Licking a baby's eyelashes with stale saliva is considered to make his eyelashes thick and curly. For this reason, for a long time, many parents have made this habit. However, is it effective and safe to do?
Stale spit is saliva in the morning before someone drinks, eats, or brushes their teeth. This saliva is believed to have properties for curling baby's eyelashes. For this reason, some parents lick their baby's eyelashes in the hope that the baby's eyelashes will be longer, curled, and thicker.
The Facts Behind Stale Saliva Can Curl Baby's Eyelashes
Eyelashes have an important role in the organ of vision, namely to protect the eyes from exposure to foreign objects, such as dust and water. In addition to having this function, long and thick eyelashes are also considered more charming and beautiful to look at.
Because of this assumption, not a few parents want their baby to have thick and curly eyelashes. There may even be parents who are trying to curl their baby's eyelashes in various ways, including using stale saliva.
You need to know, the thickness of a person's eyelashes is different and can be influenced by several things, especially genetic factors. In addition, the myth regarding the use of stale saliva to make eyelashes curly has also not been scientifically proven to be effective.
You should not do this because it risks causing discomfort, both for your little one and for yourself. This is because stale saliva generally has an unpleasant odor because it contains urea and ammonia.
The Risks of Using Stale Saliva on Baby Eyelashes
In addition to appearing unhygienic, the use of stale saliva on the baby's eyes can also bring some risks, you know. Saliva contains various types of bacteria that can cause infections in your baby's eyes.
When you lick your little one's eyelashes, these bacteria can easily enter his eyes and cause infection. This can cause your child to develop pink eye or conjunctivitis.
In addition, saliva or saliva can also contain viruses, such as the Corona virus, herpes, and influenza. Contact with stale saliva that contains the virus can cause your little one to get various diseases, such as herpes simplex and COVID-19.
Seeing the explanation above, it can be said that the use of stale spit to curl baby's eyelashes is a myth. So, you don't need to fully believe it.
Besides that, licking your little one's eyelashes with stale spit does not provide any benefits, Bun, and can actually harm his health.
After all, whether or not the eyelashes are curled will not have a big influence on the function of your little one's eyes. Instead of worrying about how to curl baby's eyelashes, it's better for you to focus on your little one's eye health by regularly cleaning his eye area and providing him with adequate nutritional intake.
Some babies, especially newborns, will usually have eyes that make it difficult to open their eyes. To clean it, you can rub it cotton bud or a cotton swab that has been moistened with warm water slowly in the Little One's eyes.
If at this time Mother has already licked the Little One's eyelashes or applied stale spit to her eyelashes, you should immediately clean the Little One's eyelashes.
If your little one's eyes look red, swollen, watery, or he looks fussy after being given stale saliva, you should take him to an ophthalmologist so that he can be examined and treated.