 16 hours a day (or even more), often in stretches of 3 to 4 hours at a time. And like the sleep all of us experience, babies have different phases of sleep: drowsiness, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and very deep sleep. As babies grow, their periods of wakefulness increase.

At first, these short stretches of 3 to 4 hours of sleep may be frustrating for you as they interfere with your sleep pattern. Have patience — this will change as your baby grows and begins to adapt to the rhythms of life outside the womb.

At first, though, the need to feed will outweigh the need to sleep. Many pediatricians recommend that a parent not let a newborn sleep too long without feeding. In practical terms, that means offering a feeding to your baby every 3 to 4 hours or so, and possibly more often for smaller or premature babies. Breastfed infants may get hungry more frequently than bottle-fed babies and need to nurse every 2 hours in the first few weeks.

 

Where and How a Baby Should Sleep

For the first weeks of life, most parents place their child’s crib or bassinet in their own bedroom. A separate room just seems too far away at this early point.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommend against bringing your infant to sleep in bed with you for safety reasons. Although many cultures endorse co sleeping, there is a risk that the baby can suffocate or strangle, and studies have shown that there’s a higher incidence of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) in households where the baby slept in the parents’ bed.

Establishing a routine right from the beginning can help. How we sleep is based in large part on habit and what our bodies use as the signals that it is time to sleep. Always putting your baby in the crib for sleeping will help signal to the infant that this is the place for sleep.

Keep in mind, though, it may take a few weeks for your baby’s brain to signal the difference between night and day. Unfortunately, there are no tricks to speed this up except to be as consistent in your routine as possible.

Always keep sleep safety in mind. Do not place anything in the crib or bassinet that may interfere with your baby’s breathing; this includes plush toys, pillows, and blankets. Although bumper pads are widely used, their safety has been questioned.

One study from the CPSC found a number of accidental deaths appeared to be related to the use of bumper pads in cribs and bassinets. The Canadian Pediatric Society has recommended against using crib bumpers since 2004. If you do use bumpers, it’s best to use the kind that secure at the top and bottom.

Also avoid objects with cords or ties, and those with any kind of sharp edge or corner. Make sure the crib you use meets current safety standards.

The AAP recommends that healthy infants be placed on their backs to sleep, not on their stomachs. The incidence of SIDS has decreased by more than 50% since this recommendation was first made in 1992.

It is now also recommended that premature infants sleep only on their backs.

It is thought that some babies sleeping on their stomachs may have a greater tendency toward sleep obstruction and rebreathing their own carbon dioxide because they are less likely to rouse themselves to change head positions.

Another possibility is that they may suffocate on softer bedding if they are lying face-down.

If your baby has a medical condition, there may be an exception to these recommendations. Your baby’s doctor can best advise you on the right sleep position for your little one.

 

Encouraging Your Newborn’s Sleep

You can help adjust your baby’s body clock toward sleeping at night by avoiding stimulation during nighttime feedings and diaper changes. Try to keep the lights low and resist the urge to play or talk with your baby. This will reinforce the message that nighttime is for sleeping.

Overly tired infants often have more trouble sleeping than those who’ve had an appropriate amount of sleep during the day.

So, keeping your baby up in hopes that he or she will sleep better at night will not necessarily work.

Consider establishing some sort of bedtime routine (bathing, reading, and singing) to help get your baby to relax in the coming months.

Even though your newborn may be too young to get the signals yet, setting up the bedtime drill now can keep you on the right track later.

What if your baby is fussy? It’s OK to rock, cuddle, and sing as your baby is settling down. For the first months of your baby’s life, “spoiling” is definitely not a problem. In fact, studies have shown that babies who are carried around during the day have less colic and fussiness.

The first months of a baby’s life can be the hardest for the parents because you are potentially getting up every few hours to tend to the baby. Each baby is different in terms of when he or she will sleep through the night, and parents differ regarding when they’re comfortable with encouraging their newborn to do so.

By 2 months most babies are sleeping 6 to 8 hours through the night. If your baby isn’t sleeping through the night by 4 months, talk with your doctor about how you can help this to happen.

 

When to Call the Doctor

While most parents can expect newborns to sleep or catnap most of the day, the range of what is normal is quite wide. Check with your doctor if you have questions about how much (or how little) your baby is sleeping.

You may want to talk with the doctor if your baby seems overly irritable and cannot be adequately soothed.

In addition, if your baby is difficult to rouse from sleep and generally seems uninterested in feeding efforts, speak to the doctor immediately for reassurance or further medical guidance.

Source: Kids Health

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Help A Child Give a Bear

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Nov. 27, 2009

When Kids are in the Hosptal for different kind of Illness. We never think that a small bear could make the difference. On whether they live or die.

Amazing research translated into new therapies is what creates miracles — but a little bear can help the healing.

Would you like to offer encouragement and reassurance to the children at Mott? Your gift of $25 will buy a bear for a Mott child and also benefit the Family Hope Fund, which provides practical help to grateful families in need at a time of challenge in their lives.

 

How You Can Help

Please use our secure on-line giving form to contribute to the Gift of a Bear program. If you’re not comfortable making a donation online; or if you have questions, please contact Anna Beeman at 734-998-7702; or email her at abeeman.

We hope that you would support this great cause. We pray that our children would never get seriously sick. But if they did that there would be a program like this in our child’s hospital. It could make the difference on whether they live or die.

Source: Mott’s Children Hospital

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

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