MOTHER KNOWS BEST
NURTURE WITH CARE
A mother certainly has greater responsibility in raising a child;therefore,it is important that she has knowledge of some essential do`s and don'ts.
Parenting is an art to be learned through
experience based on our own upbringing, opportunities to look after siblings
and rekindling and reshaping innate parenting instincts during adolescence and
early adulthood through sharing and counseling.Both the parents (mother and father) play an important
role for the better growth and development of a child but yet mother play a
supreme role right from the day she conceives till she gives birth.After delivery,the mother and baby remain together 24 hours a day.Therefore , she is in the best position to provide warmth,nutrition, and good nursing care for the baby.Here are some things to keep in mind:
- For better nourishment and growth of your baby start breastfeeding after birth and continue exclusive breast feeding till 5-6 months of age.
- Keep in the mind that your baby should pass urine and stool every day.
- Consult your doctor immediately if your baby develops jaundice.
- The baby may be massaged with oil and bathed after 15-30 minutes of doing so.
- Poor hygiene is responsible for most diseases,so keep yours and your baby`s body and clothes clean.
- Putting oil in the nose and ears.and kajal/surma in the eyes is harmful.
Keep yourself update with some danger signs
of some common childhood illness (i.e. acute respiratory
illness and diarrhea) especially below 5 years of age.Early recognition and management is very important.Here are some of the danger signs:
Danger signs of diarrhea
- Inability to drink/feed/suck
- Decrease in urine output
- Absent tears, dry tongue and mouth.
- Increase irritability, lethargy
- Sunken eyes
- Depressed anterior fontanelle
- Weight loss of more then 10% of body weight
Danger signs in acute respiratory infection
- Fast breathing, restlessness
- Chest in drawing, (kokha hanne)
- Inability to drink/feed
- Bluish discoloration of lips and skin
- Noisy breathing
- Inability to rest properly
Here are some more important things to keep in mind for new mothers:
- Visit a baby clinic for growth monitoring and Vaccination.Milestones are the phases in the growth and development in all domains (social, motor, language-social) that any child grows through from a small dependent kid to an independent individual. A lot will happen in your baby’s during first 12 months of life before you know it that your tiny, "helpless" newborn baby will be a person in his own right, able to move around and communicate.Hence monitoring your child for the age appropriate growth and development is very important.
- Vaccination is the process of Immunizing which protects children’s (and adults) against harmful infections before they come into contact with the infection in the community. But some parents are anxious about the side effects of vaccination so to let you know that still the benefit of protection against the disease by a vaccination far outweighs the very small risks of vaccination. This is to inform all the parents that there are certain other important vaccines that are available apart from those that are supplied by the government of Nepal. These newer vaccines are very useful to prevent your child from harmful diseases like: Mumps, Rubella, Influenza, Pneumonia, Chickenpox, Meningitis, Hepatitis A and B, Yellow fever, Rabies, Diarrhoea, Japanese Encephalitis, Typhoid.You should also remember that booster doses important in immunization.
- Start weaning around 5- 6 months of age and introduce one item at a time like, slowly keep on adding newer food every week as per the child tolerance, slowly increase calorie and dense feed till you start feeding him from the family pot at the age of 1.6 - 2 years. Continue breastfeeding preferably till 2 years of life.
- Ensure a balanced diet that includes all the various food items, vitamins and nutrients.
- In case of any abnormality seen in growth, development or behavior or if there is any family history of major illness or disease then consult your pediatrician doctor in time.
