A new school year has finally begun and that means only one thing: flu season is not far behind. And that means many moms are faced with that seasonal question of whether to get flu shots or not.

Last year, with the outbreak of H1N1, was a nasty flu season and my family was knocked out with H1N1 long before we got the chance to get flu shots.

Because we had H1N1 in October, we chose to still get flu shots once we were all healthy again. After all there was still quite a few months left of the flu season left to deal with. For my family, it seemed better to take our chances with flu shots than to risk welcoming another flu outbreak into the house.

If you’re wondering whether YOU should get the flu shot, the best advice is to trust your instinct and talk to your doctor or pediatrician to see what the flu season is looking like where YOU live.

If you’ve never done a flu shot before and are thinking this might be the year to start, then here is the rundown as written on the official website of the CDC.

There are two types of vaccines:

The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for “live attenuated influenza vaccine” or FluMist). LAIV (FluMist) is approved for use in healthy people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.

And also here is whom the CDC recommends should get the flu shot:

• Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday

• Pregnant women
• People 50 years of age and older
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
  • Health care workers
  • Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu

You can visit the CDC’s website to learn more about who should and shouldn’t get the regular seasonal flu shot as well as the H1N1 vaccine. But the best person to talk to is your own pediatrician to help you determine the risks based on your own family’s health history and what’s going on in your own community.

Good luck this flu season and stay well!

Photo by Lance McCord.

We’ve talked a lot about back to school tips for parents, but mostly, we’ve focused on younger kids. What about kids going to college? Sarah Beckham at the Austin Statesman has some great advice to forward onto your college-bound kids, and we’ve added some tips of our own.

Get Informed

• Ask other students if and where they feel safe
• Stay near campus at night
• Keep up with crime news by reading the campus newspaper

Our Recommendation: Life360’s Sex Offender Monitor — make sure your kids know who lives in their neighborhood before renting off-campus or choosing their walking route home.

Watch Your Stuff

• Lock your door, even if you leave briefly
• Laptops are big theft targets
• Check to see if campus security has tools to mark possessions

Our Recommendation: Life360 Lost Item Recovery Tags — these cheap stickers increase the chance that a lost item will be recovered up to 80% of the time!

From the Austin Statesman. Photo by UBC Library.

A few weeks ago, Tony had some great tips on getting kids to use their imagination. But how can parents make sure their yard is appropriate and encourages outdoor play and exploration? Here are six tips, courtesy of Simple Mom.

1. Emphasize open space. The more physical space your kids have, the more space they have to imagine and explore.
2. Plant different flowers and plants. Having a garden lets kids watch fruits and vegetables grow.
3. Keep safety in mind. Avoid dangerous plants and using pesticides and fertilizers, especially where your kids will likely play.
4. Encourage space to build/create. Kids like to dig; get a sandbox!
5. Use your imagination. The best way to encourage your children’s imagination is to show them how. Create forts between trees or pretend that your garden is a hideaway.
6. Make space to relax. Kids have a lot of energy, but even they can get tired at some point. A shaded area to rest will encourage them to stay outside even when they’re pooped.

From Simple Mom. Photo by billaday.

A drowning person may be harder to spot than you think. According to Mario Vittone, a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, drowning usually doesn’t involve someone crying for help. It’s difficult to identify because it’s so quiet.

“I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life,” Mario wrote on his blog.

He suggests several signs to look for:

1. Head low in the water, mouth at water level
2. Head tilted back with mouth open
3. Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
4. Eyes closed
5. Hair over forehead or eyes
6. Not using legs – Vertical
7. Hyperventilating or gasping
8. Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
9. Trying to roll over on the back
10. Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.

It’s scary to think that someone might drown without anyone noticing, but it just reinforces why we need to be diligent when it comes to water safety.

From Mario Vittone.

Though we just got you excited about going to the amusement park, it might be worth talking about ride safety. Though rollercoasters and similar rides are supposed to be scary, they’re not actually supposed to be dangerous. Then why do 7,000 Americans go to the emergency room every year because of carnival rides?

Accidents on carnival rides happen for three main reasons: equipment failure, inconsistent state regulations, and human error. Strangely, while the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates how rides are made, no one is keeping an eye on how they are set up, run, or maintained, at least on the federal level. It’s up to the individual state governments to do that, and many states just don’t do a good job of it. In fact, six states don’t do inspections at all! (I couldn’t find out which ones didn’t. Let me know if you know!)

Here are a few tips to stay safe:

• Go on a weekday. When it’s less crowded, there’s a less likely chance of an accdient.
• Wear the right clothing and shoes. Nothing that dangles and no flip-flops
• Make sure seat belts are on. They should be snug, but not too tight.
• Don’t exit the ride until it’s over. Don’t exit the ride until you’re told you can. Many accidents happen when riders get out prematurely.

Do you feel that carnival rides are safe? Should be more cautious while riding them or avoid them altogether?

From ABC News. Photo by daawn.

When temperatures reach the 90s or higher, it’s time to take the sun seriously. Here are four things to keep in mind while enjoying the summer heat.

• Stay hydrated. Plenty of water, and even sports drinks, will work just fine. (NO SODA!) They’ll replenish the fluids you lose when you sweat.
• Beware of heat exhaustion. It’s not secret hot weather zaps your energy. Cramps, heat exhaustion, headaches, etc. If you start to feel those symptoms, get out of the sun and cool down.
• Know heat stroke when you see it. If someone is sweaty and not feeling well, that’s heat exhaustion; it’s more serious when they aren’t sweating, meaning their body is starting to shut down and not letting heat out of the body. That’s heat stroke.
• Avoid sunburns. OK, nobody intentionally gets sunburnt, but if you’ve got blisters on your shoulders, chest, and back, you need to go to a doctor.

From the Los Angeles Times. Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography.

There’s nothing better than grilling during the summer (OK, maybe the beach). But how can we make sure that we’re taking all then necessary precautions when grilling? Over at Strollerderby, Dr. Martha Howard of Chicago Healers has some tips to help you grill as safely as possible and avoid exposure to harmful chemicals:

• Before you get started, thoroughly clean your grill to get rid of any leftover bits from the last cookout.
• When grilling with charcoal, avoid petroleum starters. Instead, use a wood starter and stack your charcoal up in a 2 pound metal can with the ends cut off. When the coals are ready, use tongs to lift and remove the can from the grill.
• When using a gas grill, light it immediately after opening the propane valve.
• To reduce the amount of PAHs, trim the fat off your meats before cooking.
• Marinades actually protect meats from charring, so go ahead and soak it up – in the refrigerator, of course.
• When done, make sure the charcoal is completely out or the propane gas valve is tightly closed.

From Strollerderby. Photo by Another Pint Please.

Yeah, maybe put that down...

1. Children should never play with or light fireworks.
2. Adults should always keep a bucket of water handy in case of a malfunction or fire.
3. Adults should read and follow all warnings and instructions before using fireworks.
4. Adults should be sure that other people are out of range before lighting fireworks.
5. Sparklers burn at such high temperatures that they burn clothing.

Fireworks are illegal in some states, so be sure to double-check if lighting some fireworks isn’t going to land you some huge fine. Although I can appreciate the tradition, I don’t think I’d ever let young kids light fireworks. Isn’t it just safer to sit back and watch a professional light show instead?

Photo by bbusschots.

Most of my health advice comes from asking myself, “what would my mother do?” But then I realize that while my mom was full of great tips, she was also prone to believing a lot of health myths, especially when dealing sick kids (she still does, despite my insistence that she’s wrong). Here are five you might not know about:

Giving a child cold medicine.
Apparently cough medicine is “very nearly useless,” and things like nasal decongestants can make things worse. Instead, use anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen like Advil or Motrin) for aches and chills.

Too much milk and juice.
Milk is low on iron and can reduce a child’s appetite. Limit it to 32 ounces a day up to age 3, and 16 ounces from 3 to 5.

Giving “fresh air” to a bandaged wound.
This dries out the wound and leads to a scabbing, and increases the potential for scarring. Plus, bandaids keep the wound protected longer, so the body won’t feel a need to scab over the cut.

Overusing the car seat.
It’s convenient to move your infant around while keeping him/her in the car seat, but babies can work on holding up their heads and strengthening abdominal muscles while being held. Just leave the seat in the car and carry your baby.

Don’t be afraid of a fever.
Don’t panic! The height a fever has little to do with the seriousness of infection. And don’t believe old wives’ tales—like bundling, avoiding bathing, or “feeding a fever/starving a cold.”

If your child looks exhausted when he/she has a fever, that’s OK. If they look exhausted when their temperature returns to normal, then it’s time to call the doctor.

Did any of these surprise you? What myths do you have?

From Julie’s Health Club. Photo by joanna8555.

Happy National Home Safety month! (Exciting right?) Well, it’s as good a time as any to just refresh your memory on some basic home safety tips. The AARP has 30 home safety tips that are surprising and worth knowing. For example, did you know that each year 65,000 barbecue grill fires cause as much as $27 million in property damage each year? Lesson: move your grill a little farther from the home.

Each day in June, the AARP will post one of the “30 for 30″ tips. Here are some:

• Did you know that most falls in homes happen in the bathroom, not on the stairs?
• Did you know that cooking-related fires are the leading cause of injuries among people 65 years of age and older? Avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing while cooking and use a timer to remind yourself to check food you have in the oven.
• Did you know that more people are injured using hand tools than power tools?
• Did you know that each year approximately 3,800 injuries and 34 deaths occur in U.S. homes due to scalding from excessively hot tap water? To help avoid this, adjust the temperature setting of your home hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, or consider installing temperature limiting faucets on bathtubs, showers, and sinks.
• Did you know that each year an average of 20,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with garage doors?
• Did you know that many houses and apartments built before 1978 have paint that contains high lead levels and lead from paint, paint chips, and dust can pose serious health hazards if not take care of properly?

Photo by clarkbw.