Dr. Chandrasekhar

Many babies especially between 1.5 to 5 month of age have the tendency to cry excessively and recurrently  especially during morning hours or evening hours without and obvious cause . This is called as infantile colic. A lot of time this may be due to the common causes which are disturbing the baby like hunger, overclothing , keep the baby in a very warm temperature which makes the baby fretful and cry a lot. If it is associated with fever of more than 100 o F or is associated with distended abdomen or extreme lethargy then this needs urgent medical attention and should be shown to a pediatrician.

To avoid this the mother should take care of early clues to hunger or irritability and should tackle them early. Most of the time simple measures like rocking the baby gently or using gentle massage or tickling and interacting with the baby may help in subsiding the episode. Certain ingredients in mother's diet who are breastfeeding may also aggravate this like caffeine, alcohol, vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, etc and red chilli peppers. They should be avoided. Keeping the baby in tummy down and gently back rubbing may help. Gripe water and giving herbal medicine may be harmful and may not help but gentle application of hing around umbilicus may help in reducing the symptoms and severity of colic. It is also important to remain patient during these episodes and do not violently shake the baby or loose your temper. This may lead to severe damages to the infant's body organs.

Child Aphasia is complex disorder that is caused by damage to parts of the brain that controls language and speech. This disorder affects the child's ability to express herself through words and understand the speech of other people. The severity of the problem depends on the extent of the damage as well as the location of the damage. Since this is not a birth disorder, therefore, you should be much more careful as so you notice that your kid is facing language disorder. A speech pathologist can diagnose language disorders and teach your child strategies to help.

What are the leading symptoms of aphasia in kids?

1. Not understanding speech is one of the most common symptoms. Most patients cannot understand spoken or written language. Typically in these cases, the patient suffers from fluent Aphasia, which is caused by damage to the left temporal lobe of the brain. The patient's speech might seem meaningless and incoherent with lots of unnecessary words being used. The child usually becomes upset when people don't understand what he is saying.
2. Patients suffering from this disorder also have trouble expressing their thoughts and understanding language and they often take more time to communicate. Only short sentences are used by these patients with words often left out, making the sentence sound incomplete. Such children suffer from non-fluent Aphasia where they understand what others are saying, but cannot communicate or speak well themselves. Their speech is almost similar to that of telegraphic languages that are usually followed by those toddlers who are just learning how to speak.
3. Some children suffering from Aphasia might have trouble repeating words even though they don't have problem understanding what others are saying. These children suffer from conduction Aphasia and will be able to reproduce only parts of a sentence, if asked to repeat.
4. Children affected with this disorder may see to be not listening to you or ignore you.
5. Such kids might also have behavioral problems and may not be able to keep up with their friends and classmates. They will also suffer from forgetfulness.

Causes of Aphasia: The leading cause of Aphasia is brain injury, brain infection, brain tumour or abscess or bleeding in the brain.

Diagnosis of the disease: The disorder is diagnosed by a speech therapist who assesses the condition with a variety of tools to figure out the extent of damage. Its best to take your child to a paediatric speech pathologist who is an expert in treating children with brain injuries. The child will then be assessed on auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and writing ability and functional communication.

Treatment: There are many people who think that the speech trouble cannot be treated, but they are completely wrong. There are various ways to treat Aphasia. The younger the patient the better the chances of recovery since the brain is not that developed to handle specific functions in kids as in adults. The treatment will depend on the severity of the condition and the goal that is to be achieved. Factors behind this trouble need to be determined first otherwise the perfect treatment cannot be decided. Some of the most prominent factors are aphasia type, brain-injury cause, age, brain-lesion size and positioning and others.

Some of the leading tips that can be applied as per Association of National Stroke are as follows:

1. Using props can be helpful in getting across messages.
2. Speaking slowly and staying calm while speaking.
3. Drawing pictures or words on paper for communication.

Few things in life take longer than habits to be inculcated and eventually to die out. Every parent tries in his or her way to teach the child certain healthy habits, those that they wish would be followed long enough to be internalized by them. Certain healthy habits that every child should follow are:

1. Include a lot of vegetables in the diet: There is an array of vegetables available in the market, which is replete with rich nutritional values. Though children are generally averse to the idea of eating vegetables, it is your duty to inculcate in them the habit of eating vegetables and constantly remind them of their rich nutritional benefits.
2. Never skip breakfast: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and is often the most ignored. Most children have the propensity to skip breakfast if they are late and generally they are seldom reprimanded by their parents. As a parent, you must make it a point not to take this lightly and severely insist on a healthy breakfast every morning.
3. Indulge in physical activities: With the advent and easy access of technology, going out to play in has become a distant reality, one that is never explored. However, it goes without saying that nothing can substitute the physical and mental benefits that a physical activity entails. It not only keeps the body of your child fit but also helps in keeping the mind fresh.
4. Read daily: Few things in life can be as rewarding and fulfilling as reading a book. However the habit does not come easy and as a parent it is your responsibility to induce in them this. Try to make your child read a few pages everyday till they take it up themselves out of their volition.
5. Drink water and skip the soda: The many flavored sodas, which are available serve as a more palatable alternative to the drab water for the children. Though the choice may seem convenient, it must be snipped off right from the beginning. Sodas are packed with harmful preservatives and should be duly avoided by children. Instead, they must choose the bottle of water to quench the thirst.