On March 10th, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is Sensory Friendly
Once a month, AMC Entertainment (AMC) and the Autism Society have teamed up to bring families affected by autism and other disabilities ”Sensory Friendly Movie Screenings“ – a special opportunity to enjoy their favorite “family-friendly” films in a safe and accepting environment.
The movie auditoriums will have their lights turned up and the sound turned down. Families will be able to bring in snacks to match their child’s dietary needs (i.e. gluten-free, casein-free, etc.), there are no advertisements or previews before the movie and it’s totally acceptable to get up and dance, walk, shout, talk to each other…and even sing – in other words, AMC’s “Silence is Golden®” policy will not be enforced during movie screenings unless the safety of the audience is questioned.
Does it make a difference? Absolutely! “It can be challenging enough to bring a child to a movie theater” says Special Needs Parenting Expert Rosie Reeves “they are dark, the sound is very loud, there are tempting stairs and rails and they are expected to sit still and stay quiet”. For a parent with a special needs child attempting an outing like this may seem overwhelming. And yet getting out, being with the community and sharing in an experience with an audience can be invaluable for just such children”.
On January 7th at 10am local time, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax will be screened as part of the Autism Society “Sensory Friendly Movie Screenings” program. Tickets are $4 to $6 depending on the location. To find a theatre near you, here is a list of AMC theatres nationwide participating in this fabulous program.
Coming April 7: Pirates! Band of Misfits
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Editor’s note: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for brief mild language. As always, please check the IMDB Parent’s Guide for a more detailed description of this film to determine if it is right for you and your child.
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PLEASE NOTE: If you are following Pediatric Safety with Google Friends Connect: As of March 1, Google Friends Connect will be discontinued for any non-Blogger blogs, which includes this one. If you “follow” Pediatric Safety using that feature, you will no longer be able to do so. I encourage you to subscribe either with RSS feed or via email. You can find both options on the right of the sidebar. (Click on the orange icon for RSS feed or the envelope icon for email subscriptions.) Alternately, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking on “Join Our Community” on the top right of the sidebar. That also gives you the option of posting in the forum. Please email me if you have questions or need help!
PedSafe Weekly Tweet Roundup: 02-20-2012 to 02-26-2012
Welcome to Pediatric Safety’s “Weekly Tweet Roundup”- a recap of the past week’s child health and safety news from around the world.
Each day we strive to tweet relevant and timely health and safety information for parents, medical professionals and other caregivers. Occasionally we may miss something, but we think overall we’re doing pretty well at keeping you informed. But for our friends and colleagues who are not on Twitter (or who are but may have missed something), we offer you a recap of the past week’s top 20 tweet-worthy events.
- How to Identify a Green Cleaner; Giveaway! | Healthy Child Healthy World http://t.co/CvrEthFS 2012-02-23
- AAA Southern New England’s annual traffic safety message competition is open to kids from k-12 http://t.co/WExFHFS8 2012-02-23
- Congenital heart defects in children are scary, but treatment vastly improved http://t.co/Bldupzli 2012-02-22
PedSafe Tweet of the Week:
Due to avail of explicit content on YouTube, Club TUKI has launched TUKI TV, a Kid-Safe version of YouTube http://t.co/YUd5RGUf
- School buses nearly 8x safer for children than riding in parents’ cars -Nat’l Hwy Traffic Safety Admin http://t.co/c715fIMB 2012-02-22
- #parenting #parents #kids #youth 2012-02-21
- Yesterday & today: multiple studies, multiple stories on transgender kids: their #’s are rising and they are often targets of abuse 2012-02-21
- Transgender kids get puberty-blocking drugs, sex-changing hormones; MDs say numbers are rising http://t.co/WCZweMau 2012-02-21
- Children who are gender nonconforming at greater risk of abuse: new Harvard study http://t.co/Nggh9UVu 2012-02-21
- Children w Gender Identity Disorder Are at Serious Psychiatric Risk – study by Children’s Hosp Boston http://t.co/OYNzLfCc 2012-02-21
- Save that macchiato for Mama, baby | Confessions of a Dr. Mom http://t.co/jtrNRTjn reminder – decaf does not mean no-caff 2012-02-21
- Arsenic Scare in Formulas and Foods Using Brown Rice Syrup | http://t.co/QHO4cPMx http://t.co/Ton2iVZG 2012-02-21
- Unsafe levels of lead still found in California kids http://t.co/aEYxCBjq 2012-02-21
- KU researchers to test a male partner for “The Pill” http://t.co/I66VEJbo 2012-02-21
- Home Visits for Asthma: A win for Both Patients and Payers http://t.co/RdqPaVYN 2012-02-21
- Teach your kids safety; man in Eastern Ontario trying to lure children http://t.co/nwk4K08Y these are great tips for ALL of us! 2012-02-20
- Safety from Children: Baseball Bat Warning http://t.co/qpYnPjSW cute
2012-02-20 - China’s first charity pediatric hospital offering free surgery to children w/ cleft lips plans to open in June http://t.co/N5CQ9i7o 2012-02-20
- Due to avail of explicit content on YouTube, Club TUKI has launched TUKI TV, a Kid-Safe version of YouTube http://t.co/YUd5RGUf 2012-02-20
- Healthy Child Healthy World: Reduce Chemicals to Increase Male Fertility http://t.co/4McCLCyx 2012-02-20
- Looks like today’s the day to talk about pacifiers, teethers and Kids Companion for Special Needs http://t.co/P9gyGjJe 2012-02-20
- How Should I Choose Pacifiers and Teethers? | Healthy Child Healthy World http://t.co/dyEuwsmW 2012-02-20
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PLEASE NOTE: If you are following Pediatric Safety with Google Friends Connect: As of March 1, Google Friends Connect will be discontinued for any non-Blogger blogs, which includes this one. If you “follow” Pediatric Safety using that feature, you will no longer be able to do so. I encourage you to subscribe either with RSS feed or via email. You can find both options on the right of the sidebar. (Click on the orange icon for RSS feed or the envelope icon for email subscriptions.) Alternately, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking on “Join Our Community” on the top right of the sidebar. That also gives you the option of posting in the forum. Please email me if you have questions or need help!
How Do I Prepare My Child for Surgery?
The best approach to prepare children for surgery is to be honest and reasonably direct in describing what will happen. Maintain a constant upbeat, optimistic tone during these discussions. Younger children have many different levels of maturity and understanding, both intellectually and emotionally. The amount of detail you include in your explanation should take 
that into account. Emphasize that the doctors and nurses will do everything possible to minimize the pain and discomfort in preparing for surgery. But be honest in mentioning that there may be a little irritation or discomfort when they draw blood or insert an IV. Above all, repeatedly stress that you will be with your child every step of the way, doing your best to protect her from any problems. If there are any questions that you feel uncomfortable answering, consult her doctor.
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PLEASE NOTE: If you are following Pediatric Safety with Google Friends Connect: As of March 1, Google Friends Connect will be discontinued for any non-Blogger blogs, which includes this one. If you “follow” Pediatric Safety using that feature, you will no longer be able to do so. I encourage you to subscribe either with RSS feed or via email. You can find both options on the right of the sidebar. (Click on the orange icon for RSS feed or the envelope icon for email subscriptions.) Alternately, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking on “Join Our Community” on the top right of the sidebar. That also gives you the option of posting in the forum. Please email me if you have questions or need help!
How to Talk to Your Kids About…Bedtime
Bedtime is hard for many families. Everyone is tired, worn out, and short on patience. As parents, if we stick to a routine and change the way we think about putting our kids to bed, it will really help with the bedtime battles. It can be a great time of day when we relax, connect, listen, talk and teach.
Remember, sleep breeds sleep. The more your child sleeps, the more your child will sleep. We need to stop thinking that skipping naps will make getting them into bed easier.
To make bedtime an enjoyable time of day for everyone, ESTABLISH A ROUTINE. By sticking to a routine, kids know what to expect. This will help them feel safe and secure because things are predictable. Predictability brings comfort.
Your routine should include…
- Setting a bed time and sticking with it. The more lenient you are with bedtime, the more going to bed will be a battle.
- Starting your bedtime routine at least 30 minutes before you want your kids to be in bed. This will allow time for your child to wind down, just like we need to do. Rushing them through bedtime prep does not allow them to do and say all that they need to in order to feel ready to stay quiet and sleep.
- Establish a sequence in which you will accomplish the same bedtime tasks every night. (For example…Put on Pj’s, go to the bathroom, brush teeth, read a book, talk about the day, say prayers, hugs and kisses, lights out).
- Change the way you think about bedtime. Time to start thinking about bedtime as a way to connect with our children. A time to laugh and snuggle and talk.
When talking to your kids about bedtime…
Don’t threaten. (“If you don’t go to sleep, you can’t play tomorrow”). This only makes things worse. Instead, stick to a routine, give lots of time to get ready for bed, and talk about the fun things that you will do, like “Tell me what you liked best about today and then we will turn out the lights”.
When kids get out of bed, be firm and say “You need to sleep in your bed”. Then, with little to no
words at all, return them to their beds. At first, you might have to do this a lot. Keep with and don’t give in, not even one night.
Don’t get 10 glasses of water. Only respond to requests once. Explain that they can have one request and that is all. They will learn to use that request wisely and pretty soon, the requests will stop. Going up every time they call will fuel the fire and drag the process out for hours.
If bedtimes are already difficult in your family, remember that behavior can be modified. Establish and stick to your routine, don’t give up hope, be patient and don’t quit.
Homemade Cold Remedies to Soothe Your Family
Nothing cures the common cold, so the best you can do is relieve the cough, sore throat and stuffy nose that come with it. But you don’t need to buy over-the-counter products — and shouldn’t in the case of children, who may have serious, even life-threatening reactions. The jury is still out on zinc and Vitamin C, but many of the homemade cold remedies your grandmother used to push really do help relieve cold symptoms. Here are a few to try the next time you get stuffed up:
Hot Drinks
A nice cup of tea is more than just soothing when you’ve got a nasty cold. It can provide immediate and lasting relief from all of the major cold symptoms — runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chills and fatigue — according to a 2008 study from Cardiff University’s Common Cold Centre.
Liquids
Drinking fluids won’t flush the cold virus out of your system, but it will help loosen congestion and prevent dehydration, according to the Mayo Clinic. Water, juice, clear broth, and warm lemon water with honey are good options.
Honey
Research has shown that honey has properties that fight bacteria, but it works wonders on viral cough symptoms, too. A 2007 study by Pennsylvania State University’s department of pediatrics found that children with coughs due to colds experienced less coughing and better sleep when they ate small amounts of honey before bedtime. (Note: Honey is not safe for children under 2.)
Salt Water
Gargling three times a day with warm salt water can temporarily reduce sore-throat pain, according to a study in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (It also cuts your chance of getting a bacterial infection by 40%.) Dissolve 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt in an 8-ounce glass of warm water.
Spicy Food and Antacids
Dishes that contain hot peppers or horseradish may help clear sinuses, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. And if they should happen to give you indigestion, a teaspoon of liquid antacid can do double-duty as another of our homemade cold remedies. In addition to soothing your heartburn, it can help soothe sore throats due to post-nasal drip by coating the throat and neutralizing the acids in mucous.
Chicken Soup
Yup, it works … and science has discovered why. Chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties that stop the movement of white blood cells called neutrophils. Neutrophilic activity causes the release of mucous, according to research by University of Nebraska Medical Center. So it’s no wives’ tale that Grandma’s favorite recipe really does soothe sore throats and other cold-related ailments — at least as well as anything from the store would.
