car seat safety

July 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I usually do not write about life or death issues, but this story that I am about to tell will hopefully make every parent and caregiver extraordinarily diligent about car seat installation .

Last Saturday, I received an e-mail from my friend; the subject was her daughters name (for sake of privacy we will call her “baby C”). It started off saying she was sorry to write this in an e-mail, but she needed to reach everyone as quickly as possible. She and her daughter had been in a “serious” car accident on the LIE. She is fine, but Baby C is not. She has been intubated, because of major head injuries. She was asking all of us for our prayers. I could not even finish reading the rest of her e-mail; I just handed my husband my blackberry and went into the bathroom shaking. I was in complete shock- they were both just at our house three days ago for a play-date.
I e-mailed my friend immediately, not asking any questions about “what happened”, but telling her we are praying for baby C and we were here if they needed anything. I really prayed. I am sort of a lapsed Catholic, but honestly I prayed and cried the entire weekend. I also hovered over both of my girls, especially my two year old. For a week now my friend and I have been in constant contact entitling our e-mails something like this: “Monday 4:45 p.m. Up-date on C”. The last update we got was that C’s feeding tube was being removed and she was singing her favorite songs.
My friend and I believe that honestly by a MIRACLE (and I mean a sheer MIRACLE,) her baby is alive and is going to be okay after a long stint of in-patient rehab.

I am begging all of my friends, readers that EVERYONE look on-line (go to the www.aap.org) with regards to your particular car seat and make sure you not only install your infant, toddler, or school aged kids car seat properly in the back seat, but make sure it is “tethered” securely to the back of the seat as well. While my friend’s baby’s Britax Car Seat was installed properly (honestly, this car seat ended up saving her life,) the tethered option was not used. If it had been ,Baby C ’s head injuries may not have been so severe.

My List of my must have’s must do’s for the week:
go onto www.aap.org to learn about total proper installation of your child(s) car seats

Hug and kiss your children and realize how lucky and blessed most of us are.

Posted by Deana | Filed Under Deana's Dish 

AAP NY Times

July 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

flickrA recent New York Times article, called “8-Year-Olds on Statins? A New Plan Quickly Bites Back”, has many parents up in arms, and rightly so. The article claims that the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending the use of statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, to prevent heart disease in. The report was misleading, as it implied that this was a fully endorsed plan by the AAP. Instead, the policy statement by the AAP was carefully considered and clearly recommended a case-by-case evaluation in the context of the family’s medical history. On the other hand, this article by the AAP and the following media coverage does signals an increasing recognition of childhood obesity. While they are not recommending parents add lovastatins to their children’s low-fat milk, it is worth looking at the following recommendations:

1. “For children between 12 months and 2 years of age for whom overweight or obesity is a concern […] the use of reduced-fat milk [may] be appropriate.”

2. The AAP recommends a change in diet with nutritional counseling and increased physical activity for children at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

3. Screen children with a family history of cardiovascular disease, if their history is unknown or if they have other risk factors such as obesity, hypertension or smoking.

4.”For these children, the first screening should take place after 2 years of age but no later than 10 years of age. Screening before 2 years of age is not recommended. ”

5. Weight management is the primary treatment for overweight or obese patients. This includes increased physical activity and an improved diet.

6. Medications, such as statins, should be considered for patients eight or older with a family history of cardiovascular disease to lower their levels of LVL cholesterol, especially if there are other risk factors such as obesity or diabetes.

Clearly the new attention to America’s increasing epidemic of childhood obesity is worthy of media coverage and parental concern, however children are not simply small adults and, by extension, their care needs to be uniquely considered.

Posted by Ms. Annabelle Moore with Dr. Natalie Geary | Filed Under Dr Geary