Safety alert! When traveling, many parents put their infants to bed in unsafe positions or locations, increasing the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and other injuries. 1. Safe sleeping arrangements are often difficult to duplicate away from home. Until infants are one year of age they should be put to bed on their […]
Winter Driving / Safety / Infants / Car Seats
January 3, 2016 by
Comments on our most recent article: Winter Driving/Safety/Infants/Car seats We have the greatest readers – and they keep us on our toes! Many are experts on various aspects of keeping kids healthy and safe for travel and outdoor activities, which is our focus. Within eight hours of posting our latest article, we heard from three […]
Children/Sandy beaches
August 24, 2015 by
“No need ever to wear shoes in our resort,” says the ad for an idyllic, upscale, family-friendly tropical beach resort. Alas, if only true! Footwear – plus other precautions – is essential at all beaches, at home and in the tropics, with tropical beaches requiring some extra precautions. Call it sand pollution. Researchers have known […]
Swimming/Children/Intestinal illnesses
June 14, 2015 by
You need not travel halfway around the world to acquire “travelers’” diarrhea. A short trip to your neighborhood recreational water facility may suffice. But if indeed someone does become ill, don’t panic. Hold off on treating. Most cases get better by themselves, while medication may cause harm – especially for children. 1. All recreational water […]
Lyme disease/children: What you should know
May 31, 2015 by
Add Lyme disease to the ever-growing list of illnesses you need to be familiar with to keep your family healthy. 1. Know where and when it occurs. The disease is most commonly seen in rural areas of the Northeast from Virginia to Maine, northern California, and the northern Midwest but can occur almost anywhere in […]
Infants/New car smells/Safety
April 6, 2015 by
New cars and new babies may be a volatile mix. New car smells may be hazardous to humans, especially infants. That odor emanating from the interior of new automobiles, an odor that many of us inhale slowly and deeply to better enjoy the aroma, may be toxic, very toxic. A British newspaper describes the enjoyment […]
Children/travel/illness/insurance: A Primer
March 21, 2015 by
An informal survey of several dozen parents planning major family trips showed that about half of them did not know whether their children (or themselves) are fully covered for all medical expenses incurred away from home. Many confessed that they have never read their insurance policies, not even the large print. Many were not familiar with penalties […]
Children/Guns/Safety
February 7, 2015 by
When your kid(s) are invited to spend a weekend with friends or relatives, is it a fair question to ask if they keep firearms in their house? And, if yes, should you ask questions such as: are those firearms kept under lock and key, or kept in a nightstand in the bedroom in case an […]
Backpacks/Children (An update of a previous article)
September 20, 2014 by
Backpacks here. Backpacks there. Backpacks practically everywhere. Toddlers wear them for the sake of wearing them, often empty and in the shape of cartoon characters. Elementary school-age kids pile everything they have into them. High school kids use them as fashion statements; it doesn’t matter what’s in them. But for parents, there are health and […]
Children away from home/Homesickness
June 15, 2014 by
If you send your child to sleep-away camp, especially for the first time, don’t be surprised if after several days you get a call/email from your neophyte camper demanding that you bring him/her home immediately, that you made a terrible mistake inflicting camp on a child who hates camping, and that you are a bad, […]
