Poison Lookout Checklist

The home areas listed below are the most common site of accidental poisonings. Follow this checklist to learn how to correct situations that may lead to poisonings. If you answer “No” to any questions, fix the situation quickly. Your goal is to have all your answers “Yes.”

THE KITCHEN

Do all harmful products in the cabinets have child-resistant caps? Products like furniture polishes, drain cleaners and some oven cleaners should have safety packaging to keep little children from accidentally opening the packages.

Are all potentially harmful products in their original containers? There are two dangers if products aren’t stored in their original containers. Labels on the original containers often give first aid information if someone should swallow the product. And if products are stored in containers like drinking glasses or pop bottles, someone may think it is food and swallow it.

Are harmful products stored away from food? If harmful products are placed next to food, someone may accidentally get a food and a poison mixed up and swallow the poison.

Explaining Three Minor Baby Ailments

Babies can have a ton of little issues, and we worry ourselves silly over them, though most are no real threat to baby’s health. Here are a list of the most common little ailments, how to treat them at home, and when to call the doctor.

Diaper Rash

Diaper rash is caused by baby’s bottom being constantly exposed to wetness. For most babies, changing their diaper a little more often and applying an over the counter cream are enough to solve the problem. If all your measures don’t work, or if the rash looks different than a typical diaper rash, call the doctor.

Cradle Cap

Cradle cap is the presence of scales on the baby’s scalp, and usually occurs in very young infants. It is actually a form of dermatitis, and usually is not bothersome to the child. For most babies, a massage using petroleum jelly followed by a shampoo will take care of the problem. Try this at every bath until the problem stops recurring. Cradle cap is worsened by sweating, so keep your baby’s head cool, avoiding the use of hats. If these measures don’t work, your doctor can prescribe an ointment or shampoo. Babies typically outgrow cradle cap within the first six months of life.

Mystery Fever

Nearly all babies have this at one time or another. A low grade fever, with no other accompanying symptoms. If your baby is under two months of age, you should seek medical attention with any fever. Otherwise, as long as the fever doesn’t go above 102°F, you need not treat it unless it is making your baby uncomfortable or unable to sleep. Fever is the body’s way of fighting infection, so don’t rush to treat a fever, if your baby is otherwise healthy. Keep her cool, give her plenty of fluids, watch and wait. Talk to your doctor about his guidelines regarding when to call him concerning a fever. Regardless, any fever which reaches 105°F rectally, or a fever accompanied by signs of dehydration (infrequent urination, sunken fontanel, dry lips), or a feverish baby who has a stiff neck, is limp or has purple spots on the skin, should be treated immediately.

These are three of the most common minor baby ailments. Though it’s comforting to know how to treat these at home, never hesitate to call your doctor if you think it’s necessary. A Mother’s intuition is a powerful thing. If you think something’s amiss, it probably is, so check it out, even if it’s only to satisfy your own mind.

Is my baby getting enough milk?

Many mothers worry about whether their babies are getting enough milk. Most babies will do fine if they nurse eight to 12 times in 24 hours. (You should be able to hear the baby swallowing.) Another way to tell that your baby is getting enough nutrition is if she or he:

• Produces enough wet diapers: By day two, the baby should produce at least two wet diapers each day.
• By day three, she or he should produce at least three wet diapers each day.
• By day four, she or he should produce at least four wet diapers each day.
• From day five on, the baby should produce six to eight wet diapers each day.
• Has at least two to three bowel movements in 24 hours. (After the first month this may change. Some breast-fed babies may have bowel movements only every few days.) At first, stools will be sticky and tarry. After breast feeding is well- established, stools will be yellow and very loose.

If you are concerned that your baby is not getting enough milk, call your baby’s doctor. She or he may want to weigh your baby or refer you to a Breast Feeding Clinic at your local hospital, staffed by certified lactation consultants, nursed trained to help women and babies learn to breast feed. She can discuss a specific plan for you to increase your milk supply before using formula to supplement breast feeding.

Health Scares and Their Credibility

There is no small amount of health scares that persist in this day and age – as adults we see them ourselves in cases of epidemics and “epidemics”, some of which are credible and some which are, to be charitable, less than helpful. In the case of babies’ health there is no less controversy, and there have been more than a few scares that have been shown to be unfounded. This has the highly unfortunate and undesirable effect of making people naturally skeptical, which can cause harmful indecision in times of genuine illness. Pediatricians are understanding and well-trained, so if you have a cause for concern it is worth taking it up with them.

One example of scare mongering having a negative effect is one that happened in Britain, when a medical paper written collaboratively by several doctors included a single line that raised the possibility that the MMR vaccination that had been in circulation for quite some time may be linked to autism in children. Although this line was written by one doctor, who had not even definitively claimed that the link was real and provable, the national press picked up on it and made it into a huge story. Although the other doctors involved in the study distanced themselves from the claim and it emerged that no evidence existed for any such link, the press had their story, and many parents were understandably reluctant to have their child immunized with the vaccine. When it comes down to it, getting medical advice from the media is not advisable.

Preventing Diaper Rash

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. For all that we may fear the onset of diaper rash in our children, there is no certainty of absolute and total prevention – but there is a lot that can be done to make it far less likely, and it revolves mostly around keeping your baby dry and clean as far as is possible. Your baby will not be shy about letting you know when it is in any discomfort. This can prevent diaper rash from developing, but would obviously not be a way of preventing it before it begins.

The prevention of diaper rash is something that requires no small amount of diligence, as well as some luck. But there are some simple rules which can make the process a lot more straightforward. Firstly, you must change your baby’s diaper as soon as it is obviously soiled. This will prevent the infection from having somewhere to live. In the same spirit, it is important to clean your baby in the affected area after it has become soiled. Allowing the area to dry before putting on a fresh nappy is essential. A thin layer of ointment on the affected area will kill off germs while preventing others from taking hold. And applying the fresh diaper loosely will give room for the skin to breathe. Finally when your baby moves on to solid foods you should take a few days between introducing new items. This will help you determine if the infection is down to a food allergy.

How to Treat Diaper Rash

A baby with diaper rash will not be shy about letting his or her parents know that they have a situation on their hands. This, along with the readily decipherable signs of the problem, does mean that it can be treated at an early stage, and hence treated effectively and decisively. Treating diaper rash is not something that takes too long, and the results tend to be swift. Of course it could be almost instantaneous and any parent would still feel that it was an eternity, but it needs to be said that a parent who has a child with diaper rash is not a bad parent at all, just unlucky.

In cases of diaper rash, it is important to change your baby even more regularly than you currently do. It is something inside the diaper that has caused it, and this same thing will either aggravate it or retard its eradication if left unchecked. Keeping your baby clean and dry will prevent the conditions in which diaper rash thrives. If your child has scope to play outside or on a surface that wipes clean, you may even leave their diaper off for a time, as the flow of air around the area will speed the healing. If you use disposable diapers, using a different brand free from fragrance and additives may also help, especially if the rash is a symptom of an allergy.

After three days the diaper rash should be more or less gone. If it still persists, then a cream for treating fungal infections will be well employed.

Why do babies get diaper rash?

Diaper rash is something that parents hate to see on their child, however common it may be, and even for parents who remember having it themselves (less common now, but in the not-too-distant past variations of diaper rash could occur even into late infancy) it is something that no-one wants to see on their newborn child. The reasons for it are quite simple and entirely commonplace, but it is preventable and treatable. If your child does develop a diaper rash, quick treatment is advisable. And prevention is a matter of following some simple rules and showing diligence at key points which might lead to infection.

The major cause of diaper rash is wetness. This is no big surprise. The reason that it does not occur with any regularity in adults, after all, is that we are able to perform our bathroom rituals ourselves and know what needs to be done – essentially, what feels right and what we have learned. Babies, however, urinate quite often and will sometimes be in a dirty diaper for a while before changing. In addition to this, their stools are generally quite loose and their bowel movements are more frequent than those of adults. Unless they are changed with a regularity bordering on the obsessive, there is a chance of infection. Even then a baby with sensitive skin can become infected.

In an older baby, a time of sickness which is treated with antibiotics can be a risky time, as they are prone to diarrhea and the higher risk of diaper rash that that can bring. In short, even the best parents can have a case to deal with, and it is how they respond that is important.

Diaper Rash – how to recognize it

New parents have a lot of cause to be concerned about their baby’s health. Visiting any page with even just the regular things that can – and do – happen to most babies is enough to drive someone to distraction. Even non-parents would be hard pressed not to shudder in sympathy. Something as common as diaper rash, which affects most babies at some point in some measure, is still too much for any parent to bear with real composure. Knowing how to recognize diaper rash, and prevent it getting worse, is something that all parents will be well served by in the early life of their baby.

The diaper area of a baby will, unavoidably, come into contact with some bacteria on a regular basis. Even regular changes and cleaning can sometimes fail to pick it up. You will know when your baby has diaper rash, as it is characterized by skin in the diaper area appearing red and inflamed, and in some cases coming up in pimples. It will irritate the child and if left unchecked can develop into something worse, including a number of infections. As well as this, it will be obvious to any parent that the child is in quite some discomfort. They will cry more and louder, and show general displeasure. Keeping your baby clean will, however, keep diaper rash from occurring in a severe manner or too often, and swift corrective action including treatment with a gentle, pH neutral moisturizer will make a real difference, quickly.

How should you bathe your baby?

To give your baby a decent bath there are a few things that you must stick to, aside from which you have more or less free rein to do as you wish. The potential for mishaps is taken as read, and no parent will want to take undue risks when washing their baby, so staying away from those is more or less self-explanatory. For simplicity, it is necessary simply to avoid lifting the baby too much – soap and water do not make for easy handling, and dropping your child is a constant and terrifying fear for parents – prevention is, in this case, a straightforward matter.

In the first six months of your baby’s life, a water depth level of approximately five inches will be fine. The temperature should be somewhere in the region of body temperature – slightly above is best (around 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as the water will cool from the moment it is in contact with the bath. You can then put your baby in the bath, using one hand to hold up his or her neck and head and avoid it getting bumped. You then wash him or her with a soft handcloth and a small amount of soap. Moistened cotton wool should be used to clean their face, and to moisten any dried mucus before wiping that away.

Rinsing away all soap and any remaining dirt requires a clean facecloth, and then you can dry him or her with a small towel which you can use to wrap him or her. Then you can use a mild moisturizer in order to keep his or her skin soft.

Bathing Your Baby

How often should you bathe your baby? It is a question that a lot of new parents ask themselves and others when they have their first child. There are two separate questions in this. Firstly, how often is often enough, and second, how often is too often? While there is some belief that you can never be too clean, the fact is that your skin – and your baby’s – provides natural protection through bodily oils, which prevent infection and irritation being caused by clothing and everyday dirt. Bathing overly often will strip those oils and lead to increased irritation, and is therefore a bad thing.

Some people think that a daily bath is necessary, but for a child this is not really the case. In fact, cleansers and water can damage your baby’s skin if used too frequently. If you must bathe the baby daily, then you must use a gentle cleanser like a mild soap designed specifically for babies to avoid the aforementioned stripping of oils. The parts of a baby that will get dirty quickest are its face, from feeding and general baby activity, and the diaper area. Regularly washing your baby’s face, cleaning up at the time of a diaper change, and cleaning up in case of any other obvious soiling will be more than enough.

There is no stipulated time frame for how often you absolutely must bath your baby. Every other day is really frequently enough as long as you ensure that the baby is generally clean. Babies do seem to enjoy a bath, and find warm water soothing. Even if you like a good hot bath, remember that your baby’s skin is more sensitive, and just above tepid will more than suffice.

Next Page »