5 Important Summertime Safety Tips
Finally summer is here! While we look forward to days in the pool and warm weather, it’s important that we remember that safety is first, especially for our little babes. Here are some summer time safety tips you shouldn’t forget.
1. Prevent heat exhaustion by keeping your baby cool. If left unchecked, heat exhaustion can turn into heat stroke, which is deadly. Look out for these signs: dizziness, fatigue, muscle cramping and extreme thirst. If you notice any of those signs, get into the shade or an air conditioned room right away. Make sure your baby is drinking plenty of breastmilk or formula.
2. Don’t sit in hot cars. A car can heat up 19 degrees in just 10 minutes when it’s in direct sunlight. Each year we hear about some devastating story where a little one was hurt because they were left in a car too long. Never leave your child unattended in a car at all. If you have to wait, leave the air conditioning running or exit the car and wait somewhere cool.
3. Protect your baby’s delicate skin. Baby skin burns far more easily than yours and mine. Sunburns at an early age greatly increases the risk of skin cancer later in life. Avoid the sun between 10 AM and 3 PM. This is when the sun is hottest. Whenever baby is in the sunlight, make sure he has a hat, sunglasses, and wearing clothes with tightly woven fabrics. Plus, slather on that sunscreen of at least SPF15. Remember that it doesn’t have to be hot to be burned.
4. Keep the mosquitos and ticks at bay. Use a mesh netting over your child’s infant carrier or seat to keep bugs out. Use a bug repellant with DEET. Skin the repellant/sunscreen combo sprays. They rarely work. After time spent outside, check your baby’s body entirely for ticks – especially if they are a crawler. Treat any bites with a topical antihistamine to stop the itching.
5. Follow all the water safety rules. No doubt you’ll spend some time this summer swimming. Whenever you take your baby into the water, make sure you have a water buddy in case something happens to you. (Everyone should have a water buddy at all times.) Make sure your child is wearing a life-jacket designed for their age and size. Don’t slip them into an adult’s jacket. All water is deep for your baby, so stay in the shallow end. It’s also good to know CPR basics, so take a class if you have to.
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Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventor of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: “Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time,” and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family’s reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker’s daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte’s startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
For more information, visit sleepingbaby.com.
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