Sports Season Safety

Every year almost 30 million U.S. kids participate in organized sports. Although many studies have shown the psychological and physical benefits of playing sports the number of preventable injuries is growing rapidly as well.

Taking a few steps can drastically reduce the chances of your child being injured on the field or at practice.

Check Ups    

For those kids that plan to participate in sports this year an annual physical is especially important. While the doctor will check your child’s weight and vaccinations make sure to address any current injuries, cardiac issues and history of concussions. Ideally, the sports physical should happen about six weeks before the start of the season, according to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital Medical Director Daniel Plasencia, M.D.

If your child is injured during the season, you should immediately schedule an appointment with the pediatrician and make sure they are well before returning to play.

Equipment

Of all the sports injuries that happen each year it is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that half are preventable. So keep in mind, that regardless of what sport your kids want to play there are ways they can stay safe. As well as checking online, contact your team coach, pediatrician and league to see what safety equipment is required and available.

Remember - Using safety equipment is not limited to actual game play. Some studies argue that more sports-related injuries happen during practice because one third of parents don’t enforce the same safety restrictions during practice as they do in games. Your child should be wearing all of the safety gear during both practice and games.

Leagues and Fields

Each league, whether it by through your local Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA or school district, has stringent rules in place to keep families safe during practice and games. Some things to look out for are safe playing conditions, accredited staff and coaches, positive environment and happy families!

Work with your kids and teach them why and how to play safe sports. Making them accountable for activities like following directions and stretching will teach them not only to stay safe but also be aware of unsafe conditions.

For more information and statistics about sports injuries, visit www.StopSportsInjuries.org.

Sources

TBParenting.com

Facebook.com/StJosephsChildrens

StopSportsInjuries.org

TampaYMCA.org

Child Passenger Safety

By Angela Ardolino

September 16-22 is National Child Passenger Safety Week and with it brings a somber statistic that in the United States, the number one killer of children between 1 and 12 years of age is car accidents. So making sure that kids are using the right car restraint, at the right time and using it correctly is the best way to protect them. Now, with all the options available from car seats to car boosters understanding the options and what you need will allow you to implement a safe car environment for the kids.

Types of Seats

Your child’s age and size will dictate what type of safety restraint she uses in the car. Newborns up to one year should always ride in a rear-facing car seat. They use harnesses and move with your child, lowering the chance of head and spinal cord injuries. SafeCar.gov suggests moving onto forward-facing restraints only when your child exceeds the height or weight limit on the rear-facing seat, generally around age 3. Once they reach the limits of these seats it will be time to move them to a booster seat.

Although not required by the state of Florida, moving onto a belt-positioning booster seat, as opposed to seat belt alone, will lower injury risks for your child by 59 percent according to a national study conducted by Safe Kids USA published in 2010.

Choosing the Right Car Seat

Once you’ve figured out what type of seat your child requires, you’ll need to make sure that any seats you’re interested in will work in your car. One of the most common mistakes is buying a seat that is either too small or too big for your car.

You’ll also want to find ratings on safety and ease-of-use by organizations like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The administration is constantly ranking car seats to help parents find the best options. From evaluation of labels, installations and overall ease of use, the ratings can be found online at NHTSA.gov.

Installation and Asking For Help

More than 60% of car and booster seats are installed incorrectly. So before installing its important to read the seat’s instruction manual completely. Also read any information that might be in your car’s manual on installing safety restraints.

If you’re still not sure about the installation there are local programs and classes in Tampa Bay like the one at All Children’s Hospital where you can meet with a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and they can show you how to properly install and use your car seat. To register for a class, visit AllKids.org/carseats.

The most important thing to remember is that parents are not the only one that Child Passenger Safety applies to. Anyone that will be transporting your kids from school or anywhere else should be trained to property install and restrain your child.

Whether it be a car seat, booster seat or seat belt everyone should always be restrained in the car.  Doing so is not only important for your child’s safety, it could also save their life.

Find good car and booster seats at www.Seedlings.com

More Information visit:   www.TBParenting.com

www.AllKids.org/CarSeats

www.NHTSA.gov

www.SafeKids.org

www.CPSBoard.org

Teens and Cell Phones

By Angela Ardolino

We’ve all been in that awkward situation when someone takes a call or sends a text message at an inappropriate time. And it can even be embarrassing when that someone is your teen. As parents, we want to give our kids the world but are we the cause of bad cell phone etiquette when we cave to pressure put on us by kids?

Boundaries, Expectations and Limitations.

Regardless of what your teen says you’re the only person who can decide if they’re ready to have a cell phone. Having one may be commonplace among friends, but in your house having a cell phone is a large responsibility. Right off the bat, establish that cell phone use has boundaries, expectations and limitations as well as consequences for falling short and rewards for achieving goals.

Quiet Zones

Originally developed to talk with others while on the go, cell phones have progressed far from just making phone calls. Decide with your teen on quiet zones where cell phone use is not permitted (school, dinner, church, family time, movies, etc.). Emphasize that no matter how important a call or text message may be, it should not be answered in quiet zones, like school. If you need to get a hold of them during the school day, contact the school.

Try creating specific usage times during the day (after school, on weekends, etc.) for your teens to communicate with friends. If your teen takes to your guidelines easily, reward them with additional monthly text or talk minutes.

Driving

When your teen finally steps behind the wheel one of the most important things they’ll need to remember is that under no circumstances are they to talk, text or surf the web while driving. Regardless of who calls. No text message or call is worth the risk of injuring, or killing yourself or others. Wait until your parked to return a call or text.

Some parents may even take the precaution of not allowing calls or text when teens are in a car with another young driver. Teens are easily distracted and having other teens making noise, taking calls while driving can endanger everyone in the car.

Public

Make sure your teen understands that some calls are not appropriate to have in the middle of the mall. Even though teens get easily wrapped up in conversation, remember that other people can hear and see you. Wait until they get home before engaging in a heated conversation.

Minding your manners in public is also important cell phone etiquette. Language or topics of discussion that may be normal to you and the person on the other line may not always be appropriate for the person sitting next to you on the bus. Follow the simple rule: If you wouldn’t walk around with certain words written on your t-shirt don’t say them when talking on the phone in a public place.

The best way to raise polite, smart cell phone users is by being good role models. Our teens will emulate what they see us do. So if we pick up our cell phones during movies or at restaurants, they will also. Once you decide to bestow the privilege of having a cell phone to your teen, talk them through what it means and what’s expected of them. If you’re clear about what you expect in return, there won’t be any discussion later on down the line.

Sources

TBParenting.com

ParentingWithAngela.com

CableOrganizer.com