Important aspects of Child care

As the time passes, every parent gains experience. So did I. The whole routine of taking care of my son'd daily chores was an integral part of me. And as a experienced parent, I recommend that it is a must to be more methodical in your approach. It is not a hard and fast rule to be so but when some small changes in our approach can be a support to us, it is best to do it.

To support a mom to be a supermom, so that she can keep a track of the daily development of her angel, the best available tool is a Baby Book/ Baby Diary.A perfect resource book that helps you monitor everything that is related to your child's growth. Be it the first smile, the first food tasted, the first dress worn, the first step taken or serious affair like the vaccine schedule, the tooth eruption, everything is monitored and recorded. It can also be used to refer to in case you want to know the past trend of your baby.

As a mother, we are the ones who are going to spend the maximum time with our babies. So it is very important to be well versed with all the aspects of baby care. 

And here are a few elements that according to me are very important to be taken care of so that the baby has a soothing journey:

1. Baby Feeds:

Till your child is 6 months, he is on mother feed or formula milk. It is important to track the feeding pattern of your child. If your child is on breastfeed, the child gets all the nutrition from the milk otherwise consult your doctor to suggest you a good formula milk that would cater for all the nutrients that the child would miss due to not taking the breast milk.

 As soon as your child turns 6 months old introduce the solids. Ensure that you introduce solids that are nutritious and healthy. For my son I introduced the following solid foods:

(a) Apple peeled, boiled and mashed. Added a small stick(very small size) of cinnamon so that the apple is not sour.

(b) All seasonal fresh juices.

(c) Oats with boiled milk.

(d) Spinach blanched and mashed.

(e) Seasonal fruits that have a soft core.

(f) Poached egg yolk only (no whites)

I had restricted the use of sugar and salt to a minimal. The reason I did was that the kids of today's world eat too much of fast food which is high in salt and desserts that are high in sugar, which is the major reason of obesity. Thus, a small measure from my side will ensure a healthy living for my son.

2. Sleep pattern: Babies sleep a lot but the sleep schedule is not fixed. Till about 4 months they have very short sleep cycles. They sleep for mere two hours at a stretch. Later on as they grow they sleep long hours. It is imperative to formalize a sleep pattern for your child as it is during their rest time they grow. 

To formalize a sleep pattern following are few tips:

(a) Notice your child's body signs for him being tired. Sometimes the baby is cranky because he wants to sleep. Keep a track of those signs and soothe him to sleep.

(b) Start a bedtime routine by giving him a massage, changing him to his night clothes and singing a lullaby. Do it for few days which will adapt your child to your routine.

(c) Also when it is a day, keep the curtains open so that the bright sunlight comes in and adds to the brightness of the environment. This will help the child see that during the day it is so bright and sunny. Interact with him, sing to him during the day. All such steps helps him differentiate between day and night.

Lots can be added to the list of baby care like Diapers, safety in the house and it's surroundings etc but for me I wanted to have a healthy environment for my son and these two I monitored the most during his growing years.