Child Care: Preventions of Specific Accidents in Children

PREVENTION OF CHOKING/SUFFOCATION

1. Do not give the child any food that is big in size, particularly round things that the child can put into his mouth as a whole, as there is a danger that the child may choke upon it. This precaution is necessary till the child is old enough to chew or spit out such things (usually 4 years of age). Classical examples are nuts, buttons, beads, popcorn etc. Chop things that are large into small pieces so that the child may not choke upon it.

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Child Care: Guidelines to Prevent Accidents in Children

Nothing is more tragic and heart rending than a healthy child dying due to some sort of accident or mishap e.g. the child may consume some adult medicines (poisoning), drown, choke on some object etc. When such a tragedy occurs, on hindsight, parents realise that the tragedy was preventable if only they had been more careful. Many “ifs” and “buts” torture their mind. That the child died due to their “negligence” is the nagging feeling of self-guilt that continues to haunt them throughout their lives. Children, particularly below 3 years, have little sense of danger or self-preservation and thus are wholly dependent on adult supervision for their safety. But sadly, preventable accidents continue to happen.

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Child Care: First Aid During Poisoning in Children

The ideal thing is prevention. Potentially toxic things like adult medicines etc. should be kept well out of reach of the child. But surprisingly, this very obvious and common sense fact is overlooked in a vast number of cases, as is evident by the number of children brought to the emergency department of the hospital with some sort of poisoning.

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Child Care: Crying Pattern in Children

❖ Crying: This is one of the most common, perplexing and irritating dilemmas faced by the parents as the child is unable to communicate why he is crying.

❖ Sensitivity: There are some babies who are extra sensitive during the first few weeks and require a lot of cuddling. The parents should keep their presence of mind and cool, particularly during the night and not get angry with their baby, for it only worsens matters.

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Child Care: First Aid During Choking, Cuts and Bruises and Fractures

CHOKING

This may be a life-threatening emergency and every second is precious. In choking, a thing (food bolus or any foreign body like marble etc.) that the child has put into his mouth sometimes may go into the windpipe. As a result there is a partial or complete obstruction of the windpipe and the child is deprived of Oxygen.

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Child Care: First Aid During Heat Prostration and Bites in Children

HEAT PROSTRATION

In India, where summers are extremely hot with the mercury climbing to 46-48° C; emergencies due to heat prostration are very common, particularly if one is doing manual work outdoors and undergoes a lot of exertion in the open blazing sun. There are two types of ill-effects due to extreme heat:

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Child Care: Guidelines for Managing Colicky Babies

i. The parents are not to be blamed and their way of upbringing is not the cause for the baby’s crying. Thus they should not harbour feelings of guilt

ii. Colic has nothing to do with the type of feeding. Changing formulas or switching from breast milk to bottle feeds is not recommended. However if the baby is on cow’s milk, you may try to give the baby formula milk.

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Child Care: Common Causes for Crying in Children

1. Normal Crying Pattern of a Newborn

New-borns cry at night for the initial 4-6 weeks and sleep during the day. This is just the opposite of what adults do (called “circadian rhythm.”) It is very disturbing to the parents because they can’t get proper sleep during the night time. However they should realise that it is not the baby’s fault but just a continuation of the intra-uterine pattern. During fetal life, the mother’s activities during the daytime have a rocking effect on the fetus and thus lull him to sleep. During night the opposite happens. This pattern persists after the baby is born and only by 4-6 weeks is the baby able to change and fit its sleep rhythm to the adult pattern.

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