Posted on March 27, 2009 in Words of wisdom for Parents by jemNo Comments »

These days many people take car seats for granted. However for many people these seats are a recent development that was not in use when they were children. What is all the fuss about needing kids in car seats? Many would find it odd now but not that many years ago car seats and even seat belts were rarely used.

Unfortunately it was the result of many children being maimed for life or killed in car accidents that spurred the interest in developing car seats as early as the 1930’s. But it was not until the 1970’s that laws were written and signed that that made it mandatory for children to be in car seats.

By the mid 80’s car seats were becoming very common. While these car seats were not the greatest in the way of safety they helped. Today great car seat companies produce car seats like the Britax Boulevard seat . These great seats are built to really keep your kids safe. They have taken the accumulated knowledge of the past years and designed some excellent child restraint systems.

It is a completely new type of car seat then many have used in the past. The technology that has gone into these seats has improved the side impact protection and the overall comfort of the seat.

More car seats today are designed to be convertible from rear facing to forward facing allowing you to buy one car seat that will last most of the time your child will need to be in a car seat or booster. For example many child safety seats like the Britax Boulevard allow the child to be in the seat up to 65 pounds.

The design and technology put into child restraint systems today is very advanced and it has enabled many lives to be saved each year. Yet it is critical that you buckle them in and tighten the harnesses right . The best technology will not overcome a lose harness that allows the child slip out.

Use care when buckling in your children, do not let the daily routine let you become careless and overlook buckling the harness properly.

Posted on March 22, 2009 in Words of wisdom for Parents by jemNo Comments »

Babies can be pretty fussy when they’re teething. The bad news is that they seem to be perpetually teething in the first two years or so. This makes it difficult to tell whether your child has a new tooth coming in or whether something else is wrong. Here are few things to look for to help you figure out if a tooth is getting ready to show itself.

Teething and colds have a lot of the same symptoms, so keep a close eye on the situation. When the teeth come in, they sometimes put pressure on the baby’s sinuses or ear canals. This can cause cold symptoms to occur. You might only notice some minor sinus congestion or it could be as severe as a painful ear infection.

You might be surprised to realize that ear infections are a sign of baby teething. Sometimes a baby will develop this painful condition because the emerging teeth are placing pressure on the ear canal. This causes fluid to back up and become infected. An ear infection will need to be treated as soon as possible to prevent any permanent damage to the ear drum.

Likewise, your child may develop a fever during the teething process. But keep in mind that normal teething doesn’t cause a high fever. If your baby develops a high fever at any time, don’t ignore it. There could be a chance that either an ear infection or sinus infection has developed. You’ll have to pay a visit to the pediatrician, who will likely prescribe an antibiotic medication.

When your little one is teething, there will be several other symptoms you can look for. For example, red cheeks usually accompany this process. You might notice that one cheek is red and the other is normal; chances are the new tooth will emerge on the side that’s red.

Excessive drooling is one more symptom of teething. Babies are always drooling anyway, but when they’re teething it becomes extreme. The drooling might be so excessive that you have to change your baby’s outfits all the time due to dampness.

Teething can also be the explanation for unexplained, sustained periods of crying and misery. Excessive crying is one of the hardest teething symptoms to deal with. And this will typically lead to sleep problems as well. Either of these situations will be uncomfortable for both you and your baby.

Most people who offer you baby advice will suggest that you give your child some pain reliever to ease the symptoms. However, discuss the situation with your doctor before administering any medications, even over the counter ones.

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