Has your toddler figured out how to unbuckle his car seat?

Sometimes I can barely unbuckle my two-year-old’s car seat. Often it seems to require brute force strength to squeeze together the thingamajigs that click the harness together.

Nonetheless, a new study from the Yale School of Medicine reports toddlers as young as twelve months are able to unbuckle themselves from car seats. Continue reading »

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My husband started teaching my son knife skills at the age of 6. I was not into this then and am only slightly more accepting of it now.  How can a kid this little operate something as obviously dangerous as a knife? My husband argues that knives, in a kitchen context, are mostly dangerous when people don’t know how to use them. He could be right. He could be wrong. Either way, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it at this point; once you teach a child a skill, you can’t exactly un-teach it, and good luck telling him to stop using it. So I just stand over my son as he slices and remind him to curl his fingers. Occasionally, I glare at my husband, too.

But there is little my son enjoys more than prepping vegetables.  When he turned two, someone bought him that Melissa and Doug cutting set with the wooden play knife and pre-sliced wooden fruits and vegetables. He had never been happier with anything in his tiny life. He looked at the knife reverentially, whispering,”Real people use these.”

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Wear your baby the safe way.

Erica Jong may believe that babywearing is just another lock on the prison cell that is attachment parenting, but the fact is that we’ve been wearing our babies  for thousands of years.  And with good reason.  Babywearing is not only convenient, but also promotes healthy parent/child bonding.  Plus, it feels really good to have that warm little body nestled against yours.

But the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission isn’t all that crazy about baby slings.  Earlier this year, they issued a statement warning parents of the risk of suffocation to babies being carried in slings.  Shortly after that, they announced a huge recall of Infantino Baby Slings.

Consumer Reports is also not a fan of babywearing.  In addition to urging the CPSC to tighten up regulations on baby slings, they recently included them on their list of items not to buy for baby.

But despite the negative press, babywearing is more popular than ever.  But parents who have embraced babywearing – and new parents doing it for the first time – should be aware that there’s a right way and a wrong way to wear a baby.  Continue reading »

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Photo credit : flicker.com/JuhanSonin

With Halloween coming so quickly and many of our children looking forward to the activities that go along with it, we have to remember some of the safety tips, and rules that go along with making our Halloween the safest we possibly can for our children.

Halloween this year is also being celebrated on a weekend, so we need to be aware and conscious of adults also out having a good time, and possibly partying. Continue reading »

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Photo Credit : http://ergobabycarrier.com

Many people do not know, but this week celebrates International Baby Wearing Week. It starts today, October 6th, and goes through October 12th.

The focus of this celebration is not only to celebrate the lovely advancements in baby wearing, but also to promote safety in wearing your little ones. In recent months there have been recalls in the sling community which lead to the misconception that baby wearing in general is not safe, but as many baby wearing advocates continue to point out, when done properly like anything else, it is safe.

Some safety guidelines for baby wearing include :

1) Make sure your baby can breathe, meaning never carry your baby in a position in which their chin is tucked against their chest, or never allow your baby’s face or to be covered by fabric. These both seem like common sense safety tips, but these are the simple things that caused the recall earlier in the year.

2) Never jog, run, bounce, or any other kind of activity that subjects your baby to being bounced or shaken while wearing them.

3) Never wear your baby while riding in a car. Children should always be properly fastened into a carseat per local laws.

4) Use a carrier that is appropriate for the age of your baby/child. Using a small sling for a child who is three years old may not work best. Or putting a newborn on a back facing carrier is not the best idea.

Overall use good common sense when it comes to wearing your baby, or buying a baby carrier. There are many options from Ergo Baby Carriers which we use in my house, and love to the traditional ring slings which I am planning to try with our newest addition.

And just for fun, a cute baby wearing video!

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Boston ranks number one in child safety.

The city in which a child grows up can have a  big impact on the rest of  his life.  From speaking with a regional accent to choosing a football team to root for, where a kid lives plays an important role.  But according to a new study commissioned by Underwriters Laboratories, where a child is raised can  also impact his chances of being involved in a serious accident. Continue reading »

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Hummingbird parents allow safe independence

If you believe everything you hear from the news media, the great outdoors can be full of dangers just waiting to strike—from Lyme disease to predators, both human and feral, to poison ivy.

But the risks of helicopter parenting your children to the point that they become stay-at-home kids can deprive them of both memories and independence.

Bethe Almeras, director of Education & Outreach for Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play and author behind The Grass Stain Guru, says the answer may be in hummingbird parenting—keeping an eye on your children, while letting them explore and commune with nature on their own. Continue reading »

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