First Word 3

Hi. Has your baby ever fallen on a really hard floor?

Like on a cement floor and with such a loud thud that everyone present was speechless for a moment and then everyone was running towards the baby the next moment? How many times does your baby fall while in the care of other people, in your absence? Do you always get to know whenever your baby has had an accident?

When my son was seven months old, I employed one of the most caring house helps I thought I had met. My husband and I came home one evening as tired as serious employees ‘should be at the end of a faithful workday.

Our normal routine was to check on the baby, , find out how the day had been from the house help and then get on to dinner and other matters of interest to a woman and her husband. ‘The baby is doing great,’ she said.

It was a chilly evening and I was glad to note she had responsibly dressed the baby in a woolen cap which was neatly fastened around our boy’s chin. The baby was in the walker. I picked him up and went upstairs to my bedroom. I had bought a new cap and so I wanted to see how it fitted. I supported him and removed the cap he was wearing. I almost collapsed! His forehead had a huge red lump that appeared sore and very oily, from some ointment the house help had applied to soothe the bruise. According to her, the baby had banged his head on the door of the kitchen cupboard while in the walker. I later came to learn that this was a blatant lie! My baby had raced through the kitchen back door while in his walker and crashed down the steps onto the cemented kitchen backyard. The house help was at that time in the front yard.

Our immediate neighbour heard a baby crying persistently and came’ to his rescue!

What essential first-aid tips should every mum and dad arm themselves with to respond to such an accident? What immediate safety and first-aid actions must you take? We have found these topics hard to leave out this time round.

END: PG 03 /01