About Baby Care

Posts Tagged ‘baby care’

When can babies take vitamins? There are parents who don’t consult with doctors and give different vitamin pills to their babies without thinking they are useful or not. This is not right.

The vitamins your baby needs, he can get from what he eats, starting from breast milk to fruits. In this regard, there is no need to give him special vitamin pills. But this is the common approach, since many babies, particularly breastfed infants, should start taking vitamins.

Let’s firstly understand what vitamins are and what their function is. Vitamins are compounds the baby’s body needs. They aid in proper growth and development. Make sure you give your baby only a certain amount of vitamins because their big amount can cause an opposite reaction. Babies and children need a total of 13 vitamins such as A, C, D, E, K and more. A breastfed infant usually doesn’t get vitamin D, which is necessary for strong bone development.

Breast milk doesn’t contain high levels of Vitamin D, so she must daily get that Vitamin D from some other food. Breastfeeding moms should consume many vegetables, dairy products and healthy food without fat.

But there are babies who don’t take breast milk, so they have to take vitamins. What to do? There are special fruit foods and also useful juices, take carrot juices. But first and foremost ask your doctor to examine the baby, because he might be allergic.

Vitamins are very useful if taken in necessary amounts. They will improve your baby’s organism development and help him avoid many viruses and bacteria.

 Consider the following:

1. Fully or partly breastfed babies should start having a daily supplement of 400 IU of vitamin D within a few days of birth.

2. Babies who are not breastfed and older children who consume less than one quart (about 2 pints or 1 liter) of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk a day should also be taking a daily supplement of 400 IU of Vitamin D.

3. Adolescents should also take a daily supplement of 400 IU of Vitamin D if their diet does not give them this amount every day.

4. Some children may need higher doses, for instance if they are taking certain medications, which can put them at a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Photos credits to 1

At what age should parents leave a child alone at home? Honestly nobody can give an exact answer, it depends on the age of your child as well as on how independent he gets and on how independently he can act and behave. But the one thing is clear; you should educate your child in a way he feels safe while alone at home.

• Scientists have proved children recognize numbers earlier than letters, thus you can explain to him in what case where to call. For example, you can write on a paper three main numbers of the fire service, ambulance and police. To make it even easier you can draw matches on the fire service paper, a red cross on the ambulance paper and so on. Kids like calling here and there, it’s fun for them, but do your best to teach your child not to call these services just for his pleasure. Explain to him the possible consequences. Besides these numbers, give him the phone-numbers of mom and dad, close relatives or neighbors in order to call someone in case of emergency.

• Close the windows before leaving, because a child can open and fall down. Take care of acute and incisive tools you have in your house because those can injure your child.

• Close the bathroom door because  the child can use hot water, or fall into the bathtub. And one of  the most scary things is the child can switch on the washing-machine.

• Allow your child to answer phone calls, but teach him not to tell he’s alone. This way you’ll be sure your baby’s naivety won’t serve for “bad people” as a source of information, which can threaten his safety.
• Educate your child not to open doors to unknown people, even if the strangers claim to be your relatives. Explain this in a way he doesn’t get scared of the idea someone might knock on the door and present a danger for him.

• One place all kids love in the house is the kitchen, with its fridge (I believe if the fridge were in the balcony, we’d refer to the balcony as their favorite place in the house). Don’t put your pills in the fridge, he can easily get them and eat just like a candy. In any way, even if you have to leave the pills in the fridge, put them on the very top. Alcohols are also sure to attract kids, so put them in out-of-the-reach places in your fridge, or if you feel there is no such a place, then just take them out from there. Some two hours or so won’t spoil them.

These are points you should consider once your child’s alone at home or you are in another room. Be attentive to the most minute things, and you’ll ensure your baby’s safety at the most.

Being a mother is a unique specialization and you have to be very “well-educated” to make your baby’s life full of joy and fun, at the same time keeping him away from troubles.

When your child is 2-3 years old, you wash his hands yourself explaining the importance of cleanliness. But when in kindergarten with friends, he hardly remembers your advice. So you have to use every possible and impossible way to make him understand the importance and necessity of washing hands. It should become a pleasant habit for him.

To help you with this problem, we offer you steps to make your child enjoy water and understand why he needs to wash hands.

1. Instead of telling him fearful stories about illnesses caused by dirty hands, try to be a good example for him. Shouting all the time about the importance of washing hands will not make him love this process. Wash your hands together! Start playing with the soap bubbles; it will be very funny for both of you.

2. Make an experiment together. Take him to the bathroom and open the water. Show him the purity of the water. Ask him to wash the hands. That’s when the experiment will start. While washing, he’ll notice the water getting dirty. At the same time he’ll keep on playing with the water. That’s an interesting process for every child, you just need to revive that interest in him. While he’s enjoying his “hand-soap-water” communication, tell him about the naughty things called “bacteria.” Afterwards you can leave him; he will enjoy being a hero and fighting against the “entire army of bacteria.”

3. Take him to any market and let him choose the soap he wants. This will be a process you’ll both love — you’ll enjoy his shopping and spend a good time together, and he’ll appreciate your trust in him. Liquid soaps are very common and the bottles are quite well-decorated to attract a child. He will choose his favorite flavor and will surely hurry home to use his “new discovery.”

4. After playing with favorite toys on the floor, he will open the door of the fridge, absolutely forgetting about washing hands. Look no further, take a cream for hands and ask him to follow you. While applying the cream he will see it become unimaginably dirty and will be surprised why Mommy’s hands are not like his. Explain to him that before using the cream you washed your hands. As the cream process is very enjoyable he will surely follow your advice.

These steps will help you make your baby’s childhood not only happy, but also “clean” and why not, risk-free. Every child is an individual demanding unique approach, so if one suggestion doesn’t work, try the rest to see which one helps in your goal.

 Photos credits to 1

With all the decisions new parents have to make you wouldn’t think diapers would be such a tough one, yet it is one that parents routinely struggle with: cloth or disposable diapers? This article lays out the pros and cons of both to help you make the right decision for you and your family.

Disposable Diaper Pros

• Disposable diapers are extremely convenient, no doubt about it. It makes changing your infant a quick and easy process. When you’re shopping and you have to change a messy cloth diaper, you don’t get to just drop it in the garbage, you have to haul it around with you.

• - Disposable diapers seem to fit better. The adjustable adhesive fasteners make it easy to fit any size or shape baby. This is not always so with a cloth diaper which always seems to stretch out once you have it on your child and certainly more so once it’s been soiled.

Disposable Diaper Cons

• - Disposable diapers are petroleum-based products, which means they’re just downright awful for the environment. Carbon emissions are created in the manufacturing of disposable diapers, fuel is used in the transportation from manufacturer to store and diapers don’t biodegrade but sit in landfills for decades.

• - Disposable diapers also contain a number of chemicals, which may harm an infant’s sensitive skin.

• - Disposable diapers are more expensive than cloth diapers even if you have a diaper service.

Cloth Diaper Pros

• - Cloth diapers can be environmentally sound, particularly if you purchase organic cotton diapers. And while cloth diapers have to be laundered, which does contaminate the water supply and use water, they can be washed with biodegradable detergent. This makes them more environmentally friendly than disposable. However, if you have a diaper service then you’ll also have to weigh in the fact that delivery is contributing to greenhouse gases.

• - Cloth diapers, if they’re organic cloth diapers, don’t have harmful chemicals which means they’re not going to be as likely to irritate your baby’s skin.

• - Cloth diapers don’t fill landfills since they’re reusable.

• - Cloth diapers are generally less expensive than disposable.

Cloth Diaper Cons

• - They’re inconvenient, particularly for moms on the go.

• - They don’t necessarily fit as well, though some cloth diapers being manufactured today do have a better fit and fastening system than the old rectangle and diaper pin method.

• - If cloth diapers are not organic, then the cotton used to make them is grown and harvested with pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other environmentally harmful chemicals.

Disposable diapers are more convenient, though more expensive but they are generally an environmentally unfriendly practice. There are some more natural disposable diapers but for many they leave a lot to be desired. Cloth diapers, if they’re organic, are the most environmentally sound practice. The downside is they’re inconvenient. Ultimately, the decision to buy disposable or cloth must meet your personal beliefs as well as your lifestyle and family needs.

The key to good nail care is keeping finger and toe nails short. This helps keep them clean, prevents your baby from scratching himself or others and prevents nails from breaking and tearing.

Newborn babies’ nails are very fragile, so resist cutting them for the first few weeks. If they are very long, a pair of scratch mitts will keep her from scratching her face. After a few weeks, you can start using baby scissors with round ends or special clippers. Avoid cutting too close to the quick.

Remember to check older children’s toenails regularly – small children’s nails grow very fast, and unless they are in open-toed shoes in summer, we may not see much of their feet, so be sure to have a look at bath time and check whether trimming is in order. Ill-fitting shoes can cause all sorts of problems for growing feet, including growing toenails, so be sure to have your children’s shoe size measured regularly.

Remember that most children dislike the feeling of having their nails cut, or may be afraid of scissors, so a good time to try and do this is when they are asleep. Keeping a pair of scissors handy (in the car, for example, for when you take a long journey and your baby or toddler might have a nap).

We already know how much infants need fresh air and sunlight. It is insufficient to confine with ventilation of the space, where the child is. Newborns must daily walk in the fresh air on the hands of the mother, in the sledge, or in a wheel chair. Until the child is still unable to walk, it is best to daily put him to sleep in the fresh air. Fresh air and sunlight enhance the child’s body and protects it from disease, especially from rickets. A child used to walk every day in summer and winter, catches cold much less. Daily walks improve appetite and strengthen the nervous system of the child, the child capricious less and sleep better. In winter, if there is no strong cold wind, you can walk with your child even with the cold of 10-15 degrees.

You can also put the child to sleep outdoors in the afternoon, children should dress in accordance with the seasons.

In winter, the child may sleep in a room with an open window, and it will be very useful for him. When doing so, it is necessary to dress the child as if going for a walk. Close the window about 15 – 20 minutes before the child wakes up. When the room warms up, the warm blanket, warm hat should be taken off the child, otherwise the baby will be hot, and can catch cold later.

You can start taking the baby for a walk when he is two weeks old. Initially, bring the child out for 15 – 20 minutes, then gradually extend the time of walking up to 1.5 – 3 hours. In winter, the child must walk 2 times a day, a total of at least 3 – 4 hours. In the warm season, it is desirable that the baby stays in the air all day.

For walks in the winter time the child should wear a warm hat, as well as a warm blouse. Wrap the baby in diaper, and then in a warm blanket, protecting it from wind. You should close the baby so as not to disturb him to breathe fresh air. In winter, during frosty days it is recommended to lubricate the face of the baby with some kind of fat before leaving for a walk.

Taking the child for a walk in spring and autumn, just turn it into flannelette blanket. In summer, on hot days, you can dress the baby in a light blouse, a white linen hat, protecting the head from overheating sunlight.