Archive for February, 2008

The childhood illness may be due to several factors like the sudden changes in the climate, weather and temperature.

You can know the childhood illness by observing some symptoms like common cold, diarrhea, vomiting, fever etc.

Here are the symptoms of common cold, which is the most common childhood illness that is observed through out the world.

Most of you think that you can recognize the symptoms of cold very easily that are mild and remain for weeks. But, you can often mistake the symptoms of common cold for flu, sinus infections and allergies.

As the common cold affects your children mostly up to 6 to 12 times a year, you should be able to know the symptoms regarding the common cold.

The symptoms are observed in your child only 2 to 3 days after the virus gets in contact with the child. There are many viruses that cause the common cold. They are Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), corona viruses, rhinoviruses, parainfluenza and many others.

The common cold symptoms include:

• Head ache
• Fever, which may go to 102 by low grade
• Cough
• Sore throat

It will be exciting for you in becoming a new father for the first time.

In the olden days, every thing is handled by the mother, but now-a-days new father is expected to do all the things like loving, caring, supporting and handling with nappies.

You may not feel qualified or ready for the new position in your life. You have a huge bundle of responsibilities in the life but no one is looking at you.

For new father, it is just important in becoming parent for the first time. But the full attention is towards the mother and the baby. The new father is just left out of it.

The new father’s world:

For the first time, a lot of changes have been demanded from you when you enter the fatherhood. You have to switch to “dad” from regular “guy”. You may not get enough sleep time and your sex life will go for a while.

Suddenly you need lot of patience. You should have patience when your new baby cries without any reason and you have to discover it or the baby can wake you up in the midnight.

Parenting infants is a hard and challengening thing now-a-days. You have to meet the needs of your infants with proper care.

Some of the positive tips on parenting infants are given here. You can follow them for better development of your young ones.

Positive parenting infant tips:

• It will be soothing to your babies to hear your voice when you talk to them.
• You can sing for your baby.
• Answer back to the sounds made by your baby by adding words or repeating the same sounds. This makes it possible for your baby to learn the language.
• Reading helps to understand and develop the sounds and language of your baby.
• Play the music for your infant, which can improve their love for music.
• Spend the time in holding or cuddling your infant through which your baby can feel secured and cared for.
• Give your baby the loving affection by praising him/her.
• You can play with your baby when they are relaxed or alert. You can take break when you observe that your baby is fussy or tired.
• You have to take care emotionally, physically and mentally as parenting infants is a very hard job.

Breast feeding is the best way for feeding baby because the breast milk contains the resistant power. There are many benefits of breast milk.

• The nutrients needed for your baby are present in breast milk.
• Your baby can digest this milk easily.
• It provides the immunity and protects your baby against diseases.
• It will be at right temperature and is available at right time for your baby.

Feeding baby involves the breast milk which contains all the nutrients that are required for your baby’s growth. Breast milk is rich in vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats in proper proportions.

10 Tips for feeding baby by breast feeding:

• Just one hour after delivery, you have to breast feed your child.
• The milk produced from the mother in first three days will be yellow in color (colostrum) that is healthy for your baby.
• Your baby may not need any thing except your breast milk for 4-6 months.
• If your baby urinates for minimum 6 times in 24 hours, she may be getting enough of your milk.
• You need not worry if your baby undergoes watery motions until your baby passes adequate urine and is active.

It will be awesome, exhilarating and exciting experience for you, just a few hours after the child’s birth.

All your hopes, plans and dreams come together when you are close to your baby.

Caring new born involves drying the baby with warm towel such that no heat is lost. You have to learn the safety of child and caring new born at home to maintain child-friendly home.

The time spent with your baby will make your baby feel secure. The baby can feel comfortable, safe and rests as the new born recognizes their mother’s smell and voice.

Caring the crying baby:

The babies usually cry for no reason at about the age of two weeks. You may worry about the colic. It can be difficult for you to comfort your baby and you can try to find out what is wrong with the baby.

But, your efforts can end when your baby cries continuously. Some easy and effective suggestions are there for caring new born.

Some new positions:

• Your baby should be held in such a way that his head is at your elbow; face the baby down on your forearm and wrap around the thigh with your fingers and thumb.

Are you worried about your baby sleep through out the night? Here are some tips that help your baby sleep well at night.

Tips for making your baby sleep:

The bed time ideas have worked for baby care centre parents. You can also find it better as you will find time to spend with your baby.

Your baby can relax well if he/she has good sleep. You can make a routine bed time for your baby sleep by reading stories, putting pajamas, playing quiet games, cuddling and bathing at regular timings.

Bath-time is one kind of idea for baby sleep. Your baby can have soothing experience by placing her in warm water. Cleaning and drying makes the baby to sleep.

Stop this routine idea if the baby gets excited at the time of bathing. You can read the story or quietly cuddle to make the baby sleep.

When your baby is ready for bed time routine, which includes brushing the teeth, washing hands and face, wiping her gums, putting the pajamas and changing the nappies, it can become a habit for your baby as the baby grows young.

The parenthood can bring immense amounts of personal growth, pride and joy.

It even brings lot of challenges that are to be faced by the parents. The researchers are finding the ways to solve these problems.

The parenting stress is studied by the Robin Simon professor of Florida State University and Ranae Evenson professor of Vanderbilt University and they found that parents with children are with more stress and depression than that of parents without children.

Parenting stress

The words “parenting” and “stress” go together. What could be the reason for stress? The main reason is worrying about your children. The other reasons include demands of the spouse, the house hold managements and a job.

You may feel unsecure and inadequate and may not be prepared for the parenting job. You may not be close to your extended family members or your parents to get enough support from them in this mobile society.

As the contradictory and new information are coming out, the parenting techniques which were once thought to be appropriate are not accepted now-a-days. Financial status, work, health and relationships are the other reasons for the stress.

Toddler Discipline is the essential aspect for the toddlers in order to make them know what is good and what is bad.

Your toddlers are the small children who don’t know what is right and what is wrong.

Right things will not cause any effects where as the wrong things will certainly create some problems or bad effects on them.

Parents must keep the total concentration on their child when he is a toddler. Several behavioral and character changes will be seen in your child as a toddler.

If you don’t take care of him/her in the right way even though he behaves in the wrong manner, that effect will be seen in the future, because such behavior will be continued through out the future if you do not object at the right time.

Most of the toddlers do naughty things because their age encourages them to do such things. So, restrict them or object them if they perform the naughty things more often.

Give small punishments for them if they perform the same mistake even though after warning them, like making them to stay at child gate for long period of time, restricting them to sit at one place without moving, etc.

Weight of your infant must be observed keenly from his date of birth. Infant weight gain must be maintained correctly according to his age.

Both over weight and under weight are not good for infant, several health problems can develop if he weighs less or more.

The energy and growth levels of your infants can be maintained correctly by giving the right foods necessary for them.

Perfect infant weight gain can be achieved if you follow the nutrition table properly.

The nutrition or food tables to attain perfect infant weight gain:

Food table for the infants who are aged between 0 to 3 months:

Food table for the infants who are aged between 4 to 8 months:

Potty training should be given for the children who are aged between 2 to 4 years.

Some children will learn it very sooner where as others take lot of time i.e. until 5 years.

Your child must have completed at least 1 ½ year before starting the potty training.

Generally the children below 2 years tend to urinate at least 8 to 10 times in a day.

We cannot teach potty training for such children and they will be not able to understand what we are saying to them because that much understandability and maturity will not be present in them. So, potty training is not recommended for the children who are aged below 20 months.

Here are some potty training tips which are helpful to train your child:

• The first tip of potty training is to teach your child how to pull on and pull off his pants on his own. You have to provide potty seat or step stool or potty chair for your little one and teach him regarding flushing and proper hygiene.
• Most of the children learn this thing easily by watching their sibling or parent.