Lack of Sunshine Dangerous for Babies and Mothers

Sunshine is the main source of Vitamin D. If the mother and baby don’t go out to catch some sunshine they will become Vitamin D deficient which will cause bigger problems.

There are many other associated problems as well that might result into the malfunctions in the main body parts of both of the mother and the newborn. It is especially prescribed to the mothers in the days of pregnancy to go for having a sun bath in order to take a good amount of the sunshine in order to avoid any impending issues caused by the lack of the sunshine.  Sunshine is naturally one of the powerful sources of energy that a baby and a mother deserve to have.

Result of Lack of Vitamin D

If a pregnant woman doesn’t get enough vitamin D, it will affect the development of the baby inside her. Some problems caused by Vitamin D deficiency are bone deformities, poor growth and other bone related problems.

Vitamin D is the one the controls the levels of minerals found in bones, like calcium. If the mother and her child don’t get enough of sunshine, their bodies might use the mineral stored in the bones which will then render the bones weak. If this happens, it is advisable to consult your doctor so that he will be able to determine what the right treatment is for you.

How to Prevent Vitamin D Deficiency

Go out to the sunlight regularly. Make sure that you get enough Vitamin D for your body and your child’s. If you are located in a country where the sunlight is limited, it is best to consult your doctor so that you can get supplements that you if you can’t get your calcium and phosphorus from milk and some vegetables.

How to Treat Vitamin D Deficiency

Treatment for this includes the replacement of the lost vitamins (D) and minerals (calcium and phosphorous). These vitamins and minerals can be replaced by eating foods that are rich in the nutrients that you need.

As for the effects of the deficiency to the bones, some may require surgery if it has worsened and other will need a brace. You can also start to replace the Vitamin D that you lost by exposing yourself to the sun once in a while. Just make sure that the heat of the sun at its peak because it is dangerous to the person’s health as well.

Baby Led Weaning Could Mean Problems

Weaning is when a baby is when the mother is starting to get the baby to be accustomed to solid foods. This process takes time as the baby had only milk as his food source. The baby will start with soft food like pureed vegetables. A baby led weaning is a method that will allow the baby to feed himself the solid food as soon as he is ready.

Weaning problems

The parents also have to cook food that is appropriate for their baby. The food that will be given to the baby should have a consistency that will allow the baby to eat it even though he still has no teeth. If the child has allergies to specific foods, parents have to avoid giving that to their child too.

The process is very messy since the baby is feeding himself. This means that most of the food that was in the spoon will not enter the mouth. As a result, this will raise the concern of the parents whether their child is receiving the right amount of nutrients if the use baby led weaning. The root of this concern is that it would seem that the baby is eating less food. Since most of the food will not get eaten by the baby, there is also a lot of food wasted.

The process also takes time because you really can’t expect a child to eat fast. This will make it difficult for parents who have very busy work hours. If a parent goes through with this he will have to arrange a time where he is not in a hurry so that that baby will have enough time to eat.

Because the process is slow and much food gets wasted, parents become concerned that the development of the child will be affected because he is not receiving the right amount of nutrients. However, there are studies showing that as long as the baby is ready for solid food baby led weaning is a problem.

Finally, the Baby Led Weaning

Don’t worry too much but be careful about your baby when you are going to let your baby enjoy the way it wants. It might create a concern for the proper amount of the nutrients and the diets that he needs. It is the point of concern as well whether your baby is getting the essential elements or not. Moreover, this might result into any baby health issues so the mothers should be in the charge so that baby led weaning couldn’t mean any problems.

Why you shouldn’t smoke around your baby

The baby’s environment affects the way that baby develops. The habits of the people surrounding the baby affect the development whether or not they want it to. Habits such as smoking may lead to negative effects for the baby health so the parents must take steps in order for them to protect their child.

Effects of smoking around the baby

Recently, medical organizations try to raise the public’s awareness of diseases that result from smoking. One of the most common diseases that results from smoking is cancer. It is known that non smokers that are always near people who smoke have a greater risk of developing cancer compared to the person who actually did the smoking.

The same applies to babies probably even a bigger chance because the baby’s immune system is not as developed compared to an adult’s. Parents who smoke around their baby are not only risking their own health but also the baby health. Aside from cancer, a newborn baby could also develop other problems and diseases like asthma, diarrhea, and brain problems.

Smoking also affects the quality and quantity of the milk that a breastfeeding mother produces. This is because the presence of nicotine in the bloodstream lowers the level of the hormone responsible for producing milk, which is prolactin. A lower level of this hormone means that only a small amount of milk will be produced. This might result to an early stop in breastfeeding which means that the baby will be weaned earlier.

How to keep the habit and still keep your baby healthy

Although most would prefer that the parent to stop the habit altogether, it may be impossible for some. As long as the parents remember to take precautions in order for the baby to be protected from the effects of passive smoke, they might be able to keep their child healthy as well as their habit.

One of the things that parents have to remember is to keep the baby’s surroundings smoke free. They have to make sure that the baby will not be placed in a room that someone used for smoking recently. It is also better for the smoker to smoke outside the house just to be safe.

For mothers who want to continue to breastfeed her child, she has to make sure that she smokes hours before breastfeeding because it takes a long time for the nicotine to leave the body. It is also better for both the mother and the baby if the mother limits herself to only a few sticks a day.

The dangers of leaving your baby in the car alone

The protection of your child is natural and does not end after pregnancy. Leaving your baby in the car is not even about external danger posed by other people but rather the danger posed on the baby by the car.

Even if you are planning to run and come back in a few minutes, make sure you have arranged for someone to look after the baby in the car or go with the baby wherever you want to go.

Most parents leave their babies inside their cars, with the windows drawn and the car doors locked. Even if you are monitoring the child from afar, nothing will stop the risks associated with leaving the child alone in a locked car.

The heat of the car when the doors are locked will easily kill an infant and a toddler. Even if the child was asleep when you left him/her (and you can spy it from the store you went to that he/she is sleeping) it could be asleep when you come back… eternally.

This is because the heat inside a car parked on a normal day can increase drastically to a degree which the baby’s body cannot handle. Babies do not need a lot of heat to be heat stroked and if this is summer and your car is a dark shade and parked in the sun, you will be baking your child in the heat.

Some parents are so confident that they left the child “safely strapped” in its seat in the car and they end up losing the child. If the child wakes up when you are away and falls down, it may never wake up.

He may cry and scream for attention but with the muffled voice inside a car that has been sound proofed is not enough to be heard. He does not have to fall down to be injured; he could get suffocated by the lack of air in the car or by his sleeping position.

Then comes the big threat; the ones parents are always protecting their children from-external safety threat. In this day and age we have all kinds of threats against the safety of kids. There are kidnappers and pedophiles on the loose and no one carries a stamp on the forehead to indicate who they are.

Better be safe than sorry, your child may be safe in the car but may not be safe from a human being intending on kidnapping him. The protection of the child does not end at the end of the pregnancy; this is the time when it starts.

Keeping your infant safe from your pet

If you are carrying a pregnancy, you need to prepare your home and baby-proof it. One of the ways of achieving this is getting rid of the pet dog. Having a baby in the house can be threatening to the dog… at least that is what the dog perceives as a new “competition.”

All of a sudden you will not give the dog as much attention as you used to. Your baby stands in the way. Stories abound online of dogs killing infants at home and it is beginning to get the attention of pet owners all over America.

While one case was a “dog-affection-gone-bad” the others were just plain getting-rid-of-the-competition killings. The need to protect your child from danger starts from pregnancy; do not distrust your instinct.

Even if you think your dog will not hurt an infant you ought to exercise special care when you have your pet around your infant. Here are some considerations you absolutely need to keep in mind.

NEVER EVER leave your infant alone with your pet. It may be the best trained dog in the world but its animal hunter instincts can never be replaced by anything. Dogs do not know the need to be gentle with babies and even a gentle push could be fatal.

Always have your child within your sight and reach. If the only “person” you are going to leave your infant with is the dog, do not take your chances… being everywhere with your baby means literally.

This may sound a little absurd but for a pet that you intend to stay with for good, make sure it is a puppy at the time of acquiring him. This will help you train him and know his personality. It is harder to live with an adult dog that you did not acquire at a young age.

You will not know if he is obedient or not. Keep a keen eye on breeds of dogs that are natural hunters especially if it is a Rottweiler. This breed has a snappy personality and tends to get worked up easily. They are never recommended around kids, not even around grown-up kids.

Be on the lookout for the little tell-tale signs indicating that the dog is not happy with the presence of your little one in the home. He may be tired, unhappy and gloomy for no reason. For a dog that has an over-the-top personality, this should raise the alarm.

Look at the conduct of your pet towards you; some displays of aggression towards you and the baby is a sign that everything is not well. Do not take chances with a child, always get rid of a dog that shows such signs.

Helpful tips when travelling with your baby by air

Having a baby anywhere can be a challenge but having a baby on a trip on an airplane can be a mess if not well planned for.

Taking care of the baby is taught in pregnancy classes but no one has taught mothers on how to fly with kids. You have to consider the many people you will be traveling with and their convenience when traveling.

No one wants to draw attention to themselves but a cranky baby will make sure you have the attention of the whole airplane.

You can make your baby’s experience one of the best by preparing for it and keeping in mind the points given here. This will also help you relax. Some of the helpful tips when traveling with the baby are:

Always book a flight beforehand and make sure you have explained that you have a child. This should be stressed so that you have a spacious seat preserved for you. Make sure you have confirmed as much as possible with the flight that you have the seat well preserved for you to prevent nasty surprises.

Traveling with a baby on a plane is no different from traveling with him on a bus. This is regarding the luggage you have to carry for the baby. Always carry the extra clothing, diapers and bibs. Bibs are especially needed when feeding the baby since you do not want to change baby’s clothes all the time.

Be prepared for anything, as airline companies are known for pulling a fast one on their passengers. Be prepared for flight cancellations and delays in which case you need to have a Plan B of what you are going to do in case you get a regular seat with no extra space.

Always carry the baby using a carrier for convenience and to prevent you from getting too tired. Changing altitude is uncomfortable for babies and you need to prepare for this. Feed the baby well and more so on water and fluids since fights can be dehydrating.

Feeding will pacify the baby and balance his ears during takeoff and landing. When changing the baby, use the facilities that have been provided for this purpose. There are some planes that do not have them and you may need to ask for help or use the washroom. I’m sure the flight attendants can help.

Entertain the child and make sure you are traveling during the “baby hours”. In other words, keep in mind the schedule of the baby and travel within the schedule to avoid crankiness and tiredness. Pregnancy may be unnerving but taking care of the child does not have to be.

Temperature in Babies

When baby is still inside the womb of the mother, his temperature is regulated by the mother, and will be kept at a standard 37.7 degrees. When the mother is hot she will sweat, when she is cold, she will shiver to regulate her temperature.

But once we have our baby in our arms, he must try to regulate his own temperature. Temperature is one worrying topic when we talk about Baby Care, as baby is unable to shiver or move, and in the new born only the sweat glands in the head and feet are fully developed, meaning that the new born has difficulty in maintaining a regular body temperature, and we may often notice what appears to be excessive sweating on the brow of our baby, or clammy cold hands if your baby is born in winter.

When we talk about this aspect of baby care, we must remember to stay calm, as it is not unusual for a baby to have a fever, as it is his way of fighting of even the smallest of infection.

Temperature in your new born may rise alarmingly, and fever of 41 degrees is not uncommon, whereas this temperature in an adult would be considered extremely dangerous.

Baby will try to regulate his temperature by crying, or moving as much as he is capable, but this is obviously extremely limited in baby care of the new born. As baby grows, he can move when he is cold to try to raise his temperature, just as an adult would.

The most important thing to remember is to keep your house at a comfortable temperature of around 21 degrees, and if baby has a fever, to cool him down with damp sponging, removing all clothes.

When a baby maintains a fever for more than 12 hours when they are very small, a visit to the medical surgery is always the best option, where the health worker may administer a small amount of baby paracetamol, which is widely available under several brand names, always in liquid form, and with a pleasant taste. Baby paracetamol is said to be safe to administer in babies as young as one month old.

Fever always provokes panic, a normal knee jerk reaction, most especially for first time parents, but we must remember that this aspect of baby care is common, and easily dealt with, and there is no need to panic if baby has a slight fever.

In adults, when we fight bodily infection, our temperature also is raised, so we must just remember that in babies, it is harder for him to regulate his temperature until he is able to shake and shiver, and until his sweat glands are fully developed, and that there is most usually no underlying problem, just a slight infection or virus, which can be checked out by your health visitor or at your local health center, where of course there are specially trained paediatricians who deal with thousands of babies every year.

Sending baby to crèche

Depending on the lifestyle we lead, or the country in which we live, we may want or find we have to send baby to a day care center or crèche from an early age.

In some countries, such as Spain, these type of care centers are common place and accept babies as young as three months old, some exceptional centers accepting newborns. But here obviously is raised the debate “why have you baby and then give him to someone else to look after?”

Depending again on in which country you live, if you worked prior to your pregnancy, you will be entitled to a certain amount of weeks of maternity leave, fully paid. But once your maternity leave is finished, you may be forced to return to work for financial reasons, or simply because you want to.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of sending new born baby or a very small baby to a day care center.
If we ask for advice form our paediatrician, or baby care specialist, day care centers are often frowned upon, saying that they lead to the spread of infection when a baby’s immune system is still not fully developed.

This could be seen as true, but looking at it from the reverse angle, a baby will build up better defenses earlier in life if she is surrounded by germs, or other babies on a daily basis.

All baby care magazines and manuals will have their own opinion on what age they feel is correct for baby to start to attend a baby care center. But in the case where we have no other option, and we must send our new born or small baby to a crèche or center, we can rest assured that there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

When baby attends a crèche, then she will not experience the same separation anxiety as a child who has always been cared for by his mother until his first day of school. Baby day care centers and crèches allow baby to interact with other children, when becoming a little older, making friends, as well as learning form the older babies at the crèche, watching how they play , crawl and walk, and a baby who attends a day care center may indeed walk and talk earlier than a baby who is cared for by his mother.

Disadvantages of sending baby to a day care center are that you will miss out on special bonding time with baby, as you will see him less, and you may miss his first steps or first words. But do not feel guilty about this if the decision to send your baby to a day care center was made as it was the most financially viable option, allowing you to return to work.

Once baby reaches preschool age, the advantages of day care centers far outweigh the disadvantages, allowing toddlers and young infants to learn how to interact, play, share and learn with other infants of their age. This preparation will make your child’s first day at school only easier both for you and for him.

How to install a baby safety gate

Depending on the lay out of your house, baby gates can be an essential item when we talk about baby care safety. When baby is new born, she cannot move about, but before you know it, your baby that was just new born, start to crawl and then walk, and therefore it is a good idea to start installing safety products in your house whilst baby is still new born, in  preparation for when she becomes mobile.

Many people like to use a play pen or den, which is made out of soft materials, where we can leave baby to play, safe in the knowledge that she cannot hurt herself, as her surroundings are soft, and we only give her soft toys with which to play.

But as baby grows, she will inevitably become too pig for a play pen, or simply she will refuse to use it. Also, keeping a baby in a play pen for many hours each days is not recommended as part of a healthy baby care routine, as baby must explore, learn to crawl and to walk.

So the installation if baby gates is essential for your baby’s safety, allowing her to be free in certain areas of the house, and denying her access to others, where you can safely store sharp or dangerous objects.

Lots of us choose to install a safety gate at the kitchen doorway, so we can get on with our cooking, yet watch our child, safe in the knowledge that she cannot reach the cooker and burn herself.

Another popular place for a baby gate is at the bottom and or top of the stairways of your house, as a nasty tumble down a stairway could prove tragic for the new born or small baby.

There are a wide range of baby gates available on the market, just as with every other baby product theses days. Some are designed to be for fixed usage, where no one in the household passes the area, others have a little gate in them, that opens for mother or father to pass through. Some work on a suction mechanism, others with spring mechanism.

When installing your baby gate, follow the instructions that come with the product . Check with your baby care manual for tips on installing your baby gate or which type to choose. If you are going to have a fixed baby gate for a long period of time in one place, it is of value to choose a type that has permanent installation, or works on a grip and tightening of screws method.

Cheap baby gates with rubber suction fittings are okay for occasional use, nut tend to move, and can be knocked out of place by a feisty toddler.

So when purchasing and installing your baby gate, the moral is better to be safe than sorry.. buy a quality, safety standards passed product, and install it correctly as to the instructions, making sure you are buying the correct width gate for the the door frame or gap.

How to clean baby’s tongue

Cleaning your new born’s tongue is part of general baby care, and is a very simple process.
We often find in our new born or infant a build up of whiteness on baby’s tongue. This is generally left over milk, and is completely harmless, but it is important to clean baby’s tongue as part of your baby care routine, just as it is to clean all of baby.

To clean the new born’s tongue, we do not even need to use a toothbrush, as the new born is very rarely born with any teeth showing. What we can do is wrap a small piece of gauze around our finger and gently rub away at baby’s tongue. We must make sure first that our finger is clean and sterile, as is the gauze.

Whilst cleaning baby’s tongue, we can also run the gauze over his gums, getting in practice for when baby starts teething, as with new borns, or very small infants, it is not necessary to use a brush to clean the teeth, nor is it necessary to use toothpaste, and when toothpaste is used, it must always be of the fluoride free kind, as swallowing fluoride toothpaste can be harmful to baby, as to anyone.

If you are unsure on how to care for baby’s tongue and mouth in general, a trip to your local baby care center or paediatrician will free any doubts you may have. You will be shown how to gently clean baby’s tongue without causing her any distress.
You must remember that baby will not choke when you are gently cleaning her tongue, and that swallowing is a natural reflux when we put our finger on the back of our tongue.

You can also use a soft brush for cleaning baby’s tongue, one which in future you will use for cleaning baby’s teeth, when they start to show. Most important is to be gentle.
If the whiteness does not wipe away from baby’s tongue either with the gauze, or brush method, this may well be because baby has a slight fungal mouth infection.

Do not panic if the whiteness does not wipe away, a simple solution administered by a dropper on the tongue will rid the baby from the infection, and the whiteness will fade witihn a few days, although you will be advised to continue to use the solution for at least seven days, to prevent a recurrence of the problem.

If you are breast feeding baby, it is also important that you would use the same prescribed solution and gently clean your nipple area, to prevent the possible reinfection, or passing of infection from nipple to mouth or vice versa. When we breast feed, it is important to change the lactation discs at regular intervals, as fungal infections start in moist, damp places, hence why they are not at all uncommon in the mouth.

Keeping baby’s mouth and tongue clean from birth is a good routine to get into, as when baby’s teeth start to show, she will not have any phobia about brushing or cleaning them.