Parenting Blog

Uneven shape of your baby’s Head

If you always dreamt about the perfect Gerber baby with round and rosy features and observe that your baby has a little uneven do not get disappointed. It is probably due to the hours your baby spent in the pelvis. Nature has designed the skull so that it fits into the birth canal and prevents it from injuries during delivery. Other features like squashed nostrils, and swollen eyes are due to the fluids accumulated under the skin. Your baby also might have bruise marks on the scalp and face if vacuum or forceps were used to deliver him. All these imperfections are temporary and will disappear revealing your baby’s perfect features.

Restlessness in the baby

The babies have been in the womb for quite long and now that they have come out of it and free to move their hands and limbs. By throwing their limbs they are trying to gain control over them. The brain tries to figure out and control its movements but it has still not become adept in doing it. When babies take birth for the first three months they have an intrinsic sense within them called as the startle, or Moro reflex. This makes the infant sense as if they are startled or falling. Due to this feeling they draw their head backwards open their hands and after a while bring in it back in. These are also temporary system which will go away after a couple of weeks.

Big size of testicles in the baby boy

You may be wondering about the big size of your son’s testicles and you husband may want to take all the credit. But, neither your genes nor your husband’s super power hormones have any role to play in the size of your baby’s testicles. It happens due to the swelling that occurs when the baby takes birth and undergoes a lot of pressure; it is also due to the fluids in the tissue. All new born babies have some of their mother’s hormones still circulating in their bodies and it results in enlarged testicles in boys and swelled labia in girls. It takes a couple of weeks for the swelling to fade away.

Baby’s tendency of being hungry

You may find yourself feeding you baby round the clock during the first few days of her birth. This is absolutely normal and nature’s trick that is played to improve the supply of milk. Also, babies that feed on breast eat more frequently because it is easily digestible for babies as well as completely absorbed by the body unlike formula.

Cold hands and feet of the baby

The blood circulation system of the body is not fully developed in the new born babies. Hence, blood is circulated to the more vital organs first and then to the hands and limbs. It may take a couple of months before the blood supply system is fully developed in the babies. Hands and feet are generally the last organs that get the supply of blood properly. When you baby starts playing and performing various activities the blood circulation in these organs will automatically increase.

It is a great feeling to become pregnant and women naturally become more careful and responsible after they come to know about their pregnancy. Generally women are good in taking care of the baby inside them but sometimes due to carelessness they might let themselves in to dangerous situations. Accidents are one of the leading causes of baby death in United States and to reduce the number of deaths due to this reason mothers should become more careful. This means that they should try to avoid some of the most common accidents they are prone to.

You can follow these suggestions to stay away from the most common accidents:

Do not forget to wear the seat belt: Seat belts are able to save around eleven thousand lives every year. You should not be worried about the seat belt hurting your baby if a car crash happens. What may be more dangerous to the baby is getting you injured. You should carefully wear the seatbelt by placing the lap-belt below the baby and not across the belly. The shoulder-belt should be worn over the shoulder and between the breasts. If you are not comfortable and the belt feels too tight adjust is appropriately.

Practice Safe Driving: If you are a rash driver then you should be especially careful. In general, everyone should obey the traffic rules, take care of the speed limits, pull your car off road when you feel sleepy, when your drive never use the cell phone and under any circumstances avoid an impaired driver.

Do not go to lonely Places: When you are pregnant just avoid going to places where somebody could ambush you especially dark stairs, isolated parking spaces or other deserted areas.

Take Precautions while walking on the Roads: You should remember what you were taught when you were child and follow the rules as a pedestrian. Use the crosswalk and look at both the ways before crossing the road.

Make your home safe from fire: Deaths due to fire are more common than the total deaths due to all the natural disasters together. Therefore, make your home safe by installing smoke detectors and if they are already installed make sure they are in working condition.

Take care in handling food items: Food should be carefully handled as well as stored. They should be washed well before cooking and avoid using stale and expired food items. Clean the knife and cutting board before and after using with soapy hot water.

Stop the germs from spreading by washing hands at regular intervals: Clean your hands from time to time using warm water and soap. Let the soap and lather remain on the hands for a minute or two before you wash it up with clean water.

The skin of babies is very soft and delicate. Hence it is more susceptible to become dry if exposed to cold air. Dry, cold air outside or indoor heating can cause baby’s skin to dry when the skin loses its natural moisture in the winter season. If your baby’s skin is dry this might also show in summers as the skin breaks into dry patches in the sun. Here are some tips to fix our baby’s dry skin:

Reduce the bath timing

Bathing a baby for too long can make the skin to lose its natural oils. Make sure that you are using a mild soap and if possible avoid using any soap. Using only warm water will minimize any side effects. Take necessary precautions while bathing your baby. Bathing dries a baby’s skin because it removes the skin’s natural oils along with the dirt. The bath time should not exceed 10 mutes. Also be careful that the water is not too hot for your baby’s skin. Luke warm water will do for her.

Avoid Soapy Water

Do not let your baby sit in soapy water for too long and never leave the cleansing bar in the water. The contact of your baby with soap should be minimized as much as possible. Limit the bubble baths to some special occasions. Apply some oils or baby lotion which is mild on your baby’s skin after the bath. Giving your baby a daily massage will prevent her from having any dry patches on the body.

Dry the baby as soon as possible after the bath

Immediately as you take your baby out of the tub, dry him with the help of a clean towel. Apply moisturizer suitable for your child’s skin and as recommended by dermatologists. You also need to make sure that your child is not exposed to any skin infections.

Do not expose your baby to chlorine or salty water

Both these ingredients are very harmful on your baby’s skin. Rinse your baby thoroughly in tap water after a swim in the pool and apply thick moisturizer while the skin is damp and wet.

Use a humidifier

Using a cool mist humidifier can be a good idea to prevent your baby’s skin from drying up.

Apply moisturizers

As far as moisturizers go, the general rule is the thicker the better. If your baby’s skin is still dry even with daily moisturizing, try switching from a lotion to a thicker cream or ointment. You might also want to consider moisturizing twice a day — once after bathing and once during the day.

Apart from these measures, protect your baby by making her wear warm clothes. Make your baby wear mittens in cold weather, so her hands won’t become dry in the winds.

It is a fact that babies are more sensitive to loud noises than adults. They can tolerate noises of very less decibels, generally ones over which it is easy to talk. Some babies have a tendency to cry and scream in protest to the noise, while the others simply fuss. So it can be a bit difficult if you plan to take your babies somewhere where the music is really loud.

Like there is to everything, there is an exception for your baby’s sensitive ears also. If you used to live in a noisy surrounding while you were pregnant – like your husband used to play music, or your son used to scream and shout while running around the house – your baby has probably already become accustomed to these sounds because he also used to hear low muffles of the same sounds when he was in your womb. It is highly probable that he might be able to sleep right through the time when that sound is made. However, unfamiliar sounds startle the baby, and in most cases, he reacts by crying. But when they are around five months old, they tend to move toward the source of the sound.

Things that can harm your baby’s hearing capability

Here are some of the things that can harm your baby’s sensitive ears:

• Constant exposure to environments having loud noises such as rock concerts and airports.
• History of hearing problems in the family.
• Some complications in during the birth which caused a lack of oxygen for the baby.
• Premature birth
• Some types of birth defects.
• Chronic middle-ear inflammation or ear infection.
• Prenatal exposure to rubella.

Can I do anything to develop my baby’s hearing capabilities?

Yes, there are some things that you can do to develop your baby’s hearing capabilities. Here are some of those:

• Play soft music that contains sounds from the piano and the cymbals. Babies tend to like such sounds and enjoy them.
• Talk to your baby. It is very important that you communicate with him. For example, if he seems interested in something you are doing then telling him about it a very good option. You should also try reading to him. Do keep on babbling, but proceed further only if you think your baby is interested.
• Try to tune into whatever sounds attract you babies attention. This will help you to make her understand exactly what has caused it.

It is very important that you help your child in his hearing development because it is a very effective way for him to communicate to the world in both the present and the future.

Have you ever wondered, why your baby is crying a lot more than what you had expected and all your efforts of making him feel comfortable are in vain? If you notice that your baby is crying more than usual then one of the most probable reasons could be due to suffering from colic. Excessive crying is referred as colic. There are a lot of reasons due to which colic might be observed.

Your diet might be the reason for your colicky infant. It has been observed that colic in babies who are breastfed is caused due to inappropriate mother’s diet. Since the baby feeds on breast milk, hence what the mother eats affects the diet of the baby to a large extent. Consult a doctor or your health care provider to know what kind of food irritates your baby and hence the food which you should avoid.

Though concluding which food exactly is problematic might lead to controversies and disagreements, still researches show that dairy products can be considered as prime suspects. Mothers who are breastfeeding should try to cut on dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt etc and see if there is any difference in the colicky behavior of the baby.

Try to avoid spicy food, wheat products, nuts and vegetables which are cruciferous such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli etc. Also cut back on garlic and strawberries. Caffeine and alcohol are certainly a BIG NO.

Avoid all these foods for sometime and notice the changes in the baby. If the problem reduces then start reintroducing one food at a time in your diet to know exactly what the root cause for colic is. After you again start consuming a certain dish or eatable, if the baby starts becoming irritable and fussy, you’ll know the culprit and this would be the food that you will have to avoid. Till your baby becomes at least 3 months old, and till you breastfeed the baby do not consume products that might be harmful for your baby.

Take your baby to a doctor if the colic persists. After you try all the methods to calm down and soothe the baby your last resort can be nothing but consulting a doctor. Talk with the doctor and tell him the relevant details. A lot of potential causes might exist, on which the doctor might be elaborate more. Intestinal or urinary infection can be a cause for which you will have to perform some tests. Decide your plan to soothe your baby as suggested by the doctor, if your baby has colic.

Do not get tensed by listening continuously to baby’s crying. This problem passes away as soon as your baby grows a little older.