The natural instinct of many adults is to kiss the new baby of a friend or relative. Yet many are unaware of how potentially dangerous kissing an infant baby can be. Indeed, in the worst scenarios, the child could be permanently damaged or even lose their life. As many adults are simply unaware of such dangers, today’s article exposes the risks that a simple kiss can represent to a newborn or infant baby and why it’s essential for parents to take precautions to protect them.
“A nationwide survey of 2,300 new and expectant parents … found that 54% would let friends and family kiss their newborn baby, unaware of the risk of serious infection.” — The Lullaby Trust∞
Babies Have Immature Immune Systems & Are More at Risk
Immune systems are complex things and, despite babies being passed a level of protection via their mother’s milk, it can take some time before babies’ immune systems are advanced enough to fight off infections that an older child is naturally protected against. In the first few months of a newborn baby’s life, they have immature immune systems and therefore they are far more susceptible to infections than older children and adults. What’s more worrying, though, is that being exposed to certain viruses and microbes can cause irreparable harm to them — and even death.
“Even infections that cause mild symptoms such as a common cold in adults and older children can be life-threatening for babies” — The Lullaby Trust
The ‘Blood-Brain Barrier’
Without getting too technical, the Blood-Brain Barrier (‘BBB’) can be thought of as a thick, semipermeable membrane of special cells that protect the brain. In tandem with allowing oxygen and nutrients to be delivered from the bloodstream to the brain, it helps to retain good things inside it. Importantly, the BBB also helps to keep out germs, diseases, toxic substances, and other potentially damaging impurities from entry into the brain.
The ‘Blood-Brain Barrier’ Takes Months to Mature
Here’s the important thing in respect to babies: in newborn and infant babies, the blood-brain barrier is not fully developed and their immune systems are still being trained. And, although born with a blood-brain barrier, that barrier needs further time to develop as it continues to tighten, thereby protecting the brain more during a child’s early life. That’s incredibly important to grasp because infections in the brain can be potentially catastrophic and especially so for babies under the age of 4 months.
An infection that could cause mild symptoms in older children and adults could be life-threatening for newborns.
What’s the Worst That Can Happen to Compromised Babies?
A baby whose brain is compromised by an infection crossing an immature blood-brain barrier can suffer potentially catastrophic consequences. A brain infection can lead to brain inflammation, brain swelling, brain damage, loss of consciousness, stroke, seizures, epilepsy, and potentially even death. It’s critically important, therefore, to protect children from such potential risks, especially in their first few months and during their first year.
“The younger the baby, the more vulnerable they are to the harmful effects of infection.” — NHS
The Risks from Kissing Babies
So, what has all this got to do with kissing babies? Well, because the BBB in babies and young infants is immature, the risks of infection to the brain are far higher. General germs, viruses and colds are, of course, a concern along with illnesses that cause ill health, diarrhoea or vomiting. However, active cold sores are a particular worry to parents who are aware of the safety issues around kissing babies. That’s because the virus that causes cold sores is actually the herpes simplex∞ virus, which can be passed to the baby through a simple kiss on the head. It’s a very common virus and, indeed, most adults carry the HSV-1 variant of the virus but don’t realise they do. For adults, it causes cold sores but can also cause genital herpes (HSV-2).
“The herpes simplex virus can be passed to a baby through a cold sore if a person has a cold sore and kisses the baby.” — NHS
If infected by neonatal herpes∞, a baby could become seriously ill or even die, particularly if the infection spreads to the infant’s internal organs. This is therefore a serious issue that parents need to be aware of and take measures against. And it’s all the more important in the earliest part of a baby’s life due to the immaturity of their immune system and BBB.
“A baby is most at risk of getting a herpes infection in the first 4 weeks after birth.” — NHS
Cold sore infections are most contagious when the blisters they cause burst, and remain a danger until fully healed. Therefore it’s important never to let anyone with such a condition touch or kiss a baby.
Measures Parents Can Take to Protect Babies
Parents who show signs of infection and any visitors (who could, in theory, be carrying anything) should follow some simple rules to help newborns and young infants stay safer from harmful infections.
- Wash hands before touching babies.
- Never kiss a newborn baby or infant, particularly on the head, except when you’re their parent or main carer and are in good health.
- Even if you are their parent or main carer, avoid kissing them and wash hands before breastfeeding if you have recently been unwell or, of course, if you have any kind of infection.
- Parents/carers with cold sore blisters or other herpes-related lesions should cover them whenever they’re around babies.
- Parents/carers should alert family members and other visitors about the risks, especially when babies are at their youngest.
“Despite the risk, 63% of new and expectant parents would feel uneasy asking visitors not to touch their baby, worried that they’d offend someone, hurt their feelings, or be labelled an overprotective parent.” — NHS
Telling family and friends why you don’t want them to touch or kiss a baby can feel awkward. However, the risks are huge to babies, so such requests are essential. In view of this, The Lullaby Trust has produced the following video, which can be shared by parents to make communication about this issue less difficult:
With the right approach, it’s possible for friends and family to meet your new baby while taking steps to help prevent infection.
Weekday Childcare for Babies & Under-5s in Streatham
Little Cedars is a wonderful nursery and preschool in Streatham. We’re recognised as a ‘good provider’ of childcare and early years education by Ofsted and, as such, give babies and children under five a fabulous start in life. What’s more, we also support a wide range of free childcare options for eligible children through several of the Government’s childcare funding schemes. So, do consider us if you are looking for a high-quality weekday childcare service in Streatham or live in nearby locations like Streatham Common, Streatham Hill, Streatham Park, Tooting Common, Tooting, Tooting Broadway, Furzedown, Balham, Norbury or Colliers Wood.
Consider a childcare place at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham today. Choose an option to get started:
SAFETY NOTICE
The information in this post is produced in good faith but should not be relied on as medical advice. Parents should do their own research to gather all the facts. You know your child best so, if you believe they may be unwell, trust your instincts. If you suspect they are unwell or may have an infection, it’s important to seek urgent professional medical advice — for example, from your midwife, health visitor, GP, NHS 111, or hospital A&E department.
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As well as helping families financially, the scheme expansion should help children begin their early years education even earlier, for many, which has been shown to be hugely beneficial to them. The free childcare provision will also help many more women back into the workforce. Children, families and the economy should all benefit.
Have you ever noticed that some babies are born with blue or grey eyes that later change to brown, green or hazel? It’s a magical metamorphosis that sometimes occurs in growing infants and it can be quite intriguing. Parents may indeed wonder whether their newborn child’s eyes are going to change or remain the same as they were at birth. The answer comes down to a combination of time, location, genetics and something called Melanin and today’s article explores this captivating phenomenon.
When we talk about eye colour we are, of course, talking primarily about the colour of the irises of a human’s eyes. The iris is the circular muscle around the centre pupil and it is this muscle that governs how much light can pass into the eye by making the pupil larger or smaller. When there is lots of light around, the iris constricts the size of the pupil and, in contrast, makes it big when light levels are low.
Melanin is a protein that’s secreted by special skin cells called melanocyte cells, which form colouration pigmentation in our bodies, including in the eyes, hair and skin. When it comes to the eyes, a lot of melanin pigment means the eye colour is more likely to be dark, for example brown. In contrast, those without much melanin eye pigmentation will have lighter eyes, for example, grey or blue. It is also those lighter colours that are most affected by the Rayleigh Scattering and Tyndall effects that we discussed in the last section.
Melanin is a protective protein and, by having more melanin pigmentation, an eye has greater protection against harmful ultraviolet (UV) sun rays. That’s one of the reasons that populations from hot, sunnier countries are more likely to have brown or darker eyes — because those are better protected from the sun’s UV rays. Indeed, brown eyes are the most common eye colour in infancy, despite some common misconceptions. It is true, however, that blue or grey eyes are common in infancy in Northern Europe, where the sunlight is less strong.
Genetics also play a part in the colour of the eyes and can be helpful when attempting to predict a newborn’s eye colouring. However, correctly predicting the colour of a baby’s eyes based solely on that of parents is not guaranteed. That’s because any inherited colouration may skip one or more generations. And, with a mix of different chromosomes and genes being passed down from parents, grandparents and beyond, skipping generations can sometimes result in completely unexpected eye colouring in infants. Genes will also control how much melanin will initially be present in a newborn’s eyes as well as affecting further production as the child ages and the eyes adjust to conditions.
Heterochromia is a condition that affects less than 1% of the world’s population. Those affected may have two different coloured eyes or perhaps two colours present in one eye. The causes of heterochromia include physical injury, disease, genetics or sometimes the use of specific medications.
Watch any infant, toddler or preschooler for just a few minutes and you’ll see that one thing comes naturally to them; play. Indeed, it’s as if they’ve been programmed that way, with the need to play coming instinctively to youngsters, whatever their species. Aside from it simply being great fun, there are a multitude of very good reasons for that — play teaches them an enormous amount about each other, themselves, other living things, cause and effect, and the world around them. It also allows them to learn and fine-tune a whole swathe of new skills as they grow older, play new games, and become more experienced. Add in some careful steering and nurturing during that play from Mum or Dad and they have a real recipe for success. With that in mind, we look today at the key ways in which learning through play profoundly benefits children.
Play and creativity go hand-in-hand. Whether making up a new game, role-playing, constructing, or playing in a den, children will naturally create both scenarios and physical items as part of their play. Such activities teach them how to use their imaginations and to be creative — in a myriad of ways.
Different play activities require different types of movement and physical interaction from children. Indeed, this is a fundamental aspect of play. Whether jumping and running with large movements or carefully constructing with small items like building blocks, children will naturally hone both fine and gross motor skills during play. Such physical skills are essential to their ability to navigate and interact with the world around them and, in the most natural of ways, play is at the heart of enhancing those abilities.
Social skills are also improved through play. Children naturally play with other children and, by so doing, will soon pick up social skills as they begin to better understand social protocols that allow them to succeed both as individuals and in groups. Decent manners, saying please and thank you, cooperation, teamwork and closer bonding are all examples of social skills that can benefit through group play. Other examples include conflict resolution, better sharing, negotiation and communication, which we’ll come to next.
Through all this play, children will be communicating with each other and with any adults that are supervising. As such, play is a great facilitator of communication. Indeed, good communication is essential to most games and, through it, children can cooperate and achieve in ways that will help them in both the short term and into adulthood. Improving communication skills is also a fundamental way to improve success when you think about it.
Mathematics is often embedded into games and pastimes. Children can learn, for example, about adding, subtracting, multiplication and division through games. Even dividing group play into teams requires some fundamental maths to ensure teams are equal in size. Building towers out of blocks is another great example where children can count how many blocks they can stack into a tower before it falls over. They can try to beat their own maximum, or even compete against one another to see who can use the most blocks.
Play comes in a vast array of different forms, shapes, and sizes. Through so doing, it introduces children to countless scenarios, situations, and challenges. By immersing children into such widely differing environments, they learn huge amounts about the world around them, and everything within it. Whether it’s newfound knowledge about a new object, material, place, culture, activity, or something else, play is an amazing conduit to new knowledge and the need to learn new skills. Play is the ultimate educator and the incredible thing is that children may be unaware that they’re learning — they’re having too much fun!
When you’re searching for the best nursery for your baby or toddler, or the perfect preschool for your 3-or-4-year-old, the choice can often be overwhelming. 
Child Benefit is a financial support scheme, provided by the UK Government, that’s there to assist parents and guardians in covering the costs of raising children. It is an essential part of the social safety net in the United Kingdom and aims to help families with the financial responsibilities that come with bringing up children. Eligible families are free to spend Child Benefit however they like, whether that’s on children’s clothes, food, or something else.
You can claim Child Benefit for all of your children who meet the eligibility criteria. It may surprise some to learn that there are no restrictions on the number of children you can claim for (unlike with some other types of Government child support), so each eligible child in your care can be covered under this benefit.
Child Benefit can be affected by your or your partner’s individual income if either of you earns over £50,000 annually. In such cases, you may have to pay a ‘High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge’. This charge gradually reduces your Child Benefit entitlement if your income is between £50,000 and £60,000. Indeed, if your income exceeds £60,000, you’ll likely have to repay the entire amount through this tax charge. We’ll cover more of the detail in the next section below…
Claiming Child Benefit is a straightforward process:
Identification of a special educational need or disability is, of course, the first step in being able to properly support a child with SEND. For this reason, good early years providers like Little Cedars Nursery will, as a matter of course, watch out for signs of things that might be challenging for children. As prescribed by 
Support plans for suspected or confirmed special needs or disabilities are then discussed and custom-designed for the child. Such plans will be agreed between the child’s parents/caregivers, staff at the early years setting itself and any external specialists or professionals involved in the child’s care. Such programmes will be customised to suit the individual child’s specific needs and may include tailored activities, strategies, resources and so on. Formalisation of the support programme will allow all parties to pull in the same direction, working cooperatively for the benefit of the child.
In parallel to the SENCo at the child’s early years setting, local authorities also have their own Special Educational Needs Coordinator, known as the Area SENCo. They will also be integral to a child’s SEND support plan, helping with coordination between the local authority, the various parties involved in supporting the child, and in relation to any special funding requirements. If approved, special funding might be required, for example, for an additional member of staff tasked with giving one-to-one support to the child, or to fund extra learning resources and activities for them.
All 3- and 4-year-olds living in England are eligible for a minimum of 570 hours of free childcare per annum, irrespective of whether or not they have SEND. This is known as Universal Free Childcare or their Free entitlement and is typically taken as 15 hours of childcare each week over 38 weeks of the year, but how it is taken can differ. 
