Your Baby & Toddler: A Commonsense Guide from A to Z

by Anne Marie Mueser Ed.D.

Overview

An indispensable A-to-Z guide to the first three years of life

Your Baby&Toddler is an all-inclusive, concise, and reliable resource for all new parents. Covering newborns through age three, it is written in a simple, supportive style that answers commonly asked questions, calms fears, and supplements visits and phone calls to the doctor's office.

Covering physical health, emotional development, and household safety, topics include:

Accident prevention * Allergies * Antibiotics * Asthma * Babyproofing your home * Bottle-feeding and breast-feeding * Colic * Crying * Daycare * Immunizations * Nightmares * Nutrition * Separation Anxiety * Sleep problems * Toilet Training * Toy Safety * Weaning * and much more.

Providing the latest research findings, Your Baby&Toddler is a home reference all parents can trust for advice, answers, and up-to-the-minute information.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466852945
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/17/2013
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Anne Marie Mueser, ED.D., is the coauthor of the multimillion-copy bestseller While Waiting, a prenatal care guide written with George E. Verrilli, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. A writer, educator, and mother, she lives in Clinton Corners, New York.

Anne Marie Mueser, Ed.D., is a writer and former teacher who lives in Clinton Corners, New York.

Read an Excerpt

Your Baby & Toddler

A Commonsense Guide from A to Z

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By Anne Marie Mueser, Durell Godfrey

St. Martin's Press

Copyright © 2002 Anne Marie Mueser
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-5294-5

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CHAPTER 1

ACCIDENTS (PREVENTION)

It's up to you to provide as safe an environment as possible for your child. Accidents involving babies and toddlers frequently occur at home, and many of these accidents could be prevented. Constant supervision is key to your child's safety. Take him with you to answer the phone or the door. If your child crawls or toddles out of sight, follow immediately. Don't leave a mobile baby or toddler alone in a room even for a moment, unless she is safely in a secure structure such as a crib or a playpen.

Remember that your child is likely to imitate your actions as he develops. That can be very appealing for behaviors such as brushing teeth or turning the pages of a magazine. That can be very dangerous, however, if what the child mimics is lighting matches, opening medication bottles, poking at fires, making tea, or adjusting the cords and controls of lamps or small appliances.

MAKE THE SURROUNDINGS SAFER

• Beware of places that could trap your child. Closets, freezers, refrigerators, toy chests, and similar containers can be death traps as well as enticing hiding places.

• Make sure your child can't get locked in the bathroom or any other room in your home. A folded towel hung over the top of the bathroom door will keep a child from closing the door completely and playing with the lock.

• Check to make sure that any furniture your child might use to pull himself up is sturdy enough to support an active toddler and secure enough not to tip over. If you are uncertain about a chair or small decorative table, for example, store it until your child is older.

• Watch out for sharp edges and corners at your child's face level. If you can't (or prefer not to) remove the object, pad the hazardous edges for the time being.

• Windows should have guards to prevent falls. Don't assume that your child will be unable to open a window. Don't count on her being obedient enough to stay away from a window. Make sure that window guards are strong and properly installed.

• Beware of things your toddler can pull down from overhead. A tug on the corner of a tablecloth could pull down the entire contents of the table along with the cloth. A pull on the cord of a toaster, iron, coffee maker, or food processor could bring the appliance crashing down on a small head.

• Unused electric outlets should be capped or covered so your child can't poke things into them. Keep the child away from outlets that are in use. If outlets can be made inaccessible by large pieces of furniture, so much the better.

• Safety gates should be used at the top and bottom of stairs.

• A bathroom is a dangerous place for a mobile baby or toddler to be for even a few moments without supervision. The surfaces are hard and slippery. A dive into a tub, empty or filled, could cause serious injury.

• A toddler's fascination with the toilet can be a hazard. Although unlikely, it is possible for a young child to fall headfirst into the toilet and drown. That has been known to happen. Keep the bathroom door shut and the toilet lid down.

• Automatic garage doors can be extremely dangerous. If you have one, make sure that your child is safe and under control before you close the door. Never leave the transmitter where a child could get to it. Children have been known to crush themselves while playing with the controls of automatic doors. If you plan to install an automatic door, the type that stops moving when it hits an object, child, or animal along the way down is the best choice.

• Appliances such as blenders, food processors, mixers, or fans, which have moving parts that could seriously injure a child, should be left unplugged and out of reach. Keep tools, garden equipment, and sharp kitchen utensils away from a small child.

• Beware of anything that could get caught around a child's neck, such as drapery or venetian blind cords, clotheslines, and the cord of a telephone, lamp, or appliance. Such items should never be within reach of a child's crib.

PREVENT POISONING

• Keep all poisonous household materials such as detergent, cleaning fluid, deodorizers, furniture polish, and paint where your child can't get to them. That means keep the containers completely out of reach. Don't trust safety caps to do the job. Do not store such items in kitchen baseboard cupboards unless they're under lock and key. Even so-called childproof latches are not truly childproof.

• Keep your medicine cabinet locked. Discard any substances not in current use. Never refer to medicine (even vitamins) as candy. Be careful not to leave items you use regularly (such as oral contraceptives, vitamins, aspirin, acetaminophen, or other pain relievers) out where your child could get to them.

• Your home is likely to contain many substances that are not obviously poisonous but that could, if consumed in quantity, cause serious harm to a small child. Such items include alcoholic beverages, vitamins, over-the-counter medications, and many cosmetics.

• A number of seemingly innocent-looking houseplants could, if consumed in sufficient quantity, poison a child. Philodendron, for example, is a popular houseplant because it is so easy to grow, but it could be very harmful if consumed in quantity. Mistletoe may be a romantic seasonal decoration, but it is poisonous and should be kept well out of reach. Your local poison control center may be able to provide a publication listing the common plants that are potentially dangerous.

• It is not just certain houseplants that could cause a problem. There are many outside plants that could be a problem if your child consumes them. Of course, no young child should be left unsupervised for that to happen. Obviously poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac should not be touched or consumed, but there are many other plants and flowers your child should not eat.

Your child should be kept away from certain spring and summer flowers such as crocuses, daffodils, irises, or lilies of the valley. If you use them as cut flowers, put the vase where your child cannot get to it. If your landscaping includes the flowering shrub rhododendron or morning glories, keep your child away. Your local poison control center or health department may be able to provide you with a complete list of plants and shrubs used in your area that should be considered off-limits to your child.

• A mother's handbag is an enticing object. Don't keep anything in it that your toddler should not have. If you must carry medication with you, take only one day's supply at a time. Don't leave your purse where your child can freely explore.

PREVENT DROWNING, CHOKING, SUFFOCATION, BURNS AND SCALDS

• A young child can drown in as little as two inches of water. Never leave a baby or toddler unsupervised in the bath or near a body of water, whether it be a deep puddle, pond, lake, stream, river, swimming pool, or even a wading pool.

• Prevent choking. Don't leave your child alone with a bottle or food. Keep items small enough to choke a child (marbles, coins, buttons, hard candy, etc.) out of reach. Don't use Styrofoam to serve a toddler; it can be bitten or broken into dangerously small pieces.

• Prevent suffocation. Keep plastic bags or food wrap away from children. Don't use thin plastic as a mattress cover. A small child should not use a pillow in the crib. Never place a baby to sleep facedown, or on soft bedding such as a featherbed.

• Make certain that your child does not have an opportunity to play with matches or lighters.

• Space heaters can cause serious burns as well as fires if tipped over. Keep any portable heaters and children well separated.

• Prevent scalding. If your household water is hot enough to cause a problem, either adjust the setting or make sure that your child does not have access to the faucets at any time. Be careful when using a teakettle or coffeepot. Don't set hot liquids on a surface of cloth within a child's reach.

Keeping dangerous objects out of reach may not always be easy. Make sure that a child can't move or pile things to climb to forbidden objects. Some children seem to be natural climbers and explorers. If your child is one of these, you'll have to be extra careful. Remove not only the dangerous objects but also the means to get to them.

No matter how carefully you have organized and arranged your own living space for your child's safety, keep in mind that friends and relatives may not have done the same. Be especially attentive to your mobile baby or toddler when visiting outside your home. A good rule to remember wherever you are, home or away, is, "A small child out of sight (unless sleeping soundly) is a child at risk."

ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES (FIRST AID)

Take a few minutes right now to plan how you would handle an emergency involving your newborn, mobile baby, or toddler. You may never need to use these plans, but it's helpful to be ready just in case.

Know how to summon help fast when you need it. Now is the time to look up any telephone numbers you might need in an emergency. Write the numbers here and make a copy to keep by your telephone. Fasten the list securely to the wall or on the table by the phone so the numbers don't disappear just before you need one of them. It's prudent to avoid counting on being able to remember details such as numbers in an emergency.

EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Doctor or HMO ________________________________

Rescue squad or ambulance ____________________

Hospital _____________________________________

Pharmacy _____________________________________

Fire department ______________________________

Police _______________________________________

Poison control center ________________________

Neighbor, relative, or friend ________________

Local parent help hotline ____________________

Is there a general emergency number in your area, such as 911, that will connect you to an operator who will route your call to the appropriate agency? If so, write it here: ____________________

If possible, you might wish to program the various emergency numbers into your telephone's speed-dial system. It is useful, however, to have the numbers listed on paper as well, in case a power failure or other glitch manages to erase the telephone's memory.

Make certain that other family members, baby-sitters, or household employees know how to use these emergency numbers if necessary.

Take a course in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and other first-aid techniques. What you learn may save the life of your child or someone else. CPR is best learned by actually practicing the techniques firsthand. The first-aid suggestions in this book may provide some of the information you would need in an emergency, but it's better to learn directly from trained experts if at all possible.

EMERGENCY DIRECTIONS TO YOUR HOME

In a crisis, don't count on being able to provide clear or correct directions to your home for emergency services. Panic time is no time to be figuring out whether to take a right turn or a left, or if it's the second or third light from a main intersection.

Now, before the need arises, plan exactly what you would tell someone who needed to reach your home in an emergency. Write the directions down, step-by-step. Write these directions in the space below, along with your phone number. Keep them in a handy place. Your child's life could depend on it.

Although many 911 emergency services are supposed to be able to dispatch accurately based on your phone number alone, don't count on it. Be prepared with step-by-step directions to your home. Make sure that anyone responsible for care of your child knows how to find and use these directions in an emergency.

The following sections of this book provide additional information about first-aid procedures and how to respond to specific emergency situations involving your child. It would be useful to read these pages at least once before the need actually occurs.

ASTHMA

BITES (animal, human, insect, snake)

BLEEDING

BREATHING EMERGENCY

BURNS AND SCALDS

CHOKING

CONVULSIONS (seizures)

CROUP

ELECTRICAL SHOCK

FALLS

FIRE

POISONING

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Some aggressive behavior is normal for a toddler who is actively engaged in acquiring independence. A very young child typically lacks the understanding and the social controls to manage aggressive behavior. Adult intervention, therefore, is often necessary to keep characteristic toddler assertiveness from getting out of hand. It takes tact, energy, and lots of patience to help a toddler become a civilized, courteous human being.

A toddler may tend to treat other children as things rather than as persons. He may grab other children or push them away as the whim strikes. Such behavior is normal for the age, and children should be allowed to work things out for themselves as long as no one gets hurt. If, for example, one toddler grabs a toy and the other says "No!" and takes the toy back, the exchange will cause no harm and may even be a step toward learning to share. However, if a child bites or kicks, hits or pushes hard, or uses toys as clubs or missiles, then you should intervene immediately.

When it is necessary for you to intervene, the first step is to stop the child from doing whatever it is she should not be doing. Calmly but firmly say, "No, you must not kick (bite, hit, throw the toy)." At the same time, it may be necessary for you to protect and comfort the victim. Try picking up the child who needs protection in one arm while you use your other arm to restrain the child who is out of control. Do whatever seems to make the most sense, but do it quietly and firmly. Do not scream or hit. If you combat a child's aggression with more of the same, you may indeed end the immediate crisis. Striking a toddler, however, will do more to set a bad example than to teach self control and socially acceptable behavior.

To what extent, if any, should you encourage your child to stand up for his or her rights by fighting back if another child becomes aggressive? While children should be allowed to settle minor disputes through give-and-take, you should not encourage or condone violence. Never permit a child to hurt someone else, even under severe provocation. Toddlers are not yet able to think through the social consequences of their actions, so you or another caregiving adult will have to draw the line between healthy assertiveness and unacceptable aggression. (See also Biting.)

AIR QUALITY

Many environmental influences are beyond your control as your baby or toddler develops. What you can control, however, is the quality of the environment within your own home. You can make your home as healthy as possible. A good place to start is by providing an atmosphere of clean air for your child's immature respiratory system, and also for your own health.

The lungs of a newborn or toddler are still developing and growing. A household in which smoking is allowed is inevitably harmful to children. Children of smokers have an increased incidence of respiratory infections including bronchitis, pneumonia, and inner-ear infections. Infants of parents who smoke are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than are babies of nonsmoking parents. If both parents smoke, the risks are increased. There seems to be a direct relationship between the amount of cigarettes smoked in a household and the incidence of a baby's respiratory infections. Little lungs will develop better if the air quality in the home is not degraded by tobacco smoke.

If your home contains a wood or coal stove, it's important that the device functions well with a clean chimney. There should always be a source of continuous fresh air. If you use incense in your home for recreational or ritual purposes, avoid using it in the presence of your child. Recent research has found that the smoke produced by burning incense contains cancer-causing chemicals.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Should you allow a small child to take a sip of wine, beer, or a cocktail? Opinions vary. Many pediatricians and psychologists would answer a firm no and advise against introducing a child to the taste of alcohol for any reason. Others would say that an occasional sip of a parent's drink causes no harm and avoids giving drink the special appeal of forbidden fruit.

Whatever choice you make for your family is likely to be influenced by personal feelings and your particular culture. It's best to do what makes sense to you without making a fuss about it one way or the other. Here are some additional suggestions and guidelines:

• If your family has wine with dinner or for special occasions and rituals, you may wish to include your children in that experience. If so, a few drops of wine in a cordial glass filled with water will do nicely.

• If for any reason one parent has strong feelings against drinking, it's better for both parents to respect those feelings. It's best that parents agree on the approach to alcohol they are going to take, and not argue about it in front of the child.

• Even if you choose to allow your child to take an occasional sip, it's important to store alcoholic beverages out of your child's reach. A very big drink in a very small person could cause great harm, even death.

• Don't leave the remnants of last night's party where your child can finish off the leftover drinks before you surface and realize what is happening.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Your Baby & Toddler by Anne Marie Mueser, Durell Godfrey. Copyright © 2002 Anne Marie Mueser. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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