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

Diagnosing Asthma in Babies

Babies are susceptible to respiratory infections and may commonly be seen coughing or wheezing. However, mostly these symptoms are related to colds, or infections of the upper respiratory tract. However, coughing or wheezing may also indicate asthma.

What is asthma?

Asthma is a respiratory condition in which the tubes that transfer air in and out of the lungs become sensitive and inflamed. Upon contact with a trigger, the muscles around the walls of these tubes tighten further, making it difficult for the person to breathe. Since these airways are small in babies, even a small degree of inflammation or contraction is sufficient to give rise to symptoms of asthma.

You should consult the pediatrician if your baby:

• Wheezes on more than one occasion.


• Has continuous bouts of coughing that get aggravated at night.


• Displays an unusual form of breathing.


• Suffers breathing problems in response to a cold, or allergens such as dust or smoke.

Here are some facts related to asthma in babies:

• An isolated episode of wheezing is no reason to suspect asthma. If wheezing is recurrent, the pediatrician may prescribe tests to check for asthma.


• Most kids who wheeze as infants outgrow it and do not have asthma when they get older. Less than a third of babies who regularly wheeze during the first three years of their lives, continue to do so as they grow older.


• Asthma if uncontrolled can, over time, seriously damage babies' lungs. To avoid this, the pediatrician may prescribe asthma medications to babies who have symptoms of asthma, even if the diagnosis is not confirmed.

Childhood Diseases - Chickenpox Symptoms and Surviving the Pox

Chickenpox is the common name for Varicella simplex, a disease that mainly affects children. Until recently, chickenpox manifested itself so frequently as a disease, that it came to be recognized almost as a rite of passage for childhood.



Parents knew the first symptom: the red itchy rashes that would spread across the back, the chest, and the scalp; the smaller signs of sickness: the fever, the loss of appetites and finally the scars it would leave behind. Most parents raised their children, accepting chickenpox as a fact of life.



The year 1995 saw the development of a chickenpox vaccine, which turned out to be a safe, effective way to prevent chickenpox and its possible complications. Even in cases where the vaccine does not stop the disease’s progress completely, the surviving infections are known to be much milder than those of the past.



Chickenpox is believed to have been named after chick peas. The specks that appear after the contagion make the skin look as though chickens have pecked it.



There is usually a 10-14 day incubation period before symptoms can be noticed. The disease is highly contagious and spreads by air.



Chickenpox starts off with a few red spots or bumps (often mistaken for insect bites). The appearance of fever is common. The signs then proceed from bumps to blisters and on day 4 the original blisters will start to crust over. By the end of the week, most or all of the blisters will be crusted over. The fever is known to last for 5 days.



Doctors are known to prescribe an antihistamine to relieve itching but other than that, chickenpox requires no medical treatment in healthy children and should simply be allowed to run its course. Parents should be wary of any treatments involving aspirin, due to the risk of developing Reye's syndrome.



In case of complications (such as pneumonia and encephalitis) or exacerbation of symptoms, parents are advised to seek their doctor's attention. However, serious illnesses are more common in older children and adults.

Related Article: Children Pinworms

Accurate Acetaminophen Dosage

Acetaminophen is one of the most common drugs administered to children. The drug is commonly given as a cure for fever and pain. Yet, for dads, it can be one of the most challenging drugs to give a dosage correctly. This is because Acetaminophen is easily available in many forms. It has become a staple resident of home medicine cabinets in one form or the other since the 1970’s. Due to its easy availability, Acetaminophen is considered to be the drug that causes most deaths by overdose. Overdoses occur because parents are unaware of Acetaminophen’s toxicity. Symptoms of acetaminophen intoxication include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and liver failure.


There are few things that every dad should remember before administering Acetaminophen to their children.

• Never give Acetaminophen to a baby under the age of 3 months without consulting with your doctor first.


• The amount of Acetaminophen given to a baby depends on his weight and not on his age.


• Read the medications label carefully as it is easy to be confused by the different forms and concentration of acetaminophen that is available at the medical store


• Remember to use the measuring device that came with the medication to ensure correct amount of dosage.


• Check whether you are giving an adult dosage or a child’s dosage before administering the drug. Even within the children’s version there are many variations depending on age group. For example, an infant drop formulation is three times as concentrated as the syrup given to toddlers.


• Overdose of acetaminophen can cause liver damage.

Age:	0 to 3 months	4 to 11 months	12 to 23 months	2 to 3 years
Weight:	6 to 11 lbs./ (2.7 to 5 kg)	12 to 17 lbs./ (5.5 to 7.7 kg)	18 to 23 lbs./ (8.2 - 10.5 kg)	24 to 35 lbs./ (10.9 to 15.9 kg)
Drops:	0.4 ml (1/2 dropper)	0.8 ml (1 dropper)	1.2 ml (1 1/2 dropper)	1.6 ml (2 droppers)
Syrup:	--	1/2 tsp.	3/4 tsp. (3.75 ml)	1 tsp. (5 ml)
Chewable Tablets 80mg tablets:	--	--	--	2 tablets

Useful Article: New Born Baby Care

Know Why Kids Scribble

Most children are fascinated by the possibilities of a pencil or crayon stub and become engrossed in their activity as they scribble away for hours. As a parent, you may find this a heaven-sent solution to keep your kids quiet and relaxed in their own self-contained zone.

However, you may worry that your child is obsessed with this one activity, and wish he or she would play at something else. It is important for a parent to understand that scribbling may actually serve a greater purpose than mere entertainment. Here are some of the major advantages that scribbling has to offer to children:

• It helps develop independent thinking in children, since a scribbling child gets to think without bounds and without help from anyone.


• It helps develop greater finger control in children, enabling them to be fast and efficient with activities such as writing or brushing.


• It introduces children to the power of the writing—through the process of scribbling, your child learns that a lot can be achieved by writing on a blank space.


• It allows children to express their thoughts and feelings without any inhibitions. This can be a very good way of letting out both negative and positive emotions in a pleasant and subtle way.

With these benefits and more, you would want to ensure your child continues scribbling whenever possible. Here are some tips on how you can make this activity a pleasure for all:

• Teach your child that scribbling is acceptable only on certain surfaces such as notebooks and sand and not on walls, or any other places.


• Provide your child with notebooks of their own and always bring paper and pens to restaurants or anywhere your kids will have to wait. Put an extra stash of pens and paper in the car, so you always have some on hand.


• Give your kids some good educational themes to encourage constructive scribbling—like learning to draw buildings or a simple room.

Top Celebrity Dads List

Which celebrity would you trust your children with? Definitely not Michael Jackson. With constant media scrutiny on every parenting decision they make, celebrities who are dads definitely have it tough. Here's GreatDad's unofficial list of top celebrity dads.

Celebrity Dad #6: David Beckham
Even Beckham's worst detractors in the media cannot fault the handsome football champion for his parenting skills. Praised by everyone as a model dad, Beckham is also known to be a devoted father to his sons, Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz.

Celebrity Dad #5: Johnny Depp
The wild Hollywood rebel known for his eclectic (and often weird) roles is surprisingly protective and caring of his children, daughter Lily-Rose and son Jack, from girlfriend Vanessa Paradis. Choosing to raise them in the healthy French countryside, Depp even 'wears' their names as tattoos.

Celebrity Dad #4: Peter Andre
Recently, more than 2000 mothers across the UK voted in a poll to vote in Andre as the father of the year. Describing himself as "over the moon", the pop star did confess to having wanted this kind of recognition. "For the last couple of years I've been saying that if there's any kind of award I could win it would be dad of the year," he has revealed.

Celebrity Dad #3: Matt Damon
The Academy Award-winning screenwriter and actor plays loving father to Alexia, wife Luciana's daughter from a previous marriage, and Isabella, the couple's first child. A second child is also on the way.

Celebrity Dad #2: Will Smith
The acclaimed actor is a complete family man, happiest when he is with his wife and kids. The doting dad has even shared the screen with his kids: son Jaden has acted with him in The Pursuit of Happyness and daughter Willow in I Am Legend. Treyball Development Inc., the Beverly Hills-based company that Smith co-owns with his brother, is named after his first son, Trey.

Celebrity Dad #1: Brad Pitt
If there ever is an Academy Award for the best performance as a father, Pitt would be nominated, simply for his parenting style. Pitt, already father to four kids, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, and Shiloh, is keenly awaiting the birth of the twins wife Angelina Jolie is carrying.