You pay close attention to each and every sneeze, sniffle, or ache your baby has during the first year of life. There is always the fear that something can go wrong. Babies are tiny and vulnerable, but most are stronger than you think. You may begin to relax some when your baby starts moving around and enters the toddler years. Toddler health is just as important as baby health, but you may not have to look so hard to find when something is wrong as your child is better at communicating with you now, even if they speak very few words.
Toddler health is something that your pediatrician will be watching just as closely as you are. There are things that can come up during toddler-hood that may not have been a problem when they were babies. Autism, for one, generally stays hidden until a child is over one year of age. Toddlers also move about more and have yet to learn what is safe and what is not. This makes it an easy time for toddlers to fall and get hurt, sometimes repeatedly. You probably already know bumps and bruises are a small part of toddler health, but can be serious.
If your toddler bumps his or her head on something, you may feel the need to run to the emergency room right away. That is not always necessary. The head can take bumps, but some are very dangerous. What you want to do is to call your pediatrician and tell them you are worried about toddler health because your baby took a fall and hit his or her head on something. Tell them how hard they hit it, from what distance they fell, and also any physical signs you may see. They will tell you if a trip to the ER is necessary or what you can do at home to make things okay.
Toddler health can be tricky in other areas too. Babies teethe, but so do toddlers. They may also get aches and pains in their legs from increased activity and growth spurts. Toddlers can also get into things that are not locked up, and those things can be poisonous. This is why baby proofing your home is essential to good toddler health. If they can not get into the cupboards, they can not get into your cleaning fluids and your medications. If you have gates up near steps, they are far less likely to take a tumble down them. Prepare for the worst to avoid any possible accidents that could be fatal.
Learn how your toddler communicates so that they can tell you why they are not feeling well. They may not have many words, but they have more obvious facial expressions than they did as an infant, and they also can point and babble in ways that tell you what is happening. You should know at this point what certain types of crying jags mean, which can help you determine if there is a problem with toddler health or if they are just hungry or bored. Your toddler will give you all the clues you need to know that something may be going on that needs attention.
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