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She doesn't really want to eat shoes -- she's exploring them with her mouth. She has recently learned to crawl, and has an intense curiosity about whatever she finds. Since she's mostly at floor level, she often finds shoes.
The mouth is one of her sensory organs, and after she's looked at an object, and felt it with her hands, she feels it with her mouth. Nothing abnormal about it, but keep unhealthy things out of her reach.
Footwear should be kept in a tightly closed cupboard. Be especially careful about not letting her come across poisonous things like naphthalene balls and the chalk that draws lines that kill insects.
The intestines of a baby are several feet long, and food takes several hours to pass through. What you give him from one end of the digestive canal, the mouth, isn't what he's passing out as a motion.
The food eaten by your son goes into the stomach, and triggers off what is known as the gastrocolic reflex. The full sensation of the stomach activates the lower intestines, the colon, and a motion is passed. This contains the undigested waste of last night's meal, not what you just gave him. Meanwhile, the meal he has just taken is being churned and digested in the stomach.
Pacifiers are frequently used, and frequently cause disease in babies. Most commonly, of course, they get contaminated with disease causing bacteria, and lead to loose stools. Frequent episodes of such diarrhoea can have a negative impact on growth and weight gain.
Regular pacifier use increases the occurrence of ear infection (otitis media) by 40-50%. Recurrent otitis media is about three times as common in babies who use pacifiers.
Another problem with pacifiers is candidiasis of the mouth. This is a fungal infection, and makes the mouth so sore that feeding is difficult. Pacifier use has also been found to be linked to tooth decay and dental cavities.
Last revision: January 22, 2004