Designing a nursery room can be an exciting time for new parents, and the options for fun and stylish rooms are endless.  Most parents will be focused on color, furniture layout and choosing just the right personal touches.  Safety can play second fiddle, so when you’re in the throes of design excitement, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Safety Standards

It can be fun to refurbish old, antique furniture for a baby’s room.  Maybe you’ve got some pieces that have been handed down and hold personal value, but they may simply not be the safest option for your new little family member.  Safety standards have changed and antiques or retro cribs and furniture aren’t likely going to make the cut.  Crib slat spacing and hook-on mattress supports may pose an entrapment hazard, bassinet sides may not meet current height requirements, and even the paint may be a cause for concern due to lead content. It’s not just changing safety standards, some products that were popular in your childhood may even be banned as is the case with walkers.  Don’t despair – sometimes pieces can be salvaged and brought up to code with some changes.  Just do your research and plan accordingly.   Also keep in mind that, while extra pillows and comforters look cute, they can present their own safety hazards for babies and young children.  Keep your design simple and hold off on bedding frills at least for the first year.

Windows

Window dressings can be just the thing that ties a nursery together, but sometimes blinds can present us with another set of safety challenges.  Numerous deaths could have been prevented if cords had been properly set out of reach, or sometimes avoided all together (cordless valances, shades, or curtains are great options).  Furniture placement can also be detrimental.   If located too close to a window, furniture can present an opportunity for a young child to climb, and screens won’t provide any type of failsafe.  It’s best to keep windows clear of any furniture or toy bins.

Furniture

Heavy furniture should be bolted to the wall even if your child doesn’t show signs (yet!) of being an industrious climber.  Even a light bookshelf, when loaded with stories or decor, can present enough of a danger that it’s best to make sure there’s no risk of having it fall over. And it’s not just bookshelves that pose a tipping hazard; any chest, dresser or storage unit over 30 inches tall should be secured to the wall.  Most new furniture includes anti-tip straps and many hardware stores carry lines of straps, bolts and plates with exactly this type of use in mind.

Details

Outlet plugs are a must, and it’s best to tape rugs to the floor to prevent slips and falls.  Keep change table necessities well out of reach (oils, powders, creams); cosmetics and personal care products are the most common forms of poisons ingested by children under age 6.  When looking for wall decor, search for pictures that are lightweight and not easily breakable.  It’s a great idea to hang simple, frameless pictures or prints on canvas and avoid dangers of heavy falling items or glass breakage.

Your baby’s nursery can certainly be the gem of the household. A bit of forethought will ensure a safe and stylish room in which to share time with your child.

Article Source:

https://bedroomfurnitureandmattressgallery.com/blogs/news/creating-a-safe-nursery-room/

It’s a struggle familiar to many parents: getting children to brush their teeth and floss them, too. Here’s how to get them going.

When it comes to dental care, many children give the task the brush off. They just don’t brush and floss often enough, properly or willingly, say dentists. And parents can use improper tactics to get results. “Some get their kids to brush by bribing them with candy-completely counter-productive,” says Dr. Sarah Hulland, a Calgary pediatric dentist. Consider these strategies instead.

Start Brushing Early

Brushing and flossing should be a habit, not something you have to force kids to do. So start the habit early. Even before children have teeth, parents should wipe their gums, using a clean face cloth, gauze or a finger-worn brush. It lets children know that cleaning their mouth is part of a routine.

Show Them the Way

Before school age (even after for many kids) children likely aren’t brushing or flossing well, says Hulland: “They lack the consciousness and coordination to do a good job.” They’ll brush along the biting surface, for instance, but not where the teeth meet the gum. At this stage, parents need to brush their child’s teeth or do it with them (i.e. your hand over the child’s). The same with flossing, which should start as soon as there’s no space between the baby teeth. Another way to motivate them: Let children watch you brush and floss too (you can even do it at the same time) to remind them of its importance and the proper technique.

Set Goals

Use a chart to track your child’s brushing and flossing, and reward them for a good week or month. It’s a visible reminder of an expected task, provides a positive incentive and gives children a sense of responsibility, says Dr. Gary Elman, a Toronto dentist.

Make it Fun

Some accessories-toothbrushes with a favorite cartoon character or those play songs, power brushes, floss wands, fun flavored toothpaste can make caring for teeth less of a chore. Just ensure that the brush head is small enough to reach the corners of your child’s mouth.

Stay on Top

As kids get older and wash up by themselves, don’t just assume that they’ve developed good brushing and flossing habits. Check if their toothbrush is wet or if the toothpaste and floss are running lower. If not, try incentives again. Or if you really want to see results, jokes Dr. Hulland, offer to brush and floss their teeth just like when they were a toddler that will get any teen moving quickly.

Article Source:

https://www.readersdigest.ca/health/relationships/how-get-your-kids-brush-and-floss/

The latest study is the first to show that it’s possible to detect autism in babies.

Brain scans can be used to help detect autism in high-risk babies long before any symptoms emerge, according to a new U.S. study that could mark a “giant step forward” in autism research, scientists say.

Scientists used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to study the brains of more than 100 infants who have older siblings with autism. Researchers were able to predict 80 per cent of the infants who went on to meet the criteria for autism at two years of age, according to a new study published in Nature.

The study is the first to show that it’s possible to detect autism in babies. Typically, the earliest an autism diagnosis can be made is around age two, when children start showing symptoms that include difficulty making eye contact and not responding to familiar voices.

Dr. Joseph Piven, a senior author of the study and a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said the goal is to use early autism detection to improve existing therapies for children.

“There is a general belief that earlier is better, in terms of treatment,” he told CTV News. “And if we can treat before the symptoms appear and before the brain changes even happen, then that’s most likely to have the biggest impact.”

Among the general population, autism occurs in about 1 in 100 children, researchers say. But they say that infants who have an older sibling with autism have about a 1 in 5 chance of developing the disorder.

Dr. Piven, who is also the director of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, and his colleagues conducted MRI scans of high-risk infants’ brains at six, 12 and 24 months of age.

Fifteen of those babies were diagnosed with autism at 24 months. The MRI scans showed that their brains grew faster between 12 and 24 months of age, compared to babies who were not diagnosed with autism. Researchers also detected brain changes between six and 12 months.

That increased rate of growth was linked to the emergence of autism symptoms, Dr. Piven said.

He called the latest study “optimistic,” saying it could represent a “giant step forward” in autism research.

Researchers also say that larger studies are needed to confirm the accuracy of autism prediction using MRIs.

By Sonja Puzic, CTVNews.ca – https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/baby-brain-scans-could-predict-autism-before-age-2-study-1.3288363/

You’ve probably talked about it with friends and family or maybe you’ve experienced some judgement (no matter which side of the fence you’re on); one thing is for certain, the topic of co-sleeping can turn into a pretty heated discussion.  No matter which choice you’ve made; whether putting baby down in their own room early on to sleep or spending your first year waking up next to your child, there are some pros and cons to consider.

Especially if you’re a breastfeeding mom, the idea of co-sleeping can be an intriguing one; in the first couple of months most babies feed very frequently, waking up every couple of hours.  Not having to drag yourself out of bed and sluggishly head down the hall each time is an obvious benefit.  If your child is right next to you, it’s an easy and much faster transition from waking baby to satisfied baby.  The process is a lot quicker, and you and your child get back to sleep sooner than you would otherwise.  Neither of you even has to shift from your “lying down” position!  There is also an intimacy with co-sleeping that a parent and child don’t experience with separate sleeping quarters.  Falling asleep with your arms around each other and a little body snuggled up close can be a heart warming experience and make your child feel safe and secure.

On the flip side, there is a theory that co-sleeping may increase chances of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), which is a big enough fear for any new parent.  There is also a chance that your little one may become entangled in blankets or sheets, get caught underneath a pillow, or even get rolled on.  Having baby nearby for feeding might seem convenient, but if you or your baby toss and turn through the night, you may keep each other awake and get less sleep than if you bedded down in separate quarters.  Even if your baby sleeps soundly, if you’re worried about rolling on top of him, you’re not going to fall into the deep, rejuvenating sleep that you need (now more than ever!) or you may wake frequently just to “check” and make sure your child is ok.  Although it might not come up in the first couple of months, sex will definitely have to be put on a back burner as long as junior is snoring away next to you.

If you don’t feel good about putting your child in their own room right away, a good compromise would be to invest in a “co-sleeper” attachment that allows baby to be right next to you with the added security of having their own space you can’t roll into.  They can sleep under their own bedding and reduce the risk of being trapped under yours.  There is also the favourable idea of having your child sleep in a bassinet or crib next to your bed, reducing the risk of any accidents even further.  Yes, you’ll still have to drag your body out of bed, but your child is only a few steps away instead of in a separate room.

This holiday season, my kids and I spent some time with my parents in Arizona, along with one of my brothers, his wife and their baby. We had a great time, and it was amazing to see my youngest brother all grown up with a family of his own.

Yet as the days went on, I began to notice a pattern. My brother and his wife helped equally with their son. They bathed him together, changed him together, put him to bed and read him stories together. They even sat outside his door in the middle of the night when the baby cried, willing him back to sleep.

I am proud of their partnership, but it also made me a little wistful. I’ve been divorced since my kids were two and three. I doubt my boys can remember a time when both their parents read them stories together. When both their parents lived under the same roof.

Now, if they’re seeing one of us, it means they have to call the other. It’s been a very ordinary part of their childhood for a long time, but suddenly, seeing my nephew, it struck me that life has been perhaps a tiny bit unfair to my kids.

“We must have looked like a family as we clambered to the end of the trail and back, talking and even laughing with the kids along the way.”

I don’t want to dwell on the past or on my divorce. I only want to look ahead. I’m grateful that things worked out as they did, even though it’s been hard. I hope my kids will be resilient because of this. I hope they will realize how strong they are. How lucky they still are to have two parents who love them very much, even if their parents no longer love one another.

My ex and I try very hard to co-parent successfully. It’s what actually brought us together for a hike while I was in Arizona. He had come down to spend a few days with the boys at a hotel, and since my kids were set on hiking a mountain called Pinnacle Peak, we agreed to go together — the four of us — so we could properly supervise them on the rocky climb.

We must have looked like a family as we clambered to the end of the trail and back, talking and even laughing with the kids along the way. Other hikers stopped us and asked if we wanted our photo taken. It would have been too awkward.

“No thanks,” we both replied.

We continued on our way.

My boys periodically express hope their father and I will get back together. What kid wouldn’t want both parents to tuck them into bed at night? I always kindly explain it’s not going to happen. Perhaps it was the hike, or the sight of their aunt and uncle tending to their cousin, but it all became too much. Their emotions came to the forefront at the Barnes and Noble Valentine’s Day display.

“Will you buy daddy this card?” one of my boys asked hopefully, holding up a glittery card with hearts.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but you don’t do that when you’re divorced,” I explained. I crouched down, knowing they would need a hug by the end of wherever this conversation was headed.

“Do you still love daddy?” the other asked.

“No, once you get divorced you don’t love each other in the same way,” I said. I tried to be clear and matter of fact about it. “I will always be grateful to daddy for giving me you, but mommy and daddy aren’t going to get married again.”

The tears came, hot and pure. Then came my hug. “But boys, a parent’s love for their kids never changes. We will always love you no matter what.”

I told them how lucky they were and how strong. They dried their tears and put the Valentine’s card back in its place. I held their hands in the back seat of the car on the way home. Sometimes, it’s all you can do. Sometimes, it’s just what they need.

Article Source:

Erin Silver – Writer, Blogger & at-home cook working on a book.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/erin-silver/family-vacation-divorce-kids_b_14093226.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-parents/

As a parent of a child diagnosed with autism over a decade ago, I have watched the provincial and federal policy debates about autism with great interest — and even greater disappointment.

Although I used to believe that one of the things that made Canada a great country was its publicly-funded health-care system, my son’s diagnosis opened my eyes to discrimination under medicare. There is no cure for autism, but we’ve had solid peer-reviewed evidence for decades that Intensive Behaviour Intervention (IBI) based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) can have a dramatic impact on the development of kids with autism.

Unfortunately, the treatment is not covered by medicare across the country.

In most provinces, IBI/ABA is not offered by ministries of health to those who need it, when they need and for as long as they need it. Programs, when they are available, are typically offered by ministries of social services instead and are extremely limited in their scope. They are also plagued by unconscionable wait lists — often years long.

My family spent over $40,000 on such therapy in the private sector in the first year while waiting for government provided treatment for our son. This was not sustainable for us nor is it for most Canadian families.

More recently, when I inquired about placing our son in a group home facility in Ontario, I was told that he could not be placed on a list until he’s 18 — and the average waiting period is a decade-long. Such dramatic waits for care facilities for adults with autism is replicated across the country.

So what kind of national leadership has the federal government demonstrated on this file? Not much so far. Recently they’ve been invited to embrace a new proposal.

In November, an expert working group on autism created by the previous federal government presented their final report to Health Minister Philpott. A proposed business plan for a Canadian Autism Partnership (CAP) and a request for support, to the tune of $19 million over five years, was put forth. Minister Philpott now has to determine whether to proceed with this “autism partnership model.”

Unfortunately, CAP falls far short of offering autism families across the country any relief.

CAP gives an overview of their proposed structure (board of directors, national director, 11 employees, advisory council), a mission (address issues related to autism using a shared leadership approach), and a process (consultations, issue identification, agenda setting, problem-solving, mobilization, evaluation, measurement, monitoring) — but that’s about it. In other words, the CAP proposal involves the creation of another bureaucracy.

Those involved with the working group and their supporters may be excited about the prospects of a new bureaucracy, but many in the autism community — myself included — are shaking their heads in disbelief.

The last thing autism families need is more bureaucracy. What we need instead from the federal government is real leadership on autism — and we need it now.

The CAP proposal raises numerous concerns and risks. First, the plan does not mention specific gaps in policy or issues that need to be addressed on a priority basis, and it does not give concrete examples of how such issues could be resolved with the new model or when.

Second, we already have a public health agency and a federal department of health. Are these institutions and their provincial counterparts not adequate enough to conduct consultations, collaboration, problem-identification and political decision-making? The creation of a new bureaucracy will likely render the possibility of any concrete action to resolve policy and program gaps across the country even more remote.

Third, the CAP model does not actually provide the partnership with any authority to make changes to public policy, and it certainly won’t have the resources or legislative power to make meaningful decisions which will entail consequences on the ground.

Instead of a new bureaucratic structure, Minister Philpott should consider instead how the federal government can demonstrate leadership, exercise influence, and put some money on the table to negotiate an accord with the provinces that would address three recurring issues as priorities for autism families: the lack of health-care (medicare) coverage for autism treatment (ABA/IBI); the lack of ABI/IBI in the school systems and the lack of appropriate housing accommodation for autistic adults.

Where there is a political will to do something, there is a way.

Article Source:

By Andrew Kavchak https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/andrew-kavchak/federal-leadership-autism_b_14105808.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-parents/

Tens of thousands of teenagers are being neglected in some way by parents who do not check up on them or offer enough support, a charity says.

The Children’s Society says as many as three pupils in every GCSE classroom in England could be experiencing neglect.

It says a lack of parental interest can lead teenagers to act more waywardly, by getting very drunk for example.

Teenagers need as much care as younger children, it says, adding that many parents do not see it that way.

The charity commissioned researchers from the University of York to investigate teenagers’ experience by surveying a representative group of 2,000 12- to 15-year-olds.

Teenagers are often viewed as more resilient than younger children, says the report, “but they still need dedicated care to meet their physical and emotional needs, to support their education and to keep them safe”.

“A lack of consistent attention to any, or all, of these aspects of parenting can constitute neglect,” it says.

The researchers said neglect of teenagers could include “parents failing to monitor their children’s activities outside the home, not making sure they get health care when they need it, not taking an interest in their education, or failing to provide the crucial emotional support teenagers need by helping them if they are facing problems or if they are upset”.

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‘Rarely caring’

The researchers asked if the teenagers’ parents and carers:

• showed an interest in what they were doing at school
• offered support if they had problems
• took care of them if they were ill
• monitored what they were doing when they were out of the house

A significant minority, some 15%, said they had experienced some form of neglect.

And one in 12 said they lacked emotional support, with their parents rarely or never encouraging them or helping with problems over the previous year.

The research suggested that those who were neglected like that were more likely to behave in ways that risked their health or future prospects.

Nearly half (46%) of teenagers who said they had experienced emotional neglect – with parents who rarely acted in a caring or supportive way towards them – said they had got very drunk recently.

They were more than twice as likely as those who did not experience neglect to have played truant from school and three times as likely to have smoked.

Teenagers who had experienced this neglect were also significantly more likely to be dissatisfied with their lives and pessimistic about their futures.

‘Tension’

These neglected teenagers also tended to report doubts about their competence, having little faith that anyone cares about them.

These feelings became more severe if more than one of these types of neglect had been experienced over the same period.

Children who reported frequent support from their parents were more likely to have better levels of wellbeing.

However, the research also suggested there was a difficult balance to be struck between showing concern and care and intruding in teenagers’ new-found freedom.

“So maybe it is not surprising that the 14-15-year-olds in our survey said they were less happy when parents were frequently asking about what they were doing away from home,” the report said.

The charity says although bringing up teenagers is seen by most as a challenge, there is little support available for parents who struggle.

Its senior researcher, Phil Raws, said: “There is a tension between the need for parents to supervise and monitor their children and the need of teenagers to have independence.

“It is certainly the case that the desire of young people to have freedom and choice in their lives can conflict with the need for parents to keep their young people safe.

“We plan to explore these issues in more detail in future, but it is certainly the case that, to negotiate these challenges, parents and teenagers have to communicate well and build trust over time.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “All children, whatever their age, must feel safe and supported at home.

“We are strengthening the child protection system to make sure children who are at risk are identified early and get the help they need – this includes support to help parents to better care for their children, where necessary.”

Article Source:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/the-cough-that-doesnt-go-away-can-make-a-parent-sick-with-worry/article33551569/