Until recently, safety experts recommended that children remain in rear-facing car seats, in the back seats of cars, until they are at least one year old and twenty pounds. (No state, including Virginia, requires that children sit in rear-facing car seats after reaching their first birthday or weighing twenty pounds.) Recently, however, the American Academy of Pediatrics  recommended that children remain in the back seat in rear-facing car seats until their second birthday.  Why? Because it’s safer.

I would have thought that parents would want to do whatever they could to keep their child safe, even if it meant they would be inconvenienced. Evidently, I was wrong.

According to today’s front-page article in the Washington Post, parents are irate because “toddlers can’t take another year of riding backward,” even though evidence is that children younger than two years are about 75% more likely to die or suffer serious injury if they are front-facing.

I think that the “they’re legs are scrunched up” argument is baloney — children’s legs are fine — and the “they’re so antsy in rear-facing” is, too — an antsy toddler is going to be antsy whether forward or rear facing.

I’m calling parents out. The objecting parents REALLY want to turn the seats around so that the driver and front passenger seats can go back farther — so the grownups can be more comfortable. It’s a comfort issue. I know it’s inconvenient for tall parents in smaller cars, but, read Why Rear-Facing Is Safest and think again before you make the wrong decision for your child.  It’s only a year. Don’t take the chance.

For more information about keeping your child safe, in cars and elsewhere, get my new book, When the Bough Breaks, a parent’s guide to keeping your child safe. Send an email to Janelle @RohrstaffLaw.com, call us at 703-260-6070, or contact us through our website, RohrstaffLaw.com, and request your free copy.

I don’t know about where you live, but here it’s icy and cold outside — definitely not bicycle weather. However, there are plenty of outdoor winter sports that children enjoy and that can be dangerous if they don’t have a helmet to protect their brains.

Lots of children ski and rarely do they ski without proper headgear. However, lots of children also sled in the snow. Sometimes those sledding excursions are down steep hills in backyards and neighborhood parks. Sometimes, those hills end at a fence or a street or several trees.  Sometimes, children cannot stop in enough time to keep from running into the fence, street or trees. Sometimes, children do not have proper headgear when they go outside to play in the neighborhood snow with friends.

Without proper headgear, those casual neighborhood play times can be the most dangerous. Your child’s head needs to be covered with more than just enough to keep her ears warm. She needs a helmet to protect her from a brain injury.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons reports that, in 2008, winter sports was one of the top ten sports/ recreational causes of head injuries in children under the age of 14.

No state requires helmets for winter sports. Don’t wait for a state mandate. Please put your child in protective headgear every time she walks out the door to go sledding in the winter. Even mild traumatic injuries can be devastating to a child’s brain.

The study reported that although the vast majority of athletes’ symptoms (83.4%) resolved within one week of concussion, 1.5% had symptoms that lasted as long as one month.

ESPN The Magazine (perhaps not the most reliable source about medicine, but a source that has a pretty good “read” on things pertaining to sports) recently did a survey of folks involved in high school football (players, coaches, trainers, parents) and found some interesting results. According to its survey, the players themselves were perceived as being the biggest block to diagnosis and prevention.  They evidently just don’t want to tell when they are injured or how badly they are hurt.

Let’s be clear:  A concussion is a BRAIN INJURY.  Symptoms can seem rather ordinary — headache, confusion, dizziness — but can be serious. It is critical that symptoms be treated immediately.

So, if your child suffers a concussion while playing a sport, would you want him to have to pass a neuropsychological test before he returns to playing the sport?

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not anti-football. I grew up in South Texas, my father was a high school football coach. In Texas, a high school football coach is more prestigious than the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and there’s a football team in every town and every city school, and the whole community comes out to the games. All three of my brothers played in high school or beyond. My son has been an avid fan since he was very young. However, as a mother, I was glad that he decided not to make football his sport.

Broken bones are one thing, but brain injuries are of a totally different magnitude. Brain injuries, especially in children and teens whose brains have not yet fully developed, can have devastating, life-long effects.

Football gear is being improved all the time, but  we have yet to make football safe. (Some might say that improvements in the safety gear have actually encouraged a more violent game, but that’s for another blog posting.)  Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is using THUMS (Total Human Model for Safety) software that Toyota developed to study the causes of injury in car crashes. THUMS is a virtual model of the human body that goes beyond traditional crash test dummies to include  internal structures like organs, bones, ligaments, tendons and muscle. Researchers hope to be able to see how car crashes (and football hits) affect human tissue.

Wake Forest researchers are using THUMS to better understand how to treat injured players and are also working to find ways to make football helmets safer.

I hope Wake Forest, Toyota and others find ways to make football safer for our children. In the meantime, be sure your son’s football coaches and school administrators provide the best helmets available, that they know how to fit and maintain them, and that they do not let boys play without the most important piece of safety equipment there is. Your son’s brain is worth it.

If you suspect your son’s school has not provided safe equipment for your son, contact a child injury lawyer who can help you evaluate whether someone’s carelessness put him in a dangerous situation.

Trudi Hays, who lives in Herndon, Virginia, stepped forward and asked for two helmets for young neighbors. She got them.

If you live in Virginia and know a child who needs a bike helmet, call me at 703-260-6070, send an email to Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com or contact us through our website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com, to sign up for our newsletter and let us know that you want a bike helmet for a child. We’ll put you on our list and also send you a measuring tape so you can tell us the correct measurement of the child’s head.

I recently participated in a seminar sponsored by the Fairfax Bar Association and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. It was eye opening! A disabled child who receives Medicaid or Social Security benefits and who also receives money from a personal injury case could lose all her benefits if her personal injury lawyer doesn’t make the right arrangements to protect them.

Every personal injury lawyer should know the answers to these questions:

1.    What types of clients needs special needs trusts?
2.    When should a lawyer start figuring that out?
3.    Who would the lawyer call to get her clients’ special needs taken care of?

If your child’s injury lawyer doesn’t know the answer to the first question, go find another lawyer.

Here’s the answer to the second question:  Immediately, at the first meeting, the lawyer should start figuring out whether the client might need a special needs trust.

True scary story. A personal injury lawyer in Texas, a friend of mine, was asked  for advice on how to allocate the money the woman’s disabled father received in his personal injury case. The goal was to maintain his Medicaid and Social Security disability benefits. Big problem:  Her father had already received the funds! (This was not my friend’s case.) The daughter had gotten information from the Internet about “supplemental needs trust” and “purchase of a single premium annuity.” Unfortunately, it was too late to take advantage of either of these asset protection plans. Disaster. He’ll lose his benefits and much more.

Too bad her father’s lawyer didn’t know she should call the best special needs trust lawyer in town.  Now, that lawyer must tell her own malpractice insurance carrier that she screwed up that gentleman’s case.

If you are in Virginia, and your child has been seriously injured, and you want to talk to someone about whether a special needs trust or structured settlement ought to be considered, give me a call. I don’t know how to set them up, but I sure do know the best special needs trust lawyer in town. And, sometimes, that’s the best advice a lawyer can give.

My number is 703-260-6070, send me an email at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com or contact me through our website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com.

But, this park is not like other amusement parks. It is not overloaded with rides, rides and more rides. Every activity is wheelchair accessible and designed with its special visitors in mind. There is a carousel, rugged-looking jeeps that give an off-road adventure on a winding track, a fishing lake, waterworks and other sensory activities, a train that goes around the park, and specially-designed playground equipment. (The water activities will be especially popular in the hot South Texas sun.)  It’s a place for the whole family. Special needs visitors get in free; others pay $5.

Hartman contributed $1 million of his own and then raised $29 million to create the 25-acre park. There’ll be no long lines, either, because the number of visitors allowed in the park at any one time is limited.

It’s the first of its kind in the world; however, it likely won’t be the only one for long. Hartman has had inquiries from all over the world.

With toddlers, it is important to keep a watchful eye as they learn to make their way on their feet.  While most toddler falls are inconsequential, falls around dangerous areas can be detrimental.  Always use gates to protect children from stairwells and windows.  In recent years, some gates have been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Be sure to check that the one you are using is in full compliance with today’s standards.  Wheeled baby walkers used to be popular, but now have been mostly taken off the market due to their dangers around stairs.

Helmets save lives. Everyone should wear a helmet while riding a bicycle.  Set a good example for your children and do the same yourself.  Be sure your helmets are properly fitted with the buckle fitting snug under the chin.  Only properly-fitted helmets provide good protection. Even children sitting in a child carrier on the back of your bike or in a trailer pulled by your bike should wear a helmet.

Infants under the age of one should not be carried on bikes.  Also, toddlers older than four are usually too large for carrier seats and should have either their own bike or a trailer attached to yours.

Helmets are also important in roller blading, roller skating, and skateboarding.

The safest option is to call your child’s doctor if you think the injury was moderate to severe.  If you are concerned about a mild injury, there is no shame in contacting a medical professional just to be sure.  Click on this link for a good checklist of what to do when a child falls and injures her head.

If your child’s head injury is bleeding, the most important step is to stop the bleeding.  Apply pressure and the bleeding should stop within 10 minutes.  If it doesn’t, contact a physician about getting stitches.  Most likely, the injury will result in a bump on the head.  To reduce this, apply an ice pack for 20 minute periods.  While most swelling reduces quickly, it may take up to a week to disappear completely.  If your child complains of a headache, the best medicine is Tylenol® and lying down.

Sleeping or lying down after a head injury is okay.  Be sure to monitor your child while she sleeps. Look for discoloration, breathing difficulties, seizure symptoms, or an inability to wake up.  Keep an extra attentive eye on your child for the first 24 hours after the injury.

Be aware of any abnormal complaints by your child, especially of a stiff neck, forgetfulness, or inability to walk normally.  If she cries uncontrollably or refuses to be consoled for an extended period of time, this may indicate a more serious injury.  Here is more information on what to look for in monitoring your child after a head injury.

Seek medical care in certain situations such as unconsciousness, worsening pain, seizures, or trouble with vision.  Here is a link to an extensive list of symptoms for which a doctor should be consulted.

The most common physical symptom is a bump on the head. The best way to treat this is just the way you probably think: an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas or corn.

Many cases result in headaches, while only a few leave the child unconscious.  A fall can still be severe even if the child remains conscious.  While infants cannot tell a parent that they have a headache, they are usually more irritable than normal or act as if they are uncomfortable.

Vomiting is probably more common that you’d think, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the injury was severe. A seizure, however, is a serious symptom and if your child has a seizure after a head injury they should have a CT scan as soon as possible to see what’s really happening.  Here’s a link to a full list of symptoms that should be followed up with medical attention.

You may remember the recently death of a celebrity from a skiing accident who seemed fine immediately after the accident but who had actually received a severe brain injury.  This happens when blood rushes to the brain after an injury.  It can cause the child to lose consciousness hours after the injury because of the rise in pressure in the brain.  Immediate medical attention and persistent parental monitoring are essential in these cases.

Some symptoms can’t be seen for some time, especially if they are in young children.  Injury to the reading and writing area of the brain in an infant or toddler may not be seen until she reaches an age where she should be able to read and write.  Personality changes can also be a result of brain injury.  These symptoms do not occur in every case, but should be watched for in any child who has experienced a brain injury.