A Study of the Misinformed Methods of Childcare

Cho, Seon Ja; Lee, Kang Ho; Jang, Young Taek

Abstract

PURPOSE: An inexperienced mother depends on the recommendation by an experienced person on how to bring up her child. Therefore, we performed a study to evaluate the wrong methods of childcare and to establish effective childcare counselling.
METHODS
Two thousand eighty questionnaires filled out by mothers who visited local pediatric clinics and medical centers in Chonbuk, from March 2001 to April 2001, were analyzed according to the distribution of location, age of infant, maternal age and the question of each field.
RESULTS
Many mothers have been known to squeeze the breast causing hypertrophy of the neonate. Most infants are placed on their side or supine for sleep. The most common reason for stopping breast feeding was insufficient amount of breast milk. The appropriate age to start whole cow's milk is after the first year of life. The main food used for weaning was commercial baby food. The main oral hydration solution for diarrhea has been boiled water. The main reasons for using a pacifier were to help the mother. The most common reason to use herbs was for the prevention of disease. The use of infant walkers has been widespread among infants and young children. The most common reason was to keep the infant quiet and happy. Most mothers did not use car safety seats for young children.
CONCLUSION
The findings of this study revealed that many mothers were misinformed concerning childcare, so pediatricians should make more efforts and perform more studies to establish rational methods of childcare.