Car Seat Recommendations

Many of you may have heard that car seat recommendations are getting revamped. It is required by law in Indiana that all children ages 8 and under must ride using a car seat with the lone exception being that the child is too large to fit into the car seat. For more information about safety laws pertinent to your state, please see the DMV Safety Laws link below. While the law is not changing, recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are.

In the past, the recommendations for rear-facing car seats were to keep children rear-facing until 12 months or 20 pounds. With the new recommendations, it is suggested that children remain rear-facing until the age of 2 or until they reach the highest height and weight limitations of their car seat. According to Dr. Dennis Durbin in an article by ABC News “There has been some evidence that's come out since the last recommendations were issued that suggest that kids up to age 2 who stay rear-facing are at a significant lower risk of injury in a variety of crashes.”

The new recommendations are focusing more on weight and height than on age. It is advised that children stay in each car seat until they are too big, instead of too old. This change is focused on keeping children safer as motor vehicle crash is still the leading cause of death for children 4 and up according to the AAP.  Other noteworthy recommendations include that children up to 4’9” should remain in booster seats and children should not sit in the front seat of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.

Here is a table of the new recommendations:

Age Group	Type of Seat	General Guidelines
Infants/Toddlers	Infant Seats/Rear-Facing Convertibles	All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
Toddlers/Preschoolers	Convertible seats and forward-facing seats with harnesses	All children 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car safety seat, should use a Forward-Facing Car Safety Seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
School-Aged Children	Booster Seats	All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car safety seat should use a Belt-Positioning Booster Seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet 9 inches in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
Older Children	Seat Belts	When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt alone, they should always use Lap and Shoulder Seat Belts for optimal protection. All children younger than 13 years should be restrained in the Rear Seats of vehicles for optimal protection.

For More Information Please See: 

• DMV Safety Laws: http://www.dmv.org/safety-laws.php 
• ABC News “Child Safety-Seat Recommendations Revamped”: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/child-safety-seat-recommendations-revamped/story?id=13168522

•  AAP: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/carseat2011.htm
• Printable Table and more tips: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token
• About.com “State Car Seat Laws”: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/seat_laws_ask.htm

Time Outs

There have been many debates over what type of punishment to use on children. The main controversy is over whether or not corporal punishment, or spanking, is an appropriate discipline technique.  Some research has shown that using corporal punishment increases the chances of aggressive behavior (see CBS News link below). According to Psychology Today “3-year-olds who are spanked twice a month are one and half times more likely to be aggressive at age five than children who are not spanked.”

As a social worker, corporal punishment is an unacceptable means of punishment especially due to the higher risk of physically abusive parents involved in social services. A good alternative to corporal punishment is the use of time outs. Time outs can come in many different forms, the main goal is to disrupt the environment where the unwanted behavior was occurring. For most of my parents, I use a parenting program called “1-2-3 Magic”. This parenting program utilizes time outs as a way to stop negative behaviors such as whining, temper tantrums, and martyrdom. I will go more into the 1-2-3 Magic program at a later date.

The general rule for time outs is that the child serve 1 minute per year old, so if you have a four year old he or she would sit in time out for four minutes. Time outs don’t have to be the traditional stand in the corner or sit in a chair. For some children, the traditional time out may turn into a giant war of wills so be ready to get creative. 1-2-3 Magic suggests time outs could be served in a room, not necessarily the child’s room. I’ve also had to use time out alternatives, such as timing out the toy that the child is playing with (i.e. putting the toy out of sight/out of reach for the time out). It all depends on what your child responds to.

In order for time outs to be effective, you must remember to remain calm throughout disciplining. About.com summarizes some general scientific findings stating that “When parents remain calm and do not threaten or embarrass a child or raise their voice, time outs can work well to correct children's behavior. Time outs are a good way to defuse a situation and give both parents and children a chance to calm down. Time outs can be used effectively in conjunction with other parenting strategies such as preventing misbehavior, understanding a child's behavior, and encouraging good behavior.” 

1-2-3 Magic author Dr. Phelan writes in his book that the two biggest parenting mistakes you can make are too much talking and too much emotion. Remember that time out is no time to discuss the morality of the child’s behavior. It is also important to not scream at the child, this just shows the child that while the child didn’t get what he or she wanted, the child definitely got under your skin and that is rewarding to the child. The best way to utilize a time out is decide on the type of time out you will use, such as sending the child to his or her room, adhering to the recommended time of 1 minute per year old, set a timer, start the timer once the tantrum is over, and leave emotions and talking out of the discipline routine.

For More Information:

·         Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nurturing-resilience/201009/spanking-makes-kids-more-aggressive-the-research-is-clear

·         CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/13/earlyshow/living/parenting/main6391729.shtml

·         Time Outs Work Says a New Study:  http://childparenting.about.com/b/2011/02/14/time-outs-work-says-a-new-study.htm

·         1-2-3 Magic: http://www.parentmagic.com/

Bedtime Routines

Looking more closely at schedules and routines, it is important to address the bedtime routine. Children require a large amount of sleep. According to WebMD the following sleep amounts are advised:

• 1-4 Weeks Old: 15-16 hours per day
• 1-4 Months Old: 14-15 hours per day
• 4-12 Months Old: 14-15 hours per day
• 1-3 Years Old: 12-14 hours per day
• 3-6 Years Old: 10-12 hours per day
• 7-12 Years Old: 10-11 hours per day
• 12-18 Years Old: 8-9 hours per day

Sleep is a very important part of your daily schedule and with some children it may turn into a nightly battle to get them to go to sleep. Implementing a bedtime routine can reduce the stress surrounding getting the children to bed.  Dr. Jodi Mindell of the Children’s Hospital in Philidelphia published a study in 2009 which found that “the use of a consistent bedtime routine contributes to improvements in multiple aspects of infant and toddler sleep, bedtime behavior, and maternal mood.”

So what is a bedtime routine? A bedtime routine is a set of sequential events that consistently happen before bedtime. The bedtime routine can include bath time, reading time, brushing teeth, etc. A good way to establish a bedtime routine would be to first identify a time that will be the deadline for lights out; the set bedtime. For example, you might set bedtime for 8p.

After establishing the set bedtime, you will want to identify the actions that you and your child need and want to do before bedtime. As an example, you might say that a bath, pajamas, brushing teeth, story time, and lights out will be your list nightly routine. Now figure out how long these actions are going to take. You will need to start your bedtime routine every night with enough time to adhere to the set bedtime.

It may be a good idea to have a wind down time before starting the bedtime routine. This wind down time is a good chance to spend quality time, electronics free, with your child. Some children may need a warning to let them know that the bedtime routine is about to start. Giving a ten minute warning gives children advance notice that the activity that they are participating in is about to end.

So from our example, that bedtime routine might look something like this:

•  6:30p- Wind down time starts, television is off
• 6:50p- Warning to the children that bedtime routine will start in 10 minutes
• 7:00p- Start bedtime routine

o   Bath time

o   Pajamas

o   Brush teeth

o   Story

• 8:00p- Goodnight/Lights out
• 8:15p- Check on the children

After establishing the bedtime routine, stick with it and be consistent. If you find that the schedule you set up really is not working, make the needed adjustments. This will help your child know what to expect every night and help him or her transition smoothly from play time to bedtime.

For More Information See:

·         Science Daily “Bedtime Routine Improves Sleep In Infants and Toddlers, Maternal Moods” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501090916.htm

·         Child Psychology Research Blog “Bedtime Routines: More Evidence and Step-By-Step Guide”  http://www.child-psych.org/2009/05/evidence-for-bedtime-routines.html

·         WebMD “How Much Sleep Do Children Need” http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/sleep-children

·         About.com Bedtime Routine helpful information: http://preschoolers.about.com/od/sleep/a/bedtimeroutine.htm

Schedules & Routines

Establishing a schedule is one of the first topics I discuss with my parents, so I feel it is an appropriate topic to start with. A schedule helps regulate your day by allotting specific blocks of time to certain activities. According to the Center on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning “Studies have documented that schedules and routines influence children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. Predictable and consistent schedules in preschool classrooms help children feel secure and comfortable. Also, schedules and routines help children understand the expectations of the environment and reduce the frequency of behavior problems, such as tantrums and acts of aggression.”

As adults, we have typically experienced schedules in many aspects of our lives be it school schedules, work schedules, athletic schedules, etc. It would be hard to imagine a world without schedules; no set time to go to work, no set time to get projects turned in, no set time to pick the kids up from school. It would be hard to get things accomplished and if you are like me you probably got a little stressed out thinking of that much lack of structure. Lack of structure can have the same negative impacts on children. According to A Place of Our Own expert Moises Roman of the UCLA Early Care and Education Department “When children have too many unknowns, anxiety builds up and they start showing emotional reactions to inconsistency.”

Children do not come pre-programmed with schedules and routines; it is something that parents have to teach through implementation. Establishing a schedule is easy and does not take very much time, just think about different activities that you need to do daily. Important items to put in your daily schedule include meals and sleep time. If your children are school aged, a lot of their daily schedule is already created for them in the hours that they spend at school.

Remember, it is not important that every minute of your day be planned. I worked with a parent that made up a daily schedule mapping out what they would be doing down to half hour increments. When I asked how she was doing following her schedule, she said she was not able to. I was not surprised. You need some wiggle room in your day or you will not stick to the schedule.

The goal in establishing a schedule is that over time it will turn into a routine. This cannot happen if you do not remain consistent with your schedule. There is room for the occasional slip up, but if you set family dinner to be at 7p each night and find that Monday dinner started at 5:30p, Tuesday dinner started at 8p, Wednesday dinner started at 6:30p, etc. you should probably reevaluate when it would be practical for your family to start dinner and push yourself to stick to that time. 

When you are ready to create your own schedule, you might visit About.com (http://childparenting.about.com/od/lifeathome/a/familyschedule.htm) where they have put together an article titled 5 Easy Steps to a Daily Family Schedule. Within the article you can find links to other helpful websites for developing a family schedule.

More information can be found by visiting the following websites:

• ·         Center on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/wwb/wwb3.html
• ·         A Place of Our Own Discussion http://aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?id=47