How To Photograph Your Baby

How To Photograph Your Baby by Melissa Doran

The February featured speaker for the meeting was none other than our own Jen Goin. She gave a presentation on how to take pictures. After a brief speech by Jen in the beginning, we watched a video by Nick Kelsh called “How To Photograph Your Baby”. The video was very informative. It gave a lot of helpful tips for taking great photos. There is also a companion book that goes with the video, “How To Photograph Your Baby”. The book is available at most book stores. The DVD is available at http://www.howtophotographyourbaby.com/dvd.

Use natural light whenever possible and turn off the flash. The flash adds too much harsh light and the natural light adds dimension to your pictures. Save the flash for snapshots. For best results set your ISO to 400 when your flash is off.

Slow down when taking the picture. Take a breath in and when pushing down the shutter button exhale. Only move your index finger when pushing down the shutter button, not your whole hand to keep your pictures from turning out blurry.

Instead of just taking one picture at a time, just keep snapping away. Since most of us now own a digital camera, you can delete the bad ones without wasting film. This is especially helpful when you are shooting a moving target like kids, babies or animals. You might have to take 100 shots, but out of those 100 you might only get 10 good pictures.

Zoom in on your subject. When you are zoomed out you get a lot of unnecessary clutter and background objects. It takes the focus off of what you are really taking a picture of.

If you’re looking to edit your photos, here are some helpful websites: http://www.piknic.com/, http://www.picasa.google.com/, http://www.lunapic.com/, http://www.photoshop.com/, http://www.fotoflexer.com/. If you have an Mac computer, IPhoto (another editing program) comes standard on your computer.

Backup your photos. Make a folder of all your favorites and save them to an external hard drive. If something happens and your computer crashes at least you have saved all your pictures. The other option is saving them to a website. There are some listed on this website. http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6451_7-6245115-1.html

Most importantly have fun!

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2010 issue of ADCAN Happenings.

Does Your Child still need a Rear Facing Car Seat?

courtesy of ADCAN

January / February 2010 newsletter

by Janinne Gardner

The District of Columbia and the States of Maryland (June 30, 2008) & Virginia (July 1, 2007) all require children be in a car seat or booster through age seven. On their eighth birthday they may begin using the car seat belts. Is this good enough, are your children safe? Interesting enough none of them have requirements for rear facing car seats. Traditionally we use an infant-only seat or a convertible in rear position until the baby is twenty pounds and over 1 year. Again, is your child safe?

Kathy Gutierrez a Car Seat Technician, Nanny & Mother, states an unequivocal, NO to both of these questions! At our November business meeting she educated us on car seat safety. She sites Pediatrics, a professional journal, who says a child under the age of two is 75% less likely to be killed or suffer severe injuries if they are riding in the rear facing position. Kathy also states she believes in the “laws of physics” not the State Law when it comes to the safety of her children and the children in her care. It seems the car seat manufacturers are catching on to this since convertible car seats have a rear facing maximum weight of at least 30/35 lbs and a few are 40/45 lbs. In Sweden, in contrast to the US, where children remain rear facing until they are between 3-5 years old they have substantially lower death and injury rates, about 1 to 2 a year. “Keeping the child at a rear facing position takes the force of an accident off the child’s spinal cord and neck. In a forward facing position the body is held back by the straps but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck and the spinal cord. In the rear facing position the head, neck and torso are cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash (SafetyBeltSafe USA). A human’s neck bones are not mature until between four and six years of age, spinal cord between 3 years and six years.

While legally your children are “allowed” to be in a vehicle seat belt at age eight most children should use a booster until between 10-12 years old so that the shoulder belt and the lap belt are the right fit for the best crash protection. A simple test will determine if your child is ready to be moved from a booster.

Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If your answer to any of the above questions was no, then you should keep your child in a booster seat (SafetyBeltSafe USA).

Kathy gave us some interesting facts to think about:
1. Car seats expire about every six years. A few have a life expectancy of seven or eight years. All car seats have a date that they were made, and should be retired when the instruction manual states. This is because plastic gets old and fails. Check out youtube.com and watch “car seat expiration”.
2. Your child has outgrown his rear facing car seat when he has reached the maximum weight stated by the manufacturer or his head is less then an inch from the top of the seat.
3. Newborns need to be at a 45 degree incline until they can sit up by themselves generally about 6 months.
4. When a child is strapped in, the straps should be tight enough that you can not pinch a horizontal line at the shoulders.
5. Mirrors in front of a rear facing child are dangerous unless they are soft. In the case of an accident the child could rebound into it and may be injured. The Mirrors could also become unattached (no matter how secure they seem) and injure the child or someone else.
6. Mighty Tight only stretches the seat belt, do not use. Your vehicle’s seat belt may need to be replaced if you have been using one.
7. Children in ill-fitting seat belts tend to ride in an incorrect position, either sliding forward to the edge of the seat or slouching downward. Some children are less likely to buckle up, perhaps because the auto seat and belts are not comfortable for them (SafetyBeltSafe USA).
8. In the case of an accident your car seats should be replaced, Britax car seats have a few exceptions (see your manual). Your insurance company should pay for the replacement because it is required to drive your child.
9. Car seats & vehicles have a 40 or 48 lb weight limit on LATCH system. This means if your child weighs 50lbs you will need to use the car’s seat belt to install his car seat. However if your car seat has the new super latch & the car was manufactured after Sept 2005 then you can use latch up to the usable weight of the car seat manufacturer. So in this case if you have a 50lb child and your car seat and car match the criteria for a super latch you may use the LATCH system until the child weights the maximum for the car seat.

I hope this has given you something to think about. It has certainly made me think. I know you are thinking, “my child is uncomfortable sitting rear facing, his legs will be bunched up, what if he breaks his legs” or “my 9 year old will rebel and I can’t make him use a booster when everyone in his class doesn’t.” or “I have driven children for years and never had a problem.”

If you are hesitant to put your two year old back in rear facing he will figure out a way to be comfortable, she will generally cross her legs or put them up on the back seat. Actually with rear facing she will be able to retrieve fallen object much easier making it a less stressful trip with toys and cup falling on the floor, rear facing it will fall in her lap. Go to http://www.cpsafety.com/ for some pictures of rear facing older children. As for her legs breaking: there is no documented case of a rear facing child damaging their legs, hips or internal organs. However the most common injury for forward facing is broken legs (2), and a chance of so much more. If you still don’t believe go to www.joelsjourney.org and just read.

As for the nine year old, safety issues are non-negotiable. You wouldn’t allow him to ride his bike on the highway! Choices regarding his car seat safety are just as important and should not be up to him. Try using a small backless booster that can not be seen from outside the car. This will help position the car seat belt correctly while being less obvious. We can only change the acceptance of this one child at a time.

As for being lucky and never having a problem, great! Just don’t play Russian Roulette with her life. Okay at some point in writing this it has become less about describing our meeting and more about convincing you. I am not sure at what point I became a firm believer, probably between YouTube and JoelsJourney however, I feel as though I have so little control driving around the DC area. I guess I feel that in the car is one place I do have control and if rear facing until four or boosters until ten just helps for that one second…Great! If you would like more information on car seat installation please contact Kathy Gutierrez at kegutierrez@yahoo.com or read her blog, http://www.carseatnanny.blogspot.com/.


SafetyBeltUSA PO Box 553, Altadena, CA 91003; http://www.careseat.org/ 310-222-6860/ 800-745-SAFE
http://carseatqueen.com/rf.aspx

The Nanny Financial Corner - How to have fun with a smaller budget!

The following article appeared in the March/April 2009 ADCAN Newsletter


The Nanny Financial Corner

by Alice Shaffer


How to have fun with a smaller budget! Having fun sometimes takes money, doesn't it? Well I have found 10 ways for you to have fun, look good, stay healthy and still save money. These cover areas from books, movies, exercising, dental care and sightseeing. Let us know what worked for you and what didn't.


1. Buying Books. Books are wonderful, but did you know that you can get them free at the library? Of course you probably do since you take your charges to story time and check out books. So why don't you check out books there instead of buying them at the store for $8-$25 each? You can easily save $100 dollars a month on books by checking them out at the library. Pull out your library card and make a visit today. Many times you can reserve the books online or get on a waiting list.

2. Trade books you’ve read for books you want to read! For the cost of postage, PaperbackSwap members receive credits for books they want by swapping books they’ve read. To get started you just need to fill out the registration form, submit 10 of your books you want to swap (using ISPN numbers) and you receive two credits free to get you started. You can use those credits immediately to get two books from someone else. Each book is worth one credit. Once someone requests a book from you, you mail them the requested book, and when they receive it - you get a credit. Then you can start requesting books you want, and others ship to you. All done through the PBS website, you print shipping labels and can even pay postage through their site. Drop in the mail or at the post office, and you’re on your way to reading some great books. You can also swap children’s books, and audio books. So start going through those shelves and boxes full of old books and make room for new ones. Easy as 1-2-3.

3.DVD purchases: You can go to www.dvdpricesearch.com/ and search for the DVD’s you want and where they are located for the lowest price. Also check out www.deepdiscount.com/, which has a large number of new and old DVD’s at discount rates. Checking out Amazon is a great idea too as they often have DVD sales (remember to shop through the ADCAN Amazon link). I recently purchased the entire Six Feet Under series for $60 and free shipping. At $12 a season, that is better than I could have found at any store. You can also swap DVD’s at SwapaDVD, a sister site to the above PaperbackSwap.

4. Movie Theaters: You can get a frequent movie goer card from AMC called MovieWatcher. You accumulate points each time you go to the movies. At certain levels you earn a free movie, free small popcorn, etc. Just remember it deducts points if you cash in for the free small popcorn instead of waiting for the free movie. Some theaters offer reduced rates before a certain time of the day. For instance, Tyson’s offers $6 movies before noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have found myself going to a Saturday movie at 9:35 am and still have the entire day available. Other movie theaters may have similar programs.


5. Free DVD rental: Mondays are FREE DVD rentals at Redbox. They are normally one dollar for 24 hours. On Monday's they have a code to get one free. Make Mondays your movie night! You can look online for where the movie is available and reserve it. RedBox DVD rentals are available in many area grocery stores. Check their site for more information.

6. Dental plans: Do you need dental care but don't like paying full price? With Dentalplans.com You can pay around $135 a year and get up to 50% off services. This week I went to the dentist and had a panoramic x-ray done. They normally charge $120, but with the plan it was $62. For my three surface cavities I need filled, it will be $111 instead of $205. Right there I saved $150 dollars. I actually have two cavities so that will be a total savings of $242. That is almost the conference fee for INA. If you would like to look into the program go to Dentalplans.com and if you sign up please use my referral code of: 49S97A27. I will receive three free months for each person that signs up. You can also refer someone as well and start building free months too! How awesome is that! The coverage normally starts within three days. You can search to see if your dentist is on the list. If they are not, I can recommend a dentist in Mclean who is awesome and the new one I just visited in Bethesda.

7. Clothes buying: Never pay full price for any new clothes, make sure they are on sale. You can also look at thrift stores as many of them have new unused clothes. Someone I know bought a whole bunch of clothes off Craigslist for $30 and got at least four good outfits out of the purchase. Swap clothes with friends. If you have lost weight pass along your clothes to a friend or try to sell them in lots on Craigslist.


8. INA Conference: Take advantage of the early bird discount of 10%. Or write a 300 word essay on what it means to be a professional nanny for your chance of receiving a free conference fee. Get two or three roommates to cut down the cost of the hotel room. INA is offering a discount code for American Airlines to use for your flight as well. Go to INA for all the conference details.


9. Working out: Did you know that you could arrange with a few of your other friends to have group personal training sessions? A lot of personal trainers will do group sessions. So check this out in your area. This is a great way to work out and stay motivated.


10. Visit Washington DC for FREE entertainment. Did you know that there are 19 museums in the Smithsonian and they do NOT charge an entrance fee? Not many places in the US offer free museum entrance fees. Check out www.si.edu/museums/ to see what is available at your fingertips. You can take the metro to the center of DC to reach many of the museums. The monuments are also a great form of entertainment and history. You can sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and look out onto the Mall of the Smithsonian to watch the 1000s of people walking and visiting our wonderful Nation's capital. Visit www.nps.gov/state/dc/. This will give a listing of all the parks and monuments available in DC. Grab a picnic lunch and head outdoors.


Have other savings suggestions? We'd love to hear them.