Child Health & Safety News Roundup: 09-24-2012 to 09-30-2012

• Study suggests parents are good about filling their kids’ prescriptions for antibiotics but not for vitamins http://t.co/x4NGZ5O9 2012-09-29
• 5 new advances in pediatric emergency care http://t.co/UtkR9FSe great post – might help put some mom’s & dad’s minds at ease 2012-09-29
• C.P.S.C. Warns About Child Drownings In Homes http://t.co/AIhhBp45 on avg 87 per year – a number that is way too high! 2012-09-29
• Foregoing immunizations puts child and others at risk – Medical Edge from Mayo Clinic http://t.co/VO7NkFe5 2012-09-29
• Natural Remedies Crash Course for Rashes | http://t.co/QHNZFfDn http://t.co/53CfnPfL 2012-09-28

• How to Talk to Your Kids About…Friendship – great ideas from Family Volley http://t.co/uSCqCxvP 2012-09-28
• Treating headaches – terrific article on when to take your child to a doctor & lifestyle changes that may help http://t.co/ZA7sn0RH 2012-09-28
• R.I. tops nation when it comes to immunizing kids against chicken pox, tetanus, pertussis, and polio http://t.co/uNUded79 2012-09-28
• **Effective Monday: change in MD safety seat law REMOVES weight exemption, kids younger than 8YO must be in safety seats until 4’9″ http://t.co/T53xCf1D 2012-09-28
• Cold and Flu Season: The ABCs of Prevention and Treatment | Confessions of a Dr. Mom http://t.co/otoLxTAT 2012-09-28
• Looking For Kids’ Health Care? Look to the School Nurse http://t.co/tk9htoxL 2012-09-26
• Schools installing AEDs as another way to help children suffering heart problems http://t.co/QaQVLbOa 2012-09-26
• Marshfield child becomes seventh Mass. resident to contract EEE – a mosquito born illness http://t.co/PcuCeqCm 2012-09-26
• Advances in drug that may help treat a rare kids’ early aging disease (progeria) http://t.co/VGoK6B3C 2012-09-26
• Steak and tofu (iron containing foods) recommended for babies at 6 mos old according to Canadian guidelines http://t.co/CRRwzY78 2012-09-26
• New crib standards go into effect soon. Is your child’s crib safe? | http://t.co/jQ6wh5i9 2012-09-26
• Is it Safe to Wiggle a Loose Tooth? http://t.co/8C8dB4De 2012-09-26
• What Parents Should Know About Trampolines to Keep Their Children Safe http://t.co/iaMjITRO 2012-09-25
• Two Nasty Chemicals to Purge from Your Bathroom: Triclosan & Phalates | Healthy Child Healthy World http://t.co/q6dG6O5v 2012-09-24

Car Seat LATCH Rules to Change in 2014: Please Read This Today

A new rule that goes into effect in 2014 will require car-seat makers to warn parents NOT to use the Latch anchor system to install a car seat if the combined weight of the child and the seat is 65 pounds or higher.

The LATCH anchors (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) were designed to make child seats easier to install and have been required in vehicles since 2001, but child-safety seat advocates say the strength of the anchors can’t be guaranteed because they don’t take into account the weight of the child seat, which typically weighs 15 to 33 lbs.

In the June 6th USA Today, according to Joseph Colella, one of five child-safety advocates who petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a change to the rule, “the anchor requirements are based on old child seats and outdated recommendations on how long kids should be in child seats”.

And children are getting heavier and staying in child seats longer. Just this past year the American Academy of Pediatrics and NHTSA issued enhanced new guidelines on booster seat use for older children, recommending that children ride in a booster seat until they are big enough to fit in a seat belt properly, typically when the child is somewhere between 8-12 years old and about 4 feet 9 inches tall. Colella says “car makers aren’t able to guarantee the safety of heavier kids given the strength of LATCH anchors”. And that to me, sounds a bit risky

So what does this mean for you?

Transportation Department spokeswoman Lynda Tran told USA Today: “While Latch makes it easier to properly install car seats in vehicles, it’s important for parents and caregivers to know that securing a child seat with a seat belt is equally as safe — and that they have the flexibility to use either system.” Very good to know.

So…if you have a child that weighs around 30 lbs, double check the weight of your car seat with the manufacturer. Make sure the weight of your child + the weight of that seat does not exceed 65 lbs. And while you’re having that conversation with them, double check the weight their LATCH anchors are rated to support. And if you have any doubt – use a seat belt to secure the car seat.

In my opinion, waiting until 2014 to require car seat manufacturers to warn parents about a potentially dangerous situation is being overly “nice” to car-seat manufacturers…but when the safety of a child is even a question, “nice” should not be an option.
I’d prefer we start notifying parents today. What do you think???

I’m 9 Years Old – Do I Really Still Need a Booster Seat?

My son doesn’t want to use a booster seat anymore. I can see his perspective: none of his friends use one any longer and he thinks the seat belts in our cars fit him just fine. So why bother?? Because he’s just nine. And because crash studies and child safety guidelines from experts like the American Academy of Pediatrics indicate that he still needs to be using one. Although he thinks he’s so smart and grown up, he’s just a kid – and I’m the parent. And I actually know what it feels like to be injured in a car crash.

Guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2011 recommend that kids use a booster seat until they are at least 4’9” tall (57 inches) and weigh between 80 and 100 pounds. This will likely be around the ages of 8-12 years. But it’s the physical dimensions that matter most. Kids need to be large enough to fit properly in the seatbelt – and mature enough to ride without slouching down and defeating the whole purpose of the belts. Focusing on the age of the child to guide booster seat decisions can be misleading. Last spring – at 9-years of age – my son measured in the 75th percentile for both weight and height at his annual pediatric visit (meaning he was taller and heavier than 75% of other nine-year olds)….and he STILL DIDN’T meet the criteria for graduating from a booster seat – he’s not yet 4’9” and weighs only just over 80 lbs. So why are we in the minority in our community in still using a booster seat?

The problem is that many state laws – and therefore local communications about what constitutes safe car travel for older kids – haven’t caught up to these recommendations (click here for a summary of state laws on child passenger safety). Many states – like Alabama, Colorado, Iowa and Nebraska (to name just a few) focus exclusively on age – without the all-important height and weight requirements. This list includes my state of Indiana which allows children over age seven to shelve the booster seat, no matter how big they are. My son’s best friend – also nine – stopped using a booster seat last year. He’s fully THREE INCHES shorter than my son. How can he possibly be safely restrained by an adult seat belt during a crash? And this isn’t just a theoretical issue. Safe Kids USA reports that children seated in a booster seat in the rear of the car are 45% less likely to be injured in a crash as compared to those using a seat belt alone.

While this is bad enough, some states – like Florida, Arizona and South Dakota don’t even have booster seat laws. In these states it is legally permissible for children as young as age 4 and 5 to use adult seat belts. Is there some reason why the children in these states are less likely to be involved in a traffic accident – or that they are somehow more resilient in a car crash?

Let’s face it – the process of proposing and passing laws is complicated and time-consuming. Hopefully all these states will eventually get on par with the guidelines, joining states like Georgia and Maine. However, in the meantime it’s our children riding in the back seat and I would rather base my car safety approach on best-practice guidelines than rely on the timeline and politics of my state judicial process.

So, in our house the 4’9” rule prevails. We even got out the measuring tape recently and determined my son has an inch to go. He’s counting down every day. And he understands that I’m following new expert recommendations to keep him safe – and that his friends’ parents probably just aren’t aware of these guidelines, which is too bad.

New FAA Recommendations for Transport of Children on Planes

Reported on ABC News by Tanya Rivero, and in an article written by Lisa Stark and Jordyn Phelps in ABC World News with Dianne Sawyer.

The current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy, allows children under the age of two, to fly free, if seated on an adult’s lap; the adult is safely restrained, the child is not.

As recently as March 2011, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), changed many parameters for the safe transport of infants and children when it recommended new guidelines for age, weight and seat orientation for safety seats in cars. (See the article on the Pediatric Safety website here).

On May 24, 2011, Randy Babbitt, an FAA administrator, announced at a press conference in Washington, DC, that the FAA has come up with a new set of recommendations for the airline industry, regarding the transport of children on airplanes, who weigh forty pounds-or-less. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) has concurred with those recommendations.

Focusing on the safety of child passengers on a plane, the FAA believes that it is much safer to transport a forty-or-under pound child if he/she is secured in a FAA-approved safety seat that is properly attached to an airplane seat of his/her own, than if that child sits on an adult’s lap during flight.

Although the FAA clearly stated its recommendation, it will not make it a requirement, at this time, because of the concern that cost issues (the purchase of an additional seat) may deter families from flying. They also maintain that It is still safer for the child to fly while seated on an adult’s lap, than it is for that child to be a safely-restrained passenger in a car.

NCHS Red Light Safety Camera Campaign can save lives

Keeping our families safe on the road is a very important task that we undertake as parents. We drive carefully, keep our cars in tip-top shape, and make sure everyone is buckled in safely on each and every trip. Unfortunately, we can’t control what other drivers on the road are doing. We must rely on the police and essential safety equipment, such as red light safety cameras, to help keep us safe.

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 113,000 people were injured and 676 were killed in crashes that involved red-light running in 2009 – two-thirds of the victims were pedestrians, bicyclists and occupants of vehicles hit by the red-light runners.

The study also showed that red-light safety cameras helped save more than 150 lives in 14 of the biggest U.S. cities from 2004 to 2008. Had the cameras been operating in all 99 U.S. cities with populations more than 200,000, more than 800 lives could have been saved.

Each time we enter an intersection, our families are at risk of becoming the victim of an accident – whether on foot or in a vehicle. Red light safety cameras help to change driver behavior and reduce the risk to our loved ones, however many people are unaware just how valuable these cameras are to those on the road.

The National Coalition for Safer Roads has created a powerful video, showing just how tragic the consequences of running a red light can be.

You can find the National Coalition for Safer Roads on their website, Twitter and Facebook pages, for more information about this important initiative.

Overweight Children are NOT Adequately Protected in Car Seats

For the past ten years, the news media has consistently focused our attention on the fact that obesity is on the rise; that it has become a major problem in the United States, and that childhood obesity, in particular, has put young children at-risk for a multitude of health-related issues.

One surprising health-related issue stems from the fact that many infants and toddlers are being transported in car seats that are not safe for them to be riding in, and I am not referring to the improper installation of those seats. The problem I AM referring to is the fact that when car seats are crash-tested, the crash-dummies that are used to simulate the effects of an accident impact do not reflect the overweight child population being transported.

With so many young obese children today, common sense should dictate that the crash-dummy’s weight and dimensions more closely match that of the children using the car seats being tested.

In an article on the ThirdAge.Com website, March 29, 2011, under Boomer Health and Lifestyle, Katherine Rausch highlights a problem that although acknowledged for some time, has been awaiting a solution since 2004, but researchers have not come up with a product. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration is using smaller adult version dummies for child crash-testing. Why? According to a recent article in the Washington Post, it’s because crash test dummies are expensive to develop and funding is not readily available to develop larger “life-like” child test dummies. This leaves child safety seat manufacturers self-regulating their own products. It also means that seats made just a few years ago to hold 65lb children are now marketed for those up to 85lbs.

It appears that heavier-weight crash-dummies have been in development for adults for decades now. Why haven’t overweight children been given the same attention?

With so many recent news reports about the American Academy of Pediatrics’ and NHTSA’s “new safety seat guidelines”, are we deluding ourselves into thinking our kids are safe?

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