Dangers to babies.

Almost everyone would agree that honey is good because of its nutrients. Besides its antibacterial effect which helps to heal wounds and cuts, it contains antioxidant properties. Easily digested, it boosts energy levels of athletes fast.

However, when it comes to babies up to a year of age, parents must be aware that honey can cause infant botulism due to allergic reactions which may lead to death.

Do you know that apple seeds contain amygdalins, a cyanide and sugar compound that degrades into hydrogen cyanide when metabolized? Fortunately, the cyanide and sugar compound is not easily available as you need to chew and break up the seed to avail yourself of it. According to the experts, a cup of seeds, chewed or mashed up, when ingested, can be fatal for adults. How many seeds, chewed or mashed, can be fatal or bring problems for a child when ingested?

According to a report in Healthy Lifestyle (1998), there was a case of cyanide poisoning in a woman with apricot kernels. It seems peach seeds present the same problem.

Besides, seeds, when swallowed accidentally, can cause problems to passageways of lungs and intestines of children.

In ionizing radiation, food is exposed briefly to radiant energy such as gamma rays. Ionising radiation is necessary to reduce spoilage or sprouting in food as plants, fruits and seeds cannot continue their natural ripening or aging. It can kill or stop the microorganisms, such as bacteria, virus parasites and insects, from multiplying or continuing their activities.

According to the US Food and Drugs Administration, Irradiation of food does not make food radioactive, does not cause harmful chemical changes but may cause some loss of nutrients which is similar other methods of food processing.

For further reading go to:
www.fda.gov/opacom/catalog/irradbro.html

However, there was a report of chromosomal abnormalities occurring in children from India who had been fed freshly irradiated wheat.

In fact early research by the US government revealed a wide range of health problems in animals which ate irradiated food. Animals died of premature death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirth and other reproductive problems.

Experts revealed that not or microorganisms or virus die through irradiation. For example, prion which causes mad-cow disease and hepatitis virus as well as the Norwalk virus are not killed.

So, when there is no clear cut evidence on the safety of a food processing method, parents ought to be cautious.

For further information, go to:
www.mercola.com/article/irradiated/irradiated_food.htm

Bath time for your baby can be joyous, but never leave your precious child, even for a minute, in the tub of water as it can be a tragedy. Once in a while, we have read of mothers; of course it can happen to fathers as well, it is just that most of the time it is the mother who attends to baby; who leave their children in the tub to do some other work. Misfortune strikes at such times; the baby could have moved and slid to have the head go below the surface of the water. The baby struggles but is unable to upright its body and thus drown in the tub. Whenever, we attend to our babies at such times, forget the ringing phone, forget a neighbour’s call at the gate, in fact forget everything else and be one hundred percent attentive to our precious ones. Nothing is more important than them at such times.

I have seen parents leave their very young children on their bicycles or motorcycles as they run into a shop to purchase something. Most times, everything is fine and by the time they return, the child is still safe and sound. Thank God for that! We all know all kinds of everything can happen while we are not around. Somebody may crash into our bicycle or motorbike. The child may be bitten by a mosquito or a sand-fly and moves because of the pain. What can possibly happen? The child may fall from his precarious perch. Well, it has happened before and that parent could be the one who arrogantly claim it can never happen to his child. Any parent must realise that all it takes is one fall, just once, and it could result in brain damage. There is no point in regretting. Even if Lady Luck were to smile upon us, the trauma of the incident will be with the child always. Your child is too precious to risk it.

And just last year, 2008, we read of a family resting in a car under a tree with its air-conditioning on. All the occupants, adults and children, did not live to appreciate any more the warmth of the sun. The carbon monoxide from the engine brought on the tragedy. And that was not the first time death occur under that same conditions. A few years back, a dating couple in a park near Jelutong, Penang Island, passed away in their car in the same manner.

There was a case of a child left in a locked car under a very strong sun succumbing to the heat.So never leave a young child locked in a car.

Unless a test is made on the toys we buy for our children, we can never know if lead had been used for the paint or the plastics. As such a kit to test for lead is expensive, the government, like what is being done in the United States, must test all toys, furniture and things within the reach of young children for lead.

Lead poisoning can happen when the toys our children play with are put into the mouth and this putting into the mouth is a natural action of every young child. Sometimes he might lick the furniture or bite a part of it.

Toxic lead can come from the dust of flexible plastic toys which have been broken down by sunlight, air or detergents. Lead is found in plastics which have been treated with it to make the plastic soft and flexible.

So, as parents, we should as far as possible avoid toys made by countries where there is no ban on lead in paints. If we see paint peel off the toy, we should stop the child from playing with it. There is the danger of the peeled paint being ingested. As for the plastic, if there is deterioration and dust is seen to form, that plastic object should also be discarded.

Lead poisoning can lead to learning disorder and brain damage. Beware for the future of our children rests in our knowledge and wisdom.

Here is another plastic item which can be dangerous, the simple plastic bag. Children, when given the opportunity, like to play with them. They may even imitate some of our masked superheroes and put it onto the head. Plastic bags can cause suffocation if the child inadvertently gets the handles of such bags entangled.

Dangers can come through carelessness, as we have seen in the case of the bath tub. A reversing car with the driver unable to see well what is behind his boot, may go over an unsuspecting infant. This has happened a number of times and sometimes death is the outcome. Before entering the car, we must make sure there are no children behind the car.

Finally, a child must be put into a child’s seat. Once someone put his infant child in the front seat, drove the car down a slope and watched in horror as the child fell forward onto the floorboard of his car. Fortunately for him, the child was not hurt. But, there is no guarantee that everyone will be that lucky.

If there is anything missed out, please be kind enough to put it in as comments. Let us share our knowledge.