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Cool Clicks : The Picture of Health
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Make Fire Safety Plans Part of your Spring Routine(ARA) - Cleaning, dusting, freshening and organizing - these steps are all typical activities for a spring cleaning routine. But while you're organizing your house or home office this season, make sure you've added organizing and streamlining your family safety and fire plans to your to-do list.
While you can never plan for a fire, if one does break out, it not only puts you and your family in danger, but also compromises the safety of your community fire fighters and first responders. The spring season is the perfect time to review your fire escape plans as you simultaneously tackle your traditional spring cleaning to-do list. By reviewing these fire safety tips from Duracell and taking precautions, you can help keep both your family and local first responders safe.
* Check your smoke alarms once a month to make sure they work. If your alarms are 10 years old or older, it's time to replace them, because alarms can become desensitized over time. If possible, purchase interconnected alarms. If one alarm goes off, all the alarms connected in your house will go off, helping to alert everyone in all locations of a possible fire. Also check the locations of your smoke alarms. Have at least one on every level of your home, and one inside or near sleeping areas. Also replace the batteries inside your alarms once a year with batteries you trust, like Duracell.
* Develop a fire escape plan for every room in the house. Make sure all family members know of at least two exits for every room in the house, and where an outside meeting place will be - away from the house. If you have a second story, have portable escape ladders stored in each of the rooms so family members can escape safely. Practice a fire escape drill twice a year.
* Changing weather temperatures can cause windows and doors to stick, so make sure every member of your family is able to unlock and open these escape opportunities - especially as the seasons change. If you have security bars on doors or windows, have a "quick release" latch so it's easier to get outside in an emergency. Also keep stairways and doorways open - not blocked with clutter that could slow down your escape.
* Practice safety with candle flames, space heaters and cigarettes. Blow out all candles if you plan to leave the room or go to sleep. And keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from anything that could burn. Turn them off before leaving the room or going to sleep. And make sure all cigarettes are completely extinguished and wetted down with water before being put into the trash.
* Be educated about your community first responders: Did you know that of more than 1 million active firefighters in the U.S., about 73 percent serve on a volunteer basis?
More than 23,000 volunteer fire departments in the United States operate on tight budgets to help keep your community and your homes safe in case of, and when, fires strike. Many volunteer firefighters report they spend up to $500 of their own money each year in purchasing supplies and equipment for their department, according to a U.S. Fire Service Needs Assessment Survey.
You can support your community volunteer fire department by simply doing what you already do, purchase batteries for your household. Through the Duracell Power Those Who Protect Us battery donation program, with every purchase of specially marked CopperTop batteries, a battery donation will be made to volunteer fire departments across the country to help power the devices and life-saving equipment volunteer firefighters use. Through this program in partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council you can direct the donation to your community by visiting Duracell.com/protect or Facebook.com/Duracell.
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Spring Health Tips for Smart Parents Spring has arrived and as the sun warms each day, you are spending more time outdoors with your children. It's a wonderful idea to get out of the house and enjoy some fresh air and outdoor playtime, but it's also important to keep spring safety topics in mind so your family is protected.
Sun safety
The warm sun can feel wonderful after being cooped up during cooler months. But if your kids don't take the proper precautions, they may get a nasty burn that could put them at risk for skin cancer.
Most kids rack up between 50 and 80 percent of their lifetime sun exposure before age 18, according to kidshealth.org, so it's important that parents teach their children sun safety skills.
Some basic safety tips to follow include always making your kids wear sunscreen, even on cloudy days. Apply it 15 to 30 minutes before going outside and reapply often. Cover up with hats and light shirts to provide a barrier between the sun and their skin, especially during peak sun times.
Keep an eye out while driving
Because it's nice outside, your children - and all the neighborhood children - will probably be outside and running everywhere. Take extra precautions while driving through your neighborhood and other neighborhoods, and keep an eye out for balls rolling toward the road, or pets that aren't properly leashed that could dash in front of your car. Often these objects will have a young child following closely behind.
It's also important to look behind you, especially when backing up out of a garage or while parked on a street between other vehicles. Two children may be playing tag and running in circles around the house - not paying attention to what you are doing with your car. Accessorizing your car with back up cameras can provide you with better vision of the potential for kids playing behind your vehicle.
Spring allergies
One of the most common spring health issues is allergies. Children can have allergies just as severely as an adult and can develop them at any time. Up to 40 percent of children in the United States suffer from seasonal allergies, according to Parents.com.
Look out for common symptoms which include repetitive sneezing, heavy breathing, runny nose, and itchy eyes, ears and throat. Fever is not associated with allergies, so if your child is running a high temperature, she is likely sick versus experiencing a seasonal allergy.
Insect bites
People aren't the only ones who love the outdoors when the weather warms; insects flourish as a natural part of the ecosystem. Unfortunately some insects can bite and sting, causing spring safety problems for children.
Bites that parents should be more concerned about include spider bites, tick bites and bee stings. If your child is stung by an insect of concern, keep a close eye on his health. If he experiences difficulty breathing, swelling, faintness or vomiting, get medical help right away.
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Signs of Overload Although stress is a part of life and growing up, you need to intervene when you sense that it is undermining your child's physical or psychological well-being. Here are some clues that stress may be having too negative an effect.
* Your child develops physical symptoms like headaches and stomach pains.
* He seems restless, tired, and agitated.
* He appears depressed and is uncommunicative about how he feels.
* He gets irritable, negative, and shows little excitement or pleasure in his activities.
* He seems less interested in an activity that was once extremely important to him and prefers to stay at home.
* His grades at school begin to fall, and he has less interest than usual in attending classes and doing homework.
* He exhibits antisocial behavior such as lying and stealing, forgets or refuses to do his chores, and seems much more dependent on you than in the past.
Source
Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5 to 12 (Copyright © 2004 American Academy of Pediatrics)
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Choosing Healthy Snacks If the snacks at your home have usually been cookies, doughnuts, and soft drinks, it’s time for a change. Two or 3 snacks a day are an important part of your child’s overall nutrition, so you need to make them just as nutritionally sound as her regular meals, while contributing to an overall program aimed at weight loss. Planning snacks ahead of time is helpful—prepackage some appropriate servings to have ready for kids in their lunches or when they get home from school. This is an opportunity to teach healthy choices and practices.
If you keep the pantry, refrigerator, and kitchen table stocked with plenty of low-fat, low-sugar snacks from the 5 major food groups, that’s what she’ll reach for. Of course, occasional treats like ice cream are fine. But for those snacks that your child typically grabs on her own, make sure they’re nutritious ones such as:
* Fruit * Fresh strawberries * Low-fat/frozen yogurt * Air-popped popcorn * Celery stalks * Low-fat cheese * Low-fat oatmeal cookies * Frozen juice bars (without added sugar) * Cucumber slices
* Crackers * Frozen bananas * Sugar-free cereals * Baked potato chips * Unsalted pretzels * Bran muffins * Dried raisins or apricots
Adding a protein food with these snacks can make them more satisfying. Try adding a boiled egg, cheese stick, yogurt, natural peanut butter, or nuts (if your child is old enough so choking is not a concern).
Source
A Parent's Guide to Childhood Obesity: A Road Map to Health (Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics)
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Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mom Breastfeeding is a wonderful gift for both you and your baby. Many mothers feel fulfillment and joy from the physical and emotional communion they experience with their child while nursing. These feelings are augmented by the release of the hormones prolactin, which produces a peaceful, nurturing sensation that allows you to relax and focus on your child, and oxytocin, which promotes a strong sense of love and attachment between the two of you. These pleasant feelings may be one of the reasons so many women who have breastfed their first child choose to breastfeed the children who follow.
Breastfeeding provides health benefits for mothers in addition to emotional satisfaction. Overall, women who breastfeed tend to lose pregnancy weight more quickly— usually at a rate of about one or two pounds per month. The hormone oxytocin acts to return the uterus to its regular size more quickly and can reduce postpartum bleeding. Studies show that women who have breastfed experience reduced rates of ovarian cancer and breast cancer later in life. Some studies suggest that breastfeeding may lead to an increase in bone mineral density after weaning that can protect you against osteoporosis and bone fractures in older age, although this has not been proven conclusively. Finally, exclusive breastfeeding delays the return of the mother’s menstrual period, which can help extend the time between pregnancies. (Exclusive breastfeeding can provide a natural form of contraception if the mother’s menses have not returned, the baby is breastfeeding day and night, and the baby is less than six months old.)
There are quite a few practical advantages to breastfeeding as well—bonuses the entire family can appreciate. For example, human milk is much less expensive than formula. During nursing you will need, at most, an extra three hundred to five hundred calories daily to produce sufficient breastmilk for your baby, while formula costs three or more dollars per day. At night, putting a baby to your breast is much simpler and faster than getting up to prepare or warm a bottle of formula. (Your partner can make night feedings even easier by changing the baby and bringing her to you for nursing.) It’s wonderful, too, to be able to pick up the baby and go out—whether around town or on longer trips—without having to carry a bag full of feeding equipment. Breastfeeding is also good for the environment, since there are no bottles to wash or formula cans to throw away.
As welcome as all of these benefits are, though, most mothers put the feeling of maternal fulfillment at the top of their list of reasons for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding provides a unique emotional experience for the nursing mother and the baby. Your partner, the baby’s siblings, and other relatives can all appreciate the new member of the family being welcomed in such a loving way.
Source
New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding (Copyright © 2002 American Academy of Pediatrics)
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