Our Baby News

Environmental Protection

The best way to help an allergy-prone baby is to know his wheezing triggers and how to dust-bust a room/house/school:

• Eliminate cigarette smoke: Don’t let smokers in baby’s room; don’t take him to places where there are smokers.

• Maintain household humidity at about 40 percent using a humidifier or dehumidifier (as circumstances require).

• Pet danders: Eliminate one by one, starting with the cat. Then give your house a thorough carpet steam-cleaning.

• Replace old rugs and curtains, sources of dust and mites.

• Install a HEPA (high-efficiency particle arresting) filter in baby’s most-used rooms.

• Get rid of old, stuffed animals and offer only machine-washable polyester-filled toys or even (no! no!) Beanie Babies.

You’re in no hurry. The boundless delights of the culinary world await your baby’s palate, but until she’s old enough to describe the simple pleasures of duck-au-poivre, potatoes-au-gratin, or burger-au-fromage, stick to the simple stuff and go slow.

Allow a few days between new foods to minimize the chance of allergy and maximize the chance of recognizing a reaction to a new food. If you think your baby is having a reaction, back off and try again in a week. Symptoms of allergy include an eczematous rash (often red and scaly), diarrhea (with or without blood), wheezing, and hives. If she clearly reacts to a new food with hives, wheezing, or something else equally convincing, there’s no point in reintroducing it later.

Wheezing

Wheezing is a symptom of a variety of problems; in infants, it almost always indicates a viral pneumonia or bronchitis (the correct term is actually bronchitis, which signifies involvement of a lower portion of the bronchial tree). Rarely, it is a sign of heart failure in children with congenital cardiac anomalies.

Babies with a first bout of cough, fever, congestion, and wheezing should be evaluated by a doctor—there are a variety of treatments (liquid and aerosolized medication) and the question of allergy versus infection should be looked into. With repeated bouts of wheezing, the prospect of asthma needs to be considered. (The term “Reactive Airway Disease” has become virtually interchangeable with asthma. It essentially means the same thing, without the negative connotations people—and insurance companies—associate with the term “asthma.”)

The first time your baby wheezes, or on repeated episodes when the usual medications no longer seem to be effective, consult with your doctor. The signs that you should go to an ER are: turning blue and expending excessive effort to breathe as shown by retracting ribs, stomach and neck muscles straining with each breath, and inability to eat because of the extreme breathing effort.

Demystifying Breastfeeding

All mothers and babies should have the opportunity to have skin-to-skin contact straight after birth. This will keep your baby close, warm and calm, and it will steady their breathing.

The art of breastfeeding combines emotional commitment, patience, and experience (your own or a helper).

In a nutshell, though, the important, indisputable facts about die benefits of breastfeeding are as follows:

• Better absorption of nutrients, such as iron, protein, and sugars, than any formula

• Almost no risk of allergy