port coquitlam doula

Think your child is ready for a booster seat?

July 21, 2015

Many parents want to know when their child is ready to ride in a booster seat. In Canada, the law says children can ride in a booster once they reach 40 pounds. Some seats also specify the child must be at least 4 years old, but others don’t, so out in the world, we see many children in boosters as young as 3 or even 2. Why is this a problem, you ask?

The seat belt must fit a child properly to be safe and effective. When a very small child is placed in a booster, often times, the shoulder belt is cutting across the neck instead of being centered on the shoulder, and the lap belt is on the belly instead of over the hips. Poor belt placement puts stress on soft tissue and organs, instead of bone. Poor belt placement can also mean the seat belt is not holding the child as well as it should. This could cause serious injuries when force from the seat belt is exerted on soft tissues such as the belly, damaging internal organs that aren’t being protected by bones.

In addition to fit issues, many children do not possess the impulse control needed to properly sit in a booster seat for the duration of the car ride until they are around 5 ½ or 6 years old. Unlike in a 5-point harness where the child physically cannot move out of position once buckled, boostered children have a lot more freedom. If children are bending forward to pick up a dropped snack, wrenching their torso around to see a passing firetruck, leaning forward to find a book in the seat pocket in front of them, or reaching across the width of the car to poke a sibling, then the seat belt will not be positioned properly, and it will not provide proper protection if a crash occurs. The risk during a crash is the child’s head striking the interior of the vehicle: windows, seats, or other people’s heads.

Some children will fit in their 5-point harness seat until they are 7 or even 8, and leaving them in harnessed seats is a great idea especially if you don’t feel like they can sit properly for the whole ride. Some boostered children will fall asleep and end up leaning out of position either forward or to the side. If this is the case, a 5-point harness is your best bet. However, there are reasons why parents may put children into a booster before they outgrow their harnessed seat. A family may want to pass the harnessed seat down to a younger sibling and move the older child into a booster. Or, perhaps due to frequent carpooling, it may be better to use a booster because other parents may not know how to install your child’s 5-point harness seat. An improperly installed or improperly used harnessed seat is much more dangerous than a properly used booster, provided the child is over 40 pounds and sits properly all the time.

There are other reasons why you may want to delay moving your child into a booster. If you have three car seats installed in a row, it may have been difficult to install those seats, but imagine trying to stick your hand in between to buckle a seat belt every day? In most cases, it’s easier for children to buckle themselves into their 5-point harness rather than wedge their hands between seats to buckle the seat belt. Also, if your child is not quite ready for the booster, and still sometimes moves out of position, it can be quite distracting for you as the driver to keep glancing back in the rear view mirror to check.

If children outgrow their 5-point harness seat, and aren’t ready for a booster, either because of weight or maturity, there are 5-point harness seats with very high top harness slots available, such as the Britax Frontier and the Evenflo Sureride.

So how do you know whether your children are booster-ready? Once your child is consistently over 40 pounds, and at least around 5 ½, you may want to consider booster-training. You know your child best and are the best judge of whether your child is developmentally ready. Take your child booster shopping. Try the booster in your vehicle to insure it fits well, and the seat belt fits well over your child: lapbelt should fit low over the hips or upper thighs, and never over the belly, and the shoulder belt should sit flat in the center of the shoulder, not falling off the shoulder edge, or cutting into the neck. Make sure the shoulder belt retracts back easily if your child moves slightly then moves back. You can start by telling your child that the new seat is for kids who can sit still really nicely in the car, and go over examples of what’s allowed and what’s not allowed while riding in the car. For example, you might tell your child “You can move your arms and legs, but keep your body still so the seat belt always fits properly. If you drop something, you must wait until we stop, and I will get it for you.” You may want to start booster training during short trips where another adult can watch the new booster rider carefully to give feedback or warnings, then gradually try longer rides before putting the child into a booster full-time.

We recommend first putting your child into a high back booster. This establishes some physical boundaries, and high backs have head support for a tired or sleeping child. Once children do well in a high back booster for some time, and no longer fall asleep in the car, you can try a no back booster. Remember that if your vehicle doesn’t have headrests at least up to the tips of the child’s ears, you would need a high back booster in that seating position. In this case, check that you purchase a high back that does not require head support behind it.

So, the key points to remember are:

By law in BC, children must be over 40 pounds, and usually also at least 4 years old, to ride in a booster.
However, many 4 and even 5 year olds aren’t ready for the freedom, so it’s better to keep them in a 5-point harness until they are ready. Don’t be in a hurry to move them into a booster just because all their friends are riding in one. Most are ready by age 5 ½ or 6.
Remember that boosters can *only* be used with lap/shoulder belts, never with lap-only seat belts.
Take your child shopping to get a well-fitting and comfortable booster seat.
Establish some rules with your child to respect the new found freedom that comes with boostering.

Here are some useful links:

A list of technician-recommended booster seats: http://vicarseattechs.com/our-favourite-seats/dedicated-booster-seats/

Information on the booster stage including a list of which high back boosters don’t require head support behind them, and a graphic of good belt fit vs poor belt fit for a boostered rider: http://vicarseattechs.com/2012/to-booster-or-not-to-booster/

To ask car seat questions, or to connect with a local technician, join this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FraserValleyCarSeatSafety/

-Elaine Wardley, CRST

The language of Birth

April 21, 2015

During the training that Nicole and I attended in March, one of the most inspiring things we took away was considering the language we use when we speak about birth. As a culture, we have cultivated a respect for doctors and medical professionals for their dedication to education and experience. Along with this respect comes a natural obligation to use the language that is medically accepted, despite not being accurate or even inspiring.

Labour

Contraction

Delivery

When you think of these, they bring up visions of doctors and hospitals, amongst other things. Labour is a form of hard work, and though birthing women do tend to exert energy I wouldn’t call them “labourers”, likethey’re on a construction site. Contraction is a word that naturally makes you tense up your muscles unconsciously. When you actually think about what “contraction” means- an involuntary cringe without a set beginning or end- it makes your anticipation of it that much more brutal. Who wants to be in fear of their muscles contracting and expanding, without really knowing when it will end? Then there’s “delivery”… as if your baby will be presented to you on your doorstep wrapped in parchment and tied with string. Of course, when a doctor is the one attending your birth, they sometimes like to think that you need to be assisted through your birth with their help, not the other way around, and thus they will deliver your baby to you once they’ve saved you from your strong contractions and prevented you from labouring too hard with all of their tools.

In reality, you birth your baby. Birthing is individual and unpredictable. You feel sensations you’ve never felt before; they come in waves of varying lengths and durations, but they have a gradual flow of beginning.. to middle.. to end. It takes presence of mind to get through such a new feeling, and being afraid of what you will feel only increases the likelihood that you won’t like it. Support during these sensations can be incredibly helpful, especially from someone who understands the feeling and knows how to help you to manage the sensation yourself. When you start experiencing these sensations, you have entered into an incredible time: early birthing. Your body will continue to wave, and the waves will come sooner and last a bit longer together. These waves are the evidence that your body knows how to birth, and your baby is on their way into the world. You will then begin to actively birth, and soon reach transition, the incredible time when your body quiets down after all that sensation, and stores up some last energy before your baby is born. This is when your baby begins to help out a bit more. Your body won’t be able to control when your baby decides it is time; they push their way into the world in a way that isn’t stoppable. It’s a reflex that your baby triggers when the time has come, and then your body responds in an incredible way.

During this time, your care provider should be watching intently, but not interfering, unless it is medically necessary. A birthing mother and her baby have the rights as human beings to birth unassisted, untouched and uninterrupted. Through the entire of your birthing process, this stands true. Sometimes the opportunity will arise when medical intervention is necessary, and in these situations a care provider is a great asset to have around. But in a naturally occurring birth without induction, with a mother who is aware that what her body is doing is natural and amazing, babies tend to be born beautifully into their own mother’s arms …and they definitely aren’t wrapped in paper.

So, when you are imagining the birth you want for yourself and your baby, please consider how the language you surround yourself with affects the environment you birth in. Doctors or midwives, hospital or home, medical intervention or augmention, doulas or other birth supports- you have options to create an environment that promotes a positive birthing process,should you so choose. We encourage you to feel empowered about making decisions that will help you to rock your birth!

Happy Birthing- Erin

“Why are doulas expensive?’

April 16, 2015

I’m often asked why a doula is “So Expensive” And I suppose if you have never broken down the pieces or really know how much time is involved maybe you would think that. Ridge Meadows Doula Services Charges $1200. Here is a breakdown of our expenses.

Consultation/Interview- we consider this free, we are willing to share as much time with you as you need to ensure you get a good idea of who we are. We explain our philosophy, the advantages of a doula, our experience, our beliefs on birth and we let you see a part of our sparkling personalities. When we are hired we give you immediate phone and email support. Some families email every day, this is great— it helps build our relationship.

Prenatal #1– This is a 2-hour commitment with 2 doulas, the birther and her partner. We learn how the pregnancy has been going, how involved your partner wants to be, we build a birth plan in detail, we talk about the ins and out of a hospital or home birth and we go through our doula bag.

Prenatal #2– This is also a 2-hour commitment with 2 doulas. We explore your hopes and fears of births and work through them individually. We go over and practice comfort measures and teach you how to use our tens machine. Then we remind you to switch gears, we talk about after baby is born… Freezer meals, guests or no guests, breastfeeding etc.

The birth– For RMDS there is no right or wrong time to call us, it is when you need us.

Sometimes we come over, tuck you in and read on your couch.

Sometimes we come over and once everyone is settled we fall asleep also.

Sometimes we hook up the tens machine and remind you of the birth you are wanting.

Sometimes we come over and we start massaging and hip squeezing right away.

Sometimes you are rocking it on your own and we remind you of it.

Sometimes we meet you at the hospital.

Sometimes we come and start setting up the birth pool right away.

When we are there we support you for as many hours as needed. We have had births in 4 hours and births in 50 hours. We don’t leave right when a baby will be born, so we plan for the long haul. When we plan we arrange childcare, throw a meal in the slow cooker, we miss soccer practices, doula night outs, birthdays with friends and families. It’s our life. Our phone is on and we go to bed early, we skip the glass of wine, we make sure our car has gas and we have our doula bag by the front door. This is the doula life. And this is part of the job.

Postpartum Visit- This visit is many things. We often talk about and celebrate the birth. We help with breastfeeding, teach you first bathing techniques if needed, let you shower while we hold baby. We don’t expect a cup of tea, heck, we will get YOU a cup of tea. We want to connect, support, and encourage you. This takes time, 2 hours-ish.

So yes, doulas are expensive, even after all the hours we are with our clients we go out and we spend our money educating ourselves by taking additional workshops and classes.

Why do we do it? Because we love it because we believe every woman deserves to have informed choice, because birth matters!

Happy Birthing, Nicole

What does a doula bring to a birth with her?

April 9, 2015

What does a doula bring to a birth with her?

We arrive to a birth supplied with a whole shlew of items to help us help a birthing woman. Sometimes, we use every single item. Sometimes, we use nothing but ourselves.

There are definitely a few go-to items that are incredibly handy:

Essential oils. Particularly lavender, peppermint and orange. They help to relieve tension, control emotion and provide distraction.

Massage tools. Most often these are our hands, as well as the partner’s or birthing buddy’s hands. Though we do have some tools to help out if hands aren’t quite enough, as well as some massage oil and lotion.

Food. Birth is a big event that requires sustenance! Energy rich, nourishing snacks and healthy drinks like coconut water take up nearly half of my birth bag.

Battery operated candles. These help create a nice ambiance in hospital rooms, as well as are a safe option to not have to think about burning someone’s house down while they’re home birthing.

Rebozo. This is a fancy name for a handwoven scarf that is used in a series of techniques for relieving tension and providing comfort. They are a gorgeous addition to the dynamic of the birthing room, and something to concentrate your attention on while you’re birthing.

Hot water bottle/heat pack. Birthing woman love warm sensation. Heat is a great way to relieve tension and distract from a wave.

Phone charger. Birth sometimes takes a while, which is totally normal. I like having a full charge so I have access to the resources stored on my phone that I may need.

Change or a Visa . Hospital parking is blinking expensive sometimes! We come prepared!

Change of socks. Nobody likes smelly feet; Especially not pregnant women. In addition, gum and mints are also abundance.

(For me, Erin, in particular) breast pump & cooler. One of the reasons I am so good with Breastfeeding support, is because I am actively participating in it haha. I pump at intervals when I am not needed during a birth so I have milk to supply my littlest with when I get home.

A tens machine (read more about them here)

These are just some of the things we at Ridge Meadows Doula Services all carry, but every doula is a bit different depending on what their particular strengths are. At the end of the day, our desire to support is the best tool we possess.

Happy Birthing, Erin