State health officials are proposing to ban the sale of crib bumpers.

If successful, Maryland would be the first state to prohibit the crib accessory. Here are some excerpts from a story by my colleague Meredith Cohn's story:

The pads have little safety benefit and pose a small, but potentially deadly risk, according to members of a state task force formed this year to advise state health officials.

"Crib bumpers are not part of the safe sleep ABCs — babies should sleep alone, on their backs in a crib," Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, secretary of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said at a news conference announcing the proposal. "And we're adding a fourth letter, 'D' for 'Don't use crib bumpers.'"

Sharfstein, who reviewed the panel findings before moving ahead with the proposed ban, said education will be important to convey the risk to the public.

The state's move follows a ban by the city council in Chicago two weeks ago. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is also investigating crib bumpers.

Not surprising, the group that represents bumper manufacturers is not happy with Maryland's proposal. The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association maintains that the pads, when used properly, are not only safe but protective.

Cohn reports that studies nationally have found that 27 baby deaths can be directly attributed to bumper pads in the last 20 years, while another 25 infants suffered nonfatal injuries.

In Maryland, one child was asphyxiated by crib bumpers.

We've had discussions over this issue when the state task force recommended the ban on crib bumpers in May. My unscientific poll found that many parents have used or are using bumpers.

The state is accepting public comments regarding this proposal.

Comments can be submitted until 5 p.m. Nov. 4. Send to Michele Phinney, Director, Office of Regulation and Policy Coordination, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 201 W. Preston St., Room 512, Baltimore, MD 21201. Calls can be made to 410-767-6499 or TTY: 800-735-2258 or emails can be sent to regs@dhmh.state.md.us

Or have your say here.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Child Safety
        

Source: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

As a working mom with two active boys, I can tell you it’s hard to find a time we can all sit down to eat together. With soccer, basketball, scouts and school work, it seems the kids are constantly on the go.

But a recent study from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reminds us of the importance of family dinners. The study found that teens who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are almost four times likelier to use tobacco, more than twice as likely to use alcohol, two-and-a-half times likelier to use marijuana, and almost four times likelier to say they expect to try drugs in the future than kids who eat with their families more than five times a week.

Of course there isn’t anything magical about the meal itself. Grilled chicken strips and spaghetti do not prevent drug abuse. What’s important is the time we spend with our kids. So don’t fret about cooking a gourmet meal. Go for quick and easy and spend your time talking at the table.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday

This week I took my tween shopping for clothes and reality hit. It seemed no matter what style or brand of jeans he tried on, they were too tight in the waist. I’ve been astounded to see that in the past year my once skinny boy has grown taller, broader, and yes, heavier, as he approaches puberty.

As a parent, it’s often difficult to know the right way to address children’s weight issues. Michelle Obama came under wide criticism when she publicly disclosed that her daughters were becoming heavy. While we often focus attention on body image with girls, boys have their own concerns. My 15-year-old is constantly checking his physique in the mirror lamenting that he is too fat, which he isn’t at all. The younger one, who needs to slim down, so far seems oblivious to his weight.

My challenge is to keep it in perspective. I try to follow the guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and encourage the boys to get an hour of exercise every day, to eat their vegetables and cut down on the fattening snacks. But as they grow older and more independent, it’s hard to monitor everything they put in their mouth.

My hope is that the boys grow older, they will recognize the importance of eating right and exercising regularly, and make wise choices without become obsessive about their appearance.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday

Surveys show kids are getting cell phones at an earlier age. My 15-year-old has one. He got his when he started middle school. But now his 10-year-old brother has one. For the older one, who was walking to school and starting to visit friends nearby, it seemed like a good safety precaution. For the younger, well, he got the phone because big brother had one and it didn’t add anything to the phone bill.

He just received a free upgrade and now he is showing it off to his friends and telling them they HAVE to have a cell phone. Truthfully, he doesn’t need it. But then none of the kids seem to be using the phone to talk to anyone. They play games, text and take pictures, but talk? No, only old folks actually use telephones for talking.

If your tween is bugging you about a cell phone, here’s some advice from the National Consumers League. And if you do decide to buy your tween or teen a phone, consider a plan that comes with unlimited texting. I learned the hard way about that.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

With the 10th anniversary of 9-11 quickly approaching, I have been thinking about how I would tell Jake about that horrible day when he is old enough to understand.

That day changed every facet of our lives, but Jake and other children who were yet to be born or too young to remember won't know a life before 9-11 when family members could walk us to airline departure gates and say goodbyes there; when there was no such thing as homeland security; and the twin towers dotted New York's skyline.

I don't want Jake to view 9-11 as just a history lesson though I'm sure my generation saw Pearl Harbor, the assassination of president Kennedy and the Vietnam War as just that.

If you have older kids, how have you broached this subject? What would you like to tell you kids?
What have you told them already?

The National Association of School Psychologists has developed tips for parents, educators and others to help children deal with the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Parenting in general
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday

School is finally open and suddenly life gets very busy. I’ve been filling out forms, buying last-minute school supplies and shuttling kids to sports practice. But there’s another thing on my to-do list: checking to see if my tween’s vaccines are up to date.

When our kids are small, it seems we’re at the doctor every few months for check-ups and vaccines. But as they get older, the visits to the pediatrician become less frequent. During the summer, I took the older son to the doctor for a physical that his scout camp required. But it’s been over a year since my 10-year-old went for a check-up.

While most of us are diligent in getting our children vaccinated when they are small, we sometimes forget that they need booster shots as they approach their teen years. A recent CBS News report noted that many states are requiring proof of updated shots before kids can enroll in middle and high school.

Here’s a list of vaccines the Centers for Disease Control recommend for teens and tweens.

This week my to-do list is going to include a call to the pediatrician.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

If you follow celebrity pregnancies, then you would think it's easy to conceive in your late 30s and 40s.

But no matter how good you look and feel on the outside, your aging ovaries tell another story, according to the New York Times.

Advances in beauty products and dermatology, not to mention manic devotion to yoga, Pilates and other exercise obsessions, are making it possible for large numbers of women to look admirably younger than their years. But doctors fear that they are creating a widening disconnect between what women see in the mirror and what’s happening to their reproductive organs.

While each woman’s window of fertility is different (there have been rare cases of women conceiving naturally in their 50s), most doctors agree that by the time a woman is 40, her chances of getting pregnant each month are approximately 5 percent.

The article interviewed women in that age group who are having trouble conceiving and are turning to fertility treatments.

Do you think women are getting unrealistic idea of conceiving later in life? Does the media fuel that idea?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Expecting