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10 Warning Signs for Parents Who Want to Have a Healthy Child
Small children are very controversial creatures. One child, that only weighs about 10 pounds can easily drive 2 adult people crazy. And at the same time, babies are extremely fragile. There are dangers lurking around every corner. Sometimes, there are dangers in places we would never even think of.
We at Bright Side, just like most people in the world, really love these small creatures. And we want them to be in perfect health. This is why we made a small compilation that can help us prevent or at least reduce any possible problems they could encounter.
10. Cranial asymmetry in babies
Many mothers notice the phenomenon in their newborn children, known as cranial asymmetry. Most of the time, it is just a cosmetic defect — the shape of the head may be noticeably distorted. Experts believe that it could also be a sign of future plagiocephaly and in some very severe cases, it may cause mental retardation because of the wrong position of skull bones.
In order to avoid this, doctors recommend changing the position of the baby’s head during sleep and when the baby is not asleep, hold them more: most of the time, by the 6th month of life, the skull starts to get into a normal shape.
9. Torticollis
This is often seen in newborn babies and it often scares and confuses young mothers. Most doctors believe that torticollis may be linked with the wrong position of the fetus in the womb or the usage of vacuum devices during delivery. There is too much pressure on the sternocleidomastoid muscle which leads to its hyperextension.
It is not difficult to notice this phenomenon, because the baby prefers to turn their head only to one side. This problem can be fixed without a doctor: just put the baby on its belly and stimulate them to turn their head to the “difficult” side.
8. W-position
Some children love sitting in this position. And doctors often claim that this position is not very good for their health. In the W-position, the upper body is fixed. So, it doesn’t rotate enough and doesn’t allow for any displacement of the weight (turning left and right to get to toys). And this is necessary for them to do, to learn to keep their balance while writing and playing some active games.
Besides, the W-position can cause trouble in children that are susceptible to joint displacement. It is especially bad for children who have a history of muscle tone problems and joint dysplasia.
You don’t need to worry if your child spends just a little time in the W-position: for example when they go from one position to another through the W-position. However, if it is their favorite position that they spend a lot of time in, you should try and encourage them to sit in different positions.
7. Toe walking
Sometimes, when children just start to walk, they move like little ballet dancers. In the beginning, it might look funny, however, if you see it happen often, you should see a specialist.
Often toe walking is idiopathic: it means that the exact reason is unknown. Physiological and neurological examinations usually show that everything is okay. However, this type of walking can also be a worrisome sign: toe walking often indicates some serious health conditions.
6. Teeth grinding while sleeping
Some people believe that the reason for teeth grinding is tapeworms. However, the mechanism of this will most likely stay unknown to humanity. But doctors say that bruxism in children (this is the scientific name of this phenomenon) has 2 reasons: psychological and anatomical.
The psychological cause of bruxism is stress and anxiety. Often, children grind teeth at night after a very bright day or some stressful event (like an argument with a friend, a public speech in school, and so on). The anatomical reason is the forming of the wrong bite. In either case, you should take your child to a dentist in order to avoid problems with their teeth in the future.
5. Lack of eye contact
Many people know that this is the first sign of autism. But of course, you should not base anything on just this sign, and start worrying: in fact, when talking about autism, it is only one of many symptoms. For example, many babies don’t look into the eyes of others: they usually just hear the sound of the voice and look over the face. This doesn’t mean that they have autism. In order to give this diagnosis, doctors need a series of symptoms, and a lack of eye contact is definitely not enough.
A traditional list of symptoms of autism includes, a lack of eye contact, problems with speech, difficulties expressing needs, and not pointing at objects. But even in these cases, doctors don’t give a diagnosis. All children are different, some develop faster and some develop slower.
4. Playing games on smartphones and tablets
No, we are not going to tell you how terrible it is if your child plays games on a tablet or a smartphone. We are going to tell you how dangerous it may be if they lie on their backs while playing.
A smartphone weighs about 200 grams, a tablet weighs about 500 grams. That’s not a lot. However, when your child is lying and holding a smartphone or a tablet right above their face, the risk of dropping it is pretty high. And the consequences depend only on the luck and the age of the child. If the baby is not yet 5 years old, the bones of the face are still pretty soft and they can be seriously damaged, bruised, cut, and so on.
Recently, these cases have become so frequent, that they are in 5th place on the list of the most widespread injuries in the world.
3. Balloons
These ordinary toys can be dangerous, especially for children that put everything into their mouths. Because there is a risk that the balloon will explode. Mariann M. Manno, Professor and physician quality officer at a Massachusetts medical school, explains, “When a balloon explodes, the pieces can get into the throat and block the breathing completely.”
2. Soft sheets, fluffy blankets, and soft toys for babies
All these things make the baby bed more cozy and beautiful, but they bring with them the danger of suffocation. It has been proven that the presence of soft things, like pillows, blankets, and soft walls, increases the risk of death by 5 times. The baby is unable to remove an object from their face that doesn’t allow them to breathe, so blankets and pillows are pretty dangerous.
If the parents are scared that the baby may be cold, it is better to buy a special sleeping bag.
1. Allergic reaction to baby car seat
Sometimes, children have an itchy rash that is called сar seat dermatitis. The red rash usually appears on the open skin of the back of the legs, elbows, and the baby’s head. Most of the time, it happens when the weather is warm, after the baby’s skin comes into contact with nylon or other similar materials that car seats are covered with.
It is believed that the allergic reaction is caused by a foam that is used in car seats that are made of nylon, or by the flame retardant used by the manufacturers to prevent fire.
If you bought a car seat that causes this reaction in your child, just put cotton fabric on it so that your baby’s skin doesn’t come into contact with the nylon.
What do you think? What little things should we pay more attention to in order to prevent any possible trouble? Have you ever had cases in your life when something went wrong with your children?
