2009 High Chair Recalls:

April 2009: Evenflo Recalls Envision High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards manufactured by Evenflo Company Inc., of Miamisburg, Ohio, 643,000 units. “Recline fasteners and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to detach or recline unexpectedly. Children can fall backwards or fall out of the high chair and suffer bumps and bruises to the head, abrasions, cuts and bruises. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children”.

April 2009: Evenflo Expands Recall of Majestic High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards, Manufactured by Evenflo Company Inc., of Miamisburg, Ohio 90,000 units (95,000 were recalled in December 2008). “Plastic caps and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to suddenly fall back or detach from the high chair. Children can fall backwards or fall out of the high chair and suffer bumps and bruises to the head, broken bones, abrasions, cuts and bruises. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children”.

March 2009: Fisher-Price Recalls 3-in-1 High Chairs Due to Fall Hazard, manufactured by Fisher-Price, of East Aurora, N.Y. 24,000 units were recalled.” The seat can fall backwards from high chair frame if the booster seat release is unlatched while the child is in the product. Also, the seat back can detach if not fully snapped in place, posing a fall hazard and risk of serious injury to young children”.

2009 Stroller Recalls

August 2009: Baby Jogger City Mini Strollers Recalls Strollers Due to Fall Hazard, manufactured by Baby Jogger LLC, of Richmond, Va., 41,000 units recalled. “The stroller’s restraint buckle could break or unlatch allowing the child or infant to fall out”.

June 2009: Bugaboo Recalls Strollers Due to Risk of Brake Failure, Bugaboo Bee Strollers manufactured by Bugaboo Design & Sales, B.V., of the Netherlands. 22,500 units were recalled. “One or both sides of the brakes can fail, causing a stroller to unexpectedly roll away on an incline. This can pose a risk of injury to the child occupant”.

Parents and child care providers MUST check with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list which can be found at cpsc.gov. You can even sign up to be on an email list which will inform you of current recalls. They continually update the recall list, so be sure to check frequently for recalls on toys, cribs, and daycare equipment. Depending on the severity of the recall, the manufacturer might mail kits with parts to repair faulty products.  Sometimes consumers are told to take the product back to where they were purchased for refunds, store credits or replacement items.

Strollers and high chairs are an expensive investment for a daycare business. However it is an investment that is essential for licensed daycare providers that care for infants. Be aware that if you must buy used strollers or high chairs for your daycare center it is imperative that you check against the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list to be sure the crib has not been previously recalled.

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According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccines help keeping children safe by protecting communities by helping to protect children who are not able to be vaccinated or who do not respond to vaccines, protecting individual children who are vaccinated against dangerous diseases, and by slowing down or stopping disease outbreaks.

Check with your preschool or daycare center and follow state requirements, as they vary. In most states, preschool children must have:

• Four doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine ( DTP)
• Three doses of polio vaccine
• One dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine
• Hib flu vaccine on or after 15 months of age
• Three doses of hepatitis B vaccine
• One dose of varticella for chicken pox on or after 12 months of age (or proof they’ve already had chicken pox and have immunity from chicken pox).

As previously stated, immunization requirements vary from state to state. For example, in New Jersey, children who are six- to 59-months-old attending licensed day care centers and preschools must get an annual flu shot between September 1 and December 31 of each year, while children who turned 60 months of age on or before December 31 do not have to get the flu vaccine, but it is recommended.

Vaccines do have side effects such as fever or soreness and or redness at the site of injection. However, the risks of minor side effects do not outweigh the vaccine’s ability to immunize children against horrible, preventable diseases. In some cases exemptions are allowed for medical, religious or personal reasons. In many preschools children who are not fully immunized may be excluded from attending preschool or childcare if an outbreak of one of these diseases occurs.

What are the policies at your daycare? As a licensed daycare provider you must make sure that all children are immunized. According to The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children who are not vaccinated endanger public health by posing a threat to other non-immunized individuals, including individuals who cannot be immunized due to underlying health problems, and the small percentage of individuals in whom vaccination does not confer protection.  They also contribute to increased societal health care costs.” Protect the children in your care and your community.

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Be careful or avoid the following types of hazardous foods for toddlers:

Large chunks of food: Foods for toddlers should be the size of a pea. Anything larger can become lodged in the child’s throat. Make dice large items like hot dogs, carrots, and celery. Soft cook and chop melons and apples. Mash bananas instead of slicing them. Quarter cherry tomatoes, grapes, and strawberries. Shred or chop meat and cheeses into very small pieces.

Peanut butter and other nut butters: Peanut butter causes a choking hazard because it gets stuck to the roof of the mouth and throat and can be hard to swallow. To serve peanut butter to toddlers, avoid serving it in large globs. Instead spread peanut butter thinly on toast or crackers.

Soft, sticky foods: Kids love gummy bears, gum drops, and marshmallows. However, these foods can easily get stuck in a toddler’s throat.

Small, hard foods: Hard, small candies like Skittles, nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc.), popcorn, raisins, seeds and dried fruit pose a huge choking hazard for small children.

Foods that commonly cause allergies: 4 out of 100 children have a food allergy, according to recent studies by the National Center for Health Statistics. The most common food allergies in young children are caused by cow’s milk, eggs, tree nuts (almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, etc.), soybeans, peanuts, and wheat. Be sure to ask parents for complete and thorough information about their child’s allergies including foods to avoid, cross-sensitivities, usual treatment and emergency numbers.

For good measure, avoid the foods on this list of worst foods for toddlers:

• Nuts
• Popcorn
• Chucks of cheese
• Large chunks of raw veggies
• Seeds
• Chewing gum
• Hard candy
• Dollops of peanut butter
• Sticky candy
• Grapes
• Hot dogs
• Large chunks of fruit

Children must always be supervised while eating meals and snacks. Potential child care workers: when applying for childcare jobs, be sure that that you have CPR and First Aid certifications. Child care business owners: Be sure that all staff is CPR and First Aid certified and that that each staff member’s certifications remain current.

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Parents and child care providers MUST check with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list which can be found at cpsc.gov. You can even sign up to be on an email list which will inform you of current recalls. They continually updated the recall list, so be sure to check frequently for recalls on toys, cribs, and child care equipment.

Depending on the severity of the recall, the manufacturer might mail kits with parts to repair faulty products. Sometimes consumers are told to take the product back to where they were purchased for refunds, store credits or replacement items.

2009 Crib Recalls

In order to reduce the risk of injury or even death of children in your care, it is important to take note of the following crib recalls so far in 2009. All information is taken directly from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website:

January 2009: Stork Craft Baby Cribs, Mattress Support Bracket Failures Create Risk of Entrapment and Suffocation, Manufactured by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada, 535,000 units. “The metal support brackets used to support the crib mattress and mattress board can crack and break. When one or more support brackets break, the mattress can collapse and create a dangerous gap between the mattress and crib rails, in which a child can become entrapped and suffocate”. Some have the Fischer Price logo on them.

April 2009: SunKids Convertible Cribs recalled by Suntech Enterprises Due to Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards, Suntech Enterprises Inc., of City of Commerce, Calif., 1900 units. “The sides of the crib are made of mesh that expands, creating a gap between the side and the crib’s mattress if it’s not zipped into place, or a gap between the side and an added mattress. A young child can slip into this gap and become entrapped or suffocate. Also, the crib’s drop side can fail to fully latch posing a fall hazard to young children”.

April 2009: Jardine Announces Second Recall Expansion of Cribs Sold by Babies’R'Us; Cribs Pose Entrapment and Strangulation Hazards. Jardine Cribs, Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan, About 96,000 (320,000 units were previously recalled in June 2008 and 56,450 units were recalled in January 2009). “The wooden crib slats can break, creating a gap, which can pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard to infants and toddlers”.

June 2009: LaJobi Recalls Bonavita “Cabana” Drop Side Cribs Due To Entrapment and Strangulation Hazards, Bonavita “Cabana” Drop Side Cribs, LaJobi Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., 2000 units. “The wooden crib slats can detach or break creating a gap, which can pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard to infants and toddlers”.

June 2009: LaJobi Recalls Babi Italia Pinehurst and Bonavita Hudson Drop Side Cribs; Risk of Entrapment and Suffocation. Bonavita “Hudson” and Babi Italia “Pinehurst” Drop Side Cribs, LaJobi Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., 2900 units. “The lower spring pins on the footboard and headboard can pop out of the tracks located on the drop side causing the drop side to detach from the crib. When the drop side detaches, it creates a hazardous gap between the drop side and the crib mattress in which infants and toddlers can become entrapped and suffocate or fall from cribs”.

July 2009: Simplicity Drop Side Cribs Recalled by Retailers Due to Risk of Death from Suffocation. Simplicity Drop Side Cribs, Simplicity Inc. and SFCA Inc. of Reading, Pa., 400,000 units. “The crib’s plastic hardware can break or deform, causing the drop side to detach. When the drop side detaches, it creates space between the drop side and the crib mattress. Infants and toddlers can roll into this space and become entrapped which can lead to suffocation”.

Cribs are an expensive investment for a daycare business, However it is an investment that is essential for licensed daycare providers that care for infants. Be aware that if you must buy used cribs for your daycare center it is imperative that you check against the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list to be sure the crib has not been previously recalled.

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2. One the basic things that you must learn as a parent are the differences between family care centres and group centres. Commercially facilitated daycare centres that have large groups of children are called group centres and enrol at least nine children. Daycare providers that do their services in houses only allow at the most six children.

3. The best way to check for the requirements to these two types of daycare centres is to get a listing of requirement from the social services office in your state. With this, you can also ask them for a lost of recommended daycare providers. Then there also those daycare providers that are licensed by the state.

What you need to know
Then after all this is done, you have to look into the ratio between adult and child. If the ratio is at the lower end, then that is better for your child because this means more attention will be focused on your child. One of the scenarios that a parent can not ever stand is that of their child not being attended to by a daycare worker because that person has to attend to a lot more children.

Another thing that you must put your concern on is the turnover of the staff. If the ratio of turnover is at a low number, then this is good for your child. This low rate of staff turnover means that the daycare provider has achieved stability.

The next thing that you want to know is the number of years the daycare provider has been in service.

The next thing that you must consider is if you agree in the daycare providers’ policies on children taking naps, giving discipline, breaktime, playing games and the way they teach the children.

Other concerns
There are some important areas that you need to look into. You can simply give these daycare providers’ a call and they will entertain your questions about these areas. These areas should include the background checks on the employees, the providers’ emergency policies and will the provider call the parents in case something happens to the child.

See: How to start a daycare center

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2. Inquire about who are just allowed to pick up the child and what identifications do they require. This will make sure that they will not entrust your child to just anyone.

3. Also know if they operate during holidays and if ever how much they charge for such days.

4. Evaluate the teachers available in the center. Are they bubbly and fun to be with? Do they communicate with children well? If ever a teacher will be on leave or suddenly can’t go to work will they have a substitute teacher?

5. Also let them discuss to you about their policy on discipline. Ask about what they do about the child’s misbehavior and if they advise the parents when such things happen.

6. They must also have ready medicines in the center, just in case a child might need them. But inquire about prescription medicines and if they would need any authorization before they can give them to your child.

7. Inspect the day care center and if they have the necessary facilities such as fire extinguisher, fire exits, fire alarms, smoke detectors and other amenities. Also ensure that the equipments and the place itself are safe for children. Make sure that the harmful chemicals such as cleaning substances are out of reach of children. Also the outdoor play area must be fenced. Children must stay within the premises and in watch of the caregivers at all times.

8. Will they have a service for fetching the kids? If ever, what type of vehicle will they be using?

9. They must have a plan and schedule of activities. Are there any out of the center activities such as field trips? If ever there are, are additional costs to pay for?

10. Also observe the children enrolled in the center if they are having fun. Are they well taken cared of?

11. They also must be appreciative of the children’s work. This makes the kids prod of themselves and help build self-confidence. Do they have a corner for displaying the kids’ artwork?

12. Do they have nap time for the children? What do they do to those who would not want to sleep? And where do they let the children sleep?

Corporate Daycare

Companies are now engaging into putting up an on-site day care centers for their customers. This is already being done in places like Britain. In a supermarket in Britain, they have a day care center where parents can leave their kids while shopping. They have been practicing this for years and they realized that customers enjoy shopping more without distractions. They will then spend more time in shopping and the market will consequently profit more.

Make a Parade Float
Why not try joining in a local parade during special occasions. Have a float for your day care center. Decorate the float with artworks made by the kids. You can also have a banner designed by the kids together with the teachers. The kids can even have their handprints on it.

Volunteer in Community Works
It’s always nice to give back to the community which has helped you a lot. And engaging in volunteer works is a way of doing it. Though you have a full-time job and a busy life, you may devote some time in helping out others. You can bake home made goodies and have them dropped off together with your child to the day acre center. Also, for the centers operating from public funds, you can give donations in terms of goods and amenities such as good cleaning products. Cooperate with other parents and discuss about how you can help. Even just spending a little of your time may mean so much to those that you may be helping. So if you can spare just some of your hours, do so. And do it in good cause.

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Children are very curious at this stage. They just grab everything that they get and play with it. This is one of the major causes of the accidents that happen to children. This is why you need to make sure that sharp object should be kept away from them. One more danger that children can experience is choking. Small toys should be kept away from the children because their tendency is to get everything and put it in their mouth.

When children are able to walk, you need to double the security on your child. They will start to walk on their own and go to places that are unknown to them. Remember that at this stage, all they can think of is going straight and remain standing. They still have no sense of direction so they might just smack into walls or bump into edges. Children love to climb to greater heights. As long as they can climb, they will do it. This is the major cause of falling for children.

Children can really try and try and not learn at all. Even if they get into accidents, they will never really remember these things. All that children can think of is being able to do what they are doing. Learning is more important to them rather than thinking of the safety.

You should also consider the health concerns of the children. Children can easily get sick when they are exposed to bacteria or germs. Some sicknesses can be fatal others may lead to serious complications. You should always maintain a healthy day care facility and free from germs that they can easily pick up.

As a day care center owner, you should be alarmed by these things. You should be aware that accidents can lead to deaths which are one of the major causes of deaths in children. When a child gets into an accident, they may get permanently harmed from these things. They may get scars or even broken bones. This can really be scary for you and the other parents.

Accidents happen because they just happen. No one can really blame for an accident. This is why people just accept whatever happens to them if they get into an accident because they cannot do anything about it. This is not how you, as a day care center owner should think. You should be aware that these things can happen to the children. The best way to deal with this is through preventive measures. Yes, you should always think beforehand of all the possible dangers that the child might get exposed to so you can make a set of preventive measures to ensure the safety of each and every child.

One of these preventive measures is by getting a home child care liability insurance. This insurance will cover for the accidents or any damages that your childcare facility might have caused the child. They even cover for future liabilities which may have resulted from the accidents. There are children who need to adjust to whatever happened to them during an accident and this is covered by the liability. You can never tell when an accident may happen, this is why even illnesses are covered by the home child care liability insurance. Usually this concerns food- pathogens that can risk the health of the children. Of course, only unexpected instances are covered by this insurance. Should there be any criminal acts happening in the day care center, this is not covered by the insurance.

If you are scared that maybe you will not be able to meet the demands for a safer day care center, you do not need to let go of your dream of opening a day care business. Franchising is the best option that you have. This will save you from all the money that you will spend for the home child care liability insurance. When you purchase your own franchise, you will get the same benefits that other franchises enjoy. They will provide you with the insurance as well as the right training when it comes to the safety of the children. You will be sure that your childcare facility will be safe for all the children. This basically saves you from the liabilities that you may incur in your business.

Children are very delicate and fragile. People always find a soft spot in them for little kids. If your day care center causes an accident to any child, you need to be prepared because people can usually be biased and blame it all to you. If ever there are accidents, there will be lawsuits and court orders from time to time. If you have been found to be negligent in taking care of a child, juries will easily tend to come up with a verdict. This is something which you should prevent from happening.

Owning a day care center may be the best option that you have, but remember that safety of the children always comes first. Make sure that you have a safety plan for the children to prevent accidents from happening. If you are not sure that you will be able to provide security to the children, you can always opt for franchising your own day care. Good luck in your day care business and always remember to take safety measures.

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In order to prevent the transmission of swine flu, you need to make sure that everyone in the day care is following proper hand washing procedures. They should wash their hands properly before and after eating, playing indoors or outdoors and when using the restroom. These will prevent the child as well as the staff members to infect himself with the virus.

Make sure that you post a poster of the proper way of washing the hands beside the sink which the people can follow. Remind them that cleaning with water alone is not enough to remove the germs on the hands. It is always important to provide soap in the sink when washing hands. Besides from this, always make alcohol available for disinfecting the hands. This will kill majority of the bacteria that are staying on the hands.

When sneezing, always make sure that the child is taught to cover their mouths to prevent the spread of the germs. This also goes for coughing since these can easily be transmitted if they are not careful enough. Hand washing should always be remembered in these instances. The children should always wash their hands after they have sneezed or cough on their hands because they might contaminate anything that they touch.

On your part, you should always make sure that you are using disinfectants when you are cleaning your day care center. It is important to keep all surfaces germ-free so that the people who are touching these will not acquire any germs that may cause harm to their health.

Your primary job as a day car is to ensure that the children are kept safe from harm. It is not enough that you teach the children certain lessons and skills, but it is also important that you teach them how to take care of their bodies well. Do not let the swine flu beat you. You can do something about it and it is your responsibility to teach the children proper procedures that will ensure that they are healthy.

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Make it a point to always spend quality time with your child every night. It can be as simple are reading book or playing with him, but no matter what you do, always make your child feel that he is special to you. This will lessen the feeling of neglect which your child is feeling. Sometime a child feels that you are pushing him away that is why you have to send him in a day care center.

This also goes when your child wakes up in the morning. He needs to fell that you love him with all your heart. Always make it a point to prepare breakfast for him. Hug him and kiss him because these will often make them feel secure knowing that you love them so much. Most of the time, it only takes these two gestures to indicate that you love them so much.

Let him bring his favorite toy to the day care center. He will feel that there is a sense of belongings and that he is not alone. Once he is carrying that stuffed toy, he will be able to feel more comfortable in the day care. Do not worry about this because this can only go on for some time. Your child will be able to make friend in the long run which will not have him bring any of his stuffed toys to the day care.

It is your responsibility as the parents to put in a good word for the day care center. Never scare your child or tell them anything bad about the day care center. This will only discourage him from going there will be harder on your part. So make things easier for the both of you and remember these tips on how to reduce separation anxiety of your child.

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You know how germs can work into your child’s system and cause you to have sickness as well as different health conditions. Some of the illnesses that you can get from these are chicken pox, diarrhea, infections and the most common- colds. This is why you should always make sure that you pick a day care which is sanitized and disinfects when it comes to cleaning. Of course you are never sure when your child might catch something from the germs that he is exposed to. You always have to ask them what they use when they clean as well the methods which they employ when it comes to cleaning. This will more or less give you an idea on how clean the facility is when you send your child there.

You need to know that in a day care, there are so many sources of germs that your child is exposed to. The toys, tables, floor and other materials which he touches are probable sources of germs. This is why you need to make sure that you have taught your child proper hygiene. Specifically when he touches any surface, he should always wash his hands after. Remind him to never to put his hand in mouth whether it is clean or not because this does not only prevent him from catching germs, but also prevents him from getting the bad habit of doing so. Part of this includes teaching your child to cover his mouth when coughing. This will prevent him from transmitting all kinds of germs all over the place that other children might catch.

As the parents, you should be able to remember your responsibilities when it comes to protecting your child from these things. The first thing that you need to do is to check the immunization shots of your child. Day care centers ask for the immunization records to be filled out before your child will be allowed to enroll. Always give your day care a copy of these so that they will be able to check for certain shots that your child has missed. For your part, you can always ask the day care if some of the children have not yet gotten their shots. You should make sure of these things because your child might be exposed to the germs that can cause serious health conditions.

It is a known fact that it is inevitable that your child will get sick even if you employ all the precautionary measures that you have. The minute that you suspect that your child is catching something, do not panic too much. Do not go to the day care and ask the children to be checked one by one because your child has caught an illness. What you should do instead is that you should have your child stay at home. Call you childcare and let them know what happened to your child. This will more or less give them an idea of what happened to your child so that they can make any precautionary measures that will prevent the other children from getting sick.

At home, it is important that you protect the other members of the family from the illness too. Remind each and everyone to wash their hands frequently to prevent transmission of the germs that can cause them to be sick. This does not only apply when touching your child, but also develop is as a habit for everyone to follow. This will ensure you and the rest of your family from catching and sickness-causing germs. As early as you can, you need to teach your child the proper way of washing their hands. There are stepstools which you can buy so that it will be easier for your child to wash his hands in the sink. You can always add fun when it comes to hand washing with playful designs and colors of soaps. These will instantly make hand washing a more enjoyable experience for your child. If it is possible, you can teach your child how to use sanitizers, but in a day care, they always provide a sink area for your child, so they can just always wash their hands it is needed.

Your child may not seem to care about this at his young age. This is why you need to have all the patience when teaching him these things. He needs to learn at a young age that proper hygiene will lessen the risk of catching any diseases. So never give up when it comes to teaching your child. It is your responsibility to encourage them to follow these simple procedures that will prevent them from getting sick.

It helps to know how to deal with the sickness in the right way. You do not have to panic once you discover that your child is sick. Remember that prevention is the cure, and you need to make sure that your child is preventing and protecting his own self from the possible effects that the germs in the day care will bring him.

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