Recently, the FDA warned parents and caregivers about how an infant or child could be accidentally given an overdose of vitamins, particularly Vitamin D, using Accurate Vitamin D Supplmentation™ due to a faulty medicine dropper, which would allow more than a 400-International Unit drop to pass through it to the infant's mouth.

 

The FDA also advises manufacturers of liquid Vitamin D supplements that droppers accompanying  liquid Vitamin products should be clearly and accurately marked for 400 international units (IU). "In addition, for products intended for infants, FDA recommends that the dropper hold no more than 400 IU." (FDA, June 15, 2010) 

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the easiest way for parents and caregivers to avoid giving too much liquid vitamin is to use a medicine dropper that only allows 400 IU/dose to pass through to the infant.  The AAP also "recommended a dose of 400 IU of Vitamin D Supplement per day to breast-fed and partially breast-fed infants." (AAP Pediatric Nutrition Handbook, 6th edition, p.466).  The concern is that too much Vitamin D given at a time during infancy can ultimately cause kidney damage.  "Excessive amounts of Vitamin D can be harmful to infants, and may be characterized by nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, frequent urination, constipation, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, muscle and joint aches, confusion, and fatigue, as well as more serious consequences such as kidney damage." (AAP, June 15, 2010)

 

Healthcare professionals, parents and caregivers are urged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of medicine to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program and this can be done by going to the website:

www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm or calling: 1-800-332-1088.

 

Toy/Jewelry Recalls To Note:

Rhino Toys Inc. recalls Beado Hand-held Bead Playtoys.  About 5,500 of the Beado Hand-held Bead Playtoys have been sold between March and May 2010 for about $12 each. The toy is a colorful playtoy for young children with model number 1501 and date code 02910 04323A.  It was manufactured in China and sold to specialty toy retailers throughout the U.S.  The  toys' plastic wires can detach from the hubs due to insufficient adhesive, allowing the beads to slide off. The loose beads pose a choking hazard to young children

 

Approximately 66,000+ pieces of Cadmium Coated Beaded Jewelry made by "SmileMakers" has been recalled by the CPSC. Manufactured in China, the metal substrate in the jewelry contains high levels of Cadmium, which can cause health issues, especially in children.  If you have these beads (bracelets/necklaces), return or dump them! For additional information, contact SmileMakers toll-free at (877) 390-5470 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.  (I'm not Smiling!)

Perhaps the most significant thing that happened this week in Washington, is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted (5 to 0) July 14, 2010, to approve proposed new mandatory standards to address the hazards posed by full-size and non-full-size cribs.   We have been monitoring the safety hazards with these cribs which range from drop-side hardware or other drop-side entrapment issues to failures of the mattress support and detachment or breakage of the crib slats. All of these defects can create hazardous gaps allowing a baby to become entrapped and suffocate or fall out of the crib.        

Childsafetyblog.org is smiling.

Cold and flu season is upon us.  When we're unlucky enough to come down with something, it's almost second nature to reach a multi-symptom cold medicine.  New findings show that, when it comes to children, parents should think twice before giving such medications to their children.

Last year, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that eading manufacturers of pediatric cough and cold medicines are adding a warning to their products' labels, "Don't use over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines in children younger than 4."  FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Janet Woodcock, MD, says FDA supports the label "change" and drug manufacturers are doing this voluntarily.

 

 The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends that over-the-counter cough and cold medications not be given to infants and children younger than 2 years because of the risk of life-threatening side effects. Also, several studies show that cold and cough products don't work in children younger than 6 years and can have potentially serious side effects.

 

The New York Times recently reported results of a new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on unintentional medication overdoses in children which "indicates 8 percent of emergency room visits and 14 percent of hospitalizations were caused by parents accidentally overdosing their children."

 

The study, which looks at causes for emergency room visits, estimates that 70,000 children under 18 years of age visit emergency rooms annually suffering from unintentional medication overdoses causing adverse drug events. More importantly, 75 percent of the overdoses occurred in children under age 5.

 

CDC's web page on child medication safety further indicates that the number one cause of emergency room visits due to adverse drug events in young children under the age of 5 is the unsupervised consumption of medicines.  CDC also notes, according to WebMD, that 7,000 children under 11 go to emergency rooms each year after taking cough and cold medicines. Roughly two-thirds of those adverse drug events occurred after children consumed medication while unsupervised.

There's nothing I find more senseless than children being seriously injured or dying as a result of a well known, and easily fixable, hazard.  Last year, I wrote about the strangulation danger posed by a common household item -- window blinds and shades.  Since then, three more kids have died, and there is another recall.  The recall covers 4.2 million roll-up blinds with plastic slats made by Lewis Hyman Inc.; 600,000 Woolrich Roman shades; blinds and shades made by Vertical Land Inc. of Panama City Beach, Fla.; Roman shades by Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma Inc.; 245,000 Lutron Shading Solutions fabric roller shades; 163,000 Roman shades by Victoria Classics; and IKEA is recalling 120,000 MELINA Roman Blinds.  The LA Times has a good article about the problem and the recall.

This is so infuriating.  This problem has been recognized for decades, yet shades and blinds are still being produced with this dangerous problem.  A group called Parents for Window Blind Safety has an informative website that focuses on correcting the danger.  It also brings the tragedy home as it shows the many children who have died as a result of these products.

The best solution for parents is to purchase cordless blinds.  Go here for available types, or ask for them at your local home improvement center.  If you have purchased these blinds, go to the CPSC to find out what to do.  At the very least, parents should cut cord loops of existing blinds in half, never leave your children unattended in a room with these blinds, and NEVER put a crib or play yard in the vicinity of a blind. 

The CDC has released a report on child injuries which is fascinating and very instructive.  I'll write on this in greater detail over the next few weeks, but I highly recommend that parents take a look at the report for themselves.  One very sobering statistic - every day in the United States, 20 children die as a result of preventable injuries.  This is higher than the number of deaths from all childhood diseases combined.  Go to the next page for other highlights.

Just in time for Christmas, an organization called W.A.T.C.H. (World Against Toys Causing Harm) has released its annual list of the top 10 worst toys.  What amazes me is that all of the hazards here have long been established -- choking hazards, projectiles that can damage eyes, etc - yet these dangerous toys still reach the market.  There is no approval or evaluation process by any government agency for toys - the CPSC only steps in when a problem is identified.  Please go to the next page for the list. 

Click here for a list of the worst toys of all time (complete with Lawn Darts).  These would be funny if not for the fact that each of these put thousands of kids needlessly at risk.

Some hazards are obviously dangerous to kids - the Drano under the sink, a pot of boiling water on the stove, or a car backing out of the driveway.  Those are things we as parents intuitively know can be dangerous to our kids, so we take precautions such as cabinet locks and stove guards to protect them. 

Not all hazards are so obvious, but they can be just as dangerous.  Window blinds are a great example.  They seem innocent enough, and it certainly doesn't seem like a child could hurt himself (or herself) if left alone with one.  Yet, the cords on certain window blinds can present a serious strangulation hazard to young children.  Over the years, hundreds of boys and girls have been seriously injured and even killed by becoming entangled and then strangled by window blind cords.

On Thursday, the CPSC issued two recall alerts.  Popular furniture maker IKEA is recalling its IRIS and ALVINE Roman Blinds, and Green Mountain Vista Inc of Williston, Vt. is recalling its Insulated Black-Out Roller Shades and Insulated Roman Shades. This past April, a one year old girl in Greenwich, Ct.tragically died as a result of strangulation by the cord of an IKEA blind.  She was found in her playpen with the cord from a nearby fully lowered blind wrapped twice around her neck.  This past June, a two year old girl from Bristol, Ct, was nearly strangled by a Green Mountain Vista blind when she placed a cord loop around her neck and then fell.  Luckily, she was saved by her brother.

Recently, there has been controversy over the safety and efficacy of many cough and cold medicines for young children.   Last year, the FDA.issued a public health advisory warning against the use of such medicines for children under two.  In October, manufacturers voluntarily changed the labeling and warnings to state that these medicines should not be given to children under four.

The CPSC has recalled over 13 cribs and bassinets since the first of the year.  Many feel that the CPSC is not aggressive enough in its recall measures, and that it is not sufficient to permit manufacturers to simply issue retrofit kits to satisfy the recalls.  The Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, has taken matters into her own hands, and should be commended for her actions.

Here's what's happened.  A company called Simplicity has had a lot of problems with recalls over the last year, some as a result of infant deaths.  Due to the recalls, Simplicity was forced into bankruptcy.  A company called SFCA, Inc, purchased the assets of Simplicity. That's fine, except it appears that the only thing SFCA wanted to do was reap profits, and did not seem particularly interested in helping to save the lives of children.  SFCA would not cooperate whatsoever with the CPSC recalls.  Given that children's lives are at stake, Madigan did not feel that the CPSC's response to SFCA was sufficient, so she undertook her own action to force SFCA to stop marketing these dangerous cribs.  She's to be applauded.

AG Madigan has also put out a very useful guide for identifying which cribs have recently been recalled, as well as safe sleeping tips for infants.

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Apparently the CPSC has copied my Halloween tips idea.  Seriously though, they did issue a press release yesterday - much of it is similar to my tips below, but they offer some additional suggestions that are worth checking out.

Also, my 7 year old daughter, Jane, wanted me to say that in addition to the flashlights, they will be wearing blinking necklaces for visibility.  I'll let you know what luck I have getting her and her sister to wear a coat over their costumes if it's cold.

Given all that is known about crib safety, and how long the industry has known about potential hazards, it amazes me that we still have a problem with dangerous cribs.  Over the last month, there have been four crib recalls, all for entrapment and suffocation hazards.  As is too often the case, it took the death or serious injury of a child for these recalls to happen.  The recalled cribs are:

• The Playkids U.S.A. convertible crib/playpen/bassinet/bed,
• Delta drop side cribs manufactured prior to 2006
• Additional Delta Drop Side Cribs
  
• Simplicity Brand Drop Side Cribs
  

The Delta recall involves over 1,500,000 cribs.  The danger involves missing or failing safety pegs for the drop rails.  The CPSC is aware of two deaths and other instances of entrapment involving these cribs.