Changes In Safety Guidelines For Baby Over The Years

I have 4 kids. My oldest is 13 and my youngest is 2.5. There’s been a lot of changes with safety guidelines for babies over the years. For instance, when my oldest son was born his car seat was only a 3 point harness, not the 5 point we use now. I remember a point when they told us to place baby’s on their tummy’s to sleep. Of course for years now it’s been that baby’s should sleep on their back. If you want to go even further, I remember as a young kid not even considering that I’d have to sit in a car seat or booster seat. I remember people talking about holding their babies in the car which seems unfathomable now.

The point is, a lot has changed in safety recommendations and laws over the years. It will continually change. Heck they’re talking about rear-facing until 2 years old now.

For all you grandparents out there, especially new grandparents, you want to do your best to make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. You certainly know how to take care of a child but can you honestly say you’re up on all the newest safety guidelines and laws for babies? If you are, keep it up! If you admit that you could use a little brushing up, check out GrandparentTips.org.

For instance, you probably have pictures like this of your little ones sleeping:

I know my parents have pictures like this of me. BUT did you know that neither of these are safe sleeping positions or placement now? They now recommend baby’s sleep on their back. No blankets or stuffed animals in the crib. Baby’s should either sleep with a snug blanket sleeper or a product like HALO sleep sack.

ALWAYS

Place baby to sleep on his or her back at naptime and at night time.
Use a crib that meets current safety standards with a firm mattress that fits snugly and is covered with only a tight-fitting crib sheet.
Remove all blankets, comforters and toys from your baby’s sleep area (this includes loose blankets, bumpers, pillows and positioners). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests using a wearable blanket instead of loose blankets to keep your baby warm.
Offer a pacifier when putting baby to sleep. If breastfeeding, introduce pacifier after one month or after breastfeeding has been established.
Breastfeed, if possible, but when finished, put your baby back to sleep in his or her separate safe sleep area alongside your bed.
Room share, but don’t bed share. Bed sharing can put a child at risk of suffocation.

NEVER

Never put your baby to sleep on any soft surface (adult beds, sofas, chairs, water beds, quilts, sheep skins etc.)
Never dress your baby too warmly for sleep; keep room temperature 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Never allow anyone to smoke around your baby or take your baby into a room or car where someone has recently smoked.

Here are some more safety guidelines that have changed over the years:

What changes are you aware of? What do you remember your parents doing as a kids that have changed?

GIVEAWAY

1 Luv Saving Money reader will win

a HALO sleepsack or HALO SleepSack Swaddle

Open to US and Canada

HALO SleepSack grandparents day

Today Only! $67 for Amazon Prime 1 Yr Membership

This post does contain affiliate links regardless I only post legitimate offers from trusted sites.

I’ve had Amazon Prime for a couple years now and I’ll keep it for many more years to come. It’s paid for itself in so many ways. Shipping along is totally worth it. Today you can get Amazon Prime for only $67 (new memberships only) It’s normally $99 per year but still totally worth it. If you’ve been thinking about getting Amazon Prime today is the day!

With the money you save (and will save) why not pick yourself up a Kindle Fire for only $50. You’ll be able to get books from the Kindle book sharing program, get apps, and even shop Amazon. Stream movies, music, and your fave TV shows now that you have Amazon Prime. We love our Kindles!

Where Are All the Pencils and Textbook? A Visit to My Kids’ School

This post is brought to you by Follett.com for back to school advice and more.

I went to my boys’ middle school “meet the teacher night”. It used to be called “open house” when I was growing up. I didn’t realize that was the only thing that changed when I visited the school. It’s the same school I grew up in. The same buildings, most of the same lockers, etc. I’ve been to the kids open house almost every year but there are so many improvements in the way of technology that will help me help my kids more. If your child has an “Open House” or “Meet the Teacher Night” I highly recommend going. My kids won’t think to tell me about half of this stuff!

1. Digital textbooks – forget hard cover books and writing your name in the cover (remember that?) most of my kids text books are digital now. I can even visit a website and read the same lesson my son is learning online. I guess the “I can’t do my homework I forgot my textbook at school” excuse won’t fly. It took me a minute as I looked around the classroom to realize, “Hey! There’s no textbooks in here” lol

2. Touch-screen projectors – ok I’m sure that’s not what they’re called but it’s the best way I could describe it. You know the projectors with the slides and magnification. Those are no more. Now there’s a projection screen that teachers somehow connect their laptops to and they can move things in the screen and change slides just buy using the screen like a touch screen. I found out not all the teachers have this yet but a few of them do.

3. Hi-tech Tools for Science Classes – Again I remember slides of the constellations or even just text book pictures. My son’s science teacher was very excited to show me his newest tool for teaching. A program that showed the sky right over our town. He could do time lapse and show the sky hours before or hours ahead. He could show nebulas, black holes, and all that cool science stuff. He told me that what I was looking at on the screen would be what I would see if I would go outside the school with a very expensive telescope. They also have a planetarium in their science classroom.

4. Class info online – If I want to know if my son had homework and what it was, If I wanted to know what my kids are learning about in school if my son doesn’t want to tell me, or if I just want to get a hold of my son’s teacher, all I have to do is log in to the school website and I can do any of those things. I can even print homework worksheets out at home if my son forgets his homework.

5. Digital test taking – My one son’s teacher told me they take their tests on laptops, turn it on on the computer, it’s graded on the computer, and they received their test scores back on the computer. She showed me a locked mobile metal cabinet that held lots of slim laptop all hooked up to chargers in the cabinet.

6. Lunch tickets are long gone – I remember my mom having to remember to give me lunch money. We got reduced price meals so I’d have to go in the free and reduced price line to buy a ticket then go through the line to get my food. As a teenager I remember being kind of embarrassed about that. Now no one has to know how much you pay (or don’t pay) for your lunch. I can add money to my kids’ lunch accounts online. When they go through the lunch line they just have to type in their student id number to debit their account for lunch. Wish that was around when I was a kid.

Attending “Meet the Teacher Night” also give me a chance to meet my kids’ teachers face to face. It lets me see what kind of environment my kids are learning in. By talking to my son’s science teacher, I found out he majored in 4 different areas and is capable of teaching 4 different subjects at the school. He continues to learn. He said he’s currently taking a course on black holes. All the tech in the world can’t beat a good teacher.

What has changed since you’ve been in school? What technologies does your or your kids school have? What back to school tips do you have? Share your stories using #FallBackToSchool

How To Discover A Whole New Affordable Way To Vacation

If you’re stuck in the city in the middle of a January snow storm and wishing you could be anywhere else in the world, why don’t you put that impulse to good use? Perhaps the powers that be won’t care much for you using up your saved vacation days to leave them behind for a while, but so what? You expect and deserve to use the vacation time that you’ve earned with your hard work and sweat, so why not take some time to yourself and live a little? There are a million places in the world for you to explore, so get moving and get gone!

Determining How You’re Going To Live When You Get There

Of course, it’s one thing to just decide one day that you’re going to go to a certain place on the map, but a whole other to have a well worked out plan in advance of just how and where you’re going to live when you get to your chosen destination. This is precisely why you need to have an accurate idea of where you want to go, and what kind of place you want to stay in while you enjoy your well earned vacation. Without a plan to work from, you’ll find yourself adrift in a sea of overdrafts that will sour all your plans.

Vacation Time Is Not The Time To Settle For Less

For example, if your present apartment or condo in the city is your favored style of living, it makes no sense to lower your standards by staying in a mud hut or run down motel room. Just because you’re paying for space overlooking the beautiful beaches of a tropical island or Southeast Asia peninsula doesn’t mean that you need to sit still for being gouged for an outrageous fee for a motel room that barely qualifies as being fit for a wild animal. In a word, vacation time is not the time to settle for less.

How To Get The Best Possible Deal For The Best Possible Price

The key to planning and then enjoying the benefits of a successful vacation is to make well sure that you are getting the best possible deal at the best possible price. When it comes to planning for your vacation lodging, there is a wide and comprehensive variety of options to choose from. For many world travelers, the idea of owning a time share property is the best policy. Indeed, time share property firms, such as Bluegreen Resorts and many others, are well known for the convenience and reliability that they offer to their customers. The benefits of going the time share route are many and obvious.

Alternative Solutions To The Vacation Destination Dilemma

Many people have solved their vacation destination issues by deciding to rent or own a time share. Others have simply purchased a small seaside cottage or condominium. While there are plenty of alternative solutions to the vacation destination dilemma, there is no one definitive answer. The solution that is right for you will depend on a variety of factors, including your temperament and the size of your budget. It is an excellent idea to compare and contrast the available solutions until you happen upon the one that is right for you.

This is a sponsored guest post.

Hand Painted Wine Glasses from Valentina Paris

I received the below mentioned product in order to complete an honest review. Any opinions expressed are my own. This post does contain affiliate links. Regardless I only post legitimate offers from trusted sites.

I enjoy a glass of wine now and again. Give me a good Riesling or Pinot Grigio and I’m happy. I also appreciate a good wine glass. Something about an elegant wine glass that just enhances the whole wine tasting experience.

Valentina Paris asked me if I’d like to review their their hand painted wine glasses. They describe them as mouth-blown wine glass hand painted in Paris by Valentina Paris artists. Each glass is unique. Of course I said yes. How could I pass up a wine glass with a description like that?

I received my wine glasses quickly . They came wrapped with care. When I first pulled them out of the box my first honest reaction was “Holy cow these things are BIG!” I’m not used to a big wine glass. After I got over the initial reaction of how big I thought they were, I examined the glass. I could see the two I had were unique from each other. Colors in different places, design slightly differed from the other glass.

I know, in the pictures they don’t look big. I decided to compare them to a bottle of wine and some other wine glasses I had. They certainly do stand out from the other glasses. Much prettier than most of my other wine glasses.

Now if you look at the picture in the top right of this collage you can see the size differences. The Holiday one on the far right is one of those from Arby’s from years ago. Remember those? That’s actually the size I normally use. The one on the far left was from a review I did about 2 years ago. I thought those ones were big. Then there’s the Valentina Paris glasses. I took to my private facebook page to poll friends on what they thought about the size of the wine glasses. Was it just me, were they really big? Turns out, my wine glass collection is finally complete. It seems most everyone that chimed in felt that this was the normal size for wine glasses. I also got a LOT of compliments on them!

Jennifer said “I have glasses from Pier 1 that can hold half a bottle lol”
April said “They’re gorgeous!”
Cathy said “we are big wine drinkers and have several sets of glasses but none that pretty. they look about the size of ours.”
Jennifer J said “They are beautiful!”
Sara said “So pretty though! & they can totally be used for fancy cocktails too”
Trisha said “So pretty!”
Karen said “Those are very nice!”

The glasses are light, given the size. I think they’d really add some ambiance to a dinner date or party. These glasses were available on Amazon but it looks like they’re out of stock currently