KEEPING YOUR BABY SAFE
Book covers all the bases
NEW YORK Bringing a newborn home can be daunting for new parents. Throw in the race to keep up with the latest news and research on what to do after that and stress levels may rise even higher.
Dr. Tanya Altmann, a pediatrician, professor and an American Academy of Pediatrics spokeswoman, provides answers to parents’ top 150 questions in a newly released book titled Baby & Toddler Basics.
Here’s a look at some updates over the past few years: Introducing solids: In her practice, Altmann starts babies on all sorts of healthy foods around six months of age. She rarely starts with white rice cereal anymore.
“I usually start with avocado and veggies. I try to get in some healthy fats like nut butters and fish, and all sorts of healthy things that parents used to say, ‘Oh my gosh, why would I feed that to my baby?’” Altmann said.
In terms of allergen introduction, one study out of Israel cited by Altmann introduced peanut protein to babies four months to 11 months of age three times a week with good results, she said.
“That doesn’t mean whole peanuts. It means a peanut powder or a peanut puff and they did show that the kids who were introduced to peanuts on a regular basis were less likely to develop a peanut allergy later in life,” Altmann said.
She cautions parents to make sure such foods are in forms babies can handle to avoid choking hazards. And consulting a physician first is key as peanut-allergy testing before introduction might be needed, Altmann said.
Crib safety: About 3,500 sleeprelated deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome and suffocation, occur each year among U.S. babies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with 22 per cent of mothers reporting they do not place their babies on their backs to sleep, as recommended.
Other advisable safe sleep practices include eliminating hazards altogether, including keeping blankets, pillows, bumper pads and soft toys out of cribs and bassinets. Room sharing is recommended — but not bed sharing, as that could increase the potential that a parent will roll over onto a young baby sleeping in the same bed, Altmann said.
Fluoride toothpaste: After the first tooth erupts, a little bit of fluoride for infants is important for promoting dental health, Altmann said.
“We used to recommend just brushing with plain water or fluoride-free toothpaste until children could spit on their own. The more recent guidelines (dating to 2014) are to use just a tiny, tiny smear of fluoride, like the size of a grain of rice, on your baby’s toothbrush,” she said.
Toddlers likely still need help brushing properly, Altmann said. For young preschool or school-age children, parents battling the medo-myself saga might let a child brush on their own in the morning under supervision but more actively assist at night.
The AAP and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry now agree on minute amounts of fluoride for babies, she said.
Car seats: Rear-facing remains the safest, Altmann said, but previously the recommendation was until at least a year, when “everyone would flip their child around.”
Now the research shows a child should remain rear-facing in a car seat until age two or older, she said.
Height and weight should also be monitored to make sure car seats remain safe as babies grow, and readers should remember that car seats are subject to different standards in Canada than the U.S. Fever anxiety: Altmann’s best advice: “Don’t let the number freak you out.”
For babies over three months old, the number may not matter as much, she said. Parents know their babies best and must take into account all symptoms, not just a thermometer reading, Altmann said.
In babies younger than three months, any temperature reading of at least 100 F, or 38 C, should prompt a call to a pediatrician, she said. For infants three to six months, it’s 102 F or 39 C, or higher, Altmann said. For babies older than six months, it’s 104 F or 40 C, or higher.
In terms of thermometers, the “gold standard” for newborn remains rectal devices, she said. For older kids, length of fevers, extended loss of fluids or trouble breathing should mean a trip to the doctor, Altmann said.