National sex offender registry tracks known sex offenders

Before you buy a house or choose a childcare, check the national sex offender registry to see who lives in that neighborhood.

The easy to use registry allows you to search by zip code. Results show not only where known sex offenders live but also where they work. Detailed descriptions of each registered offender include photos, physical description, and a brief summary of the offense.

Check near your house, your childcare, your child's school and anywhere else you spend a lot of time with your child.

National Sex Offender Registry

Celebrate Earth Hour 2010

Earth Hour is a reminder that our resources on this planet are limited and we need to conserve them. For an hour, turn off your lights, unplug your computer, and give the earth a much needed rest.

Earth Hour 2010 is Saturday March 27th at 8:30pm.

Earth Hour is happening at a time when most childcare providers are not working. But you can still take the opportunity to help your children learn about resources and conservation.

Here are some ideas to help children learn about Earth hour:

• Unplug - Unplug or turn off all electrical appliances. Talk about what uses electricity and where electricity comes from.
  
  
• Cook without electricity - Head outside and make a small campfire. Let the kids roast hot dogs and make S'mores. How else could you cook if you had no electricity. What fooeds could you eat?
  
  
• Invent new games - Have each child work alone or work in teams to invent games that don't use electricity. Or teach your children some old-time favorites like 'kick the can' and 'freeze tag'.
  
  
• Pretend power failure - It can be inconvenient when the power goes out, but it can also be fun. Gather flashlights and candles, some board games or cards, and spend an evening without lights or power.
  

Proposal pushes to ban toys in children's meals

Santa Clara county in California is pushing to ban toys in children's meals, claiming it sends the wrong message to kids. Childhood obesity is a growing issue, and fast food meals are notoriously full of fat and sodium.

The proposal will be voted on next month.

What do you think? Why do you eat at fast food restaurants? The convenience? Your kids will eat it? The toy?

Toddler wanders away from Austin daycare

An 18 month boy wandered away from an Austin, Texas Tutor Time. He was found walking next to a busy road. While the child was not injured, his parents are obviously upset that this was allowed to happen. Tutor Time says that the hole in the fence that the toddler escaped through has been fixed.

Toddler wanders away from Austin daycare

Be our fan on Facebook

Daycarematch is on Facebook. Join us today and get tips on how to find daycare, share ideas with other parents and childcare providers, and even search for daycare right on Facebook.

Become a fan of Daycarematch today!

New look coming for Daycarematch

We're working on redesigning Daycarematch and are excited to launch the new look of our site. Check back......the new look should be live in the next couple weeks.

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Swine flu information for childcare providers

We received the following email from the National Association of Family Childcare and thought it was information worth passing on.


NAFCC has been working closely with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as the CDC has been considering the implications of the flu pandemic for family child care. With the recent outbreak of the swine influenza, the Center for Disease Control has requested that NAFCC inform our membership of the following precautions to prevent the potential spread of swine influenza.
The CDC has identified cases of swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in people from several states including California, Kansas, Texas, New York and other states (see updates at www.cdc.gov/swineflu). CDC is working with local and state health agencies to investigate these cases. It has been determined that this virus is spreading from human to human.
Mexico has reported increased levels of respiratory disease including reports of severe pneumonia cases and deaths. The swine-origin influenza viruses identified by CDC from cases in Mexico are similar to viruses from patients in the United States. As of April 29, 2009, of 91 patients identified thus far in the US, most have recovered, but five have been hospitalized and one patient, a child, has died. However, the CDC is concerned about these cases in the United States and the World Health Organization are concerned about continued spread of this new virus. Right now, there is no vaccine for this new virus and the current seasonal influenza is thought to be unlikely to provide protection against this new strain.

For more detailed information about what child care providers should be doing to prevent the potential infection or spread of this disease, please copy and paste the following link in your browser; http://www.nafcc.org/documents/cdcproviderrecommendations.pdf or click here.

For up to date information, please see the CDC’s Website or view their swine influenza specifics site click here.

For a printable flyer to distribute to your parents and colleagues, please copy and paste the following link into your browser; http://www.nafcc.org/documents/preventingtheflu.pdf or click here.

Food allregy awareness week - May 10-16, 2009

Food Allergy Awareness Week

Take Action, Prevent Reaction - May 10-16, 2009

In 1997, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) created Food Allergy Awareness Week to educate others about food allergies. Approximately 12 million Americans have food allergies. Thatʼs one in 25. In the U.S., food allergy reactions result in 50,000
emergency room visits and 150 deaths each year.

My 4 year old son was diagnosed with an allergy to peanuts and tree nuts about three years ago. His allergy inspired me to start www.allergyapparel.com to remind his caretakers of his allergy. I design shirts for children with food allergies. His allergy has also inspired me to help to raise awareness. I would like to take this time to make you aware of a few important allergy statistics,
information, and tell you how you can help.

As the mother of a child who attends preschool I am asking parents to READ READ READ. Read the labels. It is amazing what contains allergens. Soap, lip balm, lotion; even some sponges contain nuts, milk, and other allergens.

Statistics:
• Eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions in the U.S.:milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g.,walnuts, almonds,
cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
• Though reasons for this are poorly understood, the prevalence of food allergies and associated anaphylaxis appears to be on the
rise.
• The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children-one in 17 among those under age 3.
• Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction.

How you can help:
• Wash your hands and your childʼs hands with soap and water after eating.
• Clean the area where you ate with a cleanser.

Remind your child:
• Not to share food with friends who have food allergies
• Ask what your friends are allergic to, and help them avoid it.
• If a friend who has food allergies becomes ill, get help immediately!

Common warning signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction:
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. The most common causes of anaphylaxis are food, medication,
insect stings, and latex.
• Complaint of a tingling, itchiness, or metallic taste in the mouth
• Hives
• Difficulty breathing
• Swelling and/or itching of the mouth and throat area
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Cramps and stomach pain
• Paleness (due to a drop in blood pressure)
• Loss of consciousness

If you see someone showing any of these symptoms, ACT FAST! CALL 911, mention anaphylaxis, and say you need someone who
can administer epinephrine.

Help me keep my kiddo and others safe. Be aware and help us raise awareness. Read a book at your childʼs school about food allergies, give a presentation to a local school or to a club, team, or organization to educate others about food allergies. Visit http://
www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/books-child.html to find a book about food allergies.

Would you like to support a local Mom? Both Nutty Scurries to School and No Nuts for Nutty were written and illustrated by Virginia mothers and are available at Amazon.com.
☛ Facts and statistics were obtained from foodallergy.org

Thank you to Teresa Green from Allergy Apparel for this article

We're on Myspace

We're having such a great response from Facebook that we decided to try out MySpace too.

Check out our profile.....
www.myspace.com/daycarematch

We're still learning how to use it, so have patience with us. If you have any pointers, we'd love to hear them.

All this technolgy is both amazing and overwhelming. I'm curious about Twitter too. Maybe you'll be seeing tweets from Daycarematch sometime in the future. I supposed I should learn how to send text messages first. Between parenting the kids and running our website, there's simply not enough time.

So check out our MySpace page and become our friend, or fan, or whatever term MySpace uses.

Check out our Cafe Press store for help advertising your childcare

We mentioned this in our newsletter a while ago, but it's worth mentioning again. We heard from many providers who wanted more options to spread the word locally about their childcare, so we created some products and started a Daycarematch Cafe Press store.

We've created yard signs, bumper stickers, license plate holders.

If you have an idea for a product, let us know! We'll add it to our store as quick as we can.

Economy affects daycare providers

We recently asked the daycare providers listed on our site to let us know if the current economy is affecting their business. We are so thankful to those providers who responded.

It sounds as though the downturn in the economy is making its way to childcare providers. Several providers who responded said that they typically have a waiting list for their childcare, but that recently that list has disappeared. Several providers also reported getting less calls from parents interested in childcare.

With many families tightening their budgets, many families are trying to save money. One daycare provider reported that they are still getting calls from parents tring to find daycare, but that parents are now trying to negotiate a lower rate.

Several providers who responded said they have received termination notices from families who either lost a job or had a reduction in pay and are trying to save money by eliminating childcare.

Based on the information from the daycare providers who responded to us, it sounds as though providers are seeing a reduction in the number of kids in their care and a decrease in the number of parents looking for childcare.

How can you keep your openings full during this economy? Well, of course keep your profile on Daycarematch updated. And try to complete your profile with as much information as possible so you show up higher in our search results.

Do you have other ideas on markeing your childcare in this economy? Share it with others by leaving a comment.

Cloth diapers at daycare

We thank Michelle from Snooty Booty Diapers for this article on some pointers for using cloth diapers at daycare....
________________________________________________________________

There are many reasons to use cloth diapers, with the environment and saving money at the top of many lists. Yet there are many interested parents who don’t cloth diaper or only use cloth part-time due to daycare concerns. Many parents assume that cloth diapers are not allowed at daycare, but this is not often the case.

Some daycare facilities say they “can’t” use cloth diapers. This is personal policy rather than law. States have varying regulations on diapering procedures, but cloth is rarely, if ever, prohibited. A daycare’s refusal to use cloth may stem from a misunderstanding of regulations, unfamiliarity with modern cloth diapers, or the perception that cloth diapers are more work.

What should you do if you want to use cloth diapers at daycare? Here are some tips:

• Find your state’s regulations on diapering at daycare. Plan how you can make it easy for your daycare to follow the regulations. If your state requires that all diapers soiled with fecal matter be put into plastic bags, for instance, then offer to supply the plastic bags.
  
• Show your daycare provider how easy cloth can be. Bring easy diapers to use-pocket diapers or all-in-one diapers often have velcro closures and are very similar to disposables. If your daycare provider has the idea of complicated folds and pins, these innovative diapers may change his/her mind.
  
• If cloth diapering for health reasons, make sure to provide a doctor’s note.
  
  

In short, present cloth diapering is a positive way and bring samples of the diapers you plan to use. Show your provider how easy cloth can be and how you will help follow state laws. If your daycare provider can feel confident using cloth and knows that all regulations are being followed, you will have an easier time of convincing him/her to try cloth.

Tech free time for families

Technology creeping into more and more aspects of our lives has been an issue for me for a while. While I can’t deny the value of many of these gizmos and gadgets, I think that our increasing reliance on technology is degrading our personal relationships and killing our ability to communicate with other people. And by communicate, I mean actual face to face communication, taking a pen and putting it to paper, or even making a phone call.
Learning that Leap Frog is planning the release of the “Text and Learn”, a smart phone looking device aimed at toddlers, sent me over the edge. The Leap Frog website touts that “learning modes offer practice with letter matching, shape identification and QWERTY keyboard”. In this age where kids are already overscheduled, does a toddler really need to “exchange text messages with their puppy pal Scout, check Scout's planner to see what his week entails” as the product description states? To me, this toy represents two much larger issues with our current society.

First, it is an acceptable lesson of childhood for a child to learn that some things are not toys. Children do not need a toy phone to keep them from playing with their parent’s phone. Children need to be taught that the phone is not a toy. Many things will continue to literally or figuratively be out of reach and learning the coping skills to deal with that will serve children well throughout life. While I’ll readily admit that sometimes the easier parenting choice is tempting, I think that battles fought when children are young lay a strong foundation for later on.

Second, is how technology is eroding our relationships. Nowhere is this more important than within each family. So often when I see families out in public, at least one person is engaged not with the other family members, but with some gizmo. It goes for both parents and children and I think it sends the wrong message. It sends the message that you’re unwilling to give your full attention to the person you’re currently with or that you are waiting for a better offer or something more interesting to come along. What might parents learn if they talked with their children at the grocery store? How might a child feel to hit a great shot in the game only to look in the stands and see that their parent didn’t see because they were busy checking email. Do you really feel heard if during your entire conversation your spouse has their bluetooth ear piece on?

These gadgets have their place in the work world. I can even see their value in helping families keep in contact or organize their schedules. But there needs to be tech free family time. A lot of tech free time. Turn off your cell phone, leave your Blackberry at the door, turn off your Ipod, refrain from checking email, turn off the computers and TV, and truly focus on each other as individuals, as family members, as people who you truly care about.

We wont be getting a “Text & Learn”. Our children learn their letters by looking at books and reading street signs. They learn their colors by coloring and painting. And if they want to check our dog’s schedule, they’ll ask if they can take him in the backyard to play fetch.

Spring clean your Daycarematch provider profile

Our main goal of Daycarematch is to provide parents with an easy way to find childcare providers and give childcare providers an easy and cost-effective way to advertise. Put those together and our overall goal is to "connect parents and providers"

We need you, the childcare providers, to keep your information accurate and updated. Not only will that help your profile be more valuable to parents, it will also help you show up higher in our search rankings.

The order in which provider profiles show up in the search results depends on several criteria:
- how closely the profile matches the parent's search criteria
- completeness of the profile
- date last updated
- does the profile include photos

Accurate and updated information is important to us. We offer a $25 monthly incentive and a $250 quarterly incentive for updating your profile each month.

Not listed on Daycarematch yet? Join us! It's FREE!

Vote for Daycarematch

We've thrown our hat into the race to be listed as one of the top 200 Mom Businesses by Startup Nation. Help us win by voting for us!

Should childcares be peanut free?

We have close friends whose children have allergies. Her son's allergies are so severe that he started to react when a child walked into their home carrying a piece of toast with peanut butter on it. Just the smell of the peanut butter was enough to make her son start coughing and wheezing.

I know many schools are struggling with how to keep children with allergies safe. I'm wondering what childcare providers are doing? What are guidelines parents can use when looking for daycare or preschool for ther child with food allergies?

Should a childcare be completely peanut free? Should a childcare also be free of other common allergens? If so, how does that affect parents of other children?

Our son starts kindergarten this fall. I don't know how the school addresses peanut allergies, but I do know that if peanut butter is not allowed at all, we are going to have a very hungry toddler until he decides to expand his preference for lunch. He eats a PB & J almost every day. I want our son to have a healthy and filling lunch, but I also want to honor the other children with allergies.

What do you in your childcare? How to you address food allergies? Do you allow foods that contain common allergens, like peanut butter?

Food allergies? Great ways to warn others

Food allergies seem so common now. We have several close friends whose children have allergies so we've watched them scan every food box for a list of ingredients, interview waiters on what's in the chicken nugget breading, and drill into their children that they can't have any snacks at a friend's house.

Whenever there's more than one child, keeping track of what child can eat what can be a challenge. Parents might want to consider these products any time their child is going to be with other children or in a new situation, like when the child starts at a new childcare provider.

Here are some fun ways for parents to let others know about what foods their child is allergic to.

Allergyapparel A stay-at-home Richmond mom came up with shirts and hoodies to protect her own son who has a food allergy.

Sansgluten offers products for wheat, peanut, gluten, dairy, and egg allergies. They have a great selection of products including clothes, lunch bags, tote bags, and more.

Allergators includes cute alligator characters warning of food allergies. They also offer wristbands.

Alert Clothing Company has bright and colorful designs on shirts and tote bags.

Kids Aware has a wide selection of products from shirts to bags to pouches to carry epi pens.

A new study raises concern about the safety of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Increasing in use over recent years, high fructose corn syrup is used as a sweetner in many foods from sauces to jellies. And it turns up places you wouldn't expect, like breads, cereals, lunch meats and yogurt.

The study, conducted by the Institute of Agiculture and Trade Policy, found traces of mercury in almost one third of popular foods tested that have HFC as the first or second ingredient.

Foods that tested positive for traces of mercury include:

• Quaker Oatmeal to Go Bars
• Jack Daniel's Barbecue Sauce
• Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
• Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
• Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
• Manwich Sloppy Joe
• Market Pantry Grape Jelly
• Smucker's Strawberry Jelly
• Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry
• Hunt's Tomato Ketchup
• Wish-Bone Western Sweet and Smooth Dressing
• Coca-Cola Classic
• Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
• Minute Maid Berry Punch
• Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink
• Nesquik Chocolate Milk
• Kemps Fat Free Chcolate Milk

We avoid HFCS in our house as much as we can. I scan ingredients and choose foods that don't include it. For example, Boboli pizza sauce has HFCS. Kroger brand does not. I buy the Kroger brand. Check your labels, even on food that you don't think will have it. We switched brands of bread that we buy because our old brand listed HFCS as one of the first ingredients. And remember, ingredents are listed in order of how much of that ingredient is in a product. So if HFCS is one of the first ingredients, that product contains HFCS as one of the main ingredients.

Consider natural products over synthetic ones. Pancake syrup is almost completely sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. Natural maple syrup contains only natural sugars.

This is only one study, and it certainly didn't test all products out there. It didn't even scientifically prove that HFCS is the source of the mercury. But scientists propose that the only possible source of the contamination is HFCS.

Even if HFCS is found to not be the source of the mercury, it's still not a good choice for a healthy diet and should be consumed in small quantities, if at all.

Check out this WebMD article on High Fructose Corn Syrup
And read the IATP press release

Lose your juice box - help the environment and your wallet

Do you send a juice box with your child to school or to daycare? They're easy to pack, fairly cheap, and at least in our house, fairly guaranteed to be drank.

But think about this... Say you send a juice box with your child each day of the week. Multiply those 5 juice boxes a week times 52 weeks in the year, and you end up with 260 juice boxes. 260 juice boxes that eventually end up in the landfill. 260 juice boxes that probably cost you about $130.

Instead, consider buying a reusable bottle that you can fill with water, juice, watered down juice, or whatever your child likes to drink. When deciding what bottle to buy, do some research on Bisphenol A (BPA), and come to your own conclusion on whether you trust a bottle that contains BPA.

If you're looking for bottles that are BPA free, two great options are www.sigg.com and www.kleankanteen.com.

Both Sigg and Klean Kanteen bottles come in great colors. Our son and daughter loved picking out their own bottles and now use those almost exclusively when we are out and about.

And the best part, reusable bottles don't send a fountain of juice all over the inside of your car when your toddler accidentally squeezes them too hard.