News Moms Need

When was the last time you ever heard of someone getting the mumps? While most of us can say it’s been a while (if not, never), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting the largest outbreak of mumps in three years. Most of these outbreaks took place in New York and New Jersey.

Friendly reminder – the best way to protect kids from getting the mumps is by getting kids vaccinated. The combination measles-mumps-rubella immunization helps protect kids against these illnesses, which are less common thanks to the large number of kids and people who’ve been vaccinated over the years. Women who aren’t sure if they’ve been vaccinated against the mumps can also talk to their health providers about getting this vaccine before getting pregnant (this vaccine cannot be given during pregnancy). It’s important that the immunization rates in our population stay at high levels to avoid the opportunity for this and other diseases to return with full force.

Learn more about other important immunizations for your child.

Bacteria have been around for more than 3 billion years and have plenty of practice in fighting antibiotics. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians issued treatment guidelines for middle ear infections that include, in certain cases, delaying prescriptions for antibiotics. There are concerns that the bacteria that cause middle ear infections, or Acute Otitis Media, are becoming resistant to antibiotics. In reality, 80 percent of children with Acute Otitis Media get better without antibiotics. Plus, each antibiotic given to a child can make future infections more difficult to treat. This creates drug-resistant bacteria, which a child can pass along to siblings and classmates. Also, antibiotics can cause diarrhea or vomiting, and up to 5 percent of children are allergic to them. If you have questions about middle ear infections, talk with your pediatrician. For more information on your child’s health, visit www.aap.org.

About 1 million Maclaren strollers have been recalled. Twelve children have placed their fingers in hinges on the strollers and have had to have their fingertips amputated.

The affected models include Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller. The strollers were sold between 1999 and 2009.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has more information.

Our daughter is on the verge of crawling. I’m excited, but nervous at the same time. Everywhere I look around our house I see a potential hazard — the stairs, furniture, cabinets, outlets, lamp cords and book cases. We have a lot of work to do! We plan to go through one room at a time on our hands and knees to make sure we don’t miss anything, remove/secure potential risks and make a shopping list as we go.

A close friend of mine (hi Tricia!) appeared on the evening news a couple of days ago. Her home was assessed by a professional who offered some great recommendations on making her home safer for her toddler twins.  Click here to watch the clip.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide more than 4.5 million children are injured in the home every year. Taking simple prevention measures and closely supervising your children can help protect them from common household hazards, such as fires, burns, drowning, suffocation, choking, firearm injury, poisoning and falls. A few easy, relatively inexpensive steps – locking household cleaning materials in a cabinet out of reach, installing carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms, blocking stairways with baby gates – can greatly reduce your child’s risk of injury in the home.

The March of Dimes and Consumer Reports have worked together to produce a helpful online guide called, Safe Products for Baby. It includes shopping and safety tips for car seats, strollers, cribs, changing tables, play pens, clothing, bathtubs and more. Click here to check it out.

Please feel free to share any safety tips that you may have!

An exploratory study has found that two types of antibiotics taken during pregnancy are linked to an increased risk of several birth defects. 

The two types of antibiotics are:

* Nitrofurantoins, including Macrobid and Furadantin 

* Sulfonamides (also known as sulfa drugs), including Bactrim 

Penicillins appear to be the safest of the drugs studied.

Antiobiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, such as urinary tract infections. Bacterial infections can be dangerous to the fetus if untreated. So antibiotic treatment is sometimes appropriate for pregnant women.

If a pregnant woman needs to take an antibiotic, she should talk about the pro’s and con’s of the various choices with her health care provider.

It is too early to say if the antibiotics linked to birth defects in the study are the cause of the defects. Something else may be the cause. Researchers are continuing to study the question.

One of the authors of the study told U.S. News & World Report, “The most important message is that most commonly used antibiotics do not seem to be associated with the birth defects we studied.”

The study was published in the November issue of the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Do you get a knot in your stomach when you hear about people getting sick from eating unsafe hamburger meat? Do you worry when you hear that some canned food has been recalled?

Well, now there’s one place to help you get answers. Several federal agencies are working together on a new Web site about food safety.  Everything in one place. Great idea!

And here are some March of Dimes resources:

   * Food-borne risks in pregnancy
   * Food safety dring pregnancy
   * Feeding and food safety for baby

Pediatric growth charts are a standard part of any checkup.  They have been used by health care providers and parents to track the growth of infants, children, and adolescents in the United States since 1977. They show us how kids are growing compared with other kids of the same age and sex. They also show a pattern of height and weight gain over time, and whether they’re developing proportionately. Girls and boys are measured on different growth charts because they grow in different patterns and at different rates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has growth charts available on their website. They are not meant to be used as the only diagnostic tool for evaluating a childs’ health. Instead, growth charts are intended to help form an overall impression. If you have any questions about your child’s growth  (or growth charts) speak to your health care provider.

Click here to view Birth to 36 months: Boys Length-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles

Click here to view Birth to 36 months: Girls Length-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles

Believe it or not, the human foot is one of the most complicated parts of the body. It has 26 bones, including a complex system of ligaments, muscles, blood vessels and nerves. The feet of young children are soft, pliable and grow quite rapidly during the first year. For these reasons, podiatrists consider this period to be the most critical stage of the foot’s development.

Here are some suggestions from the American Podiatric Medical Association to help promote normal development:

Look carefully at your baby’s feet. If you notice something that does not look normal to you, contact the baby’s pediatrician or a podiatrist. Many deformities will not correct themselves if left untreated.

Keep your baby’s feet unrestricted. No shoes or booties are necessary for infants. These can restrict movement and can inhibit toes and feet from normal development.

Provide an opportunity for exercising the feet. Lying uncovered enables the baby to kick and perform other related motions which prepare the feet for weight bearing.

Change the baby’s position several times a day. Lying too long in one spot can put excessive strain on the feet and legs. Be sure to limit how much time your baby spends standing in an activity center to no more than 15 minutes at a time.

It is not recommended to force a child to walk. A child will walk when physically and mentally ready. When a baby first begins to walk, shoes are not necessary indoors. As a toddler, walking barefoot allows the youngster’s foot to grow normally and to develop its musculature and strength, as well as the grasping action of toes. When walking outside or on rough surfaces, babies’ feet should be protected in lightweight, flexible footwear made of natural materials.

How do we know the water we use is safe and clean for our families? For most Americans, drinking water from the faucet is among the safest water in the world.

Did you know that the federal government regulates most drinking water in the United States? Problems are most likely to occur in private wells or small water systems that serve less than a thousand people.

If you have a child under 1 year of age, it’s a good idea to test the water for nitrates. Nitrates can cause anemia.

For more tips, read the March of Dimes article Drinking Water for Baby.

Plum Organics has recalled one batch of its Apple & Carrot Portable Pouch baby food. The company is concerned that the food may be contaminated with the bacteria that can cause botulism. Botulism can be a life-threatening disease.

The following code appears on the bottom of the packages: 890180001221. The food has been sold at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us stores.

No illnesses have been reported. The recall is a precaution.

Symptoms of botulism include weakness, dizziness, double vision and trouble speaking or swallowing. People with these problems should get medical care immediately.