The American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) is urging parents and crib manufacturers to do away with using bumpers on their baby’s cribs. The organization has just released new guidelines on baby safety, which includes this recommendation as a way to preventing SIDS.

According to the reports, this is the first time the group has openly recognized the dangers of the bumpers, which were first added to the cribs to protect the babies from injury. The AAP says, there is no such evidence to the claim that a bumper-less crib is dangerous. However, the crib bumpers themselves bring about more danger as this can strangle, suffocate and entrap infants, leading to their death. There have been lots of reported cases about this, hence the AAP has already taken a stand.

Their last recommendation, published in 2005, suggested using crib bumpers that are thinner and hardly pillow-like. But recent turn of events have made the AAP change their stand.

According to one of its chairpersons:

“In 2005, when we last published a policy statement and recommendations, we had some concerns about bumper pads, but we didn’t really have a lot of evidence that this was a real problem. Since then, there have been some published studies looking at bumper pads, and we concluded that if there’s no reason for them to be in the crib, it’s better to just have them out of there, particularly in light of the deaths that have been reported, that have been associated with the bumper pads.”

Many households consider pets as part of the family with some pets creating a special bond with the children. When this pet dies, it’s understandably devastating for the kids. It may raise a lot of questions that sometimes parents aren’t able to properly handle when the kids mourn the lost of their furry best friend. Here are some tips by experts on what to do when your child’s favorite pet dies:

Honesty is always the best policy. Telling the child stories and euphemistic descriptions of what happened to the dog will only confuse them. However, take notice of how the child reacts and consider his or her level of understanding. The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement says that the ages between 7 and 9 is most crucial since this is the age kids tend to ask more questions and wonder about their own mortality. The death can also trigger worries that other loved-ones may die and it’s best to reassure the child that this isn’t always the case with people.

Let the child grieve in his or her own way. But it may be helpful to also talk to the child and let them understand what this sadness is. To fully achieve closure, it’s also good to hold a simple memorial service which can be done creatively. By having the child participate in marking the gravesite, it helps him handle the loss and framing his thoughts correctly.

Losing somebody they love is difficult for children but if done right, they can emerge in this better and stronger and more positive.

It’s natural to want to avoid talking about death with your child. But if you skirt the issue or speak in hushed tones when someone passes away, your child may become even more curious. Most kids this age have trouble grasping the permanence of death because their sense of time isn’t developed. They don’t understand the concept of forever. When they play dead, for example, they can get up and run around a few minutes later. Kid’s understanding of death occurs gradually, and they use plat to make sense of what it means.

Your child may ask lots of questions; try to answer the, patiently and honestly, but keep your explanations simple. Tell him, for example, that when a person is dead, his body doesn’t work anymore and he can’t become alive again. You can say that it’s usually something that happens to older people when their bodies get very tired and can’t be fixed.

It’ll still take a while for the concept to sink in. even if a close family member has died and your child has attended the funeral, he might ask “Is grandma coming to my birthday party?”. It is very confusing to our little ones to understand death because they’re taking it literally. If you say that your guinea pig has “gone to sleep”, there’s a good chance that your child will develop a fear of going to bed. So try to be honest as possible and always use the right words that won’t traumatized your child.

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According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), over 7,000 people reported injuries from fireworks in 2008.  Considering that’s almost twice the size of my whole town, that seems like a pretty impressive number to me.  Of those 7,000, 7 died.

The CPSC emphasizes that these are not the big, professionally done blow-outs that mark Independence Day, New Year, and other big holidays and special occasions.  Those are done by…well, professionals, who pretty much know what they’re doing.

No, those injuries are being caused by the amateurs, the ones lighting off explosives on their back patio and putting sparklers out with their fingertips.  however, even if so many of those injuries are caused by carelessness, they still hurt.  So, the CPSC has come up with some guidelines to help you–and your kids, especially–have a safe and fun Indepenence Day.

• Check to see if fireworks are even legal in your area.  They never were where I grew up, but where I live now, they are.  It took me about five years to figure that out, though.

• Children must always be supervised when fireworks are involved!  And never let children light the fuses of fireworks themselves.  Those things move fast!

• Read the directions and follow all the warnings!  Believe it or not, you can do this wrong.

• Be sure other people are out of range before you light one.  That’s fire coming out of that tube.

• Light your fireworks on a smooth, flat surface, away from overhands, dry leaves and flammable materials.  It doesn’t seem like people should have to be told this, but at least 7,000 of them do.

• If a firework fizzles or duds, don’t try to relight it.  It might blow up in your face.

• Keep a bucket of water close by in case something catches on fire or someone gets burned.  It will also help you make sure your site is secured before you go in.

• Be aware that sparklers can catch clothes on fire!  They seem harmless, but they must be watched carefully!

Keep these safety tips, use some common sense, and make this a holiday to remember for the right reasons. 

There has been some research done about kids and accidents, including what gender and age groups have them the most, and what kinds of accidents they have.  Here, in no particular order, are 10 interesting pieces of information about kids and accidents.  These facts only apply to accidents that happen to kids.

1. 74.5% of all accidents that befall kids happen to kids under the age of 5.
2. Boys are more accident prone than girls (they’ve obviously never met my kids!).
3. The most accidents for both sexes happen to 2 and 3 year olds.
4. Cuts are the most common type of accident, followed by falls and poisoning.
5. Other common accidents include burns, object in the nostril, bloody noses, head injuries, choking, bruises, stings, broken bones, and strained muscles.
6. 1 in 3 children using a walker suffers an injury because of it.  Most of them fall down steps in their walkers.
7. Lacerations are the most common playground injury.
8. 25% of gunshot wounds that are not fatal result in permanent brain damage.
9. Swings and slides cause the most playground injuries.
10. The #1 cause of death in all children up to age 14 is car crashes.  70% of kids aren’t properly restrained in cars.

So, heads up, parents.  We can’t wrap them in bubble wrap (they get all sweaty), but we can minimize the risks as much as possible.