₦airaland Forum

Yesterday, as I walked into the children's emergency room, I couldn't help but notice a little boy of about 3 years unconscious with severe skin burns on the tummy area and legs. It was a gory sight. Already concluding it to be a home accident involving hot water burns, I asked the father to explain what had happened.

He said "Doctor, I came home and met my son like that. He had convulsion and my neighbours got some medicinal leaves, placed it on a burning stove and placed my son on top of the leaves on the stove to stop the convulsions." I couldn't help but ask, "So, did that work?" I never got a reply to that question. It was not the first time I had seen this, it probably won't be the last.

His son is now fighting for his life, unconscious, severely burned, and is currently been managed by many teams of doctors for all the complications incurred. More money spent, more days on admissions, more stress for the boy and family, all for a condition that could have been solved for just a fraction of the cost with zero complications.

I guess the pertinent question is why? Why are we always quick to resort to ineffective traditional measures which only serves to worsen matters only to remember then that hospitals exist. Why do we keep repeating the very same mistakes and particularly in children too? I am yet to hear that an adult was placed on a heated stove because of seizures. This is beyond ignorance... this is plain wickedness.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

Yesterday, as I walked into the children's emergency room, I couldn't help but notice a little boy of about 3 years unconscious with severe skin burns on the tummy area and legs. It was a gory sight. Already concluding it to be a home accident involving hot water burns, I asked the father to explain what had happened.

He said "Doctor, I came home and met my son like this. He had convulsion and my neighbours got some medicinal leaves, placed it on a burning stove and placed my son on top of the leaves on the stove to stop the convulsions." I couldn't help but ask, "So, did that work?" I never got a reply to that question. It was not the first time I had seen this, it probably won't be the last.

His son is now fighting for his life, unconscious, severely burned, and is currently been managed by many teams of doctors for all the complications incurred. More money spent, more days on admissions, more stress for the boy and family, all for a condition that could have been solved for just a fraction of the cost with zero complications.

I guess the pertinent question is why? Why are we always quick to resort to ineffective traditional measures which only serves to worsen matters only to remember then that hospitals exist. Why do we keep repeating the very same mistakes and particularly in children too? I am yet to hear that an adult was placed on a heated stove because of seizures. This is beyond ignorance... this is plain wickedness.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

I must confess.. Blogging is tough. But one thing remains constant and the key to consistency... Blog what you are passionate about

blank:
Please. sleeping on the back for babies can cause the child to gag. What if the baby has spit up or vomits whilst on his back, the only way is back down and the child could suffocate on it. Sleeping on their side is the best for new born babies. Once the baby has learnt good head control, he can be placed on his stomach if you prefer (from like 5 months).

I beg to differ and strongly disagree with your statement. Would love to explain and I already have at www.kiddiesmatters.com. The article written there will enlighten you more

Chazzyboy:
Nwanyi Oma

i

christinie:
Thanks Doctor.

Thank you

AleAirHub:
Nice Tips And I Will Gave It A Try Very Soon

Thank you

We are going do an exercise which is simple, fun and very vital to all that we do in child care.

You will need the following:
A weighing scale
Calculator
A baby or child
An adult.

Now, let's begin!

If your baby/child can stand, place him or her on top of the weighing scale. Note the weight in Kg, not pounds or lb but Kg.

If your baby is yet to stand, carry him or her and weigh yourself while carrying the child (let's assume you got 70kg). Now, drop the baby, and weigh yourself alone (let's assume your weight alone is 60kg) . Baby's weight will simply be 70 minus 60 which is 10kg.




So far so good.

Now the fun part,
For any drug we give to children, we use the weight to calculate the exact dose to give.

Let's start with the commonest drug paracetamol: The dose is 10mg for every weight in kg.
So for a 10kg child, the appropriate dose of paracetamol is 10mg x 10kg which is 100mg.
5mls of liquid paracetamol is 125mg while a tablet of paracetamol is 500mg. Which do you think is an overdosage for this Child? That's right, the tablet.

So, if you must give the tablet, then simply divide it into 4 and give one fourth which is 125mg.

All drugs given to children have their own formula for each kg to avoid over dosage. When in doubt, ask your doctor.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

We are going do an exercise which is simple, fun and very vital to all that we do in child care.

You will need the following:
A weighing scale
Calculator
A baby or child
An adult.

Now, let's begin!

If your baby/child can stand, place him or her on top of the weighing scale. Note the weight in Kg, not pounds or lb but Kg.

If your baby is yet to stand, carry him or her and weigh yourself while carrying the child (let's assume you got 70kg). Now, drop the baby, and weigh yourself alone (let's assume your weight alone is 60kg) . Baby's weight will simply be 70 minus 60 which is 10kg.




So far so good.

Now the fun part,
For any drug we give to children, we use the weight to calculate the exact dose to give.

Let's start with the commonest drug paracetamol: The dose is 10mg for every weight in kg.
So for a 10kg child, the appropriate dose of paracetamol is 10mg x 10kg which is 100mg.
5mls of liquid paracetamol is 125mg while a tablet of paracetamol is 500mg. Which do you think is an overdosage for this Child? That's right, the tablet.

So, if you must give the tablet, then simply divide it into 4 and give one fourth which is 125mg.

All drugs given to children have their own formula for each kg to avoid over dosage. When in doubt, ask your doctor.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

Everyone loves honey, it's rich, sweet, natural, filled with so much sunshine and well, dangerous. Not everyone should take honey. It is advised that any child less than one year of age should not be given honey.

This is because there is a toxin that thrives in honey called Botulinum toxin. It might sound familiar because that is what celebrities inject on their faces (Botox) in little quantities to paralyze it all in a bid to reduce wrinkles and appear young or weird if you ask me.

However, In children less than a year, when exposed to these toxins in honey, their bodies are still so immature to fight it and its effects, thus it paralyzes not just the face making it impossible to feed but also the chest , making it difficult to breath, causing death.

There is no treatment for it, except to wait for the toxin to wear out from the body. Better still, why not just avoid honey in infants for just a year. Afterall, they have the rest of their lives to still experience the goodness that is honey.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

Everyone loves honey, it's rich, sweet, natural, filled with so much sunshine and well, dangerous. Not everyone should take honey. It is advised that any child less than one year of age should not be given honey.

This is because there is a toxin that thrives in honey called Botulinum toxin. It might sound familiar because that is what celebrities inject on their faces (Botox) in little quantities to paralyze it all in a bid to reduce wrinkles and appear young or weird if you ask me.

However, In children less than a year, when exposed to these toxins in honey, their bodies are still so immature to fight it and its effects, thus it paralyzes not just the face making it impossible to feed but also the chest , making it difficult to breath, causing death.

There is no treatment for it, except to wait for the toxin to wear out from the body. Better still, why not just avoid honey in infants for just a year. Afterall, they have the rest of their lives to still experience the goodness that is honey.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

vivavik:
Some kids just won't sleep if not placed on their stomachs,I have this rare case of my Lil cousin, he wouldn't sleep anywhere but on my stomach faced down and immediately i put him on the bed or his mum picks him up, then he wakes up. Mystery I tell u

Please refer to the second part of this write up. I explained why the lying on the back is preferred after been asked to explain further.

www.kiddiesmatters.com. Thank you

have been asked to elaborate more on this by some interested parties. So please for those interested, you can click on the link below for more details. I would have pasted it here but it has lots of pics for illustrations which I am not quite adept on how to go about it in this post. Apologies.
www.kiddiesmatters.com

I have been asked to elaborate more on this by some interested parties. So please for those interested, you can click on the link below for more details. I would have pasted it here but it has lots of pics for illustrations which I am not quite adept on how to go about it in this post. Apologies.

www.kiddiesmatters.com

Cutehector:
ur mail ain't workin.. my text failed to deliver..

I am sorry. It's @gmail.com not yahoo. Inboxdr.ada@gmail.com. My mistake

slimyem:
The education or sensitization is not enough. Health is not valued or seen as worth spending on until it's almost too late. Hospitals are last resorts.
I'm almost certain the statistics of pregnant women in Nigeria who never step in a hospital all through the course of their pregnancy would be jaw-dropping. Traditionalists would continue to have patronage until a lot changes. Until medical health care becomes affordable, accessible and trusted. It's a long road for us.

We can at least try. Call it part of our social responsibility.

Cutehector:
doctor Ada dnt go yet, leme have ur number

We can exchange mails. Mine is inboxdr.ada@yahoo.com

macho44:
Drada I've got a story to tell, I'd like to reach u in person! Do u mind?

No, I don't mind. Send me a mail at inboxdr.ada@gmail.com

I must say that I am petrified at some of the comments. It explains a whole lot. To quote my daughter "Are you guys for real?"

okuneddie:
I know cases of of many people that hospitals will say that they will amputate their leg or hand and once they take it to traditional bone setters the bone will be OK.... a family friend of mine broke his leg thru okada accident and if u should see him today, u won't know that such thing happened to him.....I guess the one the father took his son to is a fake one....lots of people patronize them cos they do what most Nigerian doctors can't do

This is new.

Cutehector:
urm it's hector dear thanks tho...


Dnt mind me tho, was only tryna pull ur legs, of course I understand your point.. technology just makes life easier for all of us and less complicated..

U seem like u practice abroad

Abroad ke. I am an original naija doctor. I just wish we practiced more of preventive medicine and that's what I am hoping that I will achieve through nairaland and my blog by his grace. There is so much we don't know and the ones that we do know we hardly ever practice. I used to blame the government but now I think differently. Doctors and other health care workers should assume responsibility too. Oh well, enough of my "ranting" like someone commented on my blog. Nite nite

Cutehector:
sister dokitor.. where was x ray when people had fractures in d days of old?

cutehector, nice name by the way, x ray was probably not invented then.

Cutehector:
Some traditional bone setters are really good at what dey do.


My cousin's leg is so healed

Now, I know why traditional Bone Setters are probably here to stay. My dear, like I explained in the health section (I posted same thread there), traditional Bone Setters appear to know what they do simply because they almost always get good results when managing simple fractures. In complicated fractures, the results are different and most often riddled with terrible complications and loss of body parts.

Now, please tell me how you can tell just by looking at a fractured body part whether you are dealing with a simple or a complicated fracture. Only an x-ray can do that. I guess I am a bit more concerned because in my place of work, we get a lot more of these complicated cases already been poorly managed by Traditional Bone Setters. A good healer knows his or her limits. My point is that all these can be prevented by first doing an x ray and then meeting a specialist that will do the very same thing the bone Setter does with zero complications.

Father A walked into the hospital with his 9 year old son looking worried and stressed out. His son however looked toxic wincing intermittently in pain, helpless. I could clearly see the reason for his pain. His right hand was massively swollen, dark in colour with terribly damaged skin.

Looking at his dad for an explanation, he went on to tell me that his boy had broken his hand 5 days ago while playing with his peers. He had taken him to a traditional Bones Setter who "treated" him. He was in the hospital because his son had gotten worse.

I looked at his son and prayed his hand would be salvaged. It would be so unfair having a little boy's hand amputated because of the father's ignorance. I gave the boy some pain medications, started him on antibiotics, took down notes and counselled the father. I called the Orthopaedic surgeons and offered yet again another prayer.

Www.kiddiesmatters.com

Yuneehk:
These traditional bone setters are probably not good for kids. I had an arm dislocation some years back and my mum took me to "an ijaw old man". After the massage sessions, I was okay.

These bone setters dey wicked oo. Their mind dey for back upon my tears. They're good at what they do sha

You were lucky. Thank God for you.

akinloluwao:
Traditional bone setters are good at their job. I knocked an Okada guy down about 5 months ago. His legs were broken, the guy is back to Okada business now. His was done at Cotonou. I prefer them to hospital. It is well

My dear, a family friend sustained a fracture of the arm and went to a traditional Bone Setter who charged him N110,000, believe it or not, and carried on to treat what he later learnt was a complicated fracture. His arm bones had shattered into several pieces and no one was the wiser. He later went on to see an orthopedic surgeon, thank God. A major surgery was done, some rods inserted in his arm and he is doing fine now.

akunjohn:
I don't know about a little child but I have a friend who has similar case when he had an accident but and was taken to this bone setter due to financial problem,and now he is okay though he is limping slightly.

Traditional Bone Setters might seem to get good results when dealing with simple fractures. In complicated fractures, the results are fraught with complications like the story I had encountered first hand.

And how can we tell if a fracture is complicated or not, an x ray of the affected area gives it away.

Father A walked into the hospital with his 9 year old son looking worried and stressed out. His son however looked toxic wincing intermittently in pain, helpless. I could clearly see the reason for his pain. His right hand was massively swollen, dark in colour with terribly damaged skin.

Looking at his dad for an explanation, he went on to tell me that his boy had broken his hand 5 days ago while playing with his peers. He had taken him to a traditional Bone Setter who "treated" him. He was in the hospital because his son had gotten worse.

I looked at his son and prayed his hand would be salvaged. It would be so unfair having a little boy's hand amputated because of the father's ignorance. I gave the boy some pain medications, started him on antibiotics, took down notes and counselled the father. I called the Orthopaedic surgeons and offered yet again another prayer.

Dailychildhealthtips..com.ng

timilehing:
Adding 1 or 2 pinshures would have been better



But seriously, pikin wey go die from sleep go die irrespective of sleeping position

I most certainly disagree. I didn't mention the name of the disease condition since I wanted a rather simple laid back style of writing. Please Google Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It will clear your doubts.

dayoungmoney1:
Nice post

Thank you. There is more if you are interested on dailychildhealthtips..com. I will try though to post more articles on nairaland