An Art of Parenting

Posts Tagged ‘baby’s weight’

Dark green stool, basically, called as meconium is undergone by the baby which happens regularly for couple of days from the day of birth. It will have a sweetish smell and the milk which is consumed by the baby is the reason for the stool. Many people call it as diarrhea but it is very common in the life of the new born. Gaining in weight of the baby depends upon the feeding of the mother and the stool is not the reason for the illness or wellness of the baby. Even if the third or fourth day, the baby passes stool, the mother should not get worried instead she can consult a doctor and find out the reason for it.

The mother should keep in mind that the stool will not bring discomfort to the baby at the time of passing the stool. Mothers need not wash the napkins of their children. It may take three or four months to lessen the stool so that the baby passes stool once a day. Depending upon the breast feed and bottle feed, the stool may differ in smell and color. If a mother feeds her child using bottle, the stool will be harder and it will be whitish in color. Stool may also separately curdle with the water and it indicates that the baby have been fed by bottle milk. Hence, breast milk is always good for the health of the baby!

Neonatal infection is one do the dreaded conditions of the neonatal period. Early diagnosis can often be made if the physician is aware of the possibility. Localizing signs are frequently absent. Low birth weight babies are especially prone to develop infection. The first indications are sudden reluctance of feed, vomiting, drowsiness or irritability, loss of weight or static weight. Later on baby develops a grayish pallor and looks anxious. He may develop diarrhea, abdominal distension, oedema, purpura, jaundice and convulsion. Fever may or may not be present.

A preterm infant may develop hypothermia and scleraema. As soon as there is suspicion of infection, the neonate should be sent to a hospital for management. Important investigations can be done are the white cell count, urine examination, for white cells, urine culture and sensitivity, blood culture, lumber puncture and X-ray of the chest. The baby should be treated with appropriate antibiotics. Neonatal infections are commonly cause by gram negative cilli and staphylococcal organisms. Ampicillin and gentamycin combination should cover the majority of cases.

In suspected staphylocaoccal infection, cloxacillin and gentamycin combination should be parenterally. The baby would require supportive treatment such as intravenous fluid, gestria suction and general measures to control hypothermia. To sum up, the cause of vomiting might be trivial in most neonates while other conditions might prove fatal. A general practitioner should be aware of these problems to handle each case according to its merits. An ill neonate with vomiting is a pediatric emergency.

Almost all babies bring up some milk, but some babies who are otherwise gaining weight satisfactorily have an increased tendency to vomit. These babies are usually highly active, cheerful, interested in their surroundings and exhibit rapid movement of arms and legs. This type of vomiting is usually more troublesome during the first few weeks of life, but it may continue as a nuisance for some months. The timing and frequency of vomiting are irregular. Typically no sooner has an infant has been cleaned up, varying amounts of milk may be already over-anxious. This mother should be reassured. Sometimes milk sedation of the infant may help; chloral hydrate 60 to 200 mg before each feeding is often helpful.

In some babies milk shoots out when the baby belches and this type of projectile vomiting may lead a doctor to diagnosis of cognetial pyeloric stenosis. Mothers usually exaggerate the quantity brought up . The weight gain is normal. The cause of excessive flatulence in breast fed babies is prolong sucking, which may either be because of insufficient milk at times or the baby may just keep on sucking longer than required. Babies fed on bottles sometimes gulp very rapidly and this might also cause vomiting. A teat with a very small hole and leads to excessive air swallowing and later to vomiting. Some mothers do not tilt the bottles properly, and the teat, instead of containing milk, contains a lot of air and some milk.