Fortis Escorts Hospital - Jaipur

What is Weaning?

All babies reach a stage where only breast milk is insufficient to supply the nutrients required for the growth of the babies. This usually happens at around 6 months of life. This time one has to introduce new foods apart from breast milk which is called as weaning.

How to start weaning?

1. Start with one meal a day and see how your baby reacts.
2. Choose the best time of the day for you and your baby.
3. Try feeding your baby with your family at meal times, or separately to start with.

What position should the baby be when introducing new food?

The best feeding position let your baby bring their hands together, be supported to sit upright and hold their head up easily.

Rules of weaning:

• Use home prepared food as much as possible.
• The food should be smooth and runny liquid as the baby has not learned to chew.
• Use food that is nutritionally balanced and provides energy for growth.
• Begin with pureed food with baby spoon. Gradually you can introduce more soft lumps and see the acceptance of this by your baby
• Breast milk should continue till at least 2 years as this still is a rich source of energy for the babies.
• Baby lead weaning is allowing the baby to join in family mealtimes and share the same food which they can explore and decide how much or how little to eat and how quickly.
• Most babies take only 2-3 teaspoons at a first feed and may even spit
• Be persistent and try the food at least minimum for 5 days to judge the acceptance of the baby.
• Fruits and vegetables are very low in energy and not fit for growing baby as meal but can add energy as a snack. Mashed banana and 

 The ways to improve immune system of our kids so that they do not succumb too often to cold, cough, loose motions , and repeated fever is to follow  these simple  steps:

1. Make kids eat more vegetables and fruits
2. Breastfeed to be done at least till 2 years and exclusive breastfeeds for  6 months. Early skin to skin contact of mother and baby also helps in building healthy gut microbes in the infant which help in long term immunity.
3. Avoid Passive smoking.
4. Help them sleep early and for long hours.
5. Do regular exercise with kids by increasing outdoor activities and morning walk in gardens.
6. Make the kids understand about cleanliness and especially hand hygiene should be emphasized upon. Hand washing should be routinely practiced before eating food and mouth rinsing after food for oral hygiene.
7. Do not self medicate with antibiotics in cases of mild cold and cough or fever.
8. Vaccinate kids at the right time to help them build immunity against common illness.

Keeping them away from emotional stress and making them happy also helps in building kids immunity.

With approaching winter the infants are most vulnerable section of the society that can develop complications related to extreme cold weather. Here are some tips for  new mothers to keep the baby cozy and free of problems :

1. Protecting from Cold :Winter means cold temperature. Babies especially newborn have larger exposed surface area and immature mechanism to generate heat in their body. Hence, they need to be protected with an extra layer of cloth . This should be preferably be a woollen or thick cotton. The more layers will protect against cold conditions. Also , their peripheries need to be covered with mittens/gloves and socks to keep them warm. Caps are a must especially when they get exposed to cold breeze as head is a significant part of their body . Swaddling and maintaining a room temperature of 24-28 o C is also a recommended way to keep babies warm.

2.  Maintaining safe sleeping: While sleeping the babies are at a risk of choking at times and hence they should not be overcovered with layers of heavy and bulky blankets. Also the crib in which the baby is placed should not be overstuffed . This causes poor air circulation , makes baby uncomfortable and may cause suffocation in the baby also. Babies should always sleep on their back and never on their tummy.

3.Skin Protection: With winter there is onset of many dry and irritant skin conditions. To protect the newly born from these problems one should moisturise the baby’s skin well after bath. Bathing daily can denude the natural oils of the skin and hence should be avoided. TO avoid allergy to the skin, hypoallergenic products only should be applied on the neonates skin and best oils to be used for massage is coconut or olive oil. The mustard oil and practices like LOI with flour can cause sever irritation on the tiny babies skin.

4. Protection from common infections and cold:With winter many adults too catch cold and cough and they can pass their infections to the neonate. TO protect them use hand sanitizer,  use more breast feeding, wash hands frequently before touching the babies and do not allow for kissing and touching the face of the baby with unclean hands. Mothers who have common cold or fever can continue to breastfeed their babies using handkerchief or mask to prevent the babies from catching their infection.

5. Tackling common problems of winter : Common problems like nose block still happens due to winter and hence it is best to use saline drops and good quality nasal aspirators to keep the nose less stuffy. Also use oil heaters which do not let the humidity decrease while giving heat and hence do not aggravate the problem of stuffy nose. Some new items like vaporises and humidifiers can also be used to maintain humidity in the room in which baby is spending most of their time.

6 .Red flag signs in winter: If during winter the baby has any signs like irritability, poor feeding,  excessive cry, pulling ears, cough, breathing difficulty, icy cold body , bluish lips or tongue  or fever more than 100 degree F then consult your paediatrician immediately as this indicates serious infections too. Do not use home remedies for such small infants.