Anatomy 101: Five ways kids and adults’ bodies are different - and why it matters

Kids' bodies are mini versions of adults right? Not exactly. When it comes to taking care of kids, understanding a little bit about their unique differences is important. These differences mean the care we give will be different to the care we provide to an adult, essentially we need to tailor our care to the age of the child. Familiarising ourselves with these differences means we can firstly ensure top notch care when our kids aren’t feeling their best. But more importantly, we understand the ‘why’ behind our decisions. Let’s jump into it.

Different head to body ratios: 

Children tend to have bigger heads in proportion to the rest of their body. Kind of like a lollipop! Although this sounds cute it’s important to be aware of because it places them at a higher risk for head injuries. This coupled with their soft skulls, clumsy nature and curiosity mean we need to keep a close eye on them. 

If you have young kids, it’s helpful to  be comfortable with quickly assessing and managing potential head injuries. Kids are always bumping their heads, and it can be hard to know if their injury is serious or not. Knowing the signs and symptoms and how to manage the situation allows us to feel more confident and less stressed.

• Firm pressure to stop bleeding - children have less blood volume than adults so we need to respond quickly

• Monitor for ‘red flag’ symptoms: 

  • Loss of consciousness

  • Slurred speech

  • Vomiting (more than once)

  • Seizures 

These are only a few of the symptoms to be aware of. Our course goes into more detail to help you understand the in’s and out’s of head injuries in young kids.

Shorter neck: 

Children, particularly infants, have shorter and weaker necks than adults. This makes them more vulnerable to a blocked airway. Let’s explore this a little more. Imagine their airway like straw. If the straw is hyperextended backward or forward it blocks the tube, ‘aka’ the infant's airway. 

Because of this, our approach to care needs to change when supporting their airway. For example, when ventilating a child during CPR we should always ensure the infant's head remains in a neutral position. This is opposed to adults where we want to slightly extend their head  back in order to keep the airway open. The first aid section of my course goes into some good detail about airway support in infants and children.

Smaller ear canals: 

Ever wondered why your child is more prone to ear infections than you? It’s generally because their eustachian tubes (the connecting passages between the middle ear and back of the throat) are shorter and positioned in a more horizontal angle than adults. This makes it easier for bacteria to make their way into the middle ear, leading to those pesky infections. 

As a result, ear infections are all too common in little ones. Because of this it’s a good idea to be aware of their symptoms. 

• Ear tugging

• Fever

• Fluid draining from ear 

• Problems with balance

• Trouble hearing

If you’re worried, it never hurts to take your child in for a quick checkup.

Smaller airway: 

Kids airways can be soooo tiny. This places them at greater risk of choking or respiratory distress. Small airways mean that even the tiniest bit of swelling can have a greater impact on the breathing space of a child than it would in an adult's large airway. 

Because of this we need to be comfortable with knowing the signs of a child struggling to breathe and know how to rectify the situation. It sounds scary right? But it doesn’t have to be - all it is, is familiarising yourself with a series of steps in order to help.

Signs of choking (full obstruction)

• Unable to cough

• Unable to hear air entry and exit (no breathe)

• No voice/cry

• Stridor (infants)

What to do:

• Five back blows

• Five chest thrusts

This is a simple explanation, our course goes into more depth on the different types of choking, how to assess and what to do. 

Different breathing patterns: 

Below the age of six months, infants breathe through their nose, they haven’t quite got the hang of breathing through their mouth yet, this is a skill they learn around six months. Having a blocked nose can leave kids feeling pretty miserable and usually leads to feeding and breathing challenges.

Being aware of this and knowing tips and tricks to support them with nose clearing can be super helpful. 

Picture this, your toddler has brought home a cold from daycare and passed it to your newborn. The newborn has a snotty nose and is finding feeding difficult. What can you do to help? Putting a few drops of saline into each nostril (one at a time) encourages the baby to loosen the snot and either sneeze and clear the nostrils out or swallow. Sounds gross but trust me, it will make all the difference. Doing this before each feed or sleep time can make them a lot more comfortable. We have a tonne of tips in my course to help you feel prepared to manage when sickness strikes the household!

Thinking about the what if's when it comes to our children's health can be really scary - i’m with you on that! But educating ourselves is an incredibly valuable tool in helping us feel more confident and less fearful. Having an insight into the key anatomical differences and how we can tailor our care to suit the age of the child ensures we provide the best care to support their wellbeing.

If you want to learn more about this, reserve a spot in one of our sessions so we can get you feeling more confident than ever for the next time your kids are under the weather.

References:

Bergeson, P. S., & Shaw, J. C. (2001). Are infants really obligatory nasal breathers? The Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 40(10). https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922801040010

​​Santillanes, G., & Gausche-Hill, M. (n.d.). Pediatric airway management. Pediatric Emergency Care, 26(4), 961–975.

Royal Childrens Hospital Melbourne. (2023) Trauma Service: How are children different. https://www.rch.org.au/rchcpg/hospital_clinical_guideline_index/Palivizumab_for_at-risk_patients/