Travel : When travelling with a baby, pack light. However long the trip may be, be sure to pack a limited amount of things. Don't carry too many toys, it's just extra load. Keep baby's favourite things in hand luggage, that way if baby is distracted during the journey, you know what to give to keep them occupied.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Starting Solids
Starting solids for your baby is a cautious and emotional time for evey new mother. Weaning a baby is also a little like letting go, for the better. Like how after a baby is born, a mother misses the kicks she felt in her. While weaning a baby, all moms make the call of what to give first. Every paediatrician suggests to start slow and gradually increase once the baby's bowel movements become comfortable.
Juices, porridges and purees are the best to start with. I did the talks with a few mothers and here are a few brilliant suggestions on what to give your baby at home. (No canned goods)
I'm one of those safe mothers who tried both canned foods and DIY foods at home. I always had three different flavours of Cerelac for emergencies. Otherwise I started baby G's weaning process with bananas. He had half a banana for the first five days in the morning. For those five days the banana would be the only new thing I tried. The second week I gave him banana and rice porridge. The third week, I gave him ragi/oats porridge and banana. By the end of that month, his bowels were accustomed to the input of solids and his digestion was fine. I nursed him during the nights. The second month of weaning, I started giving him steamed and mashed Kerala banana. (It's called the Kerala banana because it is very famous in Kerala. The yummy banana chips we eat are made of this banana.) Baby G has been eating this banana every day to this day. It's a wholesome meal and giving this to baby before sleep time ensures four hours of solid sleep on a full tummy. I started adding fruit purses to his meal routine slowly. He was soon having apple, banana, plum and avocado. Avocados are difficult to get here inTirupur, but when I found them once, I stocked them up and used them for two weeks. The ripe fruit needs to be scooped out, mashed and seasoned with salt and fed to baby. After two months of slowly weaning him into porridges and fruits, I started giving him the diet that we follow at home. His breakfasts were idli, dosai and pongal. His lunches were mashed rice with daal and rasam. I kept the Kerala banana for dinner time because it ensured 7 hours of sleep at night and I didn't have to wake up to give him formula. In his eighth month, he was eating the food that all adults ate at home and he already had favourites. During chapathi nights, I would soak three chapathis in milk and sugar and mash it and feed it to him. Those nights, he would sleep uninterrupted and wake only at dawn. By the end of his eleventh month, he had forgotten nursing and he was on a diet of porridges, juices, soups, rice and rotis. I kept the finger foods for times when I had to be away from him and get some work done. So during laundry time, my reading time, my blog time, he would be chewing on a piece of carrot or a biscuit. He started teething only in his tenth month, so I had to mash all his foods a lot until then. Now (19 months) he has a full set of baby teeth and chews on all his food.
Tip : Weaning : When you are starting something new for your baby, always try it in the mornings. That way, if something goes wrong with the digestion, you have a days time to fix it.
A few wonderful friends/new mothers had a few things to share about their experiences with weaning their children to solid foods.
Aarthi Parthiban, mother of two (a boy and a girl) has done her experiments and here's what she had to say about what worked for her kids.
"To start of with porridges made of ragi, wheat, oats and rice. All it's ground together and made into a porridge with a little salt or palm sugar (Tamil :panangkalkandu). Vegetable soups for lunch with mix of all vegetables and a little dal. Steamed apple, potato, carrots, green peas. Kerala banana can be directly steamed and mashed for the baby or cut pieces of unriped banana can be dried and powdered and this can be added to porridges as well. Cows milk can be added to these porridges after the baby's eighth month. Cheese can be melted and given as a dip for boiled vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli. My son likes all his items sweet and my daughter likes her food salty. They both don't like anything bland.'
Juices, porridges and purees are the best to start with. I did the talks with a few mothers and here are a few brilliant suggestions on what to give your baby at home. (No canned goods)
I'm one of those safe mothers who tried both canned foods and DIY foods at home. I always had three different flavours of Cerelac for emergencies. Otherwise I started baby G's weaning process with bananas. He had half a banana for the first five days in the morning. For those five days the banana would be the only new thing I tried. The second week I gave him banana and rice porridge. The third week, I gave him ragi/oats porridge and banana. By the end of that month, his bowels were accustomed to the input of solids and his digestion was fine. I nursed him during the nights. The second month of weaning, I started giving him steamed and mashed Kerala banana. (It's called the Kerala banana because it is very famous in Kerala. The yummy banana chips we eat are made of this banana.) Baby G has been eating this banana every day to this day. It's a wholesome meal and giving this to baby before sleep time ensures four hours of solid sleep on a full tummy. I started adding fruit purses to his meal routine slowly. He was soon having apple, banana, plum and avocado. Avocados are difficult to get here inTirupur, but when I found them once, I stocked them up and used them for two weeks. The ripe fruit needs to be scooped out, mashed and seasoned with salt and fed to baby. After two months of slowly weaning him into porridges and fruits, I started giving him the diet that we follow at home. His breakfasts were idli, dosai and pongal. His lunches were mashed rice with daal and rasam. I kept the Kerala banana for dinner time because it ensured 7 hours of sleep at night and I didn't have to wake up to give him formula. In his eighth month, he was eating the food that all adults ate at home and he already had favourites. During chapathi nights, I would soak three chapathis in milk and sugar and mash it and feed it to him. Those nights, he would sleep uninterrupted and wake only at dawn. By the end of his eleventh month, he had forgotten nursing and he was on a diet of porridges, juices, soups, rice and rotis. I kept the finger foods for times when I had to be away from him and get some work done. So during laundry time, my reading time, my blog time, he would be chewing on a piece of carrot or a biscuit. He started teething only in his tenth month, so I had to mash all his foods a lot until then. Now (19 months) he has a full set of baby teeth and chews on all his food.
Tip : Weaning : When you are starting something new for your baby, always try it in the mornings. That way, if something goes wrong with the digestion, you have a days time to fix it.
A few wonderful friends/new mothers had a few things to share about their experiences with weaning their children to solid foods.
Aarthi Parthiban, mother of two (a boy and a girl) has done her experiments and here's what she had to say about what worked for her kids.
"To start of with porridges made of ragi, wheat, oats and rice. All it's ground together and made into a porridge with a little salt or palm sugar (Tamil :panangkalkandu). Vegetable soups for lunch with mix of all vegetables and a little dal. Steamed apple, potato, carrots, green peas. Kerala banana can be directly steamed and mashed for the baby or cut pieces of unriped banana can be dried and powdered and this can be added to porridges as well. Cows milk can be added to these porridges after the baby's eighth month. Cheese can be melted and given as a dip for boiled vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli. My son likes all his items sweet and my daughter likes her food salty. They both don't like anything bland.'
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