In the December 2008 issue of The Lancet, a case report was published about an 11-month old baby girl who, while playing in her baby walker, fell down a flight of stairs and suffered serious head injuries. The doctors involved in the case issued a call to all governments to ban the use and import of baby-walkers on the grounds that baby-walkers present a potentially deadly but preventable hazard to little children. They are not alone. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly opposes the use of walkers and together with the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions, have called for a ban on the manufacture and sale of baby walkers with wheels.

Parents and caregivers may believe that walkers help children learn to walk. Unfortunately, this is not true; walkers can actually interfere with normal muscle development. Whatever benefits the walker brings are very minimal to the risk and dangers associated with it.

The Parenting Corner of AAP lists the following safety issues:

• Falls – as in falling down the stairs and steps, leading to severe injuries.
• Burns – babies on walkers can reach much higher, making even a single cup of coffee a hazard.
• Drowning – babies in walkers can reach a pool, a bathtub, or a garden pond fast – and then fall.
• Poisoning – again, walkers help babies to reach what is normally unreachable at their age.

These accidents do not only happen when the adults are not looking. Babies on walkers can move very fast and sometimes adults won’t have time to react.

In addition, AAC also gives the following recommendations:

• Make sure there are no walkers at the daycare.
• Make sure there are no walkers at the homes of people you are visiting.

It is said that 2000 children die everyday all over the world due to preventable injuries. Walker injuries are preventable. AAP’s parting shot is “Keep your child safe. . .throw away your baby walker!”

There’s the first hand or direct cigarette smoke. Then there’s the second hand or passive smoke. Now comes a newly identified cigarette hazard – third hand cigarette smoke.

So what’s third hand smoke?

It’s the toxic substances that linger and persist for long periods of time, long after the act of smoking is finished, long after the cigarette has been extinguished and thrown away. The toxic substances are found in particles in the smoke and they stick to your clothes, your hair, the curtains, the furniture, the carpet. Opening a window or putting on a fan is not enough to get rid of these particles, according to this New York Times article.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 250 poisonous gases and other toxic chemicals — including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, butane, ammonia, toluene, arsenic, lead, chromium, cadmium, and and the highly radioactive carcinogen polonium-210.

So hours after finishing your cigarette, you and the toxins attached to you still present a hazard to your baby the minute you pick him/her up.

At home, where most of the smoking occurs nowadays after anti-smoking laws in public places have been implemented, babies and toddlers are exposed to third hand smoke as they crawl and play on the carpet. Home has become a dangerous place when adults smoke there.

The same thing can also be said about the family car, where exposure is even worse due to restricted space.

A study published in the journal Pediatrics reported the results of a survey about people’s opinion on third hand smoke and home smoking bans. Expectantly, non-smokers are more aware of the hazards of third hand smoke and more amenable to home smoking bans compared to smokers.

I can sympathize with parents who really try to quit and can’t. After all, nicotine addiction is one of the hardest habits to break. I just hope that protecting their children’s health will become a strong incentive to help them quit.

Before your child begins to walk is the time to start baby proofing your home. Babies and toddlers learn by touching and by putting things in their little mouths, so making sure that their environment is safe from hazards is important.

Here are some basic guidelines for baby proofing your home.

First, get down to your baby?s level. By crawling and lying on the floor, you can spot potential dangers before your child can, and correct them. Go through your house room by room to look for potential hazards and then find a way to correct them.

• Living Room, Family Room Great Room
  In the living area of your home, make sure that rugs are secured to avoid slipping or tripping hazards. Repair loose floor or linoleum tiles, or fraying carpet, so that they are not a potential hazard. Tied electrical cords together and secure them in place so that they cannot be pulled on or used to pull down objects such as lamps, or chewed or sucked on. Also be sure to cover all outlets with protective covers so that little fingers (or other objects) cannot be inserted into them.
  
  Make sure furniture is sturdy and will not easily topple over if your baby pulls on or tries to crawl onto it. Repair wobbly furniture or put it away where baby can?t get to it.
  
  Clear small items off tables and dressers. Any item that is small enough to fit in an empty cardboard paper towel roll is a potential choking hazard for your baby. Keys, loose change, rings, buttons, lighters, and other small items are potential choking hazards.
  
  Keep pet toys out of your child?s reach as well ? not only are they a potential choking hazard, but they are a health hazard as well.

• Kitchen
  Install locking mechanisms cabinet doors and drawers so that baby cannot open them. Store any cleaning supplies, alcohol and other hazardous items in a cabinet out of your child?s reach. Consider making one drawer in the kitchen your baby?s play drawer, filled with safe and interesting items such as plastic food storage containers, wooden spoons, pots and pans, etc., that he or she can pull our and play with, keeping him or her occupied while you?re in the kitchen.

• Bathroom
  Babies can drown in just a few inches of water; never leave your child alone in the bathroom. Keep shampoos, soaps and razors off the bathtub ledge and out of reach. Also keep the toilet lid down and consider installing a locking mechanism. Make sure all electrical appliances are stored out of reach and cannot be pulled down by their cords.