Noa’s Ark
A place to start. A little something for everyone. Something to do while killing time at work.Archive for children's healthcare
No Toys For Christmas, Part II
The No Toys For Christmas post received a comment asking about age appropriate American made toys, which is a good question. Something soft and plushy for a real little one is always nice and yes, all the ABC blocks I have seen are rather expensive. The softer stuff is hard to find if you are looking for the made in the USA stuff.
I will do some investigating and post what I can find. I know that craft shows around this time of year are a great place to get softer, plush type toys that are handmade. If you know someone who sews, maybe approach them about putting a fabric book together that has things like zippers and shoe strings attached to them. My daughter will play with the zipper on my jacket for over a half hour, seriously. Just make sure that everything is fastened on well and is not a choking hazard. Also – there are a lot of places you can get “memory” bears made. You can take in one of her baby blankets or even some baby clothes she can not wear anymore and have them made into a teddy bear. That may be a cheaper alternative to Vermont Teddy bears which are made in the USA but rather expensive I believe.
If I find anything else online, I will let you all know.
Thanks
Can we recall parents?
The really great Bumbo Babysitter seats have been voluntarily recalled in order to update the safety warnings and packaging…what I hate is that a really great product has had negative light shed on it due to user error.
Here’s the story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21472055/?GT1=10450
I know that as a parent – even for the smartest most responsible parents – that accidents happen…I stopped using the seat when I saw that my child had started to rear back and could pop her little butt out of the seat. She couldn’t really “get out” of the seat fully, but she was workin on it and if done right, could probably throw her weight and topple the seat over even if it was on the floor.
Almost everyone I know that has had one of these has placed it on the counter while doing dishes or something. I just feel that as a parent, it’s your job to know your child. We want everyone else to think for us and tell us what is safe and what is not safe. What happened to common sense? If your child shows signs and the strength to be able to manipulate that chair or her body in a way that might result in injury, it’s YOUR job to make the call and end usage of the product.
Yes, McDonald’s coffee is hot.
Yes, knives are sharp.
Yes, when it’s cold and wet, ice can form, you can slip and fall.
Think for yourselves people. You bring a product into your home, you need to be responsible for its usage.
It says on the box, don’t place on countertops – best if used on the floor.
Bumbo – you have a great product. My child loved it. I started using it before she was 6 weeks old because she could hold her head up. She kinda got to chubby for it, so we couldn’t use it much past 4 months, but it was great. I took it everywhere with me and she loved it. I hope user error does not ruin another great product.
Infant medicines
As a new parent, or the parent of a toddler – there are so many things you could choose to worry about. Finding out that something in your medicine cabinet, something made and marketed specifically for your little one, is one of those things to worry about, is so unsettling. However, I am not at all surprised.
This is just one of the many many stories out right now about this:
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/10643851.html
One thing that struck me in the story was:
“The FDA did not approve these products based on the basis of evidence of safety and effectiveness in children,” explained Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, with the Baltimore Health Commission.
But the manufacturers say the medicine is safe and insist the recall was announced out of a quote, “abundance of caution.”
So – it was based on studies done on adults? OK, yet another reason why I feel we are really just on our own here folks. We’re supposed to trust the FDA approvals…and then things like this happen. So, they make a mistake, no biggie, so your kid dies, no biggie??
The other thing that bothered me that was said in the story was:
“Parents must read the labels carefully and use the medicine as directed, and store the medicine safely away from the reach of children.
But some say these warnings are not enough.”
So, you’re saying parent’s are too stupid to follow directions? Unfortunately, on the whole, I have to agree with that. But stupidity is not something I want to tackle in this post, or ever really. Too involved.
Tylenol’s web site has more information:
http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/news/subpcccoldmed.inc
However, the FDA’s site doesn’t seem to have any information out right now on the topic. I could be missing it, there is a lot of things on the site and it’s navigation leaves a little to be desired I think.
So, what is safe? No toys, no meds. I all for going back to home remedies, take us back to the good old days. So what if the life expectancy drops back down to 40. Why would you want to live to be 100 if you’re body is riddled with maladies caused by too much decongestant as a child and a brain that doesn’t function because your favorite doll was painted with lead paint?
I’ll take some chicken soup (made with organic, free-range chicken of course, and vegetables grown on my own farm with no pesticides, too) and a hot cup of tea. I don’t think they have found anything harmful in tea, yet….have they?
Oh that’s right, that takes too much time and energy, something no one has these days. Fine, a Big Mac, fries and some Sudafed it is.
Suffer the Little Children…
“Republican opponents argue they want to be sure the program is focused on poor children and does not become a stepping stone for government-run health care.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1625158520071016
Without getting TOO involved in a political rant, I just want to say a few things.
One – what is so bad about government-run health care, or socialized healthcare rather? OK, I know that is a whole can of worms there, and that a US-government-run healthcare system is probably bound for failure, but look at other countries…do the benefits outway the costs? I can’t answer. I have been covered by healthcare in Germany and have nothing bad to say about it. Even as a foreigner living, working and studying overseas, it was easy and I was covered for everything I needed, which ended up being a lot at that time.
Two – if the money from this is coming from taxing tobacco products more heavily, isn’t that a win – win situation. I know many people who quit smoking due to the ever-rising price…and I see that as a good thing. Money for children’s healthcare – more expensive to smoke…hhmmm. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Am I missing something? Can someone explain the downside here?
Yes – people abuse the system
Yes - the goal should be to get people off state assistance
These are seperate issues. For once, I feel directly effected by this veto. I am who this harms, or my child rather. I am in that middle ground, that fun gray area where you make too much to get any kind of assistance (be it for education, healthcare or otherwise) yet you can’t afford to foot the bill completely on your own. So you suffer and your children suffer.
I was frightened when I got a letter in the mail saying my child was no longer (at 7 months old) eligible for Medicaid because I was working. “Transitional Medicaid” would cover her in the time between now and when I could get health insurance through my employer.
I have never been on any kind of state assistance, ever. Not my family, no one in my family, nothing. This was a first and I was thankful for the institution being there when I needed it after the baby was born and my husband left.
It’s scarey. If it were not for county health departments and such organizations, immunizations (required for daycare and schooling) would cost $1000s in the first year alone. The first six months, even.
For the first time in my life I stepped off the fence and signed a petition. If I didn’t have a child, I would have signed it anyway.
Why not just hand the children packs of cigarettes Mr. Bush? Cut out the middle man. They can’t afford to go to the doc for their cough anyway…so why not?
Thursday should be an interesting day to watch the news.
