The Mom Report

August 2009

I hope everyone had a fantastic summer!  Did you and the kids do cool things?  Learn something new?  Take an awesome trip?  Make memories to last a lifetime?

The kids and I spent 6 days in St. Louis this summer, and although my kids are older (21 and 24), we knew we wanted to do something together, so we planned our trip early in the year, allowing everyone to get time off from work and college.  Since we used to live in St. Louis, this was a nice trip back to visit favorite places and to discover how the city has grown since we left ten years ago. We made sure to visit the Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Science Center, the St. Louis Zoo, and the Museum of Transportation.  We also took in a St. Louis Cardinals game, had a dinner cruise on a Gateway Arch Riverboat, did some shopping at Union Station and rode the Metro Train.

My daughter turned 21 while we were vacationing, so we celebrated with lunch and champagne at the Hard Rock Café.  Rest assured – this is a trip she’ll not soon forget!

How was your summer?

Back to School

If school isn’t back in session in your area, chances are it soon will be.  The following tips and information checklist will help you get your children to and from school safely:

1. All passengers should wear a seat belt and/or an age-and size-appropriate car safety seat or booster seat.
2. Children should ride in a car safety seat with a harness as long as possible and then ride in a belt-positioning booster seat.
3. Children should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belt fits properly (usually when the child reaches about 4′ 9″ in height and is between 8 to 12 years of age). This means that the child is tall enough to sit against the vehicle seat back with her legs bent at the knees and feet hanging down and the shoulder belt lies across the middle of the chest and shoulder, not the neck or throat; the lap belt is low and snug across the thighs, and not the stomach.
4. All children under 13 years of age should ride in the rear seat of vehicles. If you must drive more children than can fit in the rear seat (when carpooling, for example), move the front-seat passenger’s seat as far back as possible and have the child ride in a booster seat if the seat belts do not fit properly without it.
5. Remember that many crashes occur while novice teen drivers are going to and from school. You should require seat belt use, limit the number of teen passengers, do not allow eating, drinking, cell phone conversations or texting to prevent driver distraction; and limit nighttime driving and driving in inclement weather. Familiarize yourself with your state’s graduated driver license law and consider the use of a parent-teen driver agreement to facilitate the early driving learning process.

5 Top Rated Car Seats

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a wide range of car seats for infants, as well as convertible, combination and toddler seats.  The following infant seats are recommended for use by the AAP in 2009:

1. Baby Trend EZ-Loc, Flex-Loc, Latch-Loc Adjustable Back
2. Chicco Key Fit Infant Car Seat
3. Chicco Key Fit 30 Infant Car Seat
4. Combi Centre ST/DX/EX
5. Combi Connection

Question of the Month

Hi Tina,

When is my child old enough to start using a booster seat?  – Carrie K.

Hi Carrie,

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers the following recommendation:

Your child is ready for a booster seat when she/he has reached the top weight or height allowed for her/his seat,  shoulders are above the top harness slots, or her/his ears have reached the top of the seat.

Next Month:

1. Bonding under the Hood
2. 5 Features and Gadgets All Moms’ Should Have in Their Cars
3. Halloween Safety for Kids
4. Question of the Month

See You then!