Researchers Closing in on a Likely Cause of SIDS
First Candle, leading national nonprofit, plays key role in supporting the project

[Baltimore, MD – February 2, 2010)   First Candle today announced that researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have further linked low serotonin levels in the brainstems of babies to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. The research team’s most recent study, being published in the February 3^rd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared brainstems of babies who died of SIDS with brainstems of babies who died of other, known causes. The results of the study are compelling and send a strong message to new and expectant parents, particularly since SIDS remains the leading cause of death for babies one month to one year of age in the United States.

First Candle salutes Dr. Hannah Kinney and her research team for their untiring efforts to unlock what was once thought to be the mystery of SIDS. “After more than 20 years of research, we may now be able to move forward in identifying babies at risk and developing preventive treatments to correct this serotonin deficiency,” said Kinney. In the study, the SIDS babies had 25 percent less serotonin in their lower brainstem and 22 percent lower levels of tryptophan hydroxylase, the enzyme that makes serotonin. Levels of binding to the serotonin receptors were 50 percent lower in the SIDS babies, signifying that a serotonin defect in the brainstem was most likely involved in the death of these babies.

As this defect probably occurs during pregnancy, good prenatal care is of utmost importance. “There is no safe amount of alcohol, smoking or second-hand smoke that is safe for pregnant women,” said Kinney. The Harvard team and other researchers are also exploring a possible genetic cause for this defect.

The study results also send a strong message to parents with newborns. “We now know that there is likely a physical reason that many of these babies die,” says Dr. Rachel Moon, Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task force on SIDS. “And when babies with this defect are placed to sleep in unsafe places, the results can be disastrous.”  For babies with low serotonin levels, re-breathing carbon dioxide (exhaled air) and overheating during sleep can be fatal. Parents need to do all they can to make sure their baby is ALWAYS placed to sleep on his or her back and in a safe place.

“There is a misconception among new mothers that sleeping with their baby will somehow protect the baby from SIDS,” said Laura Reno, Vice President of Public Affairs for First Candle. “This couldn’t be further from the truth. SIDS is a fatal event – the baby doesn’t just stop breathing, his or her entire body shuts down. By the time you would notice that the baby stopped breathing, there would be nothing you could do to save the baby.”

As yet, we do not know which babies have this defect, so it’s important to protect all babies. Besides keeping babies in a smoke-free environment, here are things parents and caregivers should do to protect babies from SIDS:

• Make sure your baby is always placed to sleep in a safe place at naptime and nighttime.
• Babies need to sleep lying flat on their back on a firm mattress covered with only a sheet.
• Room sharing, or placing your baby’s crib or portable play yard in your bedroom is the safest. Put your baby’s crib or portable play yard alongside your bed for at least the first six months.
• Try and feed your baby only breast milk for at least the first six months. Room sharing helps make breastfeeding easier.
• Soft bedding and other items are dangerous and can keep your baby from getting enough fresh oxygen or can cause suffocation. Remove all soft bedding and other items from your baby’s sleep space, including blankets, pillows and soft or pillow-like bumpers, when placing your baby down to sleep.
• Make sure your baby does not get too warm.  Use lightweight sleep clothing and keep room temperature at what would be comfortable for a lightly clothed adult. If your baby has a fever, take extra care to be sure the baby does not get too warm.
• Use a wearable blanket or sleeper instead of loose blankets if needed to keep your baby warm.
• Research also shows that giving babies a pacifier when placing them down to sleep can significantly reduce the risk of SIDS.

The First Candle website at www.firstcandle.org, provides comprehensive information about these and other tips to protect their baby from SIDS, suffocation and accidents during sleep. Expectant parents can also learn more about good prenatal care and kick counting to help protect their baby from stillbirth.

“First Candle is proud to have sponsored Dr. Kinney’s research for the past two decades,” said Dr. Marian Sokol, President of First Candle. “We have our constituency to thank – the grieving families, members, partners and corporate sponsors – we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. We are so close, it is critical that we continue to support this research . . . in the belief that every baby should live.”

For more information on how you can help, please call 1.800.221.7437 or donate now.

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First Candle is a leading national nonprofit dedicated to safe pregnancies and the survival of babies through the first years of life. With programs of research, education and advocacy, the organization is working to ensure that every baby is given the best possible chance to reach not only his or her first birthday, but many happy birthdays beyond. First Candle also provides compassionate grief support to all those affected by the death of a baby. For more information, to access grief support or to make a donation, please visit www.firstcandle.org or call 1.800.221.7437.

WASHINGTON – The death of a 6-month-old child prompted the recall Tuesday of about 635,000 cribs sold by Kmart, Sears, Wal-Mart and other stores.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of 20 models of Dorel Asia cribs with both drop sides and fixed front rails.

Some of the Chinese- and Vietnamese-made cribs were recalled because their drop sides can detach, creating a space where a child can be trapped and suffocate or strangle.

To Read More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34941782/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/?ns=health-kids_and_parenting

In a country where nearly three million students are receiving special education services for a learning disability, many parents are hungry for ways to support their children’s learning.

According to the 25th Annual Report to Congress by the U.S. Department of Education, 41 percent of high school students with learning disabilities dropped out of school in the 2000-2001 school year. This is in contrast to the dropout average of all students, which totaled just 5 percent between October 2000 and October 2001.

To Read More http://www.naturallysavvy.com/conscious-parenting/helping-children-learn

There’s nothing like the thrill of hearing your child speak their first word. But what happens if it doesn’t come? Or when it does come, the rest of the speech is incomprehensible? Do you get worried? Or is it normal? Speech Language Therapist Nedra Saunders breaks it all down for us.

To read more http://breezymama.com/2010/01/25/speech-and-your-kids-getting-them-to-talk-and-recognizing-a-problem/

Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall recently of over-the-counter drugs including Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph’s aspirin because of a moldy smell that has made people sick.  Click here for more information.

Graco Recalls Strollers Due to Fingertip Amputation and Laceration Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Graco’s Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel Systems

Units: About 1.5 million

Manufacturer: Graco Children’s Products Inc., of Atlanta, Ga.

Hazard: The hinges on the stroller’s canopy pose a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is opening or closing the canopy.

Incidents/Injuries: Graco has received seven reports of children placing their fingers in the stroller’s canopy hinge mechanism while the canopy was being opened or closed, resulting in five fingertip amputations and two fingertip lacerations.

Description: This recall involves Graco Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel Systems with the following model numbers and specific hinge mechanisms:

Model Numbers
6303MYC, 6303MYC3
7240DNB, 7240DNB2, 7240MKL2, 7240MKL3
7F02GLM3
6320IVY, 6320LAU
7241DDH2, 7241DHO3
7F04TAY3
6330CAP, 6330THR,6330THR3
7255CLP, 7255CLP2, 7255CRA2, 7255CRA3, 7255CSA3, 7255GPK3, 7255GRN, 7255GRN2, 7255JJB3, 7255ORC2, 7255WLO2, 7255WLO3 7F07EMA3
6F00QIN3, 6F00RRY3
7256CLO2, 7256SPM2, 7256SPM3
7F08DSW3, 7F08LAN3
6F03GLN3
7260BAN, 7260BAN2, 7260BAN3, 7260MRA2, 7260MRA3, 7260PKR, 7260PKR2
7G00DLS3, 7G00DLS4
6G10CSE3
7270BIA, 7270BIA2
7G01CRL3
7235GGA, 7235GGA2
7E01JON2, 7E01JON3
7G04KRA3
7236CDR2
7F00LPE3, 7F00RSH3
7G05GPR3, 7G06WSR3
7237HOL2, 7237HOL3
7F01FOR3
7G07ABB3, 7G07BAT3

Graco manufactured two different styles of hinge mechanisms for these stroller models. Only strollers or travel systems with a plastic, jointed hinge mechanism that has indented canopy positioning notches (see photo below) are included in this recall. The recalled strollers were manufactured between October 2004 and February 2008. The model number and manufacture date are located on the lower inside portion of the rear frame, just above the rear wheels.

Sold at: AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, Fred Meyer, Meijers, Navy Exchange, Sears, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide from October 2004 and December 2009 for between $80 and $90 for the strollers and between $150 and $200 for the travel systems.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled strollers and contact Graco to receive a free protective cover repair kit.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Graco at (800) 345-4109 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.gracobaby.com

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10115.html

A consumer safety group has issued its annual list of the “10 Worst Toys of 2009.”

The group, World Against Toys Causing Harm, or WATCH, is a non-profit organization with a mission to educate the public about the dangers of toys.

Click here to read more:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/wghp-photo-gallery-10-dangerous-toys-091119,0,473801.photogallery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2010
Release # 10-113 

Firm’s Recall Hotline: (877) 728-0342
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 

Drop Side Cribs Recalled by Caramia Furniture Due to Fall and Entrapment Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Diane Crib

Units: About 1,000

Distributors: Caramia Furniture and Mother Hubbard Cupboard’s, of Ontario, Canada

Hazard: The slats on the cribs drop-side can detach from the top and bottom rails, posing fall and entrapment hazards to the child.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 18 reports of slats detaching from the rails of the crib. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves Caramia “Diane” drop-side cribs. The cribs were manufactured between September 2002 and June 2004. A label affixed to the inside of the headboard or footboard lists the manufacturing dates.

Sold at: Buy Buy Baby and juvenile product and mass merchandise stores nationwide from September 2002 through December 2005 for between $240 and $370.

Manufactured in: Slovenia

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Diane crib and contact Caramia Furniture to receive a free replacement drop side. The free replacement will be available beginning March 2010.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Caramia at (877) 728-0342 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.caramiafurniture.com

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including a picture of the recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10113.html

NO, YOU ARE NOT DREAMING! SLEEP COACH KATHY SINCLAIR SAYS THAT YOUR KID
CAN SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. HERE, SHE GIVES PARENTS THE ABC’S OF ZZZ’S.

MONTH THREE OF SLEEP TRAINING—IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS

Your baby is now 3 months old and you’ve achieved
the holy grail of sleep training: You are finally
comfortable letting your baby “cry it out.” Now, I don’t
really like the term “cry it out”; it has a bit of a bad stigma. But, cry it out (CIO) isn’t as cruel or rigid as most parents think. Most parents think that CIO means putting Baby into his crib and letting him cry until he falls asleep—which could take hours.

My Sleep Learning approach employs CIO but in a different and more effective way.

Here’s how it goes:

Dim the lights when you are doing the bedtime routine and/or feeding your baby before bed.

After putting your baby into his crib, if he cries, let him cry for five minutes before going into his room. When you go into his room, tell him that he is doing a great job, pat and shush him or even pick him up and cuddle him, but stay no longer than three minutes. Just don’t let your baby fall asleep on you, as this will defeat the purpose of teaching him to fall asleep on his own. After your time is up, leave the room—even if he is still crying.

The next step, assuming that your baby is crying, is to wait 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, go into his room, tell him that he is doing a great job, pat and shush him or even pick him up and cuddle him, but stay no longer than three minutes. Just don’t let your baby fall asleep on you, as this will defeat the purpose of teaching him to fall asleep on his own. After your time is up, leave the room—even if he is still crying.

And now, if your baby is still crying, let him cry for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, go into his room, tell him that he is doing a great job, pat and shush him or even pick him up and cuddle him, but stay no longer than three minutes. Just don’t let your baby fall asleep on you, as this will defeat the purpose of teaching him to fall asleep on his own. After your time is up, leave the room—even if he is still crying.

Starting to see the idea here?

Keep going in every 15 minutes until your baby is asleep. Though I doubt he will, he may cry for up to three hours the first time. Don’t feel bad, though—you are going into his room every 15 minutes to let him know that you are close by. Also, with my approach, you have the option of going into his room every 10 minutes if you just can’t bear the full 15. In fact, I’ve had clients who went into their baby’s room every five minutes and those babies are all sleeping through the night to this day. It’s more about the process than the timing of the intervals.

And while we’re talking about process, let’s go over good bedtime and nap time routines:

I know it’s hard to hear your baby cry, but just remember that he isn’t saying he doesn’t love you anymore or that he’s hungry. All he’s saying is that he doesn’t know what to do—which is why it’s your job to teach him.

Kathy Sinclair, CNCS, CPD, CLE, CHBE, graduated from Australia’s prestigious Charlton Brown Nanny College and began her professional career as a nanny in 1993. Kathy developed her specialty with infant sleep while working as a newborn care specialist in Los Angeles. Currently the founder of Baby Sleep Solutions, Kathy provides one-on-one individualized sleep consultations, leads Mommy & Infant groups for new moms, and lectures on sleep in and around Los Angeles. She lives in Ventura, Calif., with her husband and three dogs. She may be contacted through her website at www.babysleepsolutionsla.com.

BEDTIME STORIES

NO, YOU ARE NOT DREAMING! SLEEP COACH KATHY SINCLAIR SAYS THAT YOUR KID
CAN SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. HERE, SHE GIVES PARENTS THE ABC’S OF ZZZ’S.

THE HOLIDAYS AND SLEEP

Wow! The holidays are
here—and you are
dreading how they’ll
disrupt your now well-trained little sleeper. No need to fear, I’m here to help you get it all sorted out, just in time to enjoy all the fun that the season brings. Just follow my sleep plans for different scenarios and your holidays are guaranteed to be a dream—well, you know, minus the in-laws, the stressful last-minute shopping, overspending and hangovers.

FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT YOUR HOME
This is obviously the best scenario, because your child’s sleep won’t be disrupted that much at all—plus you will be in total control of when and where he sleeps. All you have to do is plan your holiday function around your child’s nap and/or bedtime. Stay firm when you get the puppy-dog eyes from aunts and uncles and the “can’t he stay up just a little longer?” wails from Grandma and Grandpa. If you can commit to your child’s well-being, then you will have a much happier little one on your hands—not to mention how much less stressful it will be for you.

FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT SOMEONE ELSE’S HOME
Yes, this scenario is more difficult than the one above, but not as tricky as you might think (or dread!). It’s you who will have to be disciplined enough to make a plan and stick to it. Stay firm when you get the “why can’t he stay up a little longer?” whines from your family members. Since most of you will likely be sharing your bedroom with your little one, make sure that you bring a portable crib or playpen for him to sleep in. Worst-case scenario: The room is too small and your child has to sleep in the bed with you. If this is the case, just do what you have to do. Having said that, it’s still vital that you keep to his bedtime and do his regular bedtime routine and naptime routine. Try to make the room as dark as possible and take his sound machine with you so he can feel like he’s sleeping in a familiar environment. Your goal is to make the room seem as much like his room at home as possible.

FOR THE HOLIDAYS IN A HOTEL
This scenario is pretty similar to the one above but with a bit of a bonus: You have the privacy of your very own accommodations. If your little one is sharing a room with you, you can place his crib in the bathroom or a big closet and create a makeshift nursery of sorts, minus too many sleep-interrupting distractions. Again, the biggest task is going to be having the discipline to leave dinner or a party in time to get Baby to sleep at his regular bedtime. You might want to stay out, but a cranky baby is no fun for anyone. So, be sure to get your little one the proper rest he needs to ensure that your holidays and his are happy.