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Strollerderby
Those who ride don't decide. New California law requires boosters until age 8.
Tomorrow, thousands of six- and seven-year-olds in California will revisit something they thought they’d already long left behind: life in a booster seat.
A new state law upping the age for riding booster-seat free from six years to eight years old goes into effect Jan. 1.
The new law poses challenges, not just for the kids but for their parents. Getting out the booster seat is often something of a rite of passage. How do you get the kid to go back in? Continue reading »
My daughter at age 1, touring the stage of The Lion King.
Would you take a one-year-old to see a play?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Seattle Children’s Theatre and the New Victory Theatre in New York are among a new crop of American companies hoping you’ll bring your small children to see live work on the stage. In Europe, directors are asking children as young as 6 months to attend avant-garde performance art about being born, featuring lines like, “Embraced by water, embedded in my mum, warming and worry-free, just being.” Sounds horrible if you ask me, but I do believe kids should see live performance as often as they can. I took my daughter to The Lion King on Broadway when she was a year old, but we went on friends and family night. I’m not sure I would have risked her freaking out if I had to cough up a hundred bucks.
It’s Child Passenger Safety Week
Safe Kids coalitions will join the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this weekend for “Seat Check Saturday” on September 25. I just bought a new booster seat for my daughter (the Evenflo Maestro, which thanks to SD blogger Sandy, I’m happy to report has been rated a “Best Bet” by the IIHS) and I plan to have it installed by a professional this weekend at my local car seat check-up event. If there isn’t a Safe Kids event in your area, try your local police department, local hospitals or local fire department. Or, call DaimlerChrysler’s Fit For A Kid program at 1-877-FIT-F-AKID or 1-866-SEAT-CHECK. Booster seats have resulted in an 18% decrease in traffic-related injuries in children age 4-6, and many states require your child be in a booster seat through age 8.
Cold No Excuse to Be Fat
SD’s Paula announced yesterday that the common cold may be a causal factor in the childhood obesity epidemic. But Nancy Shute at US News and World Report says “the association between infection and weight is far from proven.” She notes that “the majority of the obese children in the study hadn’t been exposed to adenovirus 36, yet they were still fat. So the “obesity is an infection” theory doesn’t let anyone abandon a healthy diet and exercise in favor of antiviral medications.” Amen to that!
Do you love amazing music videos? And dogs?
Finally, let me (hopefully) be the first to introduce you to the latest viral sensation by video wizards OK Go. This song is called White Knuckles, but like with most other OK Go videos, you won’t really pay attention to the music. You will however be amazed by another of their astonishing feats of choreography – this time involving DOGS! Lots of them. Take a look: Continue reading »
Is your booster seat safe?
Graduating from a car seat to a booster seat is a big deal for parents and kids. Kids love how grown up they feel sitting in a less restrictive seat that doesn’t involve a five-point harness and muttered expletives from the adult attempting to strap them in. Parents, of course, love no longer having a reason to mutter expletives every time they have to go somewhere in the car.
But booster seats aren’t just convenient. They save lives and prevent injuries. According to a study by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, kids ages 4 through 8 riding in booster seats are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than kids who are simply strapped in with seat belts alone. In fact, the widespread use of booster seats has been credited with reducing the number of traffic injuries among kids ages 4 through 6 by 18%.
But not all booster seats are created equal. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently tested 72 models of booster seats to see how well lap and shoulder belts fit children ages 4 to 8 when sitting in them. A correct fit is important when considering how well a booster seat will restrain a child in the event of a crash. Continue reading »
Parents have been warned against buying eleven popular booster seats in this year’s report card from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
In the second year of the ratings, the Institute took sixty seats out for a test, focusing on proper belt fit as its biggest criteria. Continue reading »
An announcement from a bunch of famous number crunchers this morning almost spelled an end to the booster seat. But not so fast – also released is an announcement from a bunch of children’s health professionals who say the booster seat is saving kids.
The researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Injury Research and Prevention found there’s a forty-five percent reduction in risk of injury for kids in booster seats in an accident than for kids wearing just a seatbelt. Continue reading »
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