NewBawn Fan Drive, Mar - Apr 2010

WIN a $25 AUD Gift Voucher kindly donated by Amanda from iliv Cards http://www.ilivcards.com/

How?

NewBawn is running a fan drive that will start at 9am (NZ time) Monday 29, March 2010.

To ENTER, do 1 or more of the following:

• post a fan photo of your child or children in a child restraint or car seat with your child’s name {within the NewBawn Facebook page}
• comment on my recent blog entitled 'Design a travel MediKit for your child and this will earn you a bonus entry

1. 1. http://newbawn.blogspot.com/2010/03/design-travel-medikit-for-your-child.htm

• invite a friend to fan NewBawn on Facebook & when your friend joins, have your friend verify your invitation by posting details on the NewBawn Facebook fan page wall.

Example: {your friend} Hi, I'm a new fan & was invited by {your name}.

• new fans who fly solo may still WIN, so please enter. In addition to your entries, simply add that you are a new fan on our wall or in your blog comment {eg: new fan here #168}.

ADDED BONUS

• if your FRIEND completes all of the entry draws, they too will WIN a gift voucher to the same value, $25 AUD & from Amanda's other lucrative business, Sweet Bubba Eco Store http://www.sweetbubba.com.au/ So there is great value in a combined effort to top the lot!

LIMITATIONS:

• you can only be part of 1 friendship party when entering this fan drive

THE WINNER:

• will be chosen based on blog comments, your bubba photo, inviting a friend to fan NewBawn or a combination of all.
• Amanda who is sponsoring this event will be asked to judge the final winner/s ♥

Any questions?

Email www.newbawntravel@gmail.com

Entries CLOSE when our fan base reaches 250. Good luck!

Design a travel MediKit for your child

Road travel with a child can be challenging and travelling with a sick child can be difficult. This is especially true when your child has a chronic medical condition, such as asthma, diabetes or food allergies.

You may have a healthy child on board, however it will be helpful to be well prepared in the event your child develops a common ailment such as motion sickness, diarrhoea & skin conditions like rashes or insect bites. These do create some discomfort & irritability for you child.

Child Travel Preparation for chronic medical conditions may include:

1. a good supply of all of the medications that your child takes on a regular basis & any medical equipment that your child might need, such as a portable nebuliser if your child has asthma. These typically run on batteries or a car adapter.

2. a list of hospital contact details & addresses where you will be staying or on your travel route.

3. a child medical alert bracelet for food allergies, diabetes or seizures. This is particularly important in the event your child is sick & you are not there.

4. a medical certificate indicating your child’s chronic medical condition is under control. In other words, to be safe rather than sorry, seek advice from a pediatric specialist or medical practitioner prior to your road trip.

Your travel MediKit for Kids

Much like a first aid kit, a travelling medicine kit should include all of the things that your child might need if he/she gets sick on the road or while away from home. You might like to start with the following:

1. a pain and fever reducer, such as pamol with applicators (syringe, spoon) & a thermometer

2. an electrolyte solution such as Pedialyte is great for hydration & is perfect for diarrhoea. It may come in 2 flavours - bubblegum or fruit.

2. an antihistamine for allergic reactions

3. a cough and cold medicine for older children with tissues & travel wipes

4. A nasal aspirator for babies & infants (for nasal congestion)

5. an antibiotic ointment, burn relief cream or gel and baby balm

6. a child friendly regular first aid kit for unplanned injuries. See http://www.mypreciouskid.com/first-aid-kit.html for items applicable to children 6 months or older

As a Registered Nurse, these tips are a guide. Therefore, as added comforts use the same principles as you would at home & if necessary seek medical advice.

What price for safety?

Well this is a topic that sits close to my heart.

As a parent, most would agree that our children come first right? Well, in the case of Child Restraints we often overlook fundamental & life saving factors that ultimately place our child's safety at risk.

Case in point:

It appears that some parents in New Zealand, are unaware that infant restraints such as the capsule, convertible, combined booster, booster seat, full booster & half booster all have a lifespan or expiry date. Worse still, I stumbled across an on-line sale of a second hand car seat recently whereby the seller was asked what the manufacture date is & the response was - Feb/00.

The potential buyer further added, your car seat has expired, whereby the seller responded - yes well the booklet does state 10yrs for expiry however the seat has been well maintained, not been in an accident and stored in the garage for a couple of years, so it still has plenty of life in it.

NEWS FLASH..... attention all parents, the life span does not depend on how well the seat was looked after, or how many children have used the seat, or that it has never been in an accident, or has been stored securely for a while. The manufacturer provides a manual indicating a life span in years because a car seat or child restraint is a plastic or polystyrene seat, containing metal and fabric parts that is made specifically for use in a motor vehicle.

Because of the materials used for child restraints, there is such a condition called PLASTIC DEGRADATION - a failure of plastic and elastomeric materials. This condition generally occurs as a result of:

1. mechanical stress
2. effects of chemical moisture degradation
3. effects of temperature.

The latter two effects generally result in either a loss of mechanical strength (i.e. softening) loss of ductility (i.e. embrittlement), swelling or explosive decompression (i.e. failure from internal expansion of gas upon pressure decompression).

As you can see, I'm very passionate about keeping our children safe in vehicles, not only from installation & correct use of a child restraint, moreover that the car seat itself is safe also.

As per the information provided in the following link http://www.childrestraints.co.nz/manufacture-expiry.php

Plunket dispose of old child seats for free. You can drop the seat off at your local car seat rental scheme. The coordinator there will take the seat to the dump where is it crushed by a roller so the seat cannot be re-used by anyone. If you can not get the seat to your local Plunket rental scheme, please take caution when putting it on the pavement to be collected by local council.

Take these steps to prevent re-use of an expired/damaged seat:

1. Cut the strapping, including the buckle, harness, tether strap and adjuster straps.
2. Remove buckle and any pieces that can be removed. Dispose of these pieces separately, scatter the pieces through your rubbish bag/bin.
3. Destroy the shell in anyway possible - sledge hammer, so the shell cannot be covered with a towel and used as a booster seat.
4. If the shell cannot be destroyed/cut write over the shell "Do not use, unsafe & expired seat" or similar message.

You can donate your old/damaged seat to a Safe2Go Trainer http://www.safe2go.co.nz/downloads/safe2go_trainers.pdf who can use the seat for educational purposes. These seats are not loaned out or sold to any one for use.

Alternatively, if you are in Auckland, NewBawn will stockpile expired seats for FREE disposal also. Please contact newbawntravel@gmail.com for more information.

Collectively, let's put our children's lives first & keep our children safe on the road!

Baby wearing, is it your cup of tea?

I recall the first baby carrier I bought, it was purchased off Trade Me at a fraction of its original price and upon collection appeared to look & feel fabulous. Obviously, it was a one size fits all, or was it?

I soon learned that it was not and without instructions I had no idea how to use it. I soon gave up & re-sold it. My next baby carrier purchase was even cheaper although my recollection of the sale was that it was a bargain front pack. I assumed that because of the mass purchase by parents, this product must be a winner.

Let’s see, it was a lot more comfortable for me & a little easier to manipulate… however my baby’s legs were dangling & the straps seemed to cut into her shoulders when carried. My back ached after each use & my baby couldn’t wait to get out of it each time.

I was disappointed at both efforts, so the stroller came back into full swing until a few months later when I happened across a wonderful support group called Slingbabies NZ. Upon a visit to a monthly meeting I realised that the carriers I originally purchased were not anywhere to be seen and that a whole array of eco friendly, baby friendly & parent friendly baby carriers were.

I quickly became a member of Slingbabies & was introduced to their sling library & friendly helpers & supporters. It was on this visit, which impressed me so; I became a fan of the Ergo & Maduca baby carriers.

I am yet to try a wrap or ring sling, however relish the idea that I can try before I buy with the help of Slingbabies many donars. My favourite feature of sling-babies, is that they can nap anywhere. There is less concern for somewhere for baby to sleep when you are out & about and when alert, baby is quite happy going with the flow.