Keeping Kids Safe Around Windows

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Joshua Ross, MD, FAAP

Keeping Kids Safe Around Windows

With the warmer weather finally here, chances are you might not think twice about opening the windows in your house. If you have small children, however, it’s important to consider their safety.

Unintentional falls are the number one cause of injuries for children. According to 2011 statistics, approximately 3,300 children younger than age 5 suffer injuries due to falls from a window, while 127 are killed as a result of the fall. The majority of these accidents happen at home. So what can parents do to help keep their kids safe?

  • Lock windows when not in use
  • Keep beds, cribs, changing tables, chairs, furniture or anything a child can climb on away from windows
  • Don’t rely on screens. Screens are for keeping bugs out and can’t withstand the weight of young children leaning on them.
  • Install child safety window guards. There are a variety of guards available, but make sure they include an emergency release device in case of fire.
  • Install window stops so that windows only open four inches or less
  • Always supervise young children, especially around open windows

Tragedies can be prevented with a few simple steps. If you have questions or need safety equipment like window guards, the Kohl’s Safety Center at American Family Children’s Hospital can help.

 

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Keeping Kids Safe Around Windows
About Joshua Ross, MD, FAAP
Dr. Ross is a pediatric emergency specialist at the Emergency Department at American Family Children's Hospital
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Salmon with Glaze Recipe

Posted on May 6, 2013

Salmon is a healthful meal—this could become a favorite for your family and a find a regular place on the menu.

Salmon with Glaze Recipe

Salmon with Glaze

Ingredients

½ tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 salmon fillets
2 tsp. oil

  • To make glaze, stir together ground coriander, honey, soy sauce and lemon juice. Place salmon (skin side down) in shallow dish, drizzle with glaze and spread evenly. Let sit a few minutes while skillet heats on medium.
  • When pan is ready, add oil then salmon, glaze side down. Cook until salmon glaze begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes, until cooked through (becomes more opaque in the middle).
  • For leftovers, seal in a container and refrigerate or freeze (thaw in refrigerator the night before). Can be served cold on a salad or in a sandwich or warmed in the microwave (about 2 minutes).
  • Makes 4 servings.
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The Sticky Truth About Ear Wax

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Jacqueline Gerhart, MD

Toddler boy

Many of us use cotton swabs (commonly called Q-tips) inside our ears to clean out wax and water. And, well-intended parents may actually use the swabs on their children’s ears as well. The problem is that using the swabs can actually cause injury, or create an even bigger problem – impacted wax.

Earwax actually has several important jobs for which you might want to keep it around. It protects and moisturizes the skin of the canal, preventing itchy/flaky/dandruff-like ears. Additionally, it contains special chemicals that help fight infections. And, when dust and dirt enter your ear, earwax serves as a sticky shield, preventing debris from traveling further.

Because you can’t feel how deep you’re going into the ear, never use a cotton swab to clean your child’s ears. You can unintentionally cause serious injury. Many doctors see people with eardrum injuries requiring medical care or a procedure as a result of cleaning their ears with cotton swabs.

Another issue is that while you are trying to get the wax out, you may actually be packing more in. Impacted wax can decrease hearing and cause pain. Routinely I see impacted wax in the ears of my patients, and it is very difficult to remove. Sometimes we need to shoot pressurized water into the ear to get it out.

I will confess, I use “cotton-tipped applicators” on the little crevices on the outside of my ears, and even just slightly into my ear canal, but I never get close to the eardrum. In the office, I only treat earwax with the use of an otoscope, a device that allows me to see into a patient’s ears. 

While implements for cleaning out our ears date back centuries, remember it’s not actually necessary and can cause more harm than good.

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The Sticky Truth About Ear Wax
About Jacqueline Gerhart, MD
Dr. Jacqueline Gerhart is a family physician practicing at UW Health's DeForest-Windsor Clinic.
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Summer Plans

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Caroline R. Paul, MD

“What are you guys doing this summer?”

Summer Plans for Families

Most parents of school-aged children are familiar with this question.  We are fortunate to live in a city such as Madison and its surrounding townships which offer so many activities for our children. 

Play is so important for the well-being of the whole child. We know play has beautiful benefits, including enhancing creativity and overall mental hygiene and simply being plain fun (try it yourself).  One key medical benefit of outside play is the opportunity to be engaged in vigorous activity, which is integral to the prevention of obesity and its consequences. 

Many families take vacations in the summer. It’s wonderful to be away and explore a new place, far or near, while connecting with your child in unstructured and unexpected ways.  Don’t underestimate the benefits of alone time with your family. Even something local, including walking around our wonderful farmers’ markets, offers us exercise and access to fresh, colorful foods.

Summer can be a time to try things out. Maybe there is an instrument, sport or type of dance that your child has been inquiring about, and you simply don’t have the time to commit to it during the school year. Many places offer abbreviated options to try an activity. And there is the added benefit that your child gets the exposure without the time and financial burdens of a semester or school-year commitment.     

Summer can also be a time of enrichment.  It can offer more relaxed or free time to have family reading time with your child or work on confidence in certain skills while “playing in the park.” It could be an extra mini-camp for your child who loves basketball but cannot devote time to it during the school year.

And speaking of camps,  there are lots of choices:  overnight camps, day camps, twilight camps, weekend camps. Appropriate camps with trained counselors can nurture self–reliance, social skills and overall maturity. Such camps can provide fun new environments to form new friendships.   

Happy summer planning! Keep it safe, healthy and as simple as possible. And make sure you get on a park swing this summer; your child and you will thank me for it.

Here are a few summer family resources that you can check out.

Don’t forget to follow our Growing Up Healthy blog this summer. We’ll have even more tips for keeping kids active, safe and healthy this summer. And we’ll have weekly prize drawings from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

What are your plans for this summer? Leave a comment and let us know.

 

 

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Summer Plans
About Caroline R. Paul, MD
Dr. Caroline R. Paul is a pediatrician at UW Health West Clinic.
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Homemade Snack Recipes

Posted on March 29, 2013

Instead of processed snack foods, try these homemade combinations.

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 can black-eyed peas (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 can shoepeg corn (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 yellow pepper, diced
  • 2 large avocados, diced
  • 1 large purple onion, diced
  • 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive or canola oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • Tortilla chips, 1 serving per person (see Nutrition Facts for serving size)

 

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate overnight.  Before serving, drain off excess liquid (or can rinse in strainer, if desired). Serve with tortilla chips (limit to 1 serving on the chips, but unlimited caviar).

Caramel Popcorn

Caramel Corn Recipe

Ingredients

  • 6 c. popped popcorn (in microwave)
  • 1/2 c. peanuts  or sunflower seeds
  • 1 T. molasses
  • 1 T. brown sugar
  • 1/3 c. honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place ¼ cup popcorn  in a paper lunch bag and fold the top of the bag over 3 times; place in microwave and set for 4 minutes. Stand by and cancel the timer as soon as popping slows or smelling the faint smell of browning popcorn. Repeat until you have 6 cups of popcorn.

Place popcorn  and peanuts or sunflower seeds in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine molasses, brown sugar and honey; stir until well blended. Pour over popcorn and toss until well coated.

Spread onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and then serve. Makes 8 servings

Find more healthy snack ideas on our Pinterest board

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