Are you ready to be DONE with that car or booster seat? Well, even if you aren’t there yet, it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of safety restraints for children are not installed properly or used correctly.

Vehicle safety events and child safety seat checks are being held tomorrow around the country to help you make sure that each and every time you take your child in your car, he or she is safely restrained.

To locate a Safe Kids Buckle Up car seat checkup event on Seat Check Saturday or throughout the year, go to www.usa.safekids.org and click on “find coalitions and events near you.”

In the newest of celeb sightings with SafetyMate, Victoria Recaño and her husband Tom Burwell were gifted SafetyMate for the New Parent at their recent baby shower. The party was hosted by Hot Moms Club and Fit Pregnancy Magazine and held at the trendy Ketchup restaurant on Sunset Blvd. in LA.

What a beautiful couple! Best wishes in this new chapter in their life…

Super Mom Brooke Burke & SafetyMate: With Four Kids, Brooke has to be prepared for anything!

SafetyMate® for the New Parent, debuting in September 2008, already has been widely reviewed in print, on the internet and by celebrities, receiving positive accolades across the board in all mediums. Innovative in both concept and function, SafetyMate is a hand-held bilingual talking first aid device with information for over 30 first aid issues.

Pregnancy Magazine has selected SafetyMate as one of its “Go-Go Gadgets, Today’s innovations in baby safety (that) make it easy to keep it simple.” Recently, a picture of Alison Sweeney, her husband David Sanov and their son Ben graced the pages of Pregnancy showing Alison holding SafetyMate, given to her as a gift at her second baby shower.

On the internet, MetroMoms (www.metroplexbaby.com) selected SafetyMate as one of the “Best & Hottest Products From Pregnancy to Preschool™” “in the category of why didn’t anyone think of this sooner.” With the caution that you do not want to find yourself unprepared for a dangerous occurrence involving your child, Stay At Home Mom Answers (www.sahmanswers.com) finds SafetyMate to be an invaluable product for all parents.

Described as the perfect alternative to conventional baby shower gifts, SafetyMate’s review by Parent Click (www.orangecountyparent.com) states it is “an absolute must for new and seasoned parents!”

SafetyMate has won the Swanky Moms Award and been covered in video on Pregtastic.com and Mommywarriors.com. Other positive reviews include www.safbaby.com, www.lilaguide.com, www.momfuse.com, www.momstylenews.com, www.learning4lyf.ca and www.jetwithkids.com.

Finally, SafetyMate has been featured nationally on the Today Show, Univision, Fox & Friends on a number of local stations across the US by Lifestyle Expert, Tanya Whitford and by the Safety Mom, Alison Rhodes.

Are you taking steps to protect your family from burn risks at home?

If you are like the majority of Americans, you aren’t. Although 75% of survey respondents report that either they or someone in their family has suffered a burn at home, most are not taking steps to reduce the risk of burns occurring in the home.  

The Home Safety Council in conjunction with H2otStop say that most people don’t take the simple steps that they could to reduce the risk of burns in the home.

Scald burns happen most frequently to children under the age of five.

Here’s what you can do to reduce the risk of scald burns:

• Turn the hot water heater down below 120 degrees F.
•  Once you have done that, test the hot water temperature with a candy thermometer or install an anti-scald devices.
• Keep children out of the kitchen or cooking area while cooking.
• Avoid placing hot food and beverages on table cloths that can be pulled by children or pets.
• When using the stove, turn the handles away from the edge of the counter, again so that children can not pull on them.

Finally, whereas burns in the kitchen seem more obvious, the bathroom is actually a place where almost 10% of burns take place. Hence, check that water heater!

Be aware, be careful, be prepared.

Despite the long-held popularity of the lullaby Rock-a-Bye baby, the song’s lyrics are actually kind of disturbing. What parent wants their baby’s cradle to come crashing down?!

Falls can range in severity from minor to fatal. And that is just one of a number of unintentional injuries that can occur in the home.

Fortunately, baby proofing and child proofing supplies have become more commonplace. However, child proofing does not and really cannot account for all injuries.

The experts suggest parents-to-be baby proof their home before their bundle of joy arrives. Each year 2.5 million children are injured in the home - and many of these injuries are preventable.

A few tips:

• Children should never be left alone in the kitchen
• Turn off burners when not being used
• Never leave a hot oven door open
• Put the microwave out of toddlers reach
• All pools should be fenced in with a self-locking gate
• Buckets should always be emptied after use.
• Never leave a child in the bathtub alone
• Always check the temperature of tap water
• Keep plastic wrap and bags away from children
• Keep balloons away - they can be inhaled and cover the windpipe
• Never let your children run or play while eating

These tips are simple and yet may seem overwhelming. If taken one at a time, each is manageable. Use common sense.

And, please, sing a different lullaby…

Approximately one infant (12 months & under) suffers an unintentional injury every 1.5 minutes.

Causes of injury:

• FALLS - leading cause of injury; more likely to be male than female (~55% vs. ~ 45%)
• HEAD or NECK area: puncture injuries, bruises, foreign body injuries and abrasions most frequent
• FRACTURES: more than 1/3 of fractures were to the arm or hand
• The BED is the most common product as being involved in the injury in every age except:
• 2 months - the car seat became the most frequently noted product
• 12 months - the stairs because the top “product” involved in the injury

Social environment, physical environment and products change as infants grow through their first year of life.

Safety and awareness must continue to adapt as your infant grows. Actually, what’s cool about SafetyMate for the New Parent is it can grow with your family. Not only does it have information for infants, it also has information for children and adults.

Be prepared to know how to deal with these emergencies. We don’t often think of infants getting injured. They seem so passive, soft, sweet, and resilient. These stats make it evident accidents do happen. We all hope it won’t happen to us. Underneath that, we all kind of believe it won’t happen to us.

It could. I think that’s why gifting SafetyMate to a friend can help break through that denial we all have that it won’t happen to us. Once the SafetyMate is in hand, learning about what to do in case of a fall is simple. Just press a button. It becomes less scary and more manageable once you know what to do. Be ready. Learn how to handle first aid issues.

Best wishes for health and well-being in all your families.