Healthy families

Today's parents are ambushed daily by product recalls and safety alerts. Consumer Reports Guide to Childproofing and Safety helps parents manage the madness of everyday safety concerns both in the home and on-the-go. Highlights will be featured in CR's free online child safety hub at www.ConsumerReports.org/childsafety.

This comprehensive book begins in the nursery and travels through the main rooms of every home, then outdoors into the backyard, and finally to the car.

Planning the nursery is one of the first joys of parenthood and it's also the room where most of the action takes place in a baby's first year. Parents want to welcome their new arrival with the safest furnishings and the most thoughtful arrangement of furniture.

The crib is a central focus in this chapter because it's one of the few places where a parent will need to leave the baby alone with the assurance that he's safe.

The guide provides 20 tips for crib safety, while also noting some of the less obvious decorating pitfalls in the nursery:

• Avoid antique furniture, especially cribs, which may be painted with lead-based paint.
• Use furniture tip restraints--even seemingly stable furniture can become a tipping hazard.
• Don't use crib bumpers; they're cute but they were responsible for more than 20 deaths between 1985 and 2005.
• Moms-to-be should let someone else paint, in advance, to avoid exposing mother and baby to paint fumes.
• Keep furniture away from windows because your baby will be a climber sooner than you can say "diaper change!"

Along with the editors of Consumer Reports, the book's co-author is Jamie Schaefer-Wilson, who has long served as an advocate for stronger safety standards and legislation for children's toys and products and currently serves as a safety advocate for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. She is also the mother of two children.

"Parenthood has changed dramatically since our parents raised us--we have home offices, the Internet, toys from China, plentiful high-tech appliances, car seats, SUVs, and the list goes on, with hidden dangers at every turn. Often it takes just one tidbit of information to prevent injury to a child. It's impossible to predict emergencies--but one guarantee you can count on is that kids will be unpredictable and keep you on your toes," said Schaefer-Wilson. "The key is to let kids be kids and help parents find practical ways to make their world safe."

Other topics covered in Consumer Reports Guide to Childproofing and Safety include:

• Is Your Sitter Safety Savvy? All caregivers---baby sitters and even grandparents---need to be reminded about common safety concerns around the house. CR's checklist will help parents ensure that once they find the right caregiver, all safety precautions are properly addressed.
• Playroom Pitfalls: Now, more than ever, parents need to know how to assess the safety of toys and most importantly, how to get the lead out. Plus, safety checklists for your toys--from stuffed animals to toy trucks to play food. Toys tend to multiply daily, how to make the house kid-friendly while reclaiming the home for adults, and ways to identify play hazards.
• Top Summer Fun Tips: CR helps parents avoid top summer fun busters with tips for backyard and playground safety and fun in the outdoors, including how to spot unsafe equipment and toys in the playground. Also, one of the greatest summer pleasures--cut flowers--can present a serious hazard to your children. CR lists poisonous plants and flowers that should be kept out of reach of small children.
• Everyday Objects That Can Harm Your Child: Some surprising tips about household objects we all use every day that can endanger your little one.

Consumer Reports Guide to Childproofing and Safety, Consumer Reports Special Publications; $12.95; (c)May 2008.