HOW SAFE IS IT TO GIVE COMMON HOUSEHOLD MEDICINES TO MY BABY?

In general, any baby under one year should only receive medicines prescribed by your doctor. It is very easy to overdose your baby with propriety very easy medicines. In particular, be careful of cough medicines and medicine for diarrhea. Many of these contain a sedative or a tranquilizer and can cause your baby to stop breathing.

Aspirin is not safe to give to young children. It has been banned in some overseas countries as it has caused severe complications in certain babies. You never know if your baby is one of those. When a baby requires anything for fever or pain, paracetamol is preferable. It is always best to consult a doctor. This also applies should your baby look unwell, has a cough or diarrhea.

Every year thousands of children swallow poisonous things around their homes and sometimes they can die from this. Remember that pills and tablets can look just like sweets. Children will always try to imitate adults. If they see you taking pills or capsules, they may want to imitate you, and accidentally overdose themselves.

Always make sure that your pills and medicines are locked up in a cabinet beyond the reach of your child. It may not be convenient for you, but it is much safer for a baby as he cannot get at your medicines. Remember some of the medicines you may be taking yourself, e.g. for high blood pressure or diabetes, can be very dangerous for the child.

Kerosene, cleaners, and other household agents are very often kept under the kitchen sink. Remember a little baby can open a kitchen sink and get to these chemicals. Be careful of such things, especially bleach, and put these out of reach. Check where you keep these: Caustic soda, bleach, lavatory cleaner, disinfectant, insecticides, petrol, battery acid, kerosene, rat poison, and methylated spirits.

HOW TO GIVE FIRST-AID FOR ACCIDENTS

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OF TRANSPORTING MY BABY IN THE CAR?

Every year, many children are injured or killed on the roads, and yet we do not give much thought to the safety of our children. Here are a few tips on how to prevent accidents.

1. Never hold a baby in your arms in the front seat, even if you are wearing a seat belt. In the event of an accident, your baby will be crushed between you and the dashboard. You will not be able to keep hold of your baby when the car is braking hard, and he will hit his head against the dashboard or windscreen.

2. Never let your child stand or sit in the front seat, and never let your child stand in the back seat. The safest way for children to travel is properly restrained in a back seat.

3. Young babies less than one-year-old can be transported in a little cot or bassinet fastened to the seat belt at the back of the car.

4. In older children, a safety seat that is properly fastened to the back of the car is best. Do not use those that just hook over the car seat without a proper anchor point, and make sure the safety seat has a harness-type belt to hold the baby in.

5. For children over 10 kilos in weight, you can purchase booster cushions to raise the seat so that they can use an adult seat belt. Adult seat belts without booster cushions are dangerous as the strap runs across the neck, not the body.

6. If you make it a habit to put a seat belt on every time a child is in the car, he will soon learn that this is normal and will not grumble. This is by far the safest thing to do. Remember your children are your future

ACCIDENTS AND FIRST-AID PPT

CAN I PREVENT BURNS FROM HAPPENING TO MY CHILDREN?

Around the house, switch off the iron immediately you finish ironing and put it out of children's reach. Make sure they cannot reach the cord.

Keep petrol, kerosene, and oil inflammable material away from children and don't store large quantities in the house. Do not leave any matches or lighters around for children to experiment with. Do not leave burning cigarettes in ashtrays. Keep curtains away from kitchens and areas where they can potentially cause a fire.

Remember that faulty wiring can cause fires. Check that all your plugs for electrical appliances are correctly wired and not overloaded.

HOW CAN I PREVENT MY CHILD FROM DROWNING?

Firstly, do not leave young children alone when they are playing in or near the water. When your baby is having a bath you must always be there and never leave the baby unsupervised. If the doorbell rings or if the telephone rings, take your baby with you.

Keep a close eye on your children when they are at the swimming pool or at the beach. At the seaside make sure they are wearing an inflatable jacket. Even if they are only running around and playing next to the swimming pool in your condominium, they can accidentally fall in when playing and can drown.

WHAT OTHER COMMON HOUSEHOLD ACCIDENTS OCCUR?

Cuts are fairly common occurrences in children and there are many steps that can be taken to prevent this. If you have large areas of glass, for example, a sliding door, a child can run into this, shatter the glass, and cut himself. In many cases, these cuts may require plastic surgery. The best thing to do is to fit safety glass which is specially laminated to stop it from shattering. if the glass is clear and not tinted, place a few decals or pictures at eye level so that they can see that the door is closed.

Do not let your child walk around holding anything made of glass, like a milk bottle or a jug. If your child wears spectacles, it is better to use plastic lenses as these do not shatter. Keep all sharp things from young babies and teach children how to use sharp tools, safely if they have to.

Never let a child walk or run around with anything in his mouth, like a pencil or a ruler. Teach your child not to slam doors. It is very easy to amputate fingers by a slammed door.

ACCIDENTS AND FIRST-AID PPT

HOW DO I STOP BLEEDING IF THE CHILD HAS CUT HIMSELF?

The simplest way to stop bleeding is to apply firm pressure on the cut. Get a piece of clean cloth like a handkerchief or a pillowcase. Place this over the area which has been cut and put firm even pressure on with your fingers and keep pressing until the bleeding stops. This can take 10 minutes or more. If the wound is large, try to close the edges together when you are pressing it.

Do not use a tourniquet. A tourniquet usually makes matters worse. If applied too loosely, it can make bleeding worse by obstructing the venous drainage. Always lay the child down as this helps to stop the bleeding and try to calm the child. If the child is excited then it is likely bleeding will Continue.

Cover the wound with a clean dressing. Take the child to see a doctor. If the wound is dirty, ask your doctor about a tetanus injection.

WHAT MEASURES CAN I TAKE TO ENSURE THAT MY CHILD IS PROTECTED ON THE ROADS?

Many children are injured or killed crossing roads. Do not let very young children out on the roads by themselves. Crossing a busy road needs special skills and most children do not cope with this until they are about 9 years old.

Teach your child the safest place to cross: subways, pedestrian crossing, traffic lights, and make sure your child can be seen. Do not cross in front or behind large vehicles. Teach your child to Concentrate when crosSing roads. Too many people will be reading something or chatting away when crossing roads, and not paying attention to-Oncoming cars. Do not let your child play on the side of a road, as he may accidentally run out.

If your child is riding a bicycle, use a safety helmet. Cyclists can sustain severe head injuries when accidents OCcur. Often, although bicycle injuries tend to be of low velocity, it may be a vehicle traveling at high speed which hits the child. Do not let your child ride a bicycle unsuperVISed at least until he is 12 years old, or until you are happy that he is observing the proper rules of road safety.

ACCIDENTS AND FIRST-AID PPT

FIRST AID GUIDE

In an emergency, do not panic as your child's life Could depend on this. if you keep calm, this will help to comfort your child.

Check that the child is breathing. If the child has stopped breathing, give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation immediately. Every second counts.

MOUTH-TO-MOUTH RESUSCITATION

Clear the child's mouth of any dirt, foreign objects, or vomit. This is easier to do by first lying the child on his side.

Put one hand on the child's forehead and bend his head back, so that he is looking upwards. With the other hand open his mouth, push the jaws forward when you open it. This lifts the tongue off the back of the throat.

Squeeze both nostrils together, and put your mouth over the child's mouth so that it completely covers the mouth. Blow gently, and observe that the chest rises as you do this.

Take your mouth away to allow the air to Come out of the child's chest.

Repeat this about 15 times a minute, until the child is breathing again. When the child is breathing by himself, turn him to his side. In very small babies, you can use your mouth to cover the mouth and nostrils completely, instead of occluding the nostrils.

HEART MASSAGE

Lay the child with his back on the floor. Make sure that there is firm support. Kneel next to the child.

Using the palm of your hands, press on the lower part of the breast bone with moderate pressure. Press once every second, and quicker for a baby.

The child will not start breathing until the heart starts beating. In this instance give mouth to mouth every five seconds in addition to heart massage.

If you have assistance, one person can do the Heart massage while the other, the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Once the heart has started beating, continue with mouth-to-mouth until the child starts to breathe again.

DO NOT FORGET TO CHECK FOR BLEEDING IN AN INJURED CHILD, AND TO TAKE MEASURES TO STOP IT.