Your children should be reminded about the limits of their traveling outside of the home, to ensure their safety. Is it advisable that your child plays where Children at Play signs indicate where there are children at play? If you cannot be with your child during the day, they must know which homes they can visit, and limits to the areas in the neighborhood they are permitted to play in. Next, warn your child to never talk to strangers or accept rides from adults besides their parents or other familiar adults. For very young children, set a curfew that does not expand past dusk. Also, regardless of your child’s age, ensure that he or she checks in frequently.

Next, when other adults are to supervise your children, you should also take precautions. Use several resources that exist, to conduct background checks for potential babysitters. Closely observe your child’s interaction with a babysitter, and particularly watch for any wary responses. Also, do meticulously research potential day-care centers. Review the center’s activities and personnel, and verify that you can visit and leave the day-care center at any time. A wise action to take involves visiting the center unannounced a couple of times, to assess your child’s wellbeing. Thirdly, if you send your child to camp, engage in a background check of the camp and the employees who will be working with your child. In particular, review field trips that your child will go on, and the adult-to-child ratio. It would be wise to request your child’s day-care center or camp to ensure that there are enough Children at Play signs visible where there are children at play.

On the other hand, if your child remains at home, he or she must also take safety precautions. Children at home who receive phone calls must never reveal to anyone that they are home alone. Furthermore, they should never open the house’s front door except for someone who they can trust completely. Also, ensure that children do not have access to objects such as firearms, which could harm them. Instruct your child about how to call emergency numbers, such as 911, for assistance. Inform them that they may also call the number from any public payphone.

Other summertime safety tips for parents with children include:

• Talk frequently to your child about safety issues, and listen carefully to what he or she tells you regarding them.

• Require your kid to memorize his or her name, address, phone number; and how to contact you or another adult who you trust, in the case of an emergency.

• All younger children should be prevented from being near water unless an adult is supervising the child.

Summertime can be a fantastic time for children, creating vivid memories that will last a lifetime. However, take particular precautions, such as having Children at Play signs posted where there are children at play in your neighborhood. This will ensure that your child’s summer will not merely be fun—but also safe!

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Children at Play Signs Child Safety Signs

On average, we need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function optimally. In today’s fast paced and high stress society, a third of the population reports difficulties with sleep, and about 10% of people report chronic insomnia, a condition that involves trouble falling or staying asleep, waking up in the middle of the night or too early in the morning, persistently poor sleep quality, and trouble functioning the next day.

There are many reasons why people have trouble sleeping. High levels of stress, anxiety, and/or depression are often the culprit. Other possible causes include medical problems or conditions, chronic pain, use of certain medications, excessive use of alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine, or the presence of a more complicated sleep disorder (such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome).

In order to address sleep difficulties, it is important to identify the specific cause. It is wise to consult with your family physician to rule out medical problems that could be causing poor sleep.

If sleep problems are caused by depression, anxiety, or high levels of stress, consulting with a psychologist is a good idea, as psychological treatments such as cognitive-behavioural therapy have been shown to very effective at decreasing anxiety and depression and helping people to improve how they cope with stress. Certain medications that target anxiety and depression can also be prescribed by your physician. If an underlying depression or anxiety disorder is properly treated, sleep problems often improve.

Sometimes people have sleep problems or insomnia in the absence of any other psychological difficulties such as depression or anxiety. In these cases, seeing a psychologist can still be very helpful, as certain psychological interventions have been shown to be effective at addressing poor sleep directly. Psychologists can teach you to learn to relax, cope with stress, and improve your “sleep hygiene” (or habits). Psychologists can also use other behavioural strategies to help target sleeping problems. About 75% of people with insomnia report significantly improved sleep after undergoing such psychological treatment.

Family physicians often prescribe hypnotic medications that help people to sleep. These medications are often helpful for individuals who are going through a stressful period. It is advised to only use these medications in the short-term as they can become addictive and less effective if you use them nightly over longer periods of time. Moreover, some of these medications can result in drowsiness and concentration difficulties the following day. Over the counter sleep supplements have generally been found to be ineffective.

As a general rule, sleeping medication can be helpful in the short-term but becomes less effective over time, whereas psychological treatments are effective in the long-term.

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Dr. Jeremy Frank is a Toronto psychologist in private practice in North York.

Maintenance of personal mobility products is beneficial, but wheelchairs are particularly important to maintain and keep in proper working condition, especially if the wheelchair is a vital component for mobility in your life. Proper care and long term maintenance of a wheelchair will help keep it working safely for years, and reduce the risk of injury or the need to replace the chair earlier than needed. The cost of replacing wheelchair parts or accessories can also be reduced, thus saving you money.

Wheelchairs can be expensive, so it’s important to care for and protect your investment. You will most likely be the first to notice any problems with your wheelchair, so make sure you know who to call in case parts need fixing or replacing. Automatic wheelchairs may need professional care, where as manual wheelchairs are often times easier to maintain with common household tools.

Develop a regular preventative maintenance routine, which includes cleaning, inspecting, and adjusting the critical components of the wheelchair. Wipe down the chair with a clean rag regularly. You can even apply car wax to the frame to make cleaning easier. Also, check to make sure all the bolts and nuts are tight, at least once a month. If upper body mobility is limited, ask for help from a family member or caregiver. Also, check to make sure any automatic wheelchair brakes or anti rollback devices are functioning properly.

Always refer to the owner’s manual when performing maintenance on your own wheelchair. The manual has crucial information regarding warranties, how to take care of your specific wheelchair, which tools are necessary to maintain the chair, and sometimes offer options for wheelchair parts and accessories that are compatible with your chair.

Tools are a good investment that can save money over time too. A bag or container to hold essentials like an Allen wrench set, adjustable wrench, spoke wrench, screwdrivers, and tire repair kit can be very useful. They could also be very helpful in case of an emergency.

Also, performing maintenance on your own wheelchair can provide a sense of confidence and reliance on the safety and performance of your chair. Thorough inspections will help in many situations, but also make sure to have the wheelchair serviced by a professional as well. While many routine maintenance tasks can be safely performed at home, the wheelchair can also benefit from periodic check-ups at an authorized service center, as recommended in the owner’s manual.

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The Jerry Ford Company provides revolutionary automatic wheelchair brakes and anti rollback devices for improving the safety of manual wheelchairs.