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Turn your routine inside out: Updating for summer

Summer is almost here!  I know a lot of people are excited about the warm weather right around the bend.  Here in the southwest it is already hot.  Like 100 degrees hot some days.  I am not a fan of heat.  The thought of going out in the heat of the day, getting all sweaty,  and worrying about sunburns and dehydration in the kids makes me want to just throw on a movie for the kids and hang out until fall.  Fortunately for my kids I know this isn’t the best way to spend the summer.  Instead we tweaked our routine a bit to maximize fun and minimize heat exposure.  I think those of us who love our schedules and routines forget that we are the master of the routine, it isn’t the master of us.  Don’t be afraid to change things up to suit new needs!

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SPF What? Summer sunscreen tips for babies and kids

Summer is almost here.  Sunshine!!  Yay! Of course being out in the sun means we need to protect that delicate, beautiful skin on our little ones.  It can be a bit daunting to know the best recommendations for babies and young children.  Young babies especially can’t tell us if their skin is feeling too hot.  They are often unable to move themselves out of the sun if they feel uncomfortable.  As a result it is up to us to keep them sun safe. Here are the basics on sun safety and sunscreen for babies and kids.

Under six months old

The recommendation for babies under six months of age is to skip the sunscreen if you can help it.  Try to use clothing, shade, or just avoidance to prevent sunburns.  Of course this can be easier said than done if you live in a sunny area.  Or if you have other kids that need to get out and play.  In these cases the American Academy of Pediatrics has said that using a little sunscreen is better than the baby getting a sunburn.  (Yay for practicality coming through in this advice!)  When applying sunscreen to babies be sure to watch their eyes.  Try to avoid putting it on places they suck on, like their hands.  You don’t want them eating it.

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Hydration in babies, toddlers, and kids

The weather reports for a lot of the country are still, well, confusing.  It is still very winter in most places.  (Sigh, I almost miss that.  Almost.) Around here it is already hot.  Seriously, it is getting up to ninety degrees.  We aren’t even in summer yet.  Most areas of the country will have some level of summer eventually.  Either you are experiencing warm weather already or dreaming of summer fun.  That means we need to worry about our our little ones getting enough water.  But how much water do babies and kids need?  How do I get them to drink it?  What should I do to keep us hydrated in hot weather?  Here are some guidelines to help out.

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Summer car safety

Image result for preventing heatstroke in cars
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As the weather gets warmer we start seeing those sad stories of children inadvertently left in cars for too long.  These are terrible stories.  I can’t even bring myself to write about what these poor children go through.  I can’t imagine what pain the parents have to live with for the rest of their lives.  But I do feel compelled to write something about it.

This sort of thing scares me so much.  You know why?  Because it can happen to anyone.  Oh, I know.  There are tons of people out there who read these stories and think, ‘Nope, not me. I could never forget my kid.’  I don’t think I could forget my child.  But then I think about times that I have driven home and can’t quite remember the drive exactly.  You know what I mean.  You are so deep in thought that you kind of go on auto pilot.  I know I have set out to go somewhere and ended up steering to the office out of habit.  Say you have something major on your mind.  A big presentation, an illness in the family, or just the chronic tiredness that can come with having small children.  It makes sense that someone could go about their routine and miss the step of dropping off their child.  Our brains can fail us, and it can lead to tragedy.

I have my children with me every day, I am used to loading them in and out of the car.  Okay, so maybe I am less likely to forget them.  What about if someone else has them?  If you aren’t accustomed to getting a child in and out of the car it could be easy to forget they are even there.  You aren’t used to getting a baby out of the car, and that baby is sound asleep.  It can be easy to forget.  Why would you look in your backseat if you don’t on a regular basis?  In this case habit works against us.  I am happy that Ben is now old and big enough to stay awake through most car rides.  He likes to talk to me and I know he is back there.  The girls are still rear facing and often doze off during car rides, which could make it easy to forget they are back there.  I’ve forgotten my phone, my purse, books, etc in the car.  I am not infallible.  I make an effort to not forget my children are in the car with me.  Honestly with three to load in and out it is a bit harder.  And as I said, the kids are always with me.  In fact in the rare instances I am out without them I find myself climbing in the back to unload anyway.  But that isn’t to say I couldn’t make a tragic mistake.  I always try to put something in the back I will need at my destination, just to be safe.

There are so many ways to help prevent this.  Leave your phone in the backseat.  You shouldn’t be on it while driving anyway.  Put a shoe in the back.  You will notice walking around with one shoe.  Make a plan to have your childcare provider call you if your child doesn’t show up on time.  Call the person who has your child to make sure they got the child out of the car.  Do whatever it takes to keep your family safe.

An acronym to help is ACT.
A: Avoid– never intentionally leave your child unattended in a car.  Don’t leave cars unlocked for kids to get into. Don’t leave keys out where children can play with them.
C: Create reminders– leave something in the back you need.
T: Take action– if you see a child alone in a hot car do something!  Call 911 for help.
(source)

I hope whoever takes care of Ben, Ali, and Sammy understands if I call to make sure they are all safe.  As I said, this could happen to anyone.  And I hope anyone who worries (like Pat) calls me to check on the safety of our children.  It isn’t worth the risk to put my pride first and take offense to someone checking in.

Here are some links for additional information.

http://www.today.com/parents/7-tips-preventing-hot-car-related-deaths-children-t31551
http://www.kars4kids.org/safety-app/
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/hot-cars-and-child-death-prevention
http://www.safercar.gov/parents/inandaroundthecar/heatstroke.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-gage/how-can-we-stop-babies-fr_b_9993322.html

I also want to mention that if you accidentally lock your child in the car and can’t get them out, call 911!  Accidents happen.  Kids grab keys and push lock buttons.  You will not get in trouble for saving your child.  Emergency personnel are trained to know what to do in this sort of situation.  They just want your child to be safe too.

I know there are many dangers that face our children in the world today.  This is one that everyone can take steps to prevent though.  I hope we all take that extra caution to try to make it so no family has to suffer through this sort of tragedy.

–Kim

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Baby proofing enough- BFBN

Welcome to another Babywise Friendly Blog Network day!  Today all the ladies of the BFBN are blogging about various aspects of safety.  You can check out the pinterest page to get to all the posts!

 

Today I’m talking about baby and child proofing.  I knew when Ben was born that of course I wanted to make his home as safe as possible.  But we also wanted him to learn to navigate a world that isn’t 100% safe.  I mean, we planned to take him out of our home at some point, meaning he would have to face situations with dangers.  We decided to baby proof just enough.  Just enough to be safe and able to relax in our home, but not so much he would never learn to be careful.  Here’s how we did it.

1) Take care of the real, immediate dangers.  What does this mean to me?  It means to make sure anything that can cause instant terrible injury or death is baby proofed.  All cleaning supplies and any sort of chemical that can be swallowed is behind a locked cabinet or up on a high shelf even I can’t reach without a stool.  Knives, scissors, sharp items are all well out of reach.  Dagger’s litter box is in the basement, which opens up into the living room, so baby gate is in place to allow Dagger access and prevent Ben from falling.  Furniture is anchored to the wall.  Outlets are covered.  Oven knobs are covered.  While we want Ben to learn to navigate the world around him, we also know he is a small child.  He doesn’t know what can maybe cause a two second owie, and what, frankly, could kill him.  So while we are easy going on some baby proofing measures, legit safety is not one of them.

2)  Decide what items you absolutely do not want broken.  We have a few items that I know I didn’t want broken.  A couple of nice wedding gifts, a couple of knickknacks from Pat’s and my relationship so far.  Nothing that is super valuable, but it is valuable to me.  I took the items I knew I in no way wanted broken and put them in an area Ben can’t access.  They aren’t items I want Ben learning on.  This also includes a couple of Ben’s books.  We have some that have been passed down from family and are really nice.  We pull them out when we can read them with Ben, but otherwise they are put away so tiny hands can’t destroy them.  I don’t want to set us up for failure, so why leave items I know I can’t really replace out to be broken?

3)  Leave a few practice items out.  By practice items I mean things that I know I don’t want Ben to touch, but that can’t be broken easily.  For us that one item that includes is the remote controls.  Ben has never been allowed to play with the remote controls.  That being said, they are often out.  They are a perfect item to practice seeing something, but not touching it.  Oh, he still touches it of course.  Come on, he’s two, he looooves buttons to push.  He also knows he is not supposed to touch it.  With the remote he gets to practice his self control, but it isn’t really going to hurt anything if that self control doesn’t last very long.  He is also not supposed to go into the diaper bag on his own.  It is often out and full of items he can handle with no big deal.  With it out we practice resisting temptation and listening to mom and dad when they say don’t touch.

4)  Give the kid safe places to explore.  In our kitchen there are two cabinets that are free for Ben to look at.  They hold our pots and pans mainly.  He can open those up, pull stuff out, mess around with them.  Sure, it can be annoying to re-stack the pots, but he can’t really hurt himself with them.  He is allowed to play with the Tupperware as well.  The good part of him taking things out of cabinets is we get to practice cleaning up.  And honestly since he has free reign over those, he isn’t super interested in the other cabinets he can’t get into.  His curiosity has been satisfied in a safe way.  It also gives him something to do in the kitchen while I am cooking.

5)  Be prepared for messes and incidental owies.  Of course I do not want my son to get hurt.  But you know what?  If he backs into the coffee table enough he is going to learn to look where he is going.  Sometimes Ben feels the need to put every book he can get his hands on all over the couch.  Sometimes every toy needs to be on the floor.  Sometimes he gets into the diaper bag when we aren’t looking and the contents end up all over the place.  Sure, if we had fully baby proofed all of these items this wouldn’t happen.  It would be a lot easier and cleaner.  But what sort of lesson would Ben learn from that?  I’m not exactly happy when Ben gets a hold of a box of tissues and pulls them all out.  Did it hurt anything though?  No.  I’m willing to put up with some annoyances to work on bigger issues of listening and learning not to touch when told.

These are the main guidelines we follow.  Of course with the new babies on the way we will have to tighten up our requirements for what is safe enough to be out.  (Small toys put away, back to being more careful with paper books, etc.)  This approach has worked for us so far.  Ben is safe enough that we can be comfortable in our own home.  He is also learning boundaries.  I can see that it is working when we are at the office and at other people’s homes.  He understands that there will be items out he cannot touch.  Sure, they are tempting.  But most of the time he knows and obeys the ‘not for Ben’ command.  These lessons don’t take the place of actually watching him, of course.  I don’t expect my two year old to always resist temptation, but at least it has laid the ground work for doing so.  Ben has age appropriate opportunities to explore and to learn about safety in the world.  Works for us.

Be sure to check out the other ladies in BFBN for their posts on safety!

–Kim

Apffel a Day
Chronicles of a Babywise Mom
Faithfully Infertile
Giving it Grace
The Journey of Parenthood
The Moses Home
Team Cartwright
Wiley Adventures

You can also check out the pinterest board BFBN Pinterest to see lots of great tips!