DRUG AWARENESS WORKSHOP

Officer Kevin Kearney, on Drug Awareness
Sponsored by the Winona County Day Care Providers Association
Sept 18th from 6:30-8:30pm at
Jefferson's Pub, upstairs room
$15 at the door for those not a member of the WCDCPA.
Come educate yourself; keep you, your family, and your neighbors safe. All are invited; anyone interested in learning about Drug Awareness should attend.

Credited hours will be given by certificate if you need them.

FDA bans cold meds for kids under 2, considers ban for under age 12

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a Public Health Advisory recommending that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used to treat infants and children less than 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur from such use, according to an FDA press release. These include death, convulsions, rapid heart rates, and decreased levels of consciousness.

"These medicines, which treat symptoms and not the underlying condition, have not been shown to be safe or effective in children under 2," said Charles Ganley, M.D., director of the FDA's Office of Nonprescription Products. According to an Associated Press story on the move, "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year reported that more than 1,500 babies and toddlers wound up in emergency rooms over a two-year period because of the drugs."

In October, the FDA's advisory board voted that the drugs were not effective and shouldn't be used in kids under age 6, according to the AP story. According to the FDA press release, the agency is continuing to review data regarding the use of OTC cold medicines in all children under age 12 prior to issuing a formal recommendation.

More from the press release:

Pending completion of the FDA's ongoing review, parents and caregivers that choose to use OTC cough and cold medicines to children ages 2 to 11 years should:

• Follow the dosing directions on the label of any OTC medication,
• Understand that these drugs will NOT cure or shorten the duration of the common cold,
• Check the "Drug Facts" label to learn what active ingredients are in the products because many OTC cough and cold products contain multiple active ingredients, and
• Only use measuring spoons or cups that come with the medicine or those made specially for measuring drugs.

Home Day Care Providers Training in Winona

Record Keeping and Taxes
featuring Tom Copeland from the Redleaf National Institute

TUESDAY, JAN 8TH 6:30-9:30PM
Central Lutheran Church: 259 West Wabasha St
Winona, MN 55987 in the great room.
You can park in the side lot, off of Huff, and come in the doors there.

$15 FOR NON-MEMBERS
FREE TO MEMBERS of WCDCPA AS ALWAYS
Join the association for a $20 yearly fee, to attend ALL TRAININGS free of charge, plus the benefits of networking with other providers, a free lending toy/equipment library, and become a member of The Winona Chamber of Commerce!

RSVP TO CAROLYN GOREE 458-0015 OR CKIDS12@HBCI.COM
NO LATER THAN MONDAY, JAN 7TH NOON

Dr. David Walsh in Winona January 14

Dr. David Walsh will be in Winona to present:

No: Why Kids of All Ages Need to Hear It

&

Ways Parents Can Say It

Monday, January 14 at 6:30 p.m.

WMS Auditorium --1570 Homer Road, Winona

A free copy of Dr. Walsh's book will be availabe, while supplies last, to each household. A book-signing and reception will follow. The presentation is free. Free childcare will be provided for children ages 2-10.

To learn more about this presentation, visit:

www.sayyestono.org

Sponsored by: WMS & Area PTA's, MN Masonic Charities, St. Mary's Catholic Schools, the Winona Early Childhood Initiative & The Foundation for Winona Area Public Schools

Check Out a Great Website on Kids 0-5

www.teachmorelovemore.com

Milk Facts

Here are some facts about milk and kids, compiled by Lyn Halvorson, SNS, the school nutrition director for the Winona Area Public Schools:

• More than half of the children ages 2-8 do not get the recommended daily servings of dairy.
• More than three-quarters of the children ages 9-19 do not get the recommended daily servings of dairy.
• The National Dairy Council, the School Nutrition Association, and the School Nutrition Foundation conducted a study and found that 97% of schools offer flavored milk. Over 70% of the milk consumed in schools is flavored.
• Virtually all the calories in 100% juice and nearly one-half the calories in unflavored milk is from naturally-occurring sugars. See handout; fat-free white and 1% white contain 12 grams of naturally-occurring sugar, chocolate skim contains 26 grams (12 grams of naturally-occurring sugar and 14 grams of added sugar).
• The importance of providing children with milk they like, and therefore will drink, was highlighted by the 2002 School Milk Pilot Test, which demonstrated that with simple product improvements – including flavors and packaging – milk consumption increased 37%.
• A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, showed that when compared to their peers, children who drank flavored milk drank more milk overall and are more likely to meet their calcium needs than those who did not.
• Frank Greer, MD, FAAP, Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition states, “The AAP recommends that children eat three servings of milk, flavored milk, cheese or yogurt a day.”
• Robert P. Heaney, MD, Professor at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska takes a realistic approach to flavored milk. “I favor milk consumption because of its many nutritional benefits. If there is a choices between flavored milk and no milk, there shouldn’t be any difficulty there; you have to go with the flavored milk because that is where you are going to get the nutrient package that you need.”
• The kids who drank flavored milk in their diets reported higher milk intakes than those who drank plain milk. Source; Nutrient intakes and body measures of children and adolescents in the United States drinking flavored, plain or no milk. FASEB J 21:833.3
• When it comes to flavored milk, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetics Association and the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee agree that the added sugar in flavored milk does not negate milk’s many benefits. Specifically in regard to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), there is very little different between sucrose, which is granulated sugar, and HFCS. Once absorbed, they are indistinguishable to the human body.
• In a recent survey among 4,000 3 A-Day of Dairy moms, 92% said that they were comfortable with their children drinking flavored milk at school.

Infant cold medicines pulled from stores

From the Star Tribune:

Drug makers on Thursday voluntarily pulled kids' cold medicines off the market less than two weeks after the government warned of potential health risks to infants.

Products aimed at children under the age of two are being removed from store shelves due to "rare instantances of misuse" that could lead to accidental overdose, a trade group that represents over-the-counter drug makers said.

Cold medicines being withdrawn include: Johnson & Johnson Pediacare Infant Drops and Tylenol Concentrated Infants Drops, Wyeth's Dimetapp Decongestant Infant Drops, Novartis' Triaminic Infant & Toddler Thin Strips and Prestige Brands Holdings' Little Colds Decongestant Plus Cough.

Read the full story at the StarTribune.

FDA considers banning cold medicine for kids under 6

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — Safety experts for the Food and Drug Administration urged the agency on Friday to consider an outright ban on over-the-counter, multisymptom cough and cold medicines for children under 6.

The recommendation, in a 356-page safety review, is the strongest signal yet that the agency may take strong action against the roughly 800 popular medicines marketed in the United States under names like Toddler’s Dimetapp, Triaminic Infant and Little Colds.

The next step in the process is a meeting of outside experts on Oct. 18 and 19 to examine the medicines’ safety and offer recommendations to the agency.

In the new safety review, the agency’s experts suggested that all “infant” cough and cold formulations be removed from the market, and that the droppers, cups and syringes included with products for children be standardized to reduce the risks of confusion and overdose.

The reviewers wrote that there is little evidence that these medicines are effective in young children, and there are increasing fears that they may be dangerous. From 1969 to 2006, at least 54 children died after taking decongestants, and 69 died after taking antihistamines, the report said. And it added that since adverse drug reactions are reported voluntarily and fitfully, the numbers were likely to significantly understate the medicines’ true toll.

Read the whole article at the New York Times.

Nasal Influenza Vaccine Approved for Younger Children

From a press release from the Food and Drug Administration:

On September 19, 2007, FDA approved the nasal influenza vaccine FluMist for use in children between the ages of 2 and 5. Approval for the vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed in the nose, was previously limited to healthy children 5 years of age and older and to adults up to age 49. FluMist is manufactured by MedImmune Vaccines, Inc., Gaithersburg , Md.

"The goal of preventing influenza is now more attainable with the availability of FluMist for younger children," says Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "This approval also offers parents and health professionals a needle-free option for squeamish toddlers, who may be reluctant to get a traditional influenza shot."

Until now, there were only two influenza vaccines licensed in the U.S. for children under age 5. Fluzone, manufactured by sanofi pasteur Inc., Swiftwater , Pa. , is indicated for people over 6 months of age. Fluvirin, made by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Ltd, Liverpool, England, is available for children age 4 and older.
Safety and Effectiveness

Approximately 6,400 infants and children age 6 months to 59 months received FluMist in three studies to support the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. Two studies compared FluMist to placebo (no vaccine), both of which demonstrated the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing influenza illness.

A third study compared FluMist to an inactivated or "killed" seasonal influenza vaccine shot. The results showed that there were 53 cases of influenza among 3,900 children who received FluMist compared to 93 cases among the same number of children who received an inactivated or “killed” seasonal influenza vaccine shot.

Commonly observed adverse events from the vaccine were generally mild and most often included runny nose and/or nasal congestion, as well as a slight fever in children 2 to 6 years of age.

Who Should NOT Receive FluMist?

* Children under the age of 2 should not receive FluMist because there was an increased risk of hospitalization and wheezing for this age group during the clinical trials.
* FluMist should not be administered to anyone with asthma or to children under the age of 5 years with recurrent wheezing because of the potential for increased wheezing after receiving the vaccine.
* People who are allergic to any of FluMist's components, including eggs or egg products, should also not receive the vaccine.

Vaccination Recommendations

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all children age 6 months to 59 months receive a vaccination to protect against influenza.

Studies have shown that children younger than 5 years had rates of influenza-associated hospitalizations similar to those among individuals age 50 through 64 years, emphasizing the need for improved influenza prevention efforts for this younger population.

NO LINK BETWEEN BREASTFEEDING AND TOOTH DECAY

From the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Breastfeeding does not cause early childhood tooth decay, according to a new study. "Association Between Infant Breastfeeding and Early Childhood Caries in the United States" analyzed data on oral health, infant feeding, and numerous other factors among children ages 2 to 5, in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Despite some reports that link breastfeeding, especially prolonged breastfeeding, with dental caries, this study found no such increased risk. In contrast, maternal smoking was found to increase the risk for dental caries.

Halloween Safety Tips from the AAP

HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS

Halloween is an exciting time of year for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday, here are some tips from the AAP.

ALL DRESSED UP:

-- Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.
-- Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags for greater visibility.
-- Because masks can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic makeup and decorative hats as safer alternatives. Hats should fit properly to prevent them from sliding over eyes.
-- When shopping for costumes, wigs and accessories look for and purchase those with a label clearly indicating they are flame resistant.
-- If a sword, cane, or stick is a part of your child's costume, make sure it is not sharp or too long. A child may be easily hurt by these accessories if he stumbles or trips.
-- Obtain flashlights with fresh batteries for all children and their escorts.
-- Teach children how to call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they have an emergency or become lost.

CARVING A NICHE:

-- Small children should never carve pumpkins. Children can draw a face with markers. Then parents can do the cutting.
-- Votive candles are safest for candle-lit pumpkins.
-- Candlelit pumpkins should be placed on a sturdy table, away from curtains and other flammable objects, and should never be left unattended.

HOME SAFE HOME:

-- To keep homes safe for visiting trick-or-treaters, parents should remove from the porch and front yard anything a child could trip over such as garden hoses, toys, bikes and lawn decorations.
-- Parents should check outdoor lights and replace burned-out bulbs.
-- Wet leaves should be swept from sidewalks and steps.
-- Restrain pets so they do not inadvertently jump on or bite a trick-or-treater.

ON THE TRICK-OR-TREAT TRAIL:

-- A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.
-- If your older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.
-- Only go to homes with a porch light on.
-- Because pedestrian injuries are the most common injuries to children on Halloween,
remind Trick-or Treaters:
- Stay in a group and communicate where they will be going.
- Carry a mobile phone for quick communication.
- Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk.
- If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic.
- Never cut across yards or use alleys.
- Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom). Never cross between parked cars or out driveways.
- Don't assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn't mean others will!
- Law enforcement authorities should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.

HEALTHY HALLOWEEN:

-- A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.
-- Consider purchasing non-food treats for those who visit your home, such as coloring books or pens and pencils.
-- Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.
-- Try to ration treats for the days following Halloween.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

(c) 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics.

TV for Tots: More Bad News

"Baby Einsteins May Not Be So Smart After All," from Time.com:

The claim always seemed too good to be true: park your infant in front of a video and, in no time, he or she will be talking and getting smarter than the neighbor's kid. In the latest study on the effects of popular videos such as the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" series, researchers find that these products may be doing more harm than good. And they may actually delay language development in toddlers.

Led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis, both at the University of Washington, the research team found that with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos. These products had the strongest detrimental effect on babies 8 to 16 months old, the age at which language skills are starting to form. "The more videos they watched, the fewer words they knew," says Christakis. "These babies scored about 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not watched these videos."

It's not the first blow to baby videos, and likely won't be the last. Mounting evidence suggests that passive screen sucking not only doesn't help children learn, but could also set back their development. Last spring, Christakis and his colleagues found that by three months, 40% of babies are regular viewers of DVDs, videos or television; by the time they are two years old, almost 90% are spending two to three hours each day in front of a screen. Three studies have shown that watching television, even if it includes educational programming such as Sesame Street, delays language development. "Babies require face-to-face interaction to learn," says Dr. Vic Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read the rest of the story here. And from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

EARLY TV VIEWING HABITS COULD HAVE LASTING EFFECT ON KIDS’ ATTENTION

Children who watch more television in their early years may be more likely to have attention problems as teens. In a study from the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand, more than 1,000 children were observed from age 3 through age 15. Early childhood attention problems were noted at ages 3 and 5. Parents’ estimates of the children’s’ television viewing time were obtained at ages 5, 7, 9 and 11. Then, using various tools and questionnaires, the parents, the children themselves and reported on attention problems at ages 13 and 15. For every additional 50 minutes of television watched on average per day, there was a measurable negative impact on attention. Those who watched the most TV earlier in childhood were more likely to have attention problems. In particular, those children who watched more than two hours per day had above-average symptoms of attention difficulties in adolescence. Early childhood attention problems, socioeconomic status, gender or cognitive abilities did not influence the results, leading the researchers to conclude that watching too much TV was the most likely cause. Possible explanations may be the world portrayed on television makes real-life tasks seem boring in comparison, or that watching TV displaces of the activities that encourage attention such as reading and playing games.

ARE KIDS BEING BURGER BRAINWASHED?

According to a recent Institute of Medicine report, there is strong evidence that television advertising influences short-term food preferences for children 2 to 11 years of age. Researchers for the study, “Nutritional Content of Television Food Advertisements Seen by Children and Adolescents in the United States,” analyzed food-product advertisements seen by children and adolescents on top-rated television shows from September 2003 to May 2004. Nearly 98 percent of food ads seen by children 2 to 11 years old and 89 percent for adolescents 12 to 18 years old were for products high in fat, sugar, or sodium and of poor nutritional content. Fast-food restaurants made up the largest category of all food-related advertisements viewed by teens, while children 2-11 years of age most frequently saw cereal ads. The current obesity epidemic among children and adolescents has challenged the food and beverage industries to reexamine their marketing practices. These findings will provide a benchmark against which future research can evaluate the commitment by food companies to change the nature of food advertising to children.

CAR SEAT TRAINING IN WINONA

CAR SEAT TRAINING

with

Bonnie Herrick, RN

Winona County Maternal Child Health Nurse

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2007
5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Maxwell Children's Center
Wabasha Hall
Wabasha and Walnut Streets
Winona
To Register, contact Winona County Community Health Services at:
507-457-6400

Organic Housekeeping

Announcing a free event of interest to parents, teachers, and child care professionals:

organic housekeeping

a special presentation by Ellen Sandbeck,
author of the book by the same title,
In Which the Nontoxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity.

Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 7pm
Bluffview Montessori School
1321 Gilmore Ave, Winona, MN

Ellen Sandbeck--respected author, organic landscaper, worm farmer, and former roofer-- shows the world, in her wonderfully comical voice, how to maintain every part of the home using safe, simple cleansers; quick, preventative measures; and the most effective organic products on the market—complete with detailed products and recommendation lists. Contact Connie Dretske (507-457-9455) or Brianna Fink (612-558-6435) for more information. To download a PDF of the poster, click here.

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE FOR LICENSED DAYCARE PROVIDERS AFFECTED BY FLOODING

Winona County DayCare Providers Association is offering all licensed daycare providers who suffered a loss due to the flooding a free membership to the association so they can take advantage of our toy lending library, to help with rebuilding their business with toys/and equipment.

Anyone interested in doing so can call Mandy at 454-1531 to set up a time to go to the toy library to look around. Our toy library is located at Coldwell Bank's basement at 104 E 4th Street, Winona. Coldwell Bank lets us use this space free to help us offer many toys--ages infant to preschool and equipment such as cribs, strollers, and high chairs. PLEASE pass this onto a provider you know that was affected by this terrible flood, and let us help them out.

Carolyn A. Goree, Vice President
The Winona County DayCare Providers Association

The Importance of Play

The most recent installment of the public radio series "Speaking of Faith" spent an hour examining the importance of play, and how play shapes us as human beings. Here's an excerpt from a reflection that the host, Krista Tippett, wrote about the program:

[Dr.] Stuart Brown [director of the National Institute for Play], for his own part, says he spent too many years as a workaholic doctor; and he came to his fascination with play after observing play-deprivation in the lives of homicidal young men he had been given to study. These days, he gives himself three or four hours a day of "rogue tennis," reading, frolicking with his grandchildren. For work, he promotes better science on how play enriches us and nourishes human spirit and character. He believes this has implications for how we should structure our schools, workplaces, and family lives.

I am surprised, and eventually convinced, by the amazing list of virtues Stuart Brown associates with play across the span of our lives, drawing on a rich universe of play study in humans and intelligent social animals. (By the way, stop right here for a smile by looking at amazing pictures of animals quite obviously delighting in play.) It is established, Stuart Brown insists, that an actively playful life establishes the earliest sense of self; sustains trust; provides increased enthusiasm for effectiveness in learning; prevents violence; invigorates the body; lessens the consequences of stress; contributes directly to the capacity to approach and solve complex life problems; and rewards and directs the living of life in accord with innate talents..

You can read the rest of Ms. Tippett's reflection, read the transcript, listen to the program, or download it as an mp3 file, at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/play.

Save the Date!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Postpartum Depression in Our Community:

Working Together to Support Mothers & Families

An event for parents, professionals & community members

with Keynote Speaker Ruth Ener

Panel Presentation

Small Group Discussion

For more information, contact

Baby Connections @ 494-0812

Sponsored by the Winona Area Postpartum Depression Network

Author of "Last Child in the Woods" Comes to Winona

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, will be in Winona on Thursday, April 19 to offer a professional development seminar from 1:30 - 4:30 as well as a free talk open to the public at 7 p.m. at Somsen Auditorium, WSU. Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, says child advocacy expert Louv even as research shows that "thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can...be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorder and other maladies." Registration for the professional development seminar is $40 for CEU, $30 non-CEU. Register through Winona COunty Environmental Services; call 457-6405 for more information.

Looking for something to do? Check out these links to local events calendars

If you're looking for events in the Winona area, here are some websites to check out (roughly in order of their usefulness):

Community Calendars

Winona Radio Community Calendar
It's easy to add events to this calendar from Winona Radio, which means that it lists a lot of events that would otherwise fall under the radar.

Visit Winona - Calendar of Events
From the Winona Visitors and Conventions Bureau.

Explore Minnesota - Events
This will list all the events in the southern Minnesota Mississippi River Valley and Historic Bluff Country, from the Minnesota Department of Tourism website.

Mississippi Valley Partnership - Calendar
This link will take you to the home page of Mississippi Valley Partners, a tourism cooperative extending along the river from Red Wing, Minnesota, to Winona, Minnesota, and from Bay City, Wisconsin, to Alma, Wisconsin. At the top right of the home page, click on the Calendar link to see the current month's event calendar.

La Crosse Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
To navigate to the events calendar for the current month, click on "New & Events" in the navigation bar at the top of the home page, and then choose "Events Calendar" from the drop down menu.

Rochester Convention & Visitors Bureau - Upcoming Events
Events for the next three months in Rochester, Minnesota.

Events at Specific Destinations/Organizations

Winona Public Library Children's Department - News and Events
Note that this page is not always kept up to date.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum Events
The museum frequently offers events geared toward children.

La Crosse Children's Museum Events
Another page that may or may not be current.

La Crosse Center Calendar
Calendar of upcoming events at the La Crosse Center.

Minnesota Equestrian Center Show Calendar
Lists upcoming horse shows at the Minnesota Equestrian Center, just outside Winona. Very little information is provided beyond a title and a date, but a contact phone number is usually listed for more information.

Winona Mall Events
The mall frequently sponsors family-friendly events; its events calendar usually lists a title and a date, but no additional information, so call the mall for details.

Whitewater State Park events
Scroll down the page for a list of upcoming events at Whitewater State Park; some appropriate for children.

Winona National Bank - Community Involvement
Provides information on the bank's Easter egg event and summer concerts.

A note to those using this list to update/create the Winona Area Family Events Calendar:

• Generally. we only include events that would be appropriate for families with at least one child aged five and under;
• Generally, we only include events within an hour's drive of Winona, tops; even then, the event would have to be pretty good to justify driving more than 30 minutes;
• When submitting an event, please include as much information as parents need to make a decision about the event -- day(s), time, cost, address and/or directions, short description, and contact information (phone number and/or website, if available) for finding more info.
• Events can be submitted to WinonaECFEPTA [ at ] gmail . com

Why do kids have more energy than adults?

"Why has evolution given children so much energy and their parents so little?" asks NPR reporter John Hamilton. According to the scientists he interviewed, it's all about brain development. But kids' sluggish parents have a role to play, too. Read the whole story at NPR.