I know several of the moms on the MomSquawk message boards have done so with no adverse effects, so please don’t think that I’m jumping on anyone. The American Pregnancy Association (APA) says that, in general, it’s safest not to paint during pregnancy, but if you choose to do so, you can minimize risks by taking the following precautions:

* Always talk to your doctor before you attempt to paint anything or use any type of paint.
* If you do paint, always wear a face mask and protective clothing to guard your skin. Also, keep the area well-ventilated.
* Paint for short periods over several days. Don’t do too much or paint too frequently.
* Avoid latex paints that contain the chemicals ethylene glycol ethers or biocides.

(Courtesy of HealthDay.)

Posted by Sunshine.

I love the idea of bunk beds. They save space, and give kids a fun way to share a room with a sibling or overnight guest. But with an average of 36,000 bunk bed-related injuries reported each year, it’s worth taking a moment to note the potential dangers with this setup.

The most common mishap, of course, is falling out of the top bunk. Kids and young adults alike (a surprising number of people aged 18-21 were among the injured) can sustain cuts, bruises, and fractures, many of the latter requiring hospitalization, from falls and other accidents involving bunk beds.

So what’s a parent to do?

The authors of the study reporting these statistics recommended the following injury prevention strategies:

* using guardrails on both sides of the upper bunk with guardrail gaps being 3.5 inches or less to prevent entrapment and strangulation;
* checking that the mattress foundation is secure and the mattress is of proper size;
* not allowing children under age 6 to sleep in the top bunk;
* using night lights to help children see in a dark room;
* removing hazardous objects from around the bed; and,
* placing bunk beds safely away from ceiling fans or other ceiling fixtures.

Posted by Sunshine.

What accounts for the downturn in crime in New York City in the last half of the 1990s? Economist Rick Nevin has a short answer: Lead. That is, reducing the number of toddlers who have lead poisoning leads to fewer criminals when these kids come of age.

What makes Nevin’s work persuasive is that he has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries.

“It is stunning how strong the association is,” Nevin said in an interview. “Sixty-five to ninety percent or more of the substantial variation in violent crime in all these countries was explained by lead.”

Lead levels in old housing is one source that has come under better control, particularly in cities such as New York that have attacked the problem aggressively, especially in poor neighborhoods. But lead in gasoline is another huge factor. In the US, lead in gasoline peaked in the early 70s and then started to decline, falling very sharply in the early 80s; it was nearly eliminated by 1987. In New York, lead levels plummeted in the early 1970s. The impact? Data show that between 1970 and 1974, the number of children heavily poisoned by lead fell by 80%. Fast-forward twenty years, and you have a plummeting crime rate. By contrast, in countries that have been behind the US in putting constraints in leaded gasoline, crime rates are soaring.

Other research that supports the lead-crime connection is out there but has garnered little attention:

Other evidence has accumulated in recent years that lead is a neurotoxin that causes impulsivity and aggression, but these studies have also drawn little attention. In 2001, sociologist Paul B. Stretesky and criminologist Michael Lynch showed that U.S. counties with high lead levels had four times the murder rate of counties with low lead levels, after controlling for multiple environmental and socioeconomic factors.

In 2002, Herbert Needleman, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh, compared lead levels of 194 adolescents arrested in Pittsburgh with lead levels of 146 high school adolescents: The arrested youths had lead levels that were four times higher.

Wow.

Naturally, I’ll now segue to the need to keep lead out of kids’ toys and gear. Granted, occasionally playing with a toy made with lead paint may not put a kid in danger of serious lead poisoning (unless he swallows it), but if we keep letting crappy lead toys and kids’ jewelry into the country, who knows what the cumulative effect could be? Why should we let foreign factory owners and careless importers undo what de-leading efforts have accomplished in the US? Let’s get the word out to the acting chair of the CPSC that we want our government to take a harder line against importers of lead-containing children’s gear.

Posted by MommaSteph.

If you’re thinking about taking a long trip during your pregnancy, you might want to check out these tips to make your travels more comfortable for you and possibly safer for you and your baby.

Courtesy of the American Pregnancy Association:

* Travel during the second trimester is usually most comfortable — after morning sickness has passed and the fatigue of the third trimester is still ahead. (Not to mention that if you get as large as I did in my last pregnancy, you’ll hate trying to get out of the car after more than half an hour’s ride!)
* Wear comfortable, loose clothing and comfortable shoes. (Pay close attention to that last word. Comfy shoes are everything!)
* Take things to make you more comfortable, like a pillow from home and some snacks that satisfy you.
* If you’re driving, stop to get up and stretch often and take plenty of bathroom breaks. (Um, hello? I have never met a pregnant lady who skipped very many pit stop opportunities!)
* Always take your prenatal records with you on the road.
* Be safe: Wear your seat belt and follow safety instructions for whatever transportation you use.
(It might be uncomfortable, but a bit of discomfort is vastly preferable to the injuries an unbelted pregnant woman — and her baby — could sustain in an accident!

Also, be sure to check with your doctor before you leave for an out-of-town trip. If your pregnancy is high risk, you have certain complications, or you’re nearing your due date, you may be advised to postpone your trip until after your baby is born.

Posted by Sunshine.

Watch those Crocs!!! If your kids are like mine, they love their Crocs shoes. But please be aware on escalators - the shoes can get stuck and cause injury to your child. Designers in Japan are asking the makers to improve the design to avoid any injuries, but just to be on the safe side, please be careful with your children.

I have to say this throws me back to my own childhood in the 70’s when my mom would freak about me not getting my shoe laces caught every time we were on an escalator…now that I think about it, most little kids don’t have shoe laces anymore, do they? Geez I am old!

No child left behind. President Bush (yeah, he is still in office - not sure what he’s doing these days!) is making changes to the No Child Left Behind policy. Students need to graduate from a full time program to count (no GEDs or alternatives) and states must adhere to a standard method for counting. (Often stats are manipulated - this is called “gaming the system.”). States also need to prove that they are making best efforts to advise low-income families that tutoring is available, as too few students receive this.

OK, so I don’t know enough about this topic. Thank goodness for my friend wikipedia. They give a good summary of what’s up here. Sounds like good intent - poor execution. Apparently, there is still a reluctance on behalf of the federal government to fully fund the amounts that were set by congress. Bush’s budgets have shortchanged the NCLB budget by $70 billion since it started in 2001. The government is reluctant to pay because they aren’t sure the state reporting is accurate. I guess this falls in line with the disfunctionality that occurs any time a government has billion and billions of dollars to spend. There are always two sides to every story, and ways to present (or misrepresent) figures - but in the end we are talking about educating kids here. I guess I am just feeling a bit bummed out about the whole thing now that I read up a little bit on it. Maybe if states spent a little less effort trying to pad their stats, and the government spent less effort trying to get them to stop it, and they all spent a little more effort getting these kids educated… just sayin’….

Now that one out of every three kids aged ten to twelve owns a cell phone, the benefits and risks are becoming increasingly clear for this age group.

So what? Almost every one of us adults has a cell phone glued to our ear at least a few times every day, so it was only a matter of time before kids started mimicking the trend. It’s just part of life now…but did you know that children using cell phones at the same time they attempt to cross the street are more likely to get hit by a car? A new study found strong evidence to support this claim.

Seventy-seven children aged 10 to 12 were set up in a virtual-reality environment which simulated a street with traffic coming from both directions. Children stood on a platform (the “curb”). When they stepped down from the curb, an avatar crossed the virtual street in their place.

“The children who were on the cell phone and were distracted during their crossing were significantly more likely to get hit by a car in the virtual environment,” Byington reported. “They were getting hit or almost getting hit at least [once], while the kids that weren’t on the cell phone didn’t get hit [at all].”

Who doesn’t get at least a little bit distracted when they’re talking to their significant other, best friend, or parent on the phone? I know I’m guilty of trying to do other things while I chat, and I doubt I do them as well as if I was completely focused on the task at hand, instead of the latest chapter in my drama-ridden best friend’s life.

Crossing the street, though (like driving!) is one of those things that just has to take priority. Parents, please let your children know that they should always finish their phone conversations before stepping out into the street. It just might save their lives someday.

Posted by Sunshine.

We’ve been advocating for stronger lead safety practices for children’s toys for a while now (sign our petition here!), but toys aren’t the only source of lead that can harm our kids. Lead-based paint used in houses and public buildings built before the 1978 ban can sicken children, too. Small kids eat paint chips or inhale dust from these paints during repairs and renovations.

The United States government has taken new steps toward eliminating children’s exposure to lead during renovations and repairs.

Starting in 2010, construction workers must follow “lead-safe work practice standards” that are designed to reduce potential exposure to dangerous levels of lead while renovating houses, child-care facilities and schools built before 1978, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

“We are serious about eliminating childhood lead poisoning,” James Gulliford, the EPA’s assistant administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, said during a Monday teleconference. “Exposure to lead-contaminated dust is the most common way children get lead poisoning,” he added.

The two-year delay until the new rules take effect is to give contractors and states time to come within compliance.

Lead poisoning in children under six years old can interfere with normal nervous system development, which can lead to various developmental and cognitive delays. In 2002, over 300,000 children had elevated lead levels in their blood, and nearly 40 million homes in the U.S. are thought to still contain lead-based paint. This is a serious problem, and I’m glad to see the government step up to the plate.

Posted by Sunshine.

Pregnant? Keep buckling up! Yes, it can be uncomfortable, but is definitely can save you and your baby in an accident by preventing you from hitting the steering wheel or the windshield. Worried about the belt hurting the baby? Worn properly, low under the bump, damage is minimized as the pelvic bone will absorb most of the shock.

In an accident at 20mph, an unbuckled mom has a 70% chance of loosing the fetus, while buckled moms only have a 12% chance of losing theirs. Approximately 370 fetuses are killed each year in car accidents, which somewhat surprisingly is less then newborn children killed in their first year in car accidents. So when you are considering the most perfect/safest carseat for your newborn, don’t forget to protect him before he is born too!

How much sex is good sex? It’s not necessarily about how many times you do it, but more about how long you do it each time. Of course, this is an individual thing, but research shows that intercourse between 3-13 minutes is most satisfactory. And 1-2 minutes is “too short” (tho I have to admit that on those few occasions that I give in when I really am not in the mood, 1-2 minutes is just fine with me!). To clarify - they are talking about actual intercourse here, foreplay does not count and I am sure most of us gals appreciate a nice warm up before the show!

A “teen repellent” under controversy. An English father to a 15 year old daughter who was harassed by groups of teens has created an interesting devise called the “Mosquito“. It emits an annoying, high-pitched noise that only youths can hear thus encouraging them to scram from wherever they are loitering. (The noise is heard by most under 20 years old, yet by hardly anyone over 30 years old.)

He has sold over 4,000 of these devices so far, mostly by word of mouth. The inventor has pointed out that the device is not harmful to children’s hearing, just like an annoying alarm clock. He also stated that he is not anti-teens, he is just wanting to discourage “anti-social behavior.” Civil liberties groups have signed petitions to get the device banned in Europe, but earlier this week the European Commission has confirmed that hey will not ban it.

That’s right. The glass baby bottles of yesteryear are becoming in vogue again as worried parents try to avoid plastics with bisphenol A (BPA) in them.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a manmade chemical used in polycarbonate plastic, the material used to make most baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic food containers. Americans are widely exposed to BPA, but opinions on its safety are mixed.

The Food and Drug Administration says current uses with food are safe. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says animal testing has shown that BPA has hormone-like effects on the reproductive system. The CDC says more study is needed to see if it could be harming people.

Switching to glass bottles (or using them instead of plastic ones in the first place) is one way to avoid exposing your baby to BPA, though you might have some trouble finding them. They represent less than a tenth of all baby bottle sales, but major manufacturers like Evenflo and Dr. Brown’s do make them. If you do use glass, be aware that these bottles do break (of course), and that you shouldn’t give your older baby a glass bottle to drink from without supervision.

Also, glass bottles usually cost more than plastic ones, and if you prefer plastic, you can find BPA-free plastic bottles, like these.

I love my son’s plastic baby bottles. I was pleased to find a wider-mouthed variety (easier to clean!) with a more natural grip than the ones I used with my daughter, which we threw out before we ever decided to try for a second baby.

Am I switching?

Nope. Not with less than three months to go ’til he switches to sippy cups. I figure he’s already been exposed, so any harm has already been done, as bad as that sounds. Besides, what about the BPA in all the other plastic products we use around our kids? Should I rush around trying to find alternately packaged containers of shampoo and detangler? What about my wipes dispensers? Until they can prove more objectively that BPA is harming kids, I’ll just keep on keepin’ on.

Posted by Sunshine.

I think of myself as a bit of a safety-obsessive, so imagine my chagrin when I happened upon an article in a recent Good Housekeeping and learned that I didn’t know squat about how to safely use nonstick pans. I didn’t even know there was an unsafe way, outside of chipping off the coating with metal spoons.

If you’re as clueless as I was, here’s the dope: Nonstick cookware is safe, experts note, so long as they’re not overheated.

“There’s a whole chemistry set of compounds that will come off when Teflon is heated high enough to decompose,” says [chemistry professor and Teflon expert Robert L.] Wolke. “Many of these are fluorine-containing compounds, which as a class are generally toxic.” But fluoropolymers, the chemicals from which these toxic compounds come, are a big part of the coating formula — and the very reason that foods don’t stick to nonstick.

If the danger begins when pans overheat, then how hot is too hot? “At temperatures above 500ºF, the breakdown begins and smaller chemical fragments are released,” explains Kurunthachalam Kannan, Ph.D., an environmental toxicologist at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center. DuPont, inventor and manufacturer of Teflon, agrees that 500 degrees is the recommended maximum for cooking.

The problem is, it’s very easy to get your pans to the “too hot” state. In Good Housekeeping tests, a lightweight pan hit 514 degrees after 2 and 1/2 minutes of preheating two tablespoons of oil on high. And at very high temperatures, above 660 degrees, nonstick cookware can even start to give off fumes that can induce a flu-like illness in people (and can kill pet birds).

So how do you keep the chemicals out of your food and air? Some tips:

• Never preheat an empty pan (and even preheating a pan with oil in it can be risky).
• Don’t cook on high heat when using nonstick pans. Go no higher than medium.
• Ventilate your kitchen when cooking to clear fumes.
• Don’t broil or sear meats in nonstick cookware.
• When buying nonstick pans, choose heavier models, which are less likely to overheat.
• Don’t use metal utensils that can chip the nonstick surface.

I’m sticking (so to speak) with my Teflon pans for pancakes and bakeware, but I’ve decided to save up for some good quality uncoated pans for when sticking is more or less a non-issue. In the meantime, it took me about a week to break the habit of turning the burner to high when cooking with nonstick, but now I’ve got it down pretty much. It takes longer to cook on medium, but sacrificing a little convenience to keep my family safe is a no-brainer.

Happy - and safe - cooking!

Posted by MommaSteph.