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

Children are much more susceptible to tooth decay and gum disorders than grown-ups. This is because the gum and teeth in toddlers are very delicate. Moreover, children are more attracted to sweets and other food items, which cause damage to the teeth.
Here are several ways to protect the teeth of your little one:
1. Have a dental checkup: you should take your child to a dentist on his first birthday. Early prevention is important as any kind of problem in the teeth will be detected and this will save you from a lot of trouble in the future.
2. Teaching healthy habits: brushing is very important and you should teach your child to brush regularly, more than once a day. Before the development of teeth in your baby, you should brush his gums gently by using water on a soft baby toothbrush or with a clean and soft cloth. After developing teeth, brushing must be practiced with delicate toothbrushes and fluoridated toothpaste. If several teeth touch against each other, you should use flossing. Brushing is essential before going to bed, and no food should be taken after brushing.
3. Prevent" baby bottle decay: you should not let your child go to sleep with a bottle of juice or milk. The sugar contained in these liquids sticks to the child's teeth, which activates bacteria and may lead to tooth decay.
4. Avoid giving juice to your child: juice may be healthy for the body, but it leads to tooth decay in little kids. The amount of regular juice intake should never be above four ounces.
5. Avoid excess use of a sippy cup: sippy cups enable children to shift from bottles to a glass. However, all day long usage of sippy cups should be restricted as it may cause decay on the front and back portions of teeth, when the drinks are rich in sugar.
6. Be careful about sweet medicines: many medicines meant for children are sugary and stick to the teeth, increasing the chance of cavities. Several antibiotics cause overgrowth of candida or yeast and cause an oral disease known as oral thrush. This disease causes creamy patches on the tongue. In case your child needs sweet medicines, brushing should be increased.
7. Stop using a pacifier by the age of 2 or 3: pacifiers are good for children, but using pacifiers for a long period of time affects the lining of teeth. The shape of the mouth may also change. Hence, do not let your child use pacifiers after 2 or 3 years of age.
Children are quite prone to teeth disorders and decay in the teeth. Hence, measures must be taken to protect the teeth of children from any kind of disorder.

Ways to Protect the Teeth of Your Little One

3 lesser known facts about breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is advocated to be the only best thing for a newborn. But while it is the most natural thing to do, it isn't an easy process. It is challenging and full of surprises. Researches throw up facts that surprise all. For example: breastfeeding is like a shield against breast cancer. 
Here are 3 such lesser known facts:

1. The milk contents - ever wondered what your baby thinks of the taste of your breast milk. Well, the fact is that your breast milk is tailor-made for your baby. From the taste to its benefits, it is a full course meal. When the feeding begins, the milk is watery. This is to quench the baby's thirst. Then the consistency thickens and the milk becomes higher in fat content. This meets your baby's electrolyte needs as well as energy requirement. Want to know something more amazing? through the day, your breasts milk's properties keep changing. By evening, it has higher sedating properties and helps the baby's body meet nutritional demands. This should explain that satisfied smile babies have when they sleep right after their feeds.
2. Variation in milk production - it is okay and natural if you feel you are lopsided. Many breastfeeding mothers feel that one breast is heavier than the other since it produces more milk. This is possible and happens a lot. Our body is not perfectly symmetrical between left and right. This applies to breasts as well and shouldn't be worried about. Because of this, milk production can also vary between both the breasts.
3. It causes weightloss - some women are known to lose their pregnancy weight by breastfeeding. Yes, this is also a lesser known fact. Breast milk happens to be a high calorie food which the baby literally sucks off the mother's body. This leads to shrinking of the mother's body.
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3 Undisclosed Facts About Breastfeeding, This World Breastfeeding Week

Mastitis is primarily an infection that occurs inside or on women's breasts within the first three months after pregnancy. Sometimes the infection can also affect non pregnant women where it is referred to as periductal mastitis.

What are the causes and symptoms of mastitis?
The most common reason behind such an occurrence is malfunctioning mammary ducts in pregnant women. Milk stasis or blocked milk ducts happen due to irregular feeding sessions, the baby's difficulty in sucking or not being able to attach optimally to the breast for feeding. The other plausible reason is bacterial infection that has somehow entered the ducts through a crack in the nipple area. Blocked milk ducts carry a lot of stagnant milk that provides the most suitable breeding ground for bacterial cultures. Steps must be taken so as not to pass on this bacterium to the baby who depends on breast milk almost entirely for nutrition.

1. It often manifests itself in the form of redness, swelling, pain, fever and exhaustion, resulting from inflammation of the breast tissues and mammary glands.
2. There is also a palpable warmth and tenderness of the breasts, accompanied by a general feeling of malaise.
3. Other common symptoms include lumpy formations, wedges, burning sensation especially during breast feeding.
4. Nipple discharge, body aches and relatively higher body temperatures might also occur in association.

You must consult with your doctor immediately after the appearance of similar symptoms; promptness is advisable when you are pregnant.

What problems does mastitis cause?
1. Most commonly affecting nursing and recent mothers, mastitis poses a pertinent problem in breastfeeding as it causes dysfunctional lactation.
2. Mastitis is therefore also as precarious for the new born baby who is left without its primary diet.
3. Doctors often recommend such mothers to continue breast feeding in spite of the disease, after prescribing some antibiotics which usually work in suppressing the infection after a maximum of 2 to 3 weeks.
4. The affected mothers usually feel too tired to take care of their child while suffering from this kind of infection.

Preventive measures
1. Avoid wearing tight clothes or undergarments.
2. Regularize breastfeeding schedules; do not stop before 6 months.
3. Encourage your baby to feed especially when you experience of build-up of milk.

All About Mastitis

A deaf child is the one who suffers from hearing loss. Children with deafness may also fail to develop speech. Such children might have no defect in their speech but they cannot speak anything. The main reason is deafness. They do not hear a speech, therefore, cannot develop it. Deafness may not be hereditary, but it occurs due to several other causes. 

The period of 5 years is crucial in a child s life. During this period, they develop their speech and language. Therefore, parents need to take the utmost care for the early identification of hearing loss and treat the child accordingly. 

Causes of Deafness in Children

There are several causes of deafness in children.

Otitis Media: In young children, if the eustachian tube is not fully formed, it forms fluid behind the eardrum. This fluid can get infected and affect the hearing. The fluid may not cause any pain or infection but still, it can harm and cause hearing loss even if it stays for a short time. 

Problems by Birth: Some children have hearing problems by birth. Sometimes, the problem lies in the genes. But, other times during pregnancy or prenatal care, the problem arises. If a mother, while pregnancy, has diabetes or preeclampsia, she is likely to deliver a deaf child. A prematurely born baby also has a high risk of deafness.

Illness or Injury: Some young children suffer hearing loss due to some injury in the ear or some other illness. Illness includes meningitis, measles, chickenpox, and flu. Head injury or listening to loud music for a long time can also be a reason.

Symptoms of a Deaf Child

A deaf child shows no reaction to the loud noises.

He/she doesn t respond to the voices.

The sound of the child is simple that taper off.

The child may pull or rub the ear several times, which is noticeable.

The child is continuously cranky for no particular reason.

He/she does not pay any attention when anyone is talking.

He/she has very little energy to do anything. 

He/she fails to understand the direction.

Often asks to raise the volume of TV or radio.

Have fever and ear pain.

Treatment of the Problem

Hearing loss affects a child s learning ability. So, the problem must be diagnosed and treated immediately. Here are some treatment approaches: 

Treatment for Otitis Media: The very first thing parents and doctors can do is watchful waiting because sometimes the problem cures itself. Some pediatricians might prescribe some antibiotics. If the problems continue, then the doctor will suggest getting an ear tube to the child that will allow the fluid to drain. For this, the child will have to visit an ENT doctor also called Otolaryngologist. 

Treatment for other causes: The child may use a hearing aid. Some can get cochlear implants. 

Conclusion
It is necessary for parents to accept the child with deformity and stay by his/her side. They must get themselves educated and communicate the problem with others to get help. It is essential to stay in touch with the child and take care of him.

Deaf Child - What Should You Know?

Coughing during the night can really wreak havoc for your sleep and cause inexplicable discomfort in the throat and chest region. Thankfully, you can manage it by soothing your tickling throat as well as sensitive airways before you go to bed at night. 

Drink herbal tea: A mugful of non-caffeinated tea mixed with a teaspoon of honey before going to bed can help you to a considerable extent. This is because any warm liquid has the power to break down the formation of mucus in the throat region and with a bit of honey, the herbal tea becomes even more powerful.
Try to sleep in an inclining position: Gravity is your greatest enemy while combating night-time cough. When you lie down flat on your back at night, all the mucus and dust particles, which you have swallowed all through the day, would accumulate in the throat area and aggravate it making more cough. But you can easily defy gravitational force by piling up some pillows and prop yourself on them while sleeping. You may also keep a wooden block of 4 inches height under your head, which would keep the acids in the stomach so that they don t come up to irritate your throat.
Make sure you use the steam cautiously: When your airways are dry, it can make you cough harder. Therefore, you may find relief if you take a warm shower or a bath before going to bed. But you have to be sure that you don t have asthma as steam can prove harmful for you.
Check the level of humidity: Humidifiers are known to soothe the problem of persistent coughing when the surrounding air is dry. But too much of moisture during the night can also make you cough. This is because dust mites, mold and other allergens thrive well in the damp air and they could conspire to make your cough even worse. So, pick up a cheap hygrometer from a hardware store and see that the humidity level stays within 40 to 50 percent.
Equip yourself at night: Keep all the things from drops to water to cough syrup or anything that soothes coughing at your bedside so that you can help yourself in case you wake up in the middle of the night and start coughing.
By following these few tips every day, you can manage the night time cough and have a good night s sleep without any interruptions.

Night Time Cough - 5 Tips to Manage it

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