Happy (and safe) Holidays!

This holiday season you most likely will host out of town visitors or you'll be an out of town visitor yourself. Both situations can provide parenting challenges when it comes to maintaining a safe environment for your baby.

What's a mom to do? How can you maintain a safe environment this holiday season?

1. Reality check.

You are busy, busier than usual busy. Ask friends and family to help keep an eye on your little one. Be specific in this request rather than offering a blanket request. For example, "Mom, I have to make the dessert for tonight, would you please watch darling Oliver for me while I do?" or "Oh my dearest sister, I have to start laundry (yet another load), would you please make sure Oliver is safe while I do?"... you get the point. Accountability is key here because inevitably people will think someone else is doing it.

2. Open suitcases, open invitation.

Ask visitors to be responsible for their own medications and vitamins (or if you're traveling be responsible for your own). Suggest a safe place they can keep them during their visit. Don't think your baby won't be interested in Grandma's open suitcase and the goodies inside it. It's new, it's different, it's there. He's interested! Yes, that is the voice of experience you're hearing. When my son, Nicholas was 3, he and his cousin Julian (2) ate a ziplock bag full of my sister's vitamins straight out of the unlocked, unzipped suitcase. Luckily they were fine but this is why I stress the importance of keeping medication and vitamins out of reach. It all looks like candy, candy, candy to a kid. If you're traveling, when you first arrive do a quick assessment of the environment. If you find potential hazards politely ask if you can remove the hazard for the time you're there. It may feel a little uncomfortable asking the first time but remember, you are your baby's advocate and ultimately everyone who loves your baby wants him/her to be safe.

3. The bubbly is flowing.

The bubbly is flowing (as it should be for your sanity if for no other reason!) this time of year but take care not to leave open bottles and 1/2 empty glasses of alcohol for little ones to find. And when uncle Frank comes back in from smoking on the front porch, kindly remind him to keep those smokes away from the babe.

4. Poinsettia plants are poisonous?.... NOT TRUE!

You can absolutely enjoy your beautiful poinsettia plants this holiday season without worry. Even though the name sounds like they should be poisonous they in fact are not.

5. Presents, presents and more presents.

Toys with small parts or loose pieces are a choking hazard. Discuss with older children the importance of keeping those toys away from the baby. Encourage friends and family to buy age appropriate toys- the choking hazard warning is printed on the packaging for a reason.

6. People in, people out, doors open, doors closed, safety gates open.... safety gates open?

The addition of out of town visitors can make for a very busy environment. Older children, adults who don't have children and adults who had children 35 years ago may not immediately understand the importance of closing the safety gate every time. ("We didn't have safety gates when you were a baby and you turned out just fine"). Have a brief discussion regarding the importance of keeping the gate closed and the consequences for baby (and maybe for the person who doesn't close the gate, but that's just me) of leaving it open. Offer to demonstrate how the gate works. We have a great portable baby gate we use when we travel. If you're celebrating the holidays somewhere other than home this could be a good solution for you too.

7. I'm in the kitchen.

Meal preparation is such a big part of the holiday season. Some of my favorite memories have been made with friends and family sipping wine and making meals in the kitchen. For baby this season, a busy kitchen is a myriad of potential burn hazards- hot ovens, open flames and hot liquids. Keep these things in mind while you're cooking- turn panhandles inward, add a stove guard and keep hot liquids out of baby's reach (my parents visited for Thanksgiving and I can't tell you the number of times I moved a cup of hot coffee of the edge of the table!). Side bar- this has nothing to do with food but because we're talking about burns, can I just add curling irons, flat irons and good old fashioned clothing irons with dangling cords are super interesting to babies, ask visitors to place hot irons high out of baby's reach. Okay, back to food. During all the excitement of the holidays, remind your baby to sit, chew slowly and enjoy the food that you've prepared (and lovingly cut into small 1 inch pieces. Such a good mommy!)

8. The best way not to worry this holiday season?

Keep your baby MEDBASICS home and travel packs where everyone can find them... just in case!

At the end of the day, you can't possibly control everything or everyone but you can rest easier know you've done your best to keep your baby safe this holiday season.

Know more. Worry less.

have a happy halloween!

is that trick-or-treat bag full of choking hazards?!
(uh, huh...)

the short list:
Dum Dum lollipops, candy pumpkins, gum drops, Double Bubble, gum balls, Lifesavers, Tootsie Rolls

but you don't have to have nightmares, because...

The more you know, the less you'll worry about your baby choking.

I've yet to meet a mother who doesn't worry about her child choking. Why is that? Are we Nervous Nellies? Are we overprotective? Why do we worry so much about choking? Maybe we worry because children choke 3 times as often as adults do. Or we might worry because choking in children under 4 is responsible for more that 17,000 emergency department visits each year. I suppose the worry could stem from knowing that during a choking episode, brain damage from lack of oxygen can occur in less than 4 minutes and death shortly thereafter. Or it might come from knowing the ambulance response time averages more than 8 minutes in most areas of the United States. (Do the math here with me... that's 4 minutes where you or your caregiver has to know what to do to save your baby's life)

Okay, okay so maybe knowing all of that actually makes you worry more, I know but stay with me...

By recognizing and removing choking hazards in your baby's environment and playing an active role at meal time you can actually help prevent a choking episode. Lets start by talking about the most common choking hazards and strategies you can use to help keep your little one safe. I know we can get lulled into a false sense of security as our babies get older and more adept at eating but these choking hazards are true for toddlers too.

Food- the big no nos

Hard candy, gummies or mints (see above)

Hot dogs

Nuts and Seeds

Whole grapes and cherry/grape tomatoes

Popcorn (this includes veggie booty too!)

Raisins

Raw vegetables

Peanut butter

Non food- the big no nos

Coins

Balloons (a deflated balloon is potentially one of the most deadly choking hazards because it is very hard to clear an airway blocked by a piece of latex. If you must have balloons buy mylar.)

Small toys (having a 10 year old and a 2 year old I totally understand how crazy making this one is. I'm constantly picking up small pieces of Nicholas' toys, grateful that I found it before Oliver did. If anyone has a better way to control this please, please let me know)

Things you can do as a mom to help keep your baby safe

*Infants don't tend to chew or grind food while eating. To minimize the risk be sure to cut all food into small pieces and avoid certain foods (see above) until your baby is older.

*Inspect all toys for potential choking hazards such as small parts or loose pieces.

*Don't leave small objects, such as buttons, coins and beads within an infant's reach.

*Have children sit in a high chair or at a table while they eat.

*Give infants soft food that they do not need to chew.

*Do not let children eat too fast or too much at one time (this is a big deal at my house. My youngest son, Oliver needs constant supervision while eating. Unsupervised this little guy fills his chubby cheeks so full of food every squirrel in Central Park is green with envy. I sit with him and say over and over, "chew, chew, slow down, chew").

So there you go mommies, you know how to prevent a choking episode. You can now worry less about your baby choking and have a fun and spooky, not a scary Halloween!

Nice to meet you...

I totally believe the more you know, the less you worry (present day economy excluded).

That is certainly true of medicine. It's true of parenting. It's true of cooking, starting a business, buying a car and lots of other things we do.

I'm writing this blog so that all of us can ultimately know more and worry less. This blog is a reflection of my passions, my concerns, my loves... so you can count on posts about medicine, parenting, baking (not cooking, just baking), books, shopping, business and Gossip Girl (I know!) being a part of it.

First post. How about a little background please... Briefly, this is my story.

Girl (this is me) from Missouri grows up to be a nurse.

Boy (this would be Luke, my husband and partner) from Wyoming grows up to be a doctor.

Girl meets boy in Colorado, falls in love with boy and boy falls in love with girl.

Boy moves to Chicago. After months of long distance love, girl moves to Chicago.

Boy and girl get married and have baby.

Boy, girl and baby move to Milwaukee.

Baby chokes one day at lunch. Girl freaks out in her own head for a second then regains presence of mind and saves baby.

Girl worries what would have happened if baby was with someone else, would they have known what to do, would baby be alive?

Girl and boy create baby MEDBASICS so other boys and girls don't have to worry about knowing what to do if their baby chokes.

Boy, girl and baby move to NYC .

Girl and boy have one more baby whom on a daily basis tests his own ability to stuff large amounts of food in his mouth, kind of chew it, gag and finally swallow it.

Girl and boy are very happy and relieved they have a baby MEDBASICS home pack in the kitchen and a travel pack on their stroller so no matter who is taking care of baby, they will know what to do.

See how this works?

You can now worry less because you know that with

baby MEDBASICS you too can save your baby's life.