Posted by cassie on Friday, 30 March, 2007 @ 2:22 pm
Great website that Nick created so I could send out images to the fam and friends. It’s called Imagegrotto.com and it’s free to use. Thought I would pass it on while I was thinking of it so other’s could use it too.
Posted by cassie on Friday, 9 March, 2007 @ 8:32 am
[Courtesy of Consumer Reports]
The toy ring is silver-colored metallic with a large plastic gemstone in blue, red, purple, green, or clear. The rings were sold individually and as part of party favor, costume, and heirloom sets, from October 2003 through October 2006 at Celebrate Express, Birthday Express, Costume Express, and Storybook Heirloom Web sites and catalogs, and at the Birthday Express retail outlet in Kirkland, Wash., for about $1.50. No injuries or incidents have been reported.
A week after this recall, the Consumer Product Safety Commission unanimously approved an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that could lead to a ban of children’s metal jewelry containing more than 0.06 percent of total lead.
This action comes after a steady stream of recalls of children’s jewelry containing lead, including one that occurred after the death of a child who swallowed a metal charm. At least 14 separate recalls involving more than 160 million pieces of metal jewelry have been issued over the past two years.
The proposed ban is in response to a petition filed by the Sierra Club and is strongly supported by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of this magazine.
WHAT TO DO
Consumers should take the toy rings away from children immediately. Contact Celebrate Express at 888-551-3995 for a refund. The company has directly contacted previous Web site and catalog purchasers of the products by mail.
Posted by cassie on Friday, 9 March, 2007 @ 8:28 am
[Courtesy of the Baby Boot Camp newsletter and Consumer Reports]
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| Don’t give babies and toddlers over-the-counter cough or cold medications, even if the product label suggests that it’s safe to do so. The drugs have not been proved to work in children and may cause serious side effects or even death. | |||
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Over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications caused three infant deaths in 2005 and sent more than 1,500 babies and toddlers to the emergency room, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The products are commonly used to relieve stuffy noses and coughs in children under age 2, and many parents assume they’re harmless because of their OTC status. But experts have long warned that the drugs, which can raise heart rate and blood pressure, pose significant risks.
Just how much of the drugs can safely be given to babies and toddlers is still unclear, and the Food and Drug Administration has not approved dosing recommendations for children under 2. What’s more, cough and cold products often contain multiple ingredients, making it easier for parents to inadvertently overdose their children when they use more than one product.
In all three infant deaths detailed in the CDC’s report, the babies had blood levels of the nasal decongestant pseudoephedrine that were 9 to 14 times as high as the recommended dose for children ages 2 to 12. One infant had been given both a prescription drug and an OTC combination drug containing the ingredient.
Product labels aren’t always clear about potential dangers, either; while some cough and cold drugs explicitly caution against use in children under 2, others simply say that parents should talk to their doctor about it.
Not worth the risk?
While all drugs pose some risk, there’s no evidence that cough and cold remedies provide any benefit to children. Several studies have shown them to be no more effective than a placebo, and some experts have suggested that doctors only continue to recommend them because they’re under pressure from parents.
The CDC is urging parents not to give the drugs to young children without first consulting their pediatrician. But given the lack of data to support their use, our consultants believe there is no reason to give them to children at all. Instead, says Wayne Snodgrass, M.D., a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, parents can use saline nose drops or a cold-air humidifier to loosen mucous in the nose and a rubber suction bulb to clear nasal congestion in infants. Plus, a cold will typically clear up on its own, usually within several days.