Children's first aid

Knowing the basics in first aid can save a life in an emergency and I think that it is important that everyone should know the basics. It is definitely well worth learning especially if you have children, we all know how mischievous they can be! I'm blogging about it to raise awareness and to have the information fresh in my mind and at hand if ever I may need it.

The following examples show it only takes a few minutes to learn new skills that could save a baby’s life.

In an emergency:

Call for help, and try to work as calmly and quickly as you can.

1. Check if the baby is conscious. 
Can you get a response? Talk to him or call his name, and try tapping him gently on the sole of his foot. If there is no response you need to check for breathing.
2. Open the airway: Place one hand on his forehead and gently tilt his head back. Then using your other hand use one finger to lift the baby’s chin.
3. Take a quick look and remove any visible obstructions from his mouth and nose.
4. Look, listen and feel for normal breathing: Place your face next to the baby’s face and listen for breathing, at the same time look along his chest and abdomen for any movement. You may also be able to feel the baby’s breath on your cheek. Allow up to 10 seconds to check if your baby is breathing or not.
5. If the baby is not breathing:

• If another person is present, ask them to call an ambulance straight away.
• If you are alone give 1 minute of CPR then take your baby with you to call an ambulance.

How to do CPR

This valuable skill could save your baby's life:

1. Place your baby on a firm surface. Open his airway by placing one hand on his forehead and gently tilting his head back, then with your other hand use one finger to lift the baby’s chin.
2. Place your mouth over the baby’s mouth and nose and – by blowing steadily – attempt 5 initial rescue breaths.
3. Place 2 fingers in the middle of his chest and press down one third of the depth of the chest. After 30 chest compressions give 2 rescue breaths.
4. Continue with cycles of 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths until emergency help arrives.

Recovery Position

If a baby is unconscious but breathing, the safest position to hold a baby is known as the ‘recovery position’. Hold him on his side, head tilted, as if you were giving him a cuddle, with his head lower than his tummy.

Dial 999 or 112 in an emergency

112 is recommended for use on mobile phones as it gives a clearer signal, but 112 also works on landlines.
112 is commonly used for the emergency services in other European countries

How to deal with choking

If a baby is unable to breathe, cough or cry, and you suspect he has a severe obstruction in his throat, here’s what to do:

1. Lay the baby face down, head low, along your forearm.
2. Support his head and shoulders with your hand.
3. Thrust the heel of your hand, firmly, but not aggressively, up to 5 times between his shoulder blades – these are called back blows.
4. Check his mouth quickly after each blow and remove any obvious obstruction.

If the obstruction is still present:

1. Give up to 5 chest thrusts – place 2 fingers on the lower half of the baby’s breast bone and give 5 sharp downward thrusts.
2. Check the mouth quickly after each one. If the obstruction does not clear after 3 cycles of back blows and chest thrusts, call an ambulance.
3. Continue until help arrives.
4. If you have had to perform chest thrusts on your baby, he must be seen by a doctor.

How to treat bleeding

Blood loss can be serious and should be treated as quickly as possible. 

For a baby who is bleeding severely, your main aim is to stop the flow of blood.

If you have disposable gloves available, use them. It is important to reduce the risk of cross infection at all times.

• Check whether there is an object embedded in the wound. If you suspect there is something embedded, take care not to press on the object. Instead press firmly on either side of the object and build up padding around it before bandaging to avoid putting pressure on the object itself.
• If there is nothing embedded, press on the wound with your hand, ideally over a clean pad and secure with a bandage.
• If an arm or leg has been wounded, raise it above the level of the heart.
• Take the baby to hospital as soon as possible.

How to deal with accidental poisoning

If you think your baby has swallowed some tablets or medicine:

• Take him, and the bottle, immediately to an A&E department.
• Do not give your baby anything to make him sick.
• If you think your baby has swallowed a household or garden chemical, keep calm and get him to hospital as quickly as possible. Take the container from which he has swallowed with you.
• If your baby is in pain or his mouth is red, sore and blistering, give him sips of cold water or milk to soothe him until you get to hospital.
• Make a note of the time and how much chemical/how many tablets have been swallowed.

Burns and scalds

Burns and scalds are among the most common injuries requiring emergency treatment in the UK. 


With babies the most likely cause of scalds in the home is a baby that pulls a hot drink onto himself. Even if the drink does not feel hot to an adult it can still cause damage to a baby’s sensitive skin.

• Cool the burn as quickly as possible by placing the affected area under cold running water, for at least 10 minutes. A shower can be used to cool a burn providing you can support the baby in the shower. Ensure temperature is set to cool and the pressure is low 
Warning: Covering the whole baby, rather than just the area of the burn, with cold water could result in hypothermia.
• It is common for swelling to occur after a burn, so remove any tight clothing before the swelling occurs. However, do not remove clothing or material that may be sticking to the burn.
• Raise the limb to reduce swelling.
• Cover the injury using a clean pad or cling film, and call an ambulance.

Knowing first aid

First aid is a great skill to have, so why not reinforce what you have just learnt and build up your confidence by booking yourself onto a first aid course?
Do relatives or friends look after your baby for you? Make sure that they too know what to do should an accident happen.

This information has come from this website http://www.bounty.com/baby/care/emergency-first-aid


The Red Cross is the world’s largest first aid training provider so you can trust it to deliver courses to the highest standard, with the most up to date information and techniques

More first aid information:

• The Red Cross: www.redcross.org.uk/firstaid or call the national first aid helpline on 0870 170 9222 or email firstaid@redcross.org.uk.
• No time for a course? Why not order a copy of First aid for Babies and Children Fast, published by the British Red Cross and Dorling Kindersley. Order online atwww.redcross.org.uk/shop

Trying for baby number 2!

So me and the husband are mad enough to decide that another baby would be a delight to have in our life. I don't think there is ever a 'right' time but since M is potty trained and will be starting nursery in September we've decided that, well, now is as 'right' a time as any! We've done it once before, how hard can it be?! I've decided that I'm going to blog my journey, and I hope that people who are trying for a baby or expectant mothers can join in and we can help each other along the way!

1st month
Well I quit smoking and drinking from the off and I've been taking the Trying For A Baby supplements for over a month now, I thought they'd make me feel more healthier? I don't know whether that sounds stupid but hopefully somebody can relate to what I'm saying!
I've googled conception, ovulation, etc. and tried to work out my ovulation dates! Although I'm not sure of my cycle I've got a general idea of the dates. Apparently if you have a 28 day cycle your ovulations is 16 days from the first day of you period. It doesn't sound too hard to work out if you know your body. There is ovulation tests you can buy, they're like a pregnancy test but give you a positive reading when you're ovulating. I personally don't like this idea, if I got a positive reading I'd know that it's time to have sex right then, whatever happened to being in the moment? I mean "we've got to have sex now or I won't get pregnant" doesn't sound like the best line to get things going does it?
There's so much information about what and how is best for conceiving a baby, most of it is similar in the fact it states the egg only lasts for 12-24 hours and to have sex regularly to have the best chance of getting pregnant. But then things get complicated. Having sex every day means that there's a good chance you will get pregnant but then you have to wait 24 hours before having sex again so that there is a full load of sperm. So the best advice I think from comparing this information is to have sex every 2-3 days.
Some sites state that sex positions don't matter in bettering your chance of conception but then some say that they do and even give you sex positions to do! Me and the hubby were looking at them and laughing at most of them (childish I know, but 'the balancing act'?! Come on!?) but we just think that we are going to relax not let it consume our lives and just go with the flow of everything. If we get pregnant then great, if not well there's always next month! After all stress is 'bad' for trying for a baby don't you know?
It all sounds so complicated and to be honest I probably shouldn't have gone looking for all the information but I did and it's too late now! This isn't sounding promising so far is it?!

2nd month
Last month wasn't our month, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly so wasn't too disheartened! Keeping our fingers crossed for this month though and only time will tell what will happen, I'm just a really impatient person! And I'm definitely reading too much into things? Heartburn after a meal, feeling sick because I forgot breakfast, etc....
It seems this month wasn't our month either! My delightful 'aunt flo' arrived a week late so couldn't help but get my hopes up! Was a little upsetting! But today I'm feeling good about myself, I'm looking forward to going to London with the hubby and maybe treating myself to my first glass of wine since New Year's Eve!
I've also joined a site which has other women who are actively trying to conceive and other mums 
with all different experiences! It's good to chat to people who are going through the same as me. I also found out that 2 of the people became pregnant after having their Mirena coil out after 4 months, it's nice to stay positive and hope this could happen too, even if I didn't want to get pregnant in April because I didn't want a Christmas baby! Not that I wouldn't be delighted because I would! There's just a lot going on in December with Christmas, wedding anniversary & New Year's Eve! Also I've got tickets to see a comedian that me and the hubby have wanted to see for ages... I could always laugh myself in to labour I suppose!

3rd month
So like I said it didn't happen last month. This month I'm researching and stepping it up! Apparently these are some of the things that can increase chances of conception:
-Leafy greens
-Brazil nuts
-Kiwis
-Pineapple core
-Preseed (it's like a lubricant that helps the sperm travel)
This month I'm trying kiwis & Brazil nuts, luckily I like them both so I don't have to force myself to eat them. And hopefully it will do me a little bit of good too!
Also I decided to work out my ovulating dates on a different website to what I've been using. It gave me a different fertility window to what the other one gave me. A whole week apart! Obviously one of them is wrong but since I'm not using ovulation predictor kits (I'll definitely obsess too much if I start using them!) I won't know!
So I'm due AF this week sometime but I'm not sure when. I've been trying to track my CM as thought that might be easy (to see when I'm ovulating!) but that didn't help. I think I'm approx. 9DPO. Done a couple of tests but all negatives. I haven't obsessed this month as I think I missed my chance because is was ill earlier in the month, but I have had really (sorry TMI alert) sore nipples! Like i can't even wear a bra! Has anybody else experienced this?! A few people on the chat sites have been saying that it was a sign for them when they were pregnant but a lot more people are saying they get it when they are due AF so it could be either or! Which is pretty much the same with every pregnancy/ AF symptom! Anyway, I'm going to wait to test again now, so fingers crossed for me and anybody else trying to conceive!
It seems all the Brazil nuts & kiwis didn't work this month either! This witch got me unfortunately, so it looks like there could be a Christmas baby if we conceive next month....

4th month
I can't believe how quickly we have got to month #4 already! I've decided that I'm going to stay away from the chat rooms because I can't help but feel jealous of all the positive results and I think they are probably making me obsess more than I would like! This month we are going to take a really laid back approach, mainly to help my sanity, but mostly because if we were to conceive this month the approximate due date would be - 26th December! Which if I am honest is a little bit too close to Christmas for my liking. I wouldn't have minded it being a week either side of Christmas Day but Boxing Day! And with it being my second whose saying it wouldn't come early on Christmas Day?!
So I caved and bought OPKs - Ovulation Predictor Kits. But I'm still undecided whether to use them and try or to just use them to see when I approximately ovulate?
And I've stayed off the chat rooms so far, I do feel better for it but I'm only on day 6 of my cycle so we will just see how I'm feeling on day 28!