Honey, I Lost the Baby in the Produce Aisle!: The Safety Mom's Guide to Childproofing Your Life

241 Pages·2011·4.23 MB·English

by  Alison Rhodes

Honey, I Lost the Baby in the Produce Aisle!
Babyproofing Shopping List
Product Qty
Electrical Safety Safety Gate
Decora Outlet Covers ______ Location:______________________
Standard Outlet Covers ______ Type:_________________________
Cord Plug Cover ______ Width: __________________
Power Strip Cover ______
Safety Gate
Location:______________________
Cabinet Safety Type:_________________________
Door Locks ______ Width: __________________
Drawer Locks ______
Safety Gate
Location:______________________
Window Safety Type:_________________________
Window Wedges ______ Width: ________________________
Cord Cleats ______
Safety Gate
Door Safety Location:______________________
Doorknob Cover ______ Type:_________________________
Surface Bolts ______ Width: ________________________
Door Stop (one piece) ______
Bathroom Safety
Faucet Cover ______
Toilet Lock ______
Anti-Slip Bathtub Mat ______
Anti-Slip Floor Mat ______
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HONEY, I LOST
THE BABY IN
THE PRODUCE
AISLE!
Alison Rhodes
Course Technology PTR
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Honey, I Lost the Baby in the © 2012 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
Produce Aisle!
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright
Alison Rhodes
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011923927
Indexer:
ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-5970-0
Sharon Shock
ISBN-10: 1-4354-5970-9
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Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 12 11
This book is dedicated to my little angel Connor
who put me on the path I was meant to travel.
Acknowledgments
This book was truly a process of labor and love. It would never have been pos-
sible without the support, love, and encouragement of my entire “family.”
It was important to me that I provide the most accurate, detailed, and pro-
fessional advice I could on babyproofing and product installation. That would
not have been possible without the tremendous input from Chris Benedict,
“babyproofer extraordinaire” for Safety Mom Solutions, and one of the nicest
men…and dads…I’ve ever met!
Everyone should have a Stephanie in their lives. Thank you to Stephanie
Goodman who laughed with me, cried with me, and kicked me in the butt at
exactly the right times! Her passion and belief in our mission at Safety Mom
is what has led us to where we are today.
Thank you to my Mom. I only hope I can be as good a mother as you are.
Your optimism and unconditional love for everyone is inspirational beyond
words. I’m blessed having you in my life.
For my kids: Spencer, Kelsey, and Hannah and my wonderful step-kids: Emma
and Wyatt, please see that you can do anything you set your mind to (even
when you don’t know what the heck you’re doing!). Thank you for support-
ing Mommy and being my daily source of inspiration.
There aren’t words to express my gratitude to my wonderful fiancé Greg
Jacobson. His calm, steadfast, and abundant love has carried me through
exhausting days and nights putting this book together.
About the Author
Alison Rhodes, The Safety Mom, has exploded onto the national scene as
the preeminent voice on safety, wellness, and healthy living. From environ-
mental toxins and healthy eating to sports injuries and cyber bullying, The
Safety Mom is always on the lookout for the issues facing children—newborns
to teens—as well as the entire family.
After experiencing the death of her child from SIDS, Alison became com-
mitted to saving children’s lives. Over the years, Alison has expanded her
career platform to include a gamut of vital issues facing families. As a mom
of a special needs child, Alison has become a strong advocate for early inter-
vention and programs that teach tolerance in our schools.
Alison believes that children’s parents are their greatest safety advocates, and
she coaches parents that when it comes to dealing with their children, it’s
important to be parents first and friends second. Her ability to connect with
parents in a down-to-earth, uplifting, and engaging manner while providing
important information has made Alison a popular guest on many national
television shows including The Today Show, Fox & Friends, Good Morning America,
CNN International, CNBC Squawk Box, and The Doctors.
Both her newsletter, The Safety Scoop, and blog, The Safety Chronicles, as well
as regular articles on popular parenting sites such as Parenting Weekly and
Baby Weekly, reach thousands of parents every month with tips and advice
that help parents sort through the hype and get to the facts.
Alison resides in Connecticut with her three children.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Chapter 1
Congratulations—You’re Pregnant… OMG!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Cord Blood Banking—What Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Understanding the Roles of Midwives and Doulas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Stillbirth and Counting Kicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Newborn Screening Tests—Are They Worth It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 2
Registering for the Shower—Must Haves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Do Your Homework First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
A Word About Hand-Me-Downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Cribs and Co-Sleepers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Car Seats/Travel Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Infant Car Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Travel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Convertible Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Proper Positioning of a Car Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
What About Taxis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Play Yards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
High Chairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Bouncy Seats and Activity Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bath Tubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 3
Bringing Your Baby Home—Now What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Do Dogs ReallyEat Diapers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
There’s Safety in Numbers…Not!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Spreading the Love, Not the Germs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A Word About SIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Postpartum Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
What’s Your Escape Plan?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Carbon Monoxide: The Silent Killer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Chapter 4
Babyproofing Do-It-Yourself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Hardware-Mounted Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Pressure-Mounted Walk-Through Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
vi
Contents
Pressure-Mounted Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Sectional Gates for Wide or Irregular Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Hearth Gates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Retractable Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Wood Versus Metal Gates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Window Blind Cords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Drawers/Cabinets Locks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Doors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Electrical Cords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Furniture Strapping and Bracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Chapter 5
Yes, They Will Try to Climb into the Toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Set Up a Safe Area in the Kitchen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Lock Down Appliances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Installation How-To’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Cooking with Kids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Bathrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Home Offices/Gyms/Media Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Outdoor Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Back-over Accidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Play Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Pools and Hot Tubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 6
Special Situations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
My Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Autism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Symptoms of Autism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Potential Medical Problems and More Symptoms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Trust Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
That Feeling of Guilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Get Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Childproofing Is a Must . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Cerebral Palsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
vii