| | | | Off the Floor and into Your Baby’s Mouth |
By Susan M. Keenan
Why does everything seem to taste so good to babies, no matter how disgusting it looks or how badly it smells? It’s simply mind boggling the way that the young pick up everything that they can reach. It’s even more mind boggling how they immediately plop it into their mouth or at least as much of it as they can reasonable fit.
This is exactly why parents must be so vigilant about policing their home and the homes of the people they visit for small items that might possibly be discovered by their youngster and wind up in their mouth- entirely. Choking is probably a bigger concern than germs at this point in your child’s life.
However, germs are everywhere and trying to avoid every single one of them is a task that even super mom cannot possibly handle on her own. Fortunately, humans have a system in place to handle the germs that we encounter known as the immune system. It helps to protect us from some of the lesser evils in the world, such as the common germ.
Babies have a natural curiosity that must be filled and it leads to their incessant need to examine everything and anything. Early on in their lives, they haven’t quite developed the ability or motor skills to explore things properly with only their hands. Therefore, it all goes into their precious little mouth.
While we may find that behavior totally disgusting, the babies find it totally enthralling. This behavior occupies most of their waking hours and it keeps them blissfully happy and content. Totally unaware of the impending danger of nasty germs, our sweet little cherubs are extremely happy to suck and chew on doggie toys, household keys, the older cousin’s matchbox car, the lid to the kitchen trash can, or even grandpa’s pipe.
Now, maybe all of these items don’t exist in your home, but you get the point that I am trying to make. Sooner or later, almost everything that’s within reach will end up being taste tested by your little one.
Fortunately, most of the dirt and germs will simply enter through the mouth and exit through the other end. No worries. Baby is safe and fine. Unfortunately, first time mommies may still be in an uproar while the mommy’s mommy sits back and think, “Don’t worry about it. You had a lot more than that in your tiny little mouth and you lived.”
Nonetheless, there are a few things that you can do to help ensure your baby’s health during this mouthing stage.
Check each room daily for items that are small enough for your baby choke on. Remove them and place them in a secure or safe spot.
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