Eating Unnatural or Inedible Substances – Harmful for your Child or not

Pica is an eating disorder relating to the consumption of non-nutritive substances. It’s common for children to put all sorts of things, from clay and dirt, to crayons, in their mouths. Usually, all it takes is a basic amount of parental supervision and instruction to keep the growing child from consuming unsuitable substances.
 
However, sometimes children develop an abnormal appetite for things such as dirt, paper, sand, rust, hair, baking soda, glue, wood-chips, and even cigarette butts. This pattern of compulsively eating non-food substances is known as pica. 25 to 30 percent of infants are diagnosed with pica disorders.
 
If you observe your child growing at a normal developmental pace, chances are that pica is just another habit for your child rather than a full blown disorder, but you should still be on the lookout for what your child is eating.
 
Whereas pica has no specific causes to which it can be attributed, it may be linked to any of the following:

• Developmental deficiencies
• Malnutrition
• Parental neglect
• Mental health disorders like autism
• Cultural habits

Lead poisoning and iron-deficiency anemia in children can result from pica disorders.
 
Preventions

• Keep infants under supervision when they are playing at beaches or in their favorite sandbox.
• Teach your children the difference between acceptable and non-acceptable foods.
• Keep household chemicals, drugs, and medications out of their reach.
• Give your children an organic based nutrition diet.
• Look out for signs of nervousness or boredom in your child.
• Check for nutritional deficits in your child’s body with your pediatrician.

A doctor can play an important role in handling pica.

• A pediatrician can diagnose zinc deficiency and other symptoms in your child.
• A doctor can administer behavioral therapy in case of pica disorders to help wean the child off harmful substances.

Useful Article: Child Development

Constipation: How Can You Protect Your Baby from the Pain?

Constipation is defined as difficulties in bowel movements characterized by hard or firm stools and irregular or infrequent bowel movement. It is labeled chronic if the symptoms are present for more than two weeks.
Causes
The causes of constipation in infants and toddlers include:

• Change from breast milk to formulas
• Insufficient intake of fluid
• Low fiber diet
• Metabolic disorders
• Cow’s milk or any other ingredient in the child’s food
• Certain medications

Symptoms
Here are some symptoms of constipation seen in young children:

• No bowel movement in three days
• Stool is hard and looks like small pebbles or is large in diameter
• Gas formation in the stomach
• Pain and discomfort with passage of stool
• Leakage of liquid stool into the child’s underwear or diaper

You should call the doctor immediately if the following are noted:

• Blood in the baby’s stool
• Stomach ache
• Fever
• Vomiting
• Constipation despite 3 days of home care

Treatment
The following methods may be used to reduce constipation:

• For infants older than six months, a high-fiber diet can be introduced. Increase the child’s intake of barley, oatmeal, vegetables especially peas, fruit, and other foods that are rich in fiber.
• For infants between four to six months, drinking 2-4 ounces of water or diluted fresh fruit juices day may work.
• Avoid honey, infant mineral oil, cow’s milk, and syrup.
• Remember also that a BRAT diet (Banana, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast), which is good for diarrhea, has a worsening effect for constipation.

If nothing works, it is important to consult your doctor immediately.

Autism – Early Signs in Babies

The World Health Organization or ( WHO ) and American Psychological Association or ( APA ) recognize autism as a developmental disability resulting from disorders of the central human nervous system. Though the most apparent signs of autism in children are visible at two or three years of age, parents should also be wary of symptoms of this disorder in their infants.
Though specific causes remain unproven, autism is usually judged to be caused by some of the following:

• Genetic influences
• Anatomical abnormality or variations (e.g. head circumference)
• Abnormal blood vessel functions

According to the National Institute of Mental Health or ( NIMH ), some common early indicators for autism are when babies:

• Don’t ever babble or smile.
• Never respond to gestures.
• Avoid eye contact.
• Seem to be hearing impaired at times.
• Do not respond to calling by name.
• Don’t play with other children or toys.
• Seem to be losing their scarcely developed language skills.

Autistic children fall off the charts when it comes to achieving basic developmental milestones. Generally, babies smile or react in some way when ‘ooh-ed’ and ‘aah-ed’ at. They tend to reach out to grab at pacifiers or crayons handed to them. Autistic children are unable to perform these simple actions.
Keeping in mind that autism usually isn’t diagnosed until about age 3, it is best for parents to trust their instincts about their children and get a full formal developmental evaluation done by a medical expert. The earlier children are diagnosed for this disability, the better are their chances for treatment and intervention.

Useful Article: Parenting Skills

Sunlight: How Can You Protect Your Baby Against its Ill Effects?

Even though babies are supposed to stay indoors, warmly cuddled in their mother’s bosoms, they may need to be taken out for regular check-ups to the doctor and other outdoor baby adventures.
Even though sunlight contains vitamin D which is essential to your child’s health, prolonged exposure to sunlight is harmful for your baby. This is mainly because sunlight contains ultraviolet light. UV light, as it is commonly called, is liable to cause damage to the baby’s health both in the short and longer run—such as increasing the risk of skin cancer. If your baby is pale skinned, the risks are even higher.
Even if you or spouse “tan easily” and have never had problems in the sun, do not risk sunburn with your baby whose skin is more delicate than yours.
There are two forms of common sun protection available for babies:

1. Sun creams to protect your baby’s exposed skin
2. Protective accessories and clothing to shield your baby

Sun Creams
There are special sun creams formulated especially for young healthy baby skin. Using an adult skin cream can result in irritation for your baby.

• Read the label to check if the cream offers maximum protection from UVA and UVB rays.
• No cream offers 100 percent protection for your baby’s skin, so it makes sense to keep them in the shade whenever possible.

Sun Dresses and Parasols

• T-shirts with long sleeves are easiest to dress your baby with and provide the best protection under the sun.
• Cover as much of your baby’s skin with comfortable-fitting clothes. Make sure the clothes you buy are made from closely-woven fabrics.
• Choose a nice colorful hat that covers your baby’s face, neck, and ears. Babies are most vulnerable and exposed in these parts.
• Window shades or tinting on the car’s windshield provides the extra protection babies need when traveling.
• There are also parasols and meshes available to protect babies in prams and buggies. The latter can also serve as cover from rain.

Cord Blood Banking – Learn More About this Medical Procedure

What is cord-blood banking?
Cord blood banking refers to the collection and storage of the umbilical cord blood of your child. This blood, from the placenta and umbilical cord, is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. Stem cells from this cord blood play an important role in the treatment of certain serious blood and immune system related genetic diseases such as cancers that are treated with bone marrow transplants.
Benefits

• Cord blood stem cells have a higher success rate than stem cells from the bone marrow.
• They are valuable in treating conditions such as leukemia or lymphoma, aplastic anemia, severe sickle cell anemia, severe combined immune deficiency, and other diseases that require bone marrow transplants.
• They may prove useful for a family that has a medical history of diseases that are usually treated using bone marrow transplants.

Disadvantages

• The odds that the baby’s cord blood will ever be used to treat a family member are very low; odds that it will ever be used to treat the same child are even lower.
• It is expensive. Storing a sample of cord blood may cost approximately $1, 500, along with an annual maintenance of $ 150.
• It has limited use. Cord blood stem cells are mostly used in the treatment of children and young adults. The quantity of stem cells provided by cord blood is not enough for transplant into adults.
• It is not yet certain whether stem cells from close relatives actually offer a higher rate of success than those from strangers.
• The process of collecting the blood holds some risk, though very low, to the baby.

Is Morning Sickness a good thing?

Sure your wife is doubled over and sick as a dog and it’s hard to watch her suffer.  But you often hear that morning sickness is actually a sign that the baby is doing well. Maybe it’s just a way to make mom feel that all the agony serves some real purpose in the grand plan but laymen theories include the baby “telling” mom what not to eat and mom’s reaction to changing hormones.

But is there a silver lining on what has to be the biggest cloud over the early months of pregnancy?    Yes, says a study published in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2006.  Among 7000 women studied, those who had morning sickness (nausea and/or vomiting) were far less likely to have a miscarriage.  In another study, this time by the National Institutes of Health, women who were nauseous in the first four months of pregnancy were 30% less likely to have a miscarriage.

Why is this the case?  Higher levels of hormone produced by healthy placental tissue may cause it.   And doctors now do think that it may be nature’s way of helping the mother avoid foods that would be bad for the developing baby.

While this data does indicate some link between morning sickness and miscarriage, there is no data to suggest any link between nausea and other aspects of a healthy pregnancy.