On the Road Again: Travel Tips Keep Kids Happy on Trips

By KC Parent | May 23, 2019

It’s time to take a summer vacation, time to hop into the car with the kids and set out on the open road. But, as a parent how should you prepare yourself to travel with your child along with making the trip enjoyable?

“Parents need to be certain they know their child’s tolerance for sitting,” says Kenneth Wible, MD, chief of General Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. “The younger the child, the more likely they are to need to travel in short segments with breaks for other activities.”

Sedentary activities used as a distraction are helpful to keep children entertained. Reading a book may produce motion sickness, but an audio book can be great for the child and adults as well, says Dr. Wible.

It is also important for parents to be prepared as they begin to travel. “If a child has motion sickness it is important to have Dramamine available to aid in the treatment,” says Dr. Wible. “Dramamine is available without a prescription and can be purchased at any drugstore.”

Also it is important to have a fully stocked first aid kit available at all times. This will help in the treatment of minor injuries children may receive on vacation.

Following are a list of recommendations to make your travel time safe and enjoyable for your child:

Bring along activities to keep your child busy. Play games, sing songs, listen to an audio book. All of these activities will keep your child entertained and will help the time pass with ease.

Always bring a fully-stocked first aid kit: Make sure the kit contains:

Emergency phone number list

First aid treatment tips

Adhesive strips

Sterile gauze

Tweezers

Scissors

Cold packs

Antibiotic ointment

Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Diphenhydramine

Thermometer

Hydrocortisone

Hydrogen Peroxide

Splints

Bandages

“Parents need to plan how they would handle a significant illness, and investigate the availability of skilled medical care for children in the areas they will be visiting,” says Dr. Wible. “Many communities have Internet websites which can serve as a starting point. They can then visit the specific websites of the listed medical facilities for a description of the services offered.”

Hot Cars can Create Dangerous Situations for Kids

By KC Parent | February 24, 2012

It’s so tempting. You pull up to the front door of the convenience mart. Your little one is sleeping in the car seat. It will only take a minute or two. “I’ll just crack the back windows,” you say to yourself. Wrong.

Even while running a quick errand, temperatures in a vehicle can rise to dangerous levels within just a few minutes on even a mild day.

“Adults don’t understand the danger of leaving children in their cars unattended,” says Denise Dowd, MD, co-director of the Center for Childhood Safety at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. “A child’s body temperature can increase three to five times faster than an adult. The body can go into shock and circulation to vital organs will begin to fail since heat disrupts the body’s ability to regulate its temperature. This could result in permanent injury or death.”

Tips for a safe summer:

NEVER leave your child alone in the car, even with the windows down.

Don’t overlook sleeping infants or toddlers.

Make sure all children exit the car when you reach your destination.

Frequently check the temperature of the child safety seat surface and the safety restraints.

Lock your car at home so the child can’t play inside and become trapped.

Teach children not to play in or around vehicles.

Use windshield shades in the front and back windows to keep the car cooler.

Install an inside trunk release.

They’re Creepy and Crawly: Beware of Ticks

By KC Parent | February 24, 2012

Hiking, camping, and exploring nature are many activities your child will enjoy now that it’s summer.

But, don’t forget to protect them from ticks.

“Symptoms can seem similar to the flu,” says Mary Anne Jackson, MD, chief of the Infectious Disease Section at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clincs. “Your child may have a fever, body aches, and headache, and in some cases, a rash can develop. If left untreated, complications of tick borne diseases can involve the liver, heart and nervous system.”

Tick borne illnesses most commonly seen in children from our area include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, tularemia or ehrlichiosis.

“There’s no question that there may be more ticks out there, but we don’t have any evidence that more ticks are infected,” Dr. Jackson says. “Research has been done in our area, and while there are a lot of ticks, and people can get tick bites, most don’t suffer any ill consequences. The majority of ticks do not carry an infectious organism and in order for infection to be transmitted, the tick must be attached for 12 to 24 hours.”

Dr. Jackson offers these tips to help protect your child from tick bites:

Avoid tick-infested areas. If you are in a tick-infested area, walk in the center of the trails to avoid contact with vegetation.

Use a repellent with DEET and wear long sleeves, hat, long pants and socks.

Wear light-colored clothing, which allows you to see ticks crawling on your clothing.

Tuck your pant legs into your socks.

Check your children for ticks. Examine in and around the ears, inside the belly button, back of the knees, under the arms, in and around the hair, between their legs and around the waist.

Reduce ticks in your yard by keeping play areas and playground equipment away from shrubs, bushes, and other vegetation.

Prevent family pets from bringing ticks into the home by applying tick medicine to them or using a tick collar.

Dangers in Your Yard

By KC Parent | February 24, 2012

Each spring you stock up on lawn and garden supplies. You buy fertilizer to make your lawn thick and green; spray herbicides or pesticides to control unsightly weeds and lawn destroying insects; and plant gardening fertilizers to keep your vegetable garden growing.

“Pesticides are the most dangerous in this group, especially insect killing agents, which may be very poisonous,” says Gary Wasserman, D.O., chief of the Medical Toxicology Section at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. “Before applying pesticides, make sure children and their toys are away from the area, and keep them away until the pesticide has dried.”

If lawn-care products get in the wrong hands, it can create real safety concerns.

“If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind for a child. Always store your lawn supplies away from children’s reach, in a locked cabinet or garden shed,” says Dr. Wasserman. “If you’re storing lawn supplies in the garage, make sure they’re on a high shelf that a child can’t climb up to reach.”

What to do if your child comes into contact with lawn or garden supplies:

Swallowed poison: Take the item from her and have her spit any remaining substance. Don’t make her vomit; some products will cause more damage if she vomits.

Skin poison: Remove his clothes and rinse the skin with room temperature water for at least 15 minutes. Throw away contaminated clothing or thoroughly wash it separately from other laundry.

Eye poison: Flush her eye by holding the eyelid open and pouring a steady stream of room temperature water into the inner corner. Do not use eye drops in the wash water.

Poisonous fumes: Take him outside or into fresh air immediately. If he’s stopped breathing, start CPR and don’t stop until he breathes on his own or until someone can take over.

If your child is unconscious, not breathing, or having convulsions or seizures due to poison contact or ingestion, call 911. Otherwise, call your poison control center at 1-800-222-1222 for information and treatment advice.

School’s out for the Summer: Be Prepared

By KC Parent | May 19, 2011

It might seem hard to believe for some parents, but the kids know it’s true: It’s summertime and the living is … well it’s different.

Summer for school-age children means lots of extra time on their hands for fun and games. For parents it can bring considerable apprehension: After all, wasn’t last summer a nightmare with children misbehaving, getting into all sorts of trouble? Aren’t idle hands . . . well trouble?

Parents should understand that it’s only natural for the transition from school time to summertime to affect children’s behavior, according to Rochelle Harris, PhD, child psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Even positive change can create both turmoil and stress.

Dr. Harris says it’s important for parents to take the time to plan and organize the child’s summer.

“Summer is too long to just hang out and do nothing,” Dr. Harris says. “The children should have some sort of responsibility. You can take this as an opportunity to teach them a wide variety of things.”

Dr. Harris says it’s important for parents to plan ahead of time to help make the transition to summer a smooth one. She also says it’s important to provide some form of structure for kids.

“By planning your child’s summer, you can provide structure that gives them a predictable sense of security,” she says.

Harris says parents — especially non-working parents — often feel a sense of guilt over registering their kids for structured activities like summer day camps. But, she says some kids simply need the structure and can learn a lot. Also, it’s healthier for everyone involved to have some time away from each other.

Dr. Harris suggests the following to provide the proper structure for your child’s summer:

Make a giant calendar of summer activities. Include all events, big and little, that your family has planned. Let the kids help decide which events to include, and alternate plans in case of rain. The calendar gives them a better understanding of time, and teaches them planning skills.
Plan daily detailed activities for younger kids or kids who need more structure. For example, put on the weekly calendar that Tuesday afternoons a babysitter comes over while mom goes to the store; Thursday mornings are family time at the pool.
Set some goals for summer activities: They will read “x” number of books; the family will visit the zoo or a museum. These activities are an opportunity to teach your children and have fun. Also, if you don’t schedule them, you might never get around to doing them.
Plan to spend one-on-one time with your children. Put it on the calendar. Ideally, parents should spend 15 to 20 minutes daily with each child individually.
Decide on some meaningful projects, such as going through old toys and donating them to charity. Mixing responsibility and fun is important. Also, set daily goals for the children, like making their beds or feeding the pets.
Make sure the level of activity during any out-of-town vacation is not frantic. It’s stressful enough to be in an unfamiliar environment.
Plan some downtime for the kids. Too many activities can lead to cranky kids and tired parents.
By following these tips, your children will get the structure they need, and learn some important lessons. Best of all, it will help ensure that summer will be filled with anticipation, and looked back upon fondly.

Hot Time in the Summer: Beware

By KC Parent | June 22, 2009

Summer: it’s the season of sun and fun. It can be the most relaxing and enjoyable time to be a kid: lying around the pool, frolicking at the park. But the same sun that makes the summer so wonderful also poses risks.

Parents and children need to be aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion, heat stroke and just simple overexposure resulting in sunburn.

“Every summer, we see children in the emergency room who have simply overdone it in the sun,” says Laura Fitzmaurice, MD, chief of Emergency Medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. “This is a great time of year, but parents and children need to be careful.”

Heat exhaustion usually develops after exercise, and causes a drop in blood pressure while body temperature remains near normal. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include: weakness, nausea, cramps and fainting. To counteract, Children’s Mercy specialists recommend lying down, resting out of the sun in a cool place, and drinking plenty of liquids.

Heat stroke, on the other hand, occurs when the body’s cooling system can’t combat high temperatures. Symptoms include: extremely high body temperature (104 degrees or higher), chills, dry skin, nausea, dizziness and confusion.

Left untreated, heatstroke can cause permanent damage and possibly death.

If heat stroke occurs, call for emergency medical help, administer a cool bath to counteract the body’s inability to sweat. While waiting for help to arrive, because the body can’t sweat.

The following tips are offered to keep babies cool on hot days:

Dress babies in light clothes.
Use air conditioning or circulate air with a fan if possible.
Keep babies out of the sun. Babies younger than six months should never be in direct sunlight.
Give babies a cool bath
Powder is not recommended. If powder is used, carefully apply to the baby so they don’t inhale it, which can lead to pneumonia.
Never leave a baby (or anyone) in an automobile on a hot day. If it’s 90 degrees outside, the temperature inside the car can reach 120 degrees or more in only 10 minutes.
Do not substitute water or juice for baby formula. Babies need all of their formula. You may need to provide additional fluids on hot days, which can include juices and water.

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