Long before babies take those tentative first steps, parents childproof their home to create a safe environment for their little one. Generally, childproofing does not include swathing tykes in bubble wrap and strapping on football helmets, although considering the clumsiness of toddlers, those are not bad ideas.
New walkers are prone to bumps, tumbles, bruises and falls–and that’s just when they are empty-handed. Because little ones like to carry objects around, there is a whole new realm of injuries that can occur when they take a spill.
Toddlers are also leaving behind the world of bottles; sippy cups are generally the next step parents take in encouraging babies to become big kids. What happens when children run–or even walk or stand–with sippy cups in their hands or mouths, lose their balance and fall down?
A lot can happen, it turns out, ranging from minor bumps and bruises to broken teeth and facial lacerations.
Think about it. A wobbly 1-year-old stands against a coffee table, drinking from a sippy cup. He spots a favorite toy across the room and toddles over to get it, cup still in his mouth. Along the way he stumbles and falls down. When he hits the ground, the cup pushes back into his mouth, bumping his lips, tongue and possibly teeth.
Best case scenario is a little redness, some tears and hurt pride. Worst case scenario involves a trip to the emergency room.
In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers reviewed 20 years of records of children age 3 and under who were treated in emergency rooms across the nation.
They found 45,398 children were treated for injuries that involved sippy cups, pacifiers and bottles; that is about 2,270 cases each year. In 86 percent of the cases, falling contributed to the injuries, and an overwhelming 83 percent of the falls resulted in lacerations or contusions to the mouth and face.
The study took into account only trips to the ER, not visits to the doctor or dentist or minor injuries soothed by Mom or Dad.
What You Can Do
As parents, we don’t want to constantly live in fear as our children become mobile. However, a few simple precautions can be taken when babies begin to walk, particularly if they drink from sippy cups or even bottles.
- Stay in the room. Stick close by once your child becomes mobile. Falls happen in the blink of an eye, and running to the other room for even a moment means not being there when your toddler tumbles.
- Have children stay seated when drinking. If your tot uses a sippy cup or a bottle, make sure he is sitting down while he is drinking. Keep the cups and bottles out of reach when he is toddling around or even just standing.
- Teach kids to drink from “big kid cups.” The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children switch to lidless cups as soon as they can manage them, between the ages of 1 and 2. Some pediatricians even recommend switching directly from bottles to open cups.
- Sippy cups are not the only culprit. Kids can also get injured from bottles and even pacifiers if they run around with them.
- Sippy cups also can cause oral health issues. Just another reason to shorten the duration of sippy cup and bottle use: According to the American Dental Association, prolonged exposure of a baby’s teeth to drinks containing sugar–including milk, juice and formula–can cause tooth decay. Sippy cups, especially the ones with no-spill valves, encourage tooth decay if a child frequently uses them.
As always, when injuries occur, seek the advice of your medical doctor as soon as possible.
Tisha Foley and her husband raise their family in Belton. Their two children are past the sippy cup stage and are in elementary school.