Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health by Susan Roberts

Author:Susan Roberts [Roberst, Susan B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-79765-0
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

CAUTION! SAFETY IS A BIG ISSUE

Now that your child is capable of self-feeding and is also becoming mobile, you need to take vigorous safety measures. If you haven’t already done so, childproof everything you can think of, and then look around at child level to see what you forgot.

Poisoning. Most of the items normally kept under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom can be lethal to a one-year-old if they are drunk or eaten, and need to be kept out of reach. Because parents usually focus on obvious dangers such as medicines and cleaning products, seemingly innocent items often cause the accidents. Ingestion of maternal iron supplements is a leading cause of accidental death in infants. Mouthwash is another common hazard. Even ½ ounce of one of the brands containing alcohol can lead to toxic reactions in a toddler, and about three thousand poisoning cases occur annually in the United States in children under six years.

Choking. Allow food to be eaten only while sitting down under adult supervision. Avoid giving your child spoonfuls of very thick spreads, such as peanut butter, that can get stuck in her throat. Whole grapes and other round objects need to be cut into halves or quarters lengthwise. Hard vegetables and large pieces of food should be cut into thin inch-long strips (not rounds), and all pieces of fish should be minutely inspected for bones. Make sure, too, that all toys are large enough so that they can’t be swallowed.

Burns. Toddlers have delicate mouths, so avoid giving any food that is too hot. A rule of thumb: Anything that feels more than moderately warm to you is too hot for your child.

Kitchen accidents. Toddlers are inexhaustibly curious about everything in their kingdom, so get childproof locks for all the cupboards and keep hot pots at the back of the stove (with handles not hanging over the edge where a child might grab them). Never carry pots of hot or boiling food across the kitchen when your toddler is near, put knives in childproof drawers, and move other objects to the back of the counter. Even apparently innocuous items can cause trouble. One boy we know had to have his finger reattached by a plastic surgeon after his twin pulled an opened can of tomatoes off the counter when his mother turned away for a few seconds.

Yard and garage hazards. Nails, drill bits, and safety pins are the kinds of objects that adorn the bulletin boards of the gastroenterologists and throat specialists who are called in to retrieve them. They should be stored well out of reach, along with paints, paint remover, and all garden chemicals. Many plants are also poisonous if consumed. Consider digging up dangerous ones, and teach your child never to eat anything except food you or her other caretakers give her.

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