Parents' & Family Guide

Ensuring Child Passenger Safety on the Road

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Traffic crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children under age 14 and the leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 14. According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, studies show that car seats, installed and used properly, can reduce the risk of death by up to 71% and the risk of hospitalization up to 69%.

Providing proper car seats and restraints for child passengers is the most important thing parents can do to prevent injury and save lives.

Basic Tips for Proper Use of Child Safety Seats

The following tips follow the recommendations of leading child safety authorities including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Safe Kids Campaign.

• Make sure all children 12 and under ride in the back seat. The rear seat is safest for children of all ages.
• Always use the appropriate car seat or booster seat for the age and size of the child passenger. Insist even if you are just making a short trip in the neighborhood or if a child asserts he or she is “too old” for a safety seat.
  
  
  • Infants from birth up to 20 pounds should ride in a rear-facing safety seat properly installed in the back seat. Even a newborn should ride home from the hospital in a child safety seat.
  • Children who are over a year old and weigh from 20 to 40 pounds should ride in the back seat in a forward-facing seat with full harness.
  • Children who weigh from 40 to 80 pounds should ride in the back seat using a booster seat that positions the adult lap and shoulder belts properly to protect the child safely. In addition, children should continue to use booster seats until they can sit comfortably with their backs against the car’s seat back and their feet on the floor; in most cars this means they need to be about 4’9” tall.
• Be sure you understand how to install the safety seat correctly and to buckle the child into it correctly. A correctly installed safety seat always fits tightly against the vehicle’s seat and should not move side to side or front to back. Improper installation can contribute to injury rather than protect the child passenger.
  
  
  • Read the car seat or booster seat instruction manual carefully.
  • Read the child safety seat and seat belt installation section in the owner’s manual of your vehicle(s).
  • It’s also a good idea to have a certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician check the installation of the child safety seats. Search for a child passenger safety seat inspection location in your area at SeatCheck.org.

Selecting the right car safety seat

IQ recommends using the thorough information in the following resources to help you select child safety seats that are most appropriate for your children and vehicle(s). These guides are free and available online.

• Child Passenger Safety, prepared by NHTSA
• Child Safety Seat Ease-of-Use Ratings, prepared by NHTSA.
• Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families, prepared by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Checking up on car safety seat recalls

Has a car safety seat you own been recalled? NHTSA provides online information or you can call their Auto Safety Hotline toll-free (1-888-327-4236).

State laws regarding child passenger safety

Every state has laws designed to ensure child passenger safety, but the requirements for consumers vary widely from state to state. In Wisconsin, a new child safety seat law went into effect on June 1, 2006. The Wisconsin Information Network for Safety site has information about the new law, locations for where to have seats checked, and parent info, tech info, news and more.

For other states consult the Child Restraint, Belt Laws from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Prepared by Remar Sutton and Associates and licensed to Educators Credit Union. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

Protect Kids by Childproofing Your Home

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Accidents around the home each year injure millions of children—a number of accidents result in death. Taking a few simple steps to childproof a home could prevent most of these accidents. Childproofing isn’t hard, either. Completing the job requires only a little time and ingenuity plus a few inexpensive supplies. If children spend time with grandparents and other caregivers, those homes should also be childproofed.

1. Perform a Child Safety Inspection.

Tools required: paper and pencil. Start by checking out every room in your home from a small child’s eye level. Get down on your hands and knees and look for anything that can be a hazard. Think about what could be explored, tasted (everything can be tasted), or climbed on. Make a note of hazards in each room.

2. Make a Childproofing Plan.

Use the notes from your Child Safety Inspection to draw up a childproofing plan. Usually, a simple list of tasks to do is adequate. Group similar tasks together and indicate all locations where you need to perform that task. The Checklist below may help you draw up your own.

Using your list, make a shopping list for any materials you may need, such as electrical outlet covers, safety latches for cabinets, or safety gates for staircases. Typically, you will be able to find everything you need at a discount department store, home improvement center, or hardware store. Many specialty stores for infant’s or children’s furnishings also sell such safety equipment.

3. Implement the Plan!

One Saturday afternoon or a couple of evenings is all the time it takes to childproof most homes. Check items off on your to-do list as you finish.

What age children need a “childproofed” home?

The younger the children, the more important childproofing is. Ideally, expectant parents will childproof their home before the arrival of the baby. But all homes that have infants, toddlers or pre-school children ought to be childproofed. As children reach ages where they can understand safety practices with such hazards as electricity, cleaning supplies, medications, hot stoves and the like, some safety measures may be reduced. Maintaining other safety measures is always wise. For instance, keeping medications in cabinets away from food, keeping electrical cords secured, or keeping covers on unused electrical outlets can improve safety for all members in a family, including family pets.

IQ Childproofing Checklist

This checklist of home safety tips covers major areas recommended by child safety experts. Use the checklist as a basis for inspecting and childproofing your home. Also see the list of additional resources provided after the checklist.

1. Eliminate electrical hazards.

• Cover electrical outlets that are not in use. Simple plastic covers that snap into the outlet are inexpensive.
• Hide power and electronic cords and cables. Wrap them up or tape them down.
• Make sure that a cord can’t be used to pull a lamp or appliance over.

2. Check for strangulation hazards.

• Secure cords for mini-blinds and drapes. Do not loop cords. A child can strangle in a looped cord. If your draperies or blinds came with looped cords, cut the loops and install safety tassels on the ends.
• Raise the ends of all cords out of the reach of crawling infants and toddlers who might put them in their mouths.

3. Protect against poisoning

• Keep all medications out of a child’s reach. A secured location such as a bathroom cabinet with a safety latch is best. For both child and adult safety, experts recommend keeping medicines in a separate location from food.
• Keep household cleaners, bug killers, and other hazardous and poisonous materials in a secure location.
• Secure cabinets and drawers with safety latches.
• Make sure children can’t get into the trash. Trash represents both poison and choking hazards.
• Keep plants out of the reach of small children.

4. Watch for choking and suffocation hazards.

• Babies love to put things in their mouths—coins, buttons, small articles, small parts on toys. Place anything that can be swallowed out of reach of infants and toddlers.
• Keep all purses out of reach, including those of visitors. Purses can contain choking hazards and medications.
• Keep plastic bags such as dry cleaning, grocery, and clothes bags away from children. They are a suffocation hazard.

5. Prevent falls and crushing accidents

• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of staircases. Safety gates can also be used in doorways.
• If windows will be open, install protective window guards, bars or grills. Insect screens are not sufficiently strong to prevent children from falling out. Protect ground floor windows as well as those on higher stories.
• Children love to climb. Babies grab things to pull up. Furniture and appliances that can tip over need to be secured. Bookcases are a good example.
• Store fragile and breakable items up high and not on something climbable.
• Look for anything that can pinch fingers, such as lids for a chest or the piano. Doors can also pinch fingers. Use door stops to prevent doors from closing all the way.
• Toy chests that have top lids should have safety hinges and catches that prevent the lid from falling or slamming down. Children can suffer serious head, body and hand injuries from unsupported lids.
• While children are learning to walk, consider removing low tables or other furniture that have corners or sharp edges against which children might fall. Alternatively, pad the corners and edges temporarily.
• Check railings on porches, balconies, decks, and stairs to make sure children can not slip through the openings or get their heads caught. Safety netting can be used to cover the railings.

6. Be aware of water hazards.

• Even small quantities of water, not just pools, can be a hazard.
• Small children can drown in an inch of water, such as that which might be left in a bucket or pail or tub or found in an open toilet. Don’t leave containers of liquid standing about.
• Keep the lid of the toilet down while children are very small.

7. Practice kitchen safety.

• Keep children away from the stove and other cooking areas. Never leave infants and small children unattended in the kitchen.
• Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove so children can’t grab them.
• Use the back burners on the stove when possible to keep children from reaching up and touching the hot element.
• As soon as they are able to learn, teach children safety with sharp kitchen implements such as knives, with hot stoves and ovens, and with hot food. Supervise their early learning carefully.

8. Teach your children fire safety and practice it at home.

• Each year in the United States, children start 100,000 fires that cause injury. Many were started by children playing with matches, lighters, or similar objects. Starting early, teach your children about the dangers of fire. The United States Fire Administration, a division of FEMA (Federal Emergency Managment Agency) offers a very good interactive website for teaching children fire safety. Children who read will enjoy the site on their own; parents can use the site with younger children by guiding them through the activities.
• Do not leave matches or lighters lying around. Store them in secure places and closed containers out of reach of young children.
• Use protective firescreens or glass doors with fireplaces. Do not leave open fires unattended.

9. Lock up firearms and hazardous tools.

• Secure firearms and ammunition in locked cabinets. Use trigger locks with handguns.
• Almost any tool—not just sharp implements such as axes or chisels—can be dangerous for a young child. Store tools so that they are out of reach of young children. Consider storing sharp tools and power tools in locked tool chests or cabinets.
• It’s never too early to begin to teach children about handling and using tools safety. You may wish to start as soon as they show interest.

Additional Online Resources for Child Safety in the Home

Safe Kids USA
Information on a number of child safety issues ranging from fire and firearms to poison and play safety.

American Academy of Pediatrics
Tips and articles on issues related to child health and safety.

MEDLINEplus: Child Safety
Links to selected websites and articles on various issues in child safety produced by a number of expert groups.

Child Safety publications from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Publications include brochures, safety alerts, tips, and checklists on various child safety topics.

Prepared by Remar Sutton and Associates and licensed to Educators Credit Union. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

Child Care Checklist

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Obtaining quality daily child care for their preschool children is a priority for working parents. The many complex issues involved can’t be covered adequately in a brief article, but our Child Care Checklist provides some important questions that can help parents evaluate whether a particular child care program meets the needs of their child and family. Some questions can help you preview the center before visiting and others are intended to help you get the most out of one or more on-site inspections.

At the end of the questions are recommendations of additional online resources that can aid parents in finding the most appropriate child care for their family.

The Child Care Checklist

1. Preview your child’s needs before starting to identify possible child care programs.

• How old is your child? Infants and young toddlers have different care needs from older pre-schoolers?
• Does your child have any special physical, medical or emotional needs?

2. Check out the program’s educational philosophy and content.

• Do the children have a regular daily routine of activities?
• What are the educational goals of the program? Does it have written curriculum?
• Are the activities appropriate for the ages of the children?
• Does the program encourage creative and expressive activities?
• How are mealtimes and naptimes handled?
• Does the general atmosphere seem “child-friendly”? Do staff interact with and respond sensitively to children with understanding?
• What are the program’s policies related to discipline?
• Are the values of the program consistent with yours?
• Does the center have a written description of their educational program goals and content?

3. Evaluate the program’s staffing and qualifications of the teachers and other care providers.

• How many children participate in the program and what is the ratio of staff members to children for each age group? Are there enough adults to supervise and teach the children adequately?
• What training is required for teachers and other staff members? What level of experience is required for each type of staff?
• How much staff turnover is there?
• Do infants have specific, consistent primary care providers?

4. Observe interactions between the teachers or other care providers and the children.

• Do teachers and other staff use a positive tone when they work with the children, even when a child is frustrated, angry or tired? Are they understanding but able to set boundaries?
• Do staff treat each child as an individual?
• Do staff seem to be over controlling or too lax in supervision? Do staff seem to use negative talk with the children?
• Do children seem comfortable with staff?

5. Evaluate the effectiveness of communication between parents and staff.

• Is it easy to discuss your questions and concern with administrators and teachers?
• Can you talk together comfortably about your expectations of the program and theirs of parents?
• Do they seem concerned and interested to hear about your child as an individual?

6. Check the program’s license and/or accreditation.

• Is the program licensed? In all states child care centers and family child care programs are required by law to be licensed, though specific regulations vary.
• Is the program accredited? Accreditation means that the program has met specific standards for program, facility, and staff training and qualification set by the accrediting agency.

7. Assess the program’s physical facilities and environment.

• Is the physical facility designed and furnished for children?
• Are classrooms and/or activity areas inviting, well-lit, and well-equipped?
• Is the facility clean, well-maintained, and safe?
• Does the program pay particular attention to following high cleanliness standards in handling food, in eating, in caring for the child’s toilet needs, and in napping areas/equipment?
• If there’s an outside playground area, is it free of hazards? Is equipment safe and well-maintained? Is there adequate playground security?

8. Assess the program’s safety and security procedures.

• Does the program have written health and safety procedures?
• What are the program’s policies with regard to health evaluation before admission?
• What are the guidelines for attendance by children when they are ill?
• Does staff have training in first aid for infants and children and in CPR?
• What are the security procedures to ensure safe drop off and pick up of children?
• Are there other security procedures or provisions?
• Is the child care center in a safe neighborhood?

9. Consider the accessibility of the program’s location and schedule.

• Is the program’s location easily accessible to your work and home or is it “out of the way”?
• Do the hours the program provides care fit your schedule?
• What are the policies related to early or late pick up?

Additional Online Resources

The following two websites provide a wide variety of information and resources on issues related to child care programs.

Child Care Aware. This organization gathers a variety of resources onto one website, including publications just for parents that you can download. Child Care Aware is a program of the NACCRRA, the National Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies, and is funded in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

National Network for Child Care (NNCC) is another “umbrella” website that provides a number of resources and links to a wide variety of organizations that work on childcare and children’s issues.

Prepared by Remar Sutton and Associates and licensed to Educators Credit Union. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

First Lessons About Money

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How soon is too soon to start teaching children about money? Most children begin to develop an awareness of money around age 2 or 3, according to child development specialists. That’s not too soon, then, to begin to involve preschoolers in activities that will form a good foundation for future money management skills. The specific activities used should be tailored to the interests and abilities of the individual child.

In addition to considering the tips on this article, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with Googolplex, the Credit Union Guide for Student Money Makers. Although this site is designed for youth from elementary age through college, parents who review it regularly will find articles and games they can also use with their preschoolers. Thrive by Five™: Teaching Your Preschooler About Spending and Saving, from the Credit Union National Associates, has activities you can use with your children and other resources.

Money Lessons for Ages 2 and 3

Identifying money

• Working with an adult, very young children use coins to begin to count objects and to identify like objects. It’s okay to talk about the differences in value and the uses of money with them, but don’t expect them to understand this information yet. Try to think and talk about money in children’s terms.
• Children will make plenty of mistakes in sorting and in learning the names of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Never criticize or belittle, guide and encourage and allow them to learn from mistakes.
• If you have a change jar, letting small children help you separate the coins into a coin sorter or into rolls can be a fun game.

Saving money

• Piggy banks are a hit with even small children. Clear, nonbreakable banks let them see the money mount up. You might give them the pennies out of your pocket or purse each day or so to let them put in their bank. A family savings jar to which every family contributes and which is then used for a family treat such a meal out at a favorite place helps preschoolers participate in family money management.
• Your credit union may offer savings accounts for young members who have a social security number from birth on. But very young children have trouble with abstract ideas such as placing their money in a place they can’t see. Even if you start a savings account for a very young child, you may wish to wait to introduce it to them until they can understand and use it.
• If a child accompanies you to the credit union or bank, explain in simple terms what you are doing when you deposit it—how you worked to earn it to pay for the things the family needs like clothes or their favorite foods, how the credit union keeps it safe for you until you need it and so on.

Using money to buy something

• Even very young children can help parents use money to pay for something. Let them purchase one item at the store—perhaps their breakfast cereal, which studies indicate is usually the first thing children identify and want to choose at the supermarket.
• Let them help you feed coins into a parking meter, coin-operated washers and dryers, pay phones, vending machines.
• As they develop, preschoolers need to begin to make limited choices. For example, you might let them choose between three treats at the store—apples, juice, or raisins, for instance—and pay the cashier for it.

Money Lessons for Ages 4 and 5

Identifying money

• Continue to help children identify coins and bills, working especially on comparisons and values. For examples, the concept that pennies are bigger than dimes but do not have as much value (ability to buy something) is one idea that kindergartners begin to grasp. Work also on identifying the difference in bills—like a puzzle, find different objects on the bills that make them distinctive even though their color and size is the same.
• When you get cash from an ATM or use a credit card to make a purchase, begin to explain to a child what you are doing and the relationship of the money to your job and the relationship of the credit card to borrowing money, like they might borrow a toy from a sibling or friend.

Saving money

• Piggy banks still work with this age. You can introduce the idea of paying interest. You might add a certain percentage to their savings each week and let them hold the coins and add them to their bank.
• Many children by age five are ready for an allowance. Experts recommend that you make the amount and the time you give the allowance consistent. Discuss responsible uses for their allowance, including saving for things they want, but within family guidelines, let them use their money as they wish.
• Begin to make the connection between their piggy bank and a savings account at the credit union.
• Preschoolers are very aware of and influenced by commercials. You might select a relatively inexpensive toy that they want, identify its cost at the store, talk about whether it delivers what the commercial promised, and, if they decide the toy has value, use their money to purchase it if they have enough or save for it if they don’t.

Using money to buy something

• Playing store is a time-tested activity to teach children the value of money. Help children create the store based on real items and real money, even though the activity is “pretend.”
• Let them spend their piggy bank savings or allowance under your supervision. Talk about what kinds of things represent good value for money.
• Let children help you select items from a grocery shopping list and help you pay for them at check out. Let them purchase their tickets to a family movie.

Prepared by Remar Sutton and Associates and licensed to Educators Credit Union. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.