An Art of Parenting

Archive for November, 2011

It’s advisable to go shopping before your baby’s birth, while you’re still unfettered. You’ll be faced with a seemingly countless of equipments, all of which will be labeled “essential” by the manufacturers. Don’t get cheated by clear advertising. Shop around for the equipments that are necessary for your child and make sure that it is in relation to your standard of living.

For example, mothers wash their baby in sink because they find it comfortable. Similarly, if you really like the idea of a large carriage pram and if you have an adequately large hall, if you have an easy route to any shops or parks without too many steps or other obstructions and if you have the cash, then you should go ahead and buy it. Some people it is unlucky to buy too much before the birth. Check to see if you can choose what you need but not pick it up.

It isn’t essential to buy all-new equipment. Babies grow so quickly that some items, which are essential at one stage, are useless within a couple of months. Many families are quite happy to lend or sell such items, so keep an eye open in local papers and clinics as well as at house. The only stipulation I’d make when buying secondhand, apart from checking for general wear and tear, is that the surfaces are smooth and rust-free and that, where applicable, they still comply with the latest safety regulations.

In spite of all the difficulties mother faces, she should feed her child for as long as possible. Do not be in a hurry, to start top milk. It is the practice that most offices to grant 3 months maternity leave. A minimum of 40 days is always granted. This period allows the mother to breast feed her child. Even after resuming work the mother should feed her child whenever she is at home (early morning, late evening and at night. Instead of weaning the child from the breast, experimenting with spoon honeyed water or water boiled with sugar and capparis trifolia or even breast milk extracted should be given with a spoon. Following this, if the mother is going to be away at work for long periods of time, it becomes necessary to start on top milk (cow, buffalo or powdered milk). Even so, breast feeds should be continued every morning and every night.

It is not right to deny the child mother’s milk merely on the basis of imagined difficulties. The importance of mother’s milk lies not only in its nutritive goodness but also in its immunizing potential. It is well armed with white blood cells to keep away allergy and disease and consequently, dreaded diseases like diarrhea, fever, cold, polio. Even a few drops of breast milk are beneficial to the baby.

A mother should not be bathed on first day of delivery but simply sponged with Luke warm or natural cold water (not iced but she can herself take bath after 2^nd or 3^rd day of delivery). Following safeguard and cautions are imperatively essential for general maintenance of health of the mother in post-delivery period. Remember mother’s good health is a launching pad for the new born baby’s care and health.

• She should take complete rest-in-bed for, at least 5-6 hours after delivery.
• She should pass urine, stool in bed during first 24 hours but she can sleep or turn in bed as per her convenience.
• From 2^nd to 7^th day she should not exert bur spend most of her time in bed. She may use an easy chair and relax.
• She should adjust her sleeping time with her child’s sleeping/awakening times.
• It takes about 6-8 weeks for her to return to preconception stage, hence she must take reasonable rest, but keep up with moderate activities like visit to closet, taking bath, looking after and feeding her child, nursing the child.
• After period of 6-8 weeks she can attend to normal house work, attend to her office.
• In order to ensure free movement of bowels and urinary flow she should consume plenty of fresh water and other fluids but avoid taking all types of spices, fats, condiments, alcohol and smoking.
• She should resume her normal physical activity by way of morning and evening walk, cooking, doing domestic work.
• Her diet should contain high protein, milk, curd, fruits and vegetables, calcium and iron etc.

The modern father will be very responsible and it can be expressed by the care which he takes for his newborn baby. Very few fathers are missing out the happiness of the birth of the children but they should realize that it is the good times of their life and they too should experience the happiness by caring for their growing up child. A lovable father will return to home immediately after finishing his work because he wants to spend most of his time with his child by playing, dancing, jumping and walking with his child because he can feel the enjoyment. From day one, he will begin to satisfy the needs of his child by changing nappies even in the midnight, helping his wife to feed the baby and sing songs to make the baby sleep. It proves that the father is a lovable person as well as a full-time parent which will be beneficial to all the members in the family.

Suppose if a father concentrates on the pregnancy of his wife it can be assured that he has more care on the birth of the baby. By the way he holds his baby, it will show his interest within six weeks from the day of the baby’s birth. Even when the baby cries, he will be the first person to find out the reason for the baby’s crying. At any cause, his attitude will not spoil the motherhood of his wife. His happiness will be expressed by such ways, and particularly in the first few weeks, he will play an important role in the baby’s life. Hence, he is not only modern father but also the best father in the world.

When should a baby have his first bath? Many pediatricians now feel that there is no hurry to give a bath after birth. He has come out of a very comfortable and warm environment. He also has a protective whitish material called vernix, particularly in the neck folds, arm pits and groins. No effort should be made to clean this off, as the delicate skin of the baby will be damaged. The baby’s face should be cleaned, and a blood from the delivery should be wiped off. His body including head should be dried with a soft towel, and clothes put on. The less he is distributed for the first few hours the better. He can be given a bath on the second or the third day. Many hospitals do not give the baby a bath at all during the hospital stay.

To give the baby a bath at home, you will need a good size wash basin or a baby bath. Plastic ones are freely available and you can choose any attractive color. The water should be comfortably warm and should fill half to three-fourths of the basin or tub. The room should be warm and free of draught. The fan should be switched off. First the baby’s face and head should be washed. The baby can then be put in the tub while supporting his head properly. If the baby’s buttocks are soiled with stool, he should be cleaned before being put in the tub. The baby’s skin is very sensitive and only a mild soap should be used. A shampoo can be used for the head and a soft brush can be used for the hair.

The first stage of labour lasts twelve to twenty-four hours with a first baby and usually less with subsequent children. During these hours the contractions of the uterus increase in strength and come more frequently, until by the end of the first stage they may be occurring every three to five minutes. The cervix or neck of the womb undergoes several important changes. First it is drawn up so that it no longer projects into the vagina, then it gradually opens or dilates. By the end of the first stage the opening in the cervix is large enough to allow the baby’s head to pass into the vagina.

The cervix itself is converted into one continuous cavity. In the majority of labours the membrane rupture and the waters escape towards the end of the first stage, through they may rapture earlier, and in a few cases they do not rupture before the birth of the baby. The baby mat then be born completely enclosed in the membrane or “caul” an even which was once thought to be an omen of great good fortune. When the baby’s head passes through the cervix and into the vagina the second stage of labour begins. At once, the picture changes.

The stretching of the vagina and the surrounding structures by the pressure of the head brings into action a reflex or automatic mechanism. With each contraction of the uterus the expulsive muscles of the abdomen and chest contract as well and the mother feels an impulse to press or bear down to expel the baby. As she presses with each contraction the baby’s head advances farther and the tissues gradually stretch until the head escapes from the vagina, to be followed at once or with the next contraction by the shoulders and the rest of the body.

A happy mom communicates her feeling to her baby nestling in her womb through the amniotic fluid. Research is establishing a connection between a mother’s start of mind and that of her baby’s disposition. She has already begun bonding and sharing her life with her baby and they are both comrades in arms – mom and baby. Her happiness hormones create an environment of calm and bliss for the baby to grow in. Your baby’s learning and thinking process begins while she is still in the womb.

There’s an incredible, instinctual, mechanism that’s revved up when a baby and the mother are put together. In a foetus these responses seem primitive, but they are responses all the same. While we may be under the impression that the uterus is a quite cosy little place where peace reigns supreme things could not be further away from the truth. Actually, life in the uterus is noisy and unsetting. Mama’s voice resonated deep within, her organs provide their own cacophony of sounds – gurgling, pumping, and beating. This riotous world acquaints the foetus to sounds, tastes and smells. She is already prepared to face the world outside with a distinct personality of her own.

Imagine being born with the ability to be happy. Yes, it’s possible; there might be those lucky babies who have it in-built into their systems to be happy. This was illustrated by watching two identical twins brought up separately under different environment, displaying the same levels of happiness. Research is increasingly indicating that there is a happiness set-point that each of us is born with.