Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Seven Steps to Lead Reduction

I don't think I ever remembered to post here that Amelia's lead leave was checked at her 15 month appointment and it was down to 4. So this is less than half of what it had been at 12 months (which was 9) and the doctor felt good about it. My understanding is that for it to drop that much in 3 months means that there was not that much lead in her system in the first place and that we are doing a good job of preventing her from more lead exposure. For the record here is what we have done:

1. Sweep a lot, mop a lot. For awhile we were mopping maybe every other or every 3rd day. Now it's once a week, but we are keeping up with it that often.

2. Be really strict about not letting Amelia eat anything that fell on the floor. (Since at least 75% of what we offer her gets tossed at some point during a meal, this is a lot harder than it sounds.)

3. Take our shoes off when we come into the house.

4. Touch up all the tiny sections of chipped paint on the walls.

5. Not let Amelia play in the front yard, where lots of old paint was stripped off on the exact day of Amelia's 12 months appointment. (I am still not sure this caused the problem, though, because the paint was being stripped while we were at the doctor's office.)

6. Teach Amelia to walk. (Ha! Not really. But she definitely gets less dirt on her hands, and is less obsessed with every little speck of anything on the ground, now that she is walking.)

7. Not let her eat so much sand in the park. Again, easier said than done.

So, Amelia will get another lead test when she is two. Until then, no eating off the floor. (After that... we'll see.)

No comments: