Baby Love - Baby Safe.

There was one sentence that went through my head a nanosecond before I heard the terrifying sounds of metal crushing against metal, my husband yelling and my baby screaming – “That car is going to hit us and it’s going to hit the side my baby is on”

Precious life.

I looked over to see my husband in shock but OK and I leapt out of the car instantly. I knew I was screaming in hysteria “My baby! My baby!” but my own voice sounded distant, as if I wasn’t of my own body. I opened the car door to find my two month old, crying his little heart out. I immediately took him out of the car seat, put him to my chest and covered him against the rain. I repeated “You’re ok, you’re ok, you’re ok...” I was so grateful to hear his crying, to know he was breathing and the air was filling his lungs. My husband seeing we were alright, went to check on the passengers in the other car and I went back into our own vehicle, out of the rain, where I rocked my baby against me so he could feel my warmth and continued to repeat my mantra until he fell asleep in my arms. My tears were flowing an endless stream of relief that everyone was safe.

It wasn’t long before I found a police officer at my car door. He asked me a few questions. The first he asked me was whether my baby was in my lap when the accident happened. I looked at him, flabbergasted. I told him there was no way that this was the case. He said when he saw me with the baby in my arms he just thought he should check.

Not long after we were lead into an ambulance. My beautiful boy woke and began to smile and coo at the paramedic. My tears of relief swept through my bones as I was told he was alright. Then, the question again:  “Was he in my arms at the time of the accident?” I shook my head in disbelief that I was being asked this again. Then we went home and I got the chance to reflect on that very question.

How many times had I considered the temptation of breastfeeding my baby while my husband drives on our long trips? Living in Country Victoria, at least an hour and a half away from anywhere with a colicky baby that doesn’t travel too well makes those hour and a half trips triple in time. As we stop, feed, stop, feed. Thankfully I have a husband who goes by the books when it comes to safety – while I entertained the thoughts of feeding while we were driving, I never mentioned it out loud. I knew it was not an option.

But what if my husband wasn’t there? What if it was someone else I was taking the trip with who was  a bit more laid-back with safety? Would I have taken the risk? I wondered. We were lucky. Nobody was hurt in our case. Our baby was restrained correctly in a baby capsule. We had our car seat fitted by an accredited professional. After the accident we bought a new car seat and had it fitted again.

Did you know that studies have shown that almost 70% of all children are restrained incorrectly? And that children are approximately 37% safer when seated in the back seat? That is an astonishing statistic. Considering that *more children die from injury than of cancer, asthma and infectious diseases combined? Each year, approximately 250 Australian children are killed and 58,000 hospitalised by unintentional injuries.

It’s horrific to say it. But it’s the cold, hard facts. And when we think of those precious lives, those beautiful hearts of innocence, but most of all, when we know that we, as adults are responsible for children’s safety, how can we not take every measure to protect them. Because all it takes is a split second, a turn away, or a temptation to make life easier in the short-term which could result in a terrible injury or even worse, a loss.

So, I urge you to take action. Make it a...

 SAFER WORLD FOR KIDS

Check out your car seat/s today. Are they safe? Have they been fitted by a professional? And if it’s something you said you would ‘get around to’ then do it and do it now, because you never know what’s around the corner. We sure didn’t.

For more information on the selection and use of restraints check out Kidsafe NSW’s Seat Me Safely program.

And you can go one step further and head to http://www.kidsafeday.com.au/about.htm to celebrate National KidSafe Day. There’s some great activities for adults and children alike being run across the country. Head to the site for more details.

∗ Sourced from Australia's Health 2008, AIHW

I am participating in the National Kidsafe Day Bloggers Competition to support and promote child safety, along with the added bonus of chances to win prizes. All opinions are my own and not those of Kidsafe. To find out more or to enter the competition, please visit www.kidsafeday.com.au

Read to Little Ones Using Books, not Apps!

Here’s the thing. I don’t believe that my child, or any child will learn to read on an ipad or using some fancy app. Sure, when reading is established and they are fluent readers then of course, it’s the way of the future, a great tool that is useful and convenient. But for now, please, don’t take away picture story books!

Being a teacher of junior students, my baby was read to in the womb at least 3 times a day and constantly heard my voice. When he was born he liked to hang around and breastfeed for one hour sessions and day time TV just didn’t cut it so I would read to him Peter Rabbit. They were given to me as a gift and I loved that they were small enough to fit into the palm of my hand but had plenty of text in them.

As the months went by my son developed ‘favourite’ books. Whenever I started to read The Big, Hungry Caterpillar he would laugh at every page and squeal in delight. His current favourite is Hairy Mclairy from Donaldson’s Dairy.

Holding a book in your hands, turning the pages, pointing at pictures and text and feeling their surfaces, whether the book be soft, hard, large or small. All these things simply cannot compete with reading from a handheld screen.

Thomas engaging in text at 9 and a half months

Of course, reading picture story books aloud comes naturally to me as it is part of my job so if you think you want to read more to your child and you’re not sure where to start here is my quick guide;

* Embrace your inner child! Get down on the floor with your baby, use silly voices, laugh outrageously, and make faces. Your baby will probably look at you as if they have seen the purple people eater if you've never done this before but they are sure to gain amusement over time.

* Read something you enjoy too. Maybe it was that book you enjoyed as a child yourself or maybe you love to read the Better Homes and Gardens magazine. It doesn’t really matter what you are reading as long as you are using lots of expression in your voice and face when you do it.

* Edible books are the best! Be sure to have some cloth books at hand for your baby to play with. It may not seem like it but over time they do make the connection that this is a book, with pages to turn, pictures to see and words to read. The earlier they make that association the better reader they will become!

* Establish a good time to read to your baby. Try not to read to your baby when they are overtired or busy doing something else. Find a time that works for you. We don’t do bedtime stories because my baby gets too excited and won’t go to sleep afterwards! But if you find reading relaxes your baby then be sure to make it part of your bedtime routine.

So, how do you read to your kids? Did you try reading in the way I described and how did it go? Please share with me here!

Posted to FYBF

The $3 Toy Investment and other simple (and cheap!) pleasures for your baby.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love all the amazing toys and games that technology has given us over time. It is fantastic that if you want to help your baby crawl, talk, walk, read and more there are toys you can purchase that are designed to be completely ideal. But I was recently inspired to take a step back and look at the beautiful awe and wonder that a baby can get from a simple, bright rubber ball.

I was at Northpark Private Hospital for 4 days trying to help my precious little man learn to sleep when one day a midwife joined us for a play on the floor. She pulled out a medium sized rubber ball. My son had some soft ones at home but the rubber of these balls allowed him to grip it so easily that he could hit, roll, lift and throw it! My son usually hates tummy time with a passion, screaming until your ears are about to drop off and headbutting himself into the floor. While playing with this ball he lasted on his belly for a good 20 minutes which is no easy feat for this stubborn boy!

Needless to say when we were on our way home I came across those balls that are all different sizes in the big steel cages at K-Mart and for $3.00 we had one of the best toys my baby has come across to date.

Sometimes with all the whizz bang toys around these days we forget about the simpler things in life! Feathers, fabrics of different textures, pots and pans, cardboard boxes are all going to delight and stimulate a baby’s learning.