When it comes to babies and their sleeping habits, you have to understand that every baby is different and has different needs. Thus, certain things that may work for one set of parents may not necessarily work for the other. Thus, here are a few tips that will ensure that your child gets ample of undisturbed sleep and stays healthy and fit: 

1. Learn to distinguish when your baby starts feeling tired: Once your child starts feeling tired, he/she will definitely show specific signs that he/she requires some sleep. Some common signs  are:
a) The constant eye rubbing 
b) Yawning
c)  Getting a bit fussy and cranky 
Put your baby to sleep as soon as possible when he/she starts showing such signs. If your baby gets overtired, it will be all the more difficult for him to fall asleep. 

2. Set a proper sleep cycle: Ensure that you set a suitable sleep cycle for your baby. Train your child to sleep during the night and play during the day. Ensure that you keep your kid busy during the day, ensuring that he/she stays awake even after a feed, so that he is tired by night time and sleeps properly all throughout the night. At night, when your child gets up for a feed, ensure that you do not turn on the lights. Instead, make sure to keep the room in semi-darkness so he/she goes back to sleep effectively. 

3. Ensure that your baby is full: If your baby is hungry and has not had his fill, it will tend to disrupt his sleep. Thus, ensure that your baby is well fed before you put him to sleep. For example, if during the day you feed the child after every three hours, as evening approaches feed him every two hours. This will ensure that he is well fed before he goes to sleep.

4. Let go the burping occasionally: Babies do not avidly breastfeed at night. Thus, it is not essential that you wait for him to burp every time he feeds.  

5. Give a Massage: Another way to ensure that your baby sleeps properly is to give him a good massage. A massage will help the child to relax and thus sleep better.

Tips To Ensure Regular Sleep For Your Baby

While the decision to breastfeed or not to is a personal one, however, it is known to have a number of benefits for both the baby and the mother. Ideally, a newborn baby should be fed only mother s milk for the first six months of his or her life. This not only provides a nutritious diet for the infant, but it can also protect the baby from a number of diseases that could affect them now and in the years to come. 

Here are a few reasons a mother should breastfeed her baby

Well balanced nutrition: Mother s milk is better than any form of infant formula. This is because it contains the perfect mix of vitamins, proteins and fats essential for your baby s growth. Also, these nutrients are made available to the baby is easy to digest form which increases the amount of nutrition absorbed by the baby s body. By breastfeeding a baby, the chances of them being overweight in their later years is also reduced.
Immunity booster: Along with nutrients breast milk is also rich in antibodies that protect your baby against viral and bacterial infections. Breastfeeding a baby reduces their risk of suffering from asthma and other allergies in future and also reduces the frequency of ear infections, respiratory diseases and diarrhea.
Better bonding: When a baby is being breastfed it is held close to the mother s body and skin to skin contact is established. This benefits both the baby and the mother and helps build a strong bond between them. For the baby, this skin to skin contact builds a sense of security and for the mother, breastfeeding the baby can help deal with postpartum depression and make her feel connected to the baby.
Helps the mother recover: Breastfeeding helps the mother get her body back to its pre-pregnancy condition faster. This is because breastfeeding burns calories and hence helps the mother lose pregnancy weight faster. It also triggers the release of hormones such as oxytocin which reduce uterine bleeding after delivery and help the uterus get back to its original size.
When breastfeeding a baby it is important to recognize when the baby is hungry and feed him or her before they start crying. Typically an infant should feed on each breast for 10-20 minutes at a stretch. It is also important to be patient and comfortable while breastfeeding so as to allow milk to flow evenly and to prevent fatigue. 

Breastfeeding - Creating Awareness On Its Benefits!

Upon reaching adolescence, children's bodies undergo several changes and so do their minds. It is then that their minds are most, as well as least impressionable. And the daunting question regarding the upbringing of an adolescent is how to treat their constantly changing behavior?

Here are some of the tantrums adolescents more commonly throw, and what should ideally be your approach to it:

Your child seems to hate you: It is very common for a phase of emotional exclusionism to prevail between 16-17 years of age approximately. And the worst thing you could do is heighten that emotion by returning the hatred. Make sure you're firm against any extremely unacceptable behavior, but at the same time, show them that you're there for them no matter what.
Electronic devices become the center of their attention: Whenever you want to have an earnest conversation with your children, their attention seems to be drawn solely to their phones and computers. They feel the need to be connected to their friends and all times. Ways to monitor that are by setting limit to the maximum hours spent on devices or making them pay their own bills, which will make them more responsible rather than splurging unnecessarily. Also, if your child is not entirely secluded from the family, it is probably best not to interfere all the time.
Ignoring the curfew: Your kids often stay out later than the set limit. But it is quite possible that your curfew is unreasonable when compared to other parents' curfew. Find out what the average time limit is; it may prevent your child from bearing a grudge against you. In case they still fail to respect your curfew, make sure you spill out to them what the consequences can be, like being grounded for a week. However, in certain cases, your child may be spending time doing nothing constructive, but away from home. There may be something else going on, find out what that is.
Being friends with the wrong people: Sometimes it might happen that you think some children do not have a good influence on your child, but you cannot say that directly because adolescents tend to get very defensive about their choice of friends. Unless the adolescent is doing something harmful with the friend, like using drugs, let him exercise his choice. Otherwise, don't hesitate from seeking professional help to counsel your child.
Being over-dramatic: Every emotion is heightened in your child and you cannot tell them that what they are whining or being overjoyed about are trivial, because that's their prime focus then. Let them realize on their own how irrational they sound or else you may risk spoiling your relation with them.

Behavioral Problems in Adolescents

Are you looking for an ideal treatment and management for various kinds of headaches? Do you suffer from migraine headaches? You should opt for Ayurvedic treatment, which is considered to be very effective in dealing with headaches of various types.

Migraine headaches

Migraine is a form of headache that is known as Sooryavata according to Ayurvedic principles. Such headaches worsen during sunrise, peak during the afternoon and tend to reduce during evening. Migraine occurs because of an excessive stimulation of blood vessels in the brain. A person affected with migraine is likely to experience nausea and vomiting, along with a throbbing headache on one side of the head. Migraine headaches can be caused due to hormonal changes, allergy from certain food items or excess stress. Apart from regular exercises and a proper diet, the most effective Ayurvedic remedies for dealing with migraine headaches are as follows:

Shirolepa or the applications of herbal pastes on the head is effective for pacifying pitta dosha. Camphor, jatasmansi, and sandalwood are also effective.
Shiro Dhara, an Ayurvedic therapy, where a thin stream of liquid is poured over your scalp is helpful.
Taila dhara is effective for migraine headaches as well, in which oils such as chandanadi taila and ksheerabala taila are used for treatment.
Cluster headaches
Cluster headaches refer to headaches on one side of the head. It is known as Suryavartham according to Ayurveda. These consist of a series of short, but painful headaches, stretched over weeks or months together. Such headaches occur because of disruptions in the nervous system. Usually, the pain starts early in the morning in the eyes. There are several Ayurvedic remedies for the management of cluster headaches. Some of them are as follows:

Use an ointment or paste made of dried ginger and Kermpferia.
Use a paste of Indian aloe vera, asafoetida and coriander for pain relief.
Grind cumin seeds and mix it with lemon juice. Keep the mixture on the painful area of your head for quick relief.
Have coconut water.
Recurrent headaches
Any form of headache, which tends to reoccur after some time instead of ending is referred to as recurrent headache. There are several Ayurvedic remedies for the effective management of recurrent headaches. They as are as follows:

Boil one teaspoon of haritaki powder in water and drink it.
Massage your neck gently using warm calamus root oil.
Lie down with your nostrils parallel to the ceiling, and apply sesame oil in your nostrils. This is known as nasal therapy.
There are several other Ayurvedic remedies that are effective in dealing with all forms of headaches. You should consult an Ayurvedic practitioner for getting the most ideal remedy for your problem.

Migraine - How Ayurveda Can Help You Treat it!

Insulin is the most common treatment prescribed for people affected with diabetes. Diabetes is condition where high amounts of glucose prevail in the blood for an extended period of time. However, there are some drugs that offer an alternative to insulin in treating diabetes, which are:

1. Liraglutide: Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug that causes the body to release greater amounts of insulin so as to facilitate the movement of glucose from the blood to the cells. People with type 2 diabetes generally use this treatment. It slows the digestion process and can cause symptoms of headache and nausea. 

2. Pramlintide: It's an artificially produced version of amylin. It is taken by both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients, facilitates slower digestion of food and therefore, controls release of sugar in the blood. It can cause tiredness and nausea.

3. Dulaglutide:This treatment is for people affected with type 2 diabetes and it is administered once a week. It causes more insulin to be released and pass the glucose to the cells. It can cause loss of appetite, nausea and abdominal cramps as side effects.

4. Albiglutide: This treatment facilitates pancreas to release insulin and limits the glucagon hormone production. It is used by type 2 diabetes patients who have not taken well to other treatments. The side effects are skin reaction, respiratory tract infection and nausea.

5. Exenatide: It is a drug that causes pancreas to release insulin that facilitates movement of glucose to cells. It is a treatment for type 2 diabetes and it restricts release of glucagon in the body. The possible side effects are acidity, constipation and vomiting.

Common Insulin Alternatives

Child sexual abuse is a pressing issue in society today. Statistically, there has been a considerable increase in the number of cases related to juvenile sex abuse over the past decade. Most of the cases report the abuser to be a close family member or a family friend rather than a complete stranger.
Future Consequences-
A sexually abused child may develop severe mental health conditions and have major difficulties coping with as an adult. One of the most common disorders affecting survivors of child sexual abuse is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This involves the individual reliving the trauma all his/her life, thus leading to panic, stress and difficulties in living a healthy life in the longer run.
The individuals who were abused as a child normally suffer from a very low self -esteem. They continue to blame themselves for the events that occurred and hence have a rather demeaning view of themselves, leading to adjustment issues in the future.
They may also be diagnosed with clinical depression owing to the previous trauma. This hampers the everyday functioning of the individual. The individual may continue to relive the past traumatic events in the mind that further fuels their depression and contribute to the vicious cycle, eventually.
Most often, survivors of child sexual abuse have a rather impulsive nature owing to the hampered functioning of impulse-control. They have lesser control over their emotions, especially anger and are rather quick to act on it.
Because of all the complications, they might be less socially competent and thus fail to build firm peer relationships. They grow up to be adults with severe trust issues; they are hence, often side-lined because of their cynicism which leads to further depressive symptoms.
Genophobia or the fear of sex is another complication that they may experience as adults. They may avoid sex altogether or engage in sexual activities that are rather violent in nature. Some survivors may develop certain sexual fetishes that can be rather dangerous; the most common being  paedophilia  or the sexual arousal involving prepubescent children.
Conclusion-
The seriousness of the condition is often undermined. In treatment, various therapeutic techniques are used according to the need and age of the patient. Therapists work to promote positive thinking among the sufferers so that it becomes easy for them to accept their past and move on in life with a better outlook. With proper guidance and help, the individuals are able to overcome their mental health issues and live a wholesome life.


Sexual Abuse -  Mental and Psychological Effects on Children

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