There’s no need to get off on too much of a tangent here, but parents shouldn’t be too concerned if their kid decides to taste the sand while playing or gets a few amounts in their mouth.
In other words, parents shouldn’t get alarmed because their baby ate sand, provided they aren’t consuming much of it.
However, this does not negate the fact that you shouldn’t be careless about your baby’s situation about sand.
In other words, parents should always look out for their babies while playing with sand to avoidfurtherr complications like sand entering their eyes.
Is It Harmful If My Baby Ate Sand?
Children will typically sample some sand, learn it doesn’t taste all that wonderful, and decide not to repeat it.
Your baby may benefit from eating sand because it will aid in building up the baby’s immune system by exposure. However, you should seek medical help immediately if the baby exhibits symptoms of discomfort, such as persistent vomiting or diarrhea.
You should be concerned if your kid consistently wants to eat sand because there may be other underlying causes for this behavior. In this situation, I advise getting medical advice.
It’s possible for the sand on the beach or outside to contain bacteria & animal feces. However, even while it is pretty horrible when you ponder over it, there is no need to worry because the likelihood of your kid becoming unwell after consuming this sand is relatively minimal.
If your kid gets sand inside their mouth, you could rinse it out with lukewarm or cold water using your hand while watching to ensure they don’t swallow any (don’t worry if they do).
Then, please give them a drink of water to help them flush the rest down. A significant amount of sand might cause your infant to choke or suffocate, so if they ingest it, take them to the hospital for medical advice.
Babies And Sand Play
Nothing compares to the first time you see a baby playing in the sand. It is beautiful to watch her eyes open when she picks them up and slowly lets them flow between her fingers. Playing in the sand isn’t only enjoyable but also very beneficial.
The sand play offers infants & toddlers a plethora of developmental advantages. Playing with sand may provide more than just fun, whether on a playground, on a sand table, at a sandbox, or on the beach.
See below for a list of all the advantages of playing with sand.
Playing With The Sand Promotes Sensory Growth
Sand play helps to enhance three critical sensory areas: Your child’s tactile sense includes their ability to feel touch, pressure, warmth, and vibrations. For instance, she uses her tactile senses to distinguish between warm sand in the sun and colder sand in the shade.
She can comprehend the movement & balance of her body on different surfaces because of her vestibular sense. As a result, she can learn how to move her weight without falling, for instance, by crouching in the sand using a shovel in her hand.
She knows how her bodily parts interact with her environment thanks to her proprioceptive sense. We can also call this spatial awareness.
Our proprioceptive & vestibular senses cooperate when we walk on a rough surface or navigate a busy space without glancing down. Activities that improve these senses include moving a toy truck on the sand or using a pail to pour the sand.
Playing in the sand fosters physical growth and development. Having fun in the sand is a great way to improve motor skills, hand-eye coordination, & muscle strength.
When your child masters the right shovel grip, she will use her good motor abilities. Her offensive motor abilities are tested when she tries to raise a bucket of sand. Nearly every activity is essential for her physical growth when playing in the sand!
Sand Play Fosters Imagination And Creativity
The sand play offers countless opportunities for imaginative play! You may follow the conventional path and construct moats, sand castles, bridges, or mountains. Sand can be arranged in a variety of shapes.
Sand’s texture can be altered by putting it in water. So in a sandbox, your kid can make her miniature world! Provide toy equipment like automobiles, shovels, buckets, or animals to let her ideas flow.
Building Social & Language Skills Through Sand Play
Sand play is a fun type of autonomous play, but it’s also a terrific opportunity for her to socialize with others.
Toddlers practice social skill sets like sharing and cooperation when digging a hole or sharing a sand toy set. They also exercise their language and problem-solving abilities.
Additionally, students can share their sense of satisfaction with their pals when they fulfill
a goal together! Increased Immunity from Sand Play You’re not
the only parent who shudders at the thought of their kid becoming soiled. But it’s all part of the work to keep them clean & healthy!
However, studies suggest that children with stronger immune systems than those who spend
most of their time in sterile, indoor environments are those who play outside in the sand, grass, or dirt. Their immunity will increase if they play in the outdoor sand.
That said, it is crucial to always carefully check the sand. Make sure the sand is clean of trash, such as broken glass, if you’re heading to a playground, the beach, or a sandbox.
Look for anything that can produce hazardous bacteria, such as animal droppings. Also, it’s usually wise to forego playing in the sand on that particular day if the air smells funny or the sand seems odd.
Several kinds of sand are secure for children to play in that you could get online or in your neighborhood shop if you want to build a sandbox or sand table in the backyard.
Ways To Choose Sand That Is Secure To Use.
One of the least risky play sands to use is white because it naturally contains feldspar, a mineral that forms rocks and is expected in the form of pale or colorless crystals. It also contains calcium, sodium, aluminum silicate, and potassium.
Even if tiny amounts are unintentionally consumed, each of these is safe to touch and non-toxic. Secure SandTM White Playsand’s a well-liked type of play sand used in playgrounds, kiddie pools, and museums.
When wet, it is beautiful for molding.
Is Play Sand Made Of Natural Or Synthetic Sand?
For sand play with kids starting at age 12, Play Sand is an ideal clean and fun sand. Although it is actual sand, it has been graded, dried, washed & screened in particular ways to ensure that it’s the most suitable and secure quality for play.
It is ideal for usage in a sandbox or sand tray and is often available at most kid-friendly businesses. Play sand is perfect for sensory play, building, shaping, and using sand toys.
Play sand is considerably safer for kids than ordinary sand or building sand since it is finer and better than typical sand, which you could find at beaches or the yard, and because it passes through a cleaning procedure.
For Babies, Is Kinetic Sand Safe?
When appropriately used, kinetic sand’s thought to be non-toxic & won’t hurt you. However, because the children’s bodies don’t process kinetic sand in the same manner that regular sand is, ingesting it is dangerous and can have significant consequences. Children 3 years old and older should use kinetic sand under adult supervision.
Because of the manufacturing process, kinetic sand may require surgical removal if eaten. Kinetic sand’s, therefore, unsafe for kids to play with because of the potential problems it may cause.
General Safety Recommendations For Using Sand With Infants
While playing with sand could be interesting and exciting for babies and have numerous sensory & developmental advantages, it’s vital to remember that there are certain safety precautions available to take whenever your tot is having fun with sand.
There are several safety precautions to take, depending on your baby’s age & the toys/playthings they may use when playing in the sand.
Here are some general safety recommendations to abide by:
- Use “clean” sand, which is safe for children & non-toxic.
- Watch out that your infant doesn’t consume sand.
- Watch out for sand getting into your child’s eyes.
- Check that sand toys are free of tiny pieces that could pose a choking risk.
- Sand play ought to be enjoyable! Try again later if your child isn’t feeling it.
- NEVER leave your child unattended with any sand toys or sand itself, as they present a choking risk.
How To Respond If Sand Enters Your Baby’s Eyes
Kids are persistent. Boys are boys, and despite your best efforts to keep your kids safe in the sand, someone will inevitably wind up with sand that shouldn’t be there. They want to run wild with the sand no matter what way this occurs.
The most you could do as a mother is to prevent significant harm from occurring from sand inside the eyes. If you think your child may have sand on their eyes, the key signs to watch are persistent eye rubbing, tears, irritation, frequent blinking, & pain.
The sand or grains will always remain in front of the kid’s eye since nothing can enter the 6-millimeter gap behind your baby’s eyelids, where the eyeball is located.
However, if your kid receives sand or microscopic particles inside their eyes, you should take the following actions.
- First, wipe his face & the area surrounding it with a wet cloth to stop more sand from getting in his eyes.
- Wash your hands well to get rid of any sand or other particles.
- For infants and young kids, you could fill a jug or glass with tepid water, hold your child’s head up, & gently pull down on the lower eyelid to keep the eye open. This will aid in clearing the eye of any sand that has become contaminated. If necessary, gently wash the sand from your child’s eye with your palm; do not rub the eye. Continue doing this until all the sand is gone. Repeat this technique as needed.
- If your child is older, place the infected area of their face in a warm water bowl and ask them to gently open & close their eyes in the water, if they can do so, to help wash the sand out. Once the eye is free of all debris, replace the water several times. (Continue with these procedures if sand is also in the upper eyelid)
- You could try to remove any sand or other particles from the eye corner using a damp cotton swab or a wet cloth corner.
- To remove sand from the lower eyelid, slowly pull it down. Next, try to remove it by touching it with a moist cotton bud. If that doesn’t work, slowly pour water over the infected area.
- If there are symptoms but no visible sand, the upper eyelid is most probably where the sand is. If this is the case and the previously mentioned methods do not work, lift the eyelid upward and outward while keeping the eye closed.
Doing so should let the bottom eyelid draw out the sand from the top eyelid and make it easier to see or rinse out of the eye.
The discomfort, irritability, and redness should subside immediately after the sand or other foreign objects have been cleared from the kid’s eye. Based on the seriousness of the situation, the manifestations should disappear entirely in 1 hour or 2.
Seek medical help right away if you’re unable to extract the sand or other particles if symptoms worsen after attempting to remove the sand for two hours, if signs last longer than two hours, if eyesight seems off after cleaning the eye, or if blinking & tearing continue after the object has indeed been removed.
Conclusion
It is not harmful if your kids or child eats sand, especially if it is safe to play with sand. However, if you notice a frequent habit of eating sand, you should be worried and seek medical advice.
Also, medical attention will be needed when your child consumes a lot of sand, or you notice a change after eating sand.