As cold weather increases, so does the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"Youngsters - especially those with chronic illnesses - are particularly susceptible to the health risks of carbon monoxide poisoning, and it can even result in death," said Dr. Rani Siddiqi, a pediatrician at Texas Children's Pediatric Associates.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas produced by the incomplete burning of gas, oil, coal or wood. When fuel is not burned properly and/or when rooms are poorly ventilated, the carbon monoxide gas is unable to escape. Malfunctioning appliances such as air or water heaters, boilers, oil burners, solid-fuel appliances, engines and open fires can place people in harm's way.
Siddiqi urges families to install a carbon monoxide detector with a low-level indicator in each bedroom and near heating appliances in their homes.
Additional life-saving tips include:
- Never leave a car running in the garage.
- Do not use an unvented space heater or charcoal grill indoors.
- Inspect appliances and home-heating devices annually.
- Have your chimney cleaned and checked every year.
- Check the flame color of appliances regularly. The flame should be blue, not yellow or orange.
- Gas ranges or ovens should be used only for cooking, not to heat rooms.
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A healthy toddler who isn't being impacted by a potential high-stress environment, such as a new baby in the house, usually is ready to begin preparing for potty training around 18 months of age.
Successful, low-stress potty training doesn't begin with a child's first attempt on the toilet. Instead, parents should consider the six months prior to the first toilet attempt as a time to help toddlers become comfortable with the idea of using the toilet.
"Most 18-month-olds are ready to begin learning words they can use to tell you when they have to go and to understand that everyone urinates and has bowel movements," said Dr. Serena Yang, M.D., M.P.H, a general pediatrician at Texas Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of academic general pediatrics with Baylor College of Medicine. "At 21 months, children are ready to learn what the toilet is for. During this time, parents should make the whole idea of using the potty positive, comfortable and fun - not something that scares the child."
Parents should never describe accidents or using a diaper as "yucky" or with other negative words. In addition, a child should not be punished for having an accident.
"Every aspect of potty training needs to be positive for a child so he or she feels good about this new experience," said Yang. "By taking the time to prepare the child for training, parents will be setting up him or her for success."
Parents also need to remember that, in general, potty training doesn't happen overnight. It may take from six months to one year until a child is regularly using the toilet and only having occasional accidents.
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When an adult has breathing problems, physicians often turn to lung testing for valuable answers. Although very young patients traditionally have been more difficult to diagnose, a highly accurate lung test for infants and toddlers is becoming a standard for national care.
"Unlike an adult, you can't ask an infant or toddler to do a breathing test," said Dr. Peter Hiatt, medical director of the Infant Pulmonary Function Laboratory at Texas Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "With this test, we still sedate the child and place a mask over the face while measuring lung function; however, the new test gives us results that are of similar quality to those obtained in adult lung-function testing."
Hiatt said the test -- which may be more sensitive than a chest exam or X-ray -- yields more accurate diagnoses and allows physicians to potentially evaluate a variety of treatments. After the lung is inflated, a vest that wraps around the child's chest is pressurized rapidly to help the child blow out air maximally. At Texas Children's, the test is administered to infants and toddlers with current or recurrent lung disease to determine if the disease is obstructive or restrictive.
