Category Archives: Childcare

Child Passenger Safety Laws

Child passenger restraint requirements vary based on age, weight and height. Often, this happens in three stages: infants use rear-facing infant seats; toddlers use forward-facing child safety seats; and older children use booster seats.

Many laws require all children to ride in the rear seat whenever possible, and most states permit children over a particular age, height or weight to use an adult safety belt.

Learn More About Occupant Protection
Adult Seat Belt Laws: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/seatbelt_laws.html
Occupant Protection: http://www.ghsa.org/html/issues/occprotection/index.html
Best Practices for Children: http://www.ghsa.org/html/publications/opc.html 

First offense fines for not complying with a state’s child passenger safety laws vary from $10 to $500. Some states also use driver’s license points as an additional penalty for noncompliance.

* All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands require child safety seats for infants and children fitting specific criteria.
* 48 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require booster seats or other appropriate devices for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are still too small to use an adult seat belt safely.
* The only states lacking booster seat laws are Florida and South Dakota.
* 5 states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) have seat belt requirements for school buses. Texas requires them on buses purchased after September 2010.

Texas:
Child restraint required for children age: <7 and <57″
Adult safety belt: not permissible for children!
Maximum fine 1st offense: $25 minimum 

 

 

Halloween Safety Tips

 

Halloween can be a lot of fun but it is also a time when safety should come first. Here are some tips for next week:

  • Adult supervision is essential. Always accompany the children if they are going door to door to trick or treat
  • Try trick-or-treat-friendly homes. Ensure the children only visit houses with lights on. And, you might also suggest the houses they visit have some sort of Halloween decoration on the porch.
  • Stay outside. Make sure the children don’t go inside someone’s house. They can trick or treat on the porch.
  • Remain visible. Dress the children in bright costumes or have them wear reflective strips or carry a glow stick or flashlight.
  • Quality-check treats. Check the candy before they eat it. Throw out any candy that is not in its original wrapper or looks like it has been tampered with.
  • Say “no” to strangers. Remind the children to never accept a ride or go anywhere with a stranger.

Why Choose an Au Pair?

 

Flexible and Dependable Care: 
No two weeks are the same with most households. Hosting an au pair provides the flexibility and convenience you need to simplify your life. With an au pair, you will be able to create your own child care schedule of up to 10 hours per day and up to 45 hours per week. By having your child care provider living in your home, dealing with sick days, snow days and life’s little surprises has never been easier.

A Cost-Effective Solution:
You will receive 45 hours of child care for just $361 per week, regardless of how many children you have. If you have full-time school-age children we offer a 30 hour per week Educare® for just $290 per week.

When you compare the cost to other child care solutions, including a nanny or day care, you will find an au pair can be a surprisingly cost-effective solution. Choosing our Extended Payment Plan, spreading out payments several month makes it even more affordable.

Full Service:
With exceptional child care, you should expect exceptional service. You will receive comprehensive program support including assistance with selecting your au pair, coordinating logistics, providing orientation for your family and au pair, year-round local support, medical insurance for your au pair and 24/7 emergency assistance. With a quarter century of experience, we are able to accommodate and anticipate the needs of host families. Our local, professional Community Counselors reside in your area and provide daily, ongoing, local support to you and your au pair to ensure a happy and successful experience. 

Expert Matching: 
At Au Pair in America, we offer Expert Match, a flexible and effective approach to finding the caregiver that is a perfect fit for your family. You may search for your au pair with our user-friendly online search tool, our mobile app or work with our professional placement team to find the perfect au pair for your family. Should you require additional assistance, we are ready and willing to accommodate.

Large Pool of Au Pairs: 
With Au Pair in America, you will have access to the largest pool of au pairs in the world. Applicants come from more than 60 countries on five continents and our multi-tiered screening ensures that only the most exceptional and qualified au pairs are accepted. View our au pairs available now. 

An Enriching Experience: 
With Au Pair in America, your family is getting more than just great child care. Your children will receive a global education during their most formative years, learning about the world and your au pair’s culture and customs. In addition, many parents want their children to be bilingual. The constant exposure and reinforcement provided by an au pair are the best ways to immerse children in a new language. 

Orientation and Expert Training:
Your au pair will have recent and practical child care experience, the details of which you will be able to review in their application. In addition, all of our au pairs complete a pre-departure online training segment and attend a comprehensive four-day orientation program that features: child development training, child safety training and adaptation training.

During orientation, all of our au pairs receive exclusive Red Cross® training composed of seminars and hands-on demonstration and with training exercises for infant/child CPR and safety, plus sanitization and illness prevention.

Au Pair in America has also partnered with AAA, the nation’s most trusted name in driver safety and instruction, to offer a custom classroom course specifically designed for au pairs. Exclusively for our au pairs, the AAA driving course is one of a kind, tailored to the needs of the international driver and specific to the safety needs of driving children in a car.

Program options to fit your family:
Whether your children are infants or school aged, Au Pair in America has the solution for your family. Choose from Au Pair, Extraordinaire, or EduCare to satisfy your child care needs.

Organizational Strength; 
Au Pair in America is a division of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), which has provided educational and cultural exchange programs for more than 50 years. Our resources enable reliable visa processing, comprehensive insurance for au pairs and discounts for host families interested in any of AIFS’s renowned programs.

 

 

Caring for a Sick Child

When a child has less energy than usual, is unusually cranky, has less of an appetite, or just doesn’t seem him/herself, chances are the child is sick. Fever is a sign a child is fighting an illness or infection. Fevers are usually not serious and can be cared for at home. It is typical for younger children to run higher fevers than older children. Fevers are also often higher in the evening than in the morning. Be alert for rash, earache, stomachache or sore throat, as these may indicate more serious problems.

A child’s temperature can be taken orally, under the armpit, or with special thermometers only in the ear. Au pairs and host families should discuss the preferred method for that family. A child has a fever if the temperature is 99.4’F (37.4’C) when taken by mouth or under the arm. Be sure the thermometer is shaken down first, and left in place for 3 minutes in the mouth or 6-8 minutes in the armpit. Talk or read to the child while you are taking his/her temperature. Never leave a child alone with a thermometer.

When a child has a fever, he or she needs more rest than usual and should not be awakened. Quiet play is fine, but too much activity can aggravate a fever. Children should be dressed in light layered clothing. Liquids are very important – offer water, juice, fruit drinks, tea, popsicles, Jello or soup.

Some children might enjoy stirring their tea with a lollipop, or having soda as a special treat. Host families and au pairs should discuss appropriate medication and desired dosage. Do not offer children aspirin; consider instead acetaminophen or ibuprofen, but only with the approval of a host parent. If a child’s fever is over 103’F, a lukewarm bath might be comforting. If a child vomits, offer small amounts of liquids, but no dairy products. Within the first 24 hours the diet should be limited to clear liquids, bananas, plain white rice, applesauce and plain toast.

When children are sick they will need an extra dose of patience, attention, affection and comfort even more than they need medicine or special diets. Although basic rules and discipline should not change, a child may be more dependent on adults when he or she is ill. Extra imagination and creativity is needed to keep a sick child entertained with quiet pastimes. Children will welcome novelties – use a baking sheet as a tray to assemble a puzzle in bed or to keep crayons from rolling away; create a story with stuffed animals and a flashlight under a blanket.

Warning signs – It is time to ask for more help if a child:

• has a fever higher than 104’F (40’C)
• is very cranky, sluggish or doesn’t awaken easily
• has trouble breathing
• is confused, or vomits repeatedly
• is unable to swallow or is drooling
• has a convulsion or seizure
• has dry lips, sunken eyes, little or no urine or dark yellow urine