Bottle Feeding Benefits
Deciding whether or not to bottle feed your baby is not a decision that is made lightly. Society and the media don’t make the decision any easier as they make bottle feeding appear to be a bad choice compared to breastfeeding. Many mothers that make the decision not to breast feed or cannot breast feed for some reason, do not need to feel guilty about choosing to bottle feed.
While nothing can replace the whole, natural benefits of mother’s milk, using baby formula also has several benefits for mother and baby. Baby formulas of today are created to be as close to mother’s milk as possible. These baby formulas are just as nutritious and many are fortified with iron, a key ingredient in helping to prevent anemia in infants. Another great benefit is portion control. With bottle feeding, you know exactly how much you are feeding your baby. You won’t be left wondering if your child has eaten enough or has been overfed.
Unfortunately, mother’s who breastfeed still have to deal with the stares and sometimes comments they may receive when they decide to breastfeed in public. With bottle feeding you eliminate the frustration of dealing with ignorance. You no longer have to stay indoors to avoid the embarrassment of wanting to feed your child in public. Many mothers may also worry about losing the bonding that can come with breast feeding. Bottle feeding can still bring the same type of mother and child bonding that breast feeding does. You are still close to your child and able to talk and spend quality time during a feeding. Don’t let the worry of bonding play in your decision to bottle feed.
Another plus to bottle feeding is that moms can get back to living a normal life a lot sooner. Breastfeeding alters a mother’s daily life due to certain factors that must be considered, primarily in the case of medication. Mother’s who are prescribed medication must remember to check with their doctor before taking them. Medication can be passed through to baby during breastfeeding. Bottle feeding clears the way for things like medication as well as oral contraceptives. Having the choice to take an oral contraceptive is a concern for many mothers who do not desire to have another child right away.
Bottle feeding is also much more convenient. Baby formula can be stored easily and makes traveling a lot easier as well. Ready-made baby formula requires no mixing. You can feed your baby its contents right away which is a time saver. Bottle feeding also allows others to help you out. You can have others feed your baby when you are busy or because they want to share in the experience such as dad helping out during a feeding or grandparents. This can be a huge help when you are burned out from the day’s activities and need to catch a nap or are not feeling well.
Mother’s who choose to bottle feed should never feel like they are making a poor choice. Just like breastfeeding, bottle feeding holds many benefits.
Breastfeeding Is Best For Your Baby
Breastfeeding is without any doubt the most excellent means to nourish your newly born baby. It has got a lot of benefits as compared to feeding with a bottle and barely any drawbacks. More than one million babies pass away every year because of being given formula!
Breast milk makes available just the right nutrition, which your baby requires and also shields them from any diseases. Research has established that to a large extent kids who were breast-fed acquire a lesser rate of allergies, diarrhea, rashes, ear infectivity, hospital admittance and additional medical troubles than kids who were given formula.
Formula for a baby is prepared from the milk of a cow. However the trouble with formula is that it includes a separate kind of protein than the human milk and it does not include the appropriate nutrition, which babies require as well. Human babies have difficulty in processing this particular protein and consequently they are more often than not a great deal fatter than babies who are breast fed. Breast milk has got at least a hundred constituents that are not present in formula.
When a child is being breast fed by the mother, the antibodies of the mother are moreover transmitted to the infant. This shields the infant from ailments and sicknesses such as bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, botulism, staphylococcal infections, ear infections and measles. About 80 % of the cells that are present in breast milk are cells, which destroy fungi, bacteria and viruses!
Contrasting to feeding from a bottle, breast feeding lets the mother embrace her infant close to her many times every day. The baby would feel a sensation of safety because of this and would make a better bonding with the mom. Nursing is a measure of reassurance and affection for a baby.
If you are thinking of breast feeing your baby, you ought to be conscious that it can be a bit hurting when you begin to do it for the first time. In addition, the nipples might get engorged, cracked, or sore. You will have to feed on a regular basis or your breasts would feel a bit tender for the reason of being a lot full. You would be a lot more attached to your kid rather than a mother who feeds formula.
After you have had the baby, you are supposed to breast feed in a little while, if possible amid one hour of delivery. You will not be making milk up till now however you would be having colostrum that is a liquid that consists of antibodies against any ailments. Newborn babies have to be fed no less than every 2 hours. When they grow a little older they would fall on a more normal schedule.
If you have become a new mother you would surely wish to provide the baby the most excellent care you can. Breast milk is the way you could do this. Breast milk consists of the whole lot that your baby requires and would make him a great deal healthier and happier.
What in the world do I do at a Baby Shower?
Here are some of our favorites. But before you get started with the games, be sure to get some prizes first. Prizes to consider are full size (not bite size), candy bars, blue or pink pens for the sex of the baby. Additionally, blue or pink balloons with a face drawn on the front, or the words “winner” written across in permanent marker make for really fun prizes as well.
After you have some up with some prizes, here our some of our favorite games to play.
1. Fastest Diaper Changer in the West. Have smaller size balloons blown up and hand them out to everyone who will be playing. Next give them two diapers. Have the guest carefully put the diapers on the balloon before the game starts. After they have already placed on diaper on the balloon, give them the instructions that junior has just had an accident and being the careful and delicate parent that they are , there objective is to change the diaper without pooping the balloon. Anyone who pops a balloon will be disqualified and whoever changes the diaper first, will win a prize.
2. How does Mommy Measure Up? Begin by passing out some yarn to everyone who will be playing. Next pass around some scissors and have each guest cut the amount of yarn that will fit Mommy perfectly at her widest point without being over or under. The person who is the closest is the winner.
3. Guess the Number of Kisses. This is used everywhere and everyone already know how to play. Fill a jar with Kisses (jelly beans are too typical) and have each one guess at the number of Kisses, the closest one will win the jar of kisses.
4. The Price is Right. For this one, it is played much like the game shows you see on television. Visit some online merchants who have both pictures and descriptions of Baby items and print them up. Pass around some paper and pens. Have the host narrate the online product description and pass it around with the price blacked out. The person who is closest to the item without going over will win a point. After all of the items have been passed around, the person with the most point wins.
As your can see, there are a plethora of baby shower games that can be played for your shower. What is important to remember is to know who your audience is going to be. This means, are the games that you are thinking about playing fit both the audience and the theme you are trying to create?
Baby Sleep Tips
One of the most important things in getting you baby to sleep properly is for your baby to learn to sleep on his or her own. The reason it is so difficult for many parents – why parents of a newborn suffer from so many sleepless nights – is because your baby, at first, isn’t used to sleeping on his own, and when he wakes up in the night he cries for his mother: being in the presence of his mother is only way he knows how to get to sleep. It is natural that this transition from sleeping with the mother, to sleeping on his own, will take some time for your baby. Many baby sleep tips involve setting up a strict nighttime routine, and introducing objects – such as stuffed animals – into the bed that your baby can associate with sleep. If you find after some months that your baby is still not able to sleep on his own, you can try what is known as the Ferber method.
Invented by Dr. Richard Ferber, the Ferber method is the most common way of weaning your child away from the mother, in terms of his sleep habits. It is usually successful within a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, it is important that you choose a week where you can afford to lose some sleep to begin the Ferber method. Especially at the beginning of the process, the Ferber method does require that you spend a lot of time listening to your baby crying, and if you attempt it at a time when you are desperate to sleep, you run the risk of breaking down and allowing your child to sleep with you, or sleeping in the room with him. If you do so you risk undoing a lot of work that you will have put into the method.
The first night you attempt the Ferber method, put your child to bed as you normally do. Your baby should be tired but still awake when you put him to bed, so that he is left to fall asleep on his own. After you leave the room, the baby will inevitably start crying. Allow him to cry for about 5 minutes, then re-enter the room to console him. It’s important that you stay in the room for only a short time – even if he is still crying – and that you don’t pick him up or rock him. This second time you leave the room, wait 10 minutes before returning in the same manner. The third time wait 15 minutes, and set this as a maximum wait time for the rest of the night.
Every time thereafter, enter the room briefly and then allow your child to cry for 15 minutes. Eventually, he will fall asleep on his own during one of the 15 minute intervals in which you are out of the room. The second night, you should begin with a 10 minute wait before re-entering the room, followed by 15 and then 20 minutes. In a similar fashion, increase your initial and subsequent wait times by 5 minutes each night.
Using this method your child will soon learn to go to sleep on his own. Although it can be difficult to listen to your baby cry, understand that the Ferber method is a safe and effective way of getting your baby to learn to sleep on his own.
Baby Shower: The Welcoming Committe on Board
Finding out your pregnant is the best news of all. Well, second to hearing the grand proposal of a lifetime. After a successful wedding ceremony, hearing that your love has borne fruit is the icing on the cake. For first time expecting mothers, it is a difficult and herculean task to search and look for all the right stuff and equipment the baby will need. Moms-to-be need to list down all the things the baby would need at the soonest possible time so that little by little, each item can already be purchased and readied for the baby’s arrival. But there is another easy way to almost have it all, without getting too much headache over it. The solution is to hold a baby shower party! The only headache mom-to-be would have is the menu she would have to prepare on that day and that is easier for her.
Now the burden of searching and looking for baby stuff is passed on to the invitees. But another concern is raised. How will the baby shower go about? The best answer there is, is to have a theme that would guide the flow of the baby shower. There are several ways of choosing and deciding on a theme. Do you want it to be based on color? In case you already know the gender of the baby, pink or blue is used to universally represent a baby girl or a baby boy. Or baby items such as a pacifier or a baby bottle? How about character-themed baby shower such as the Sesame Street, Power Puff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory or the Looney Tunes? It could also be a time-of-the-day baby shower whereby each invitee is tasked to bring something the baby would need or use during that time of the day.
From www.best-baby-gift-guide.com, it suggests wonderful baby shower gift ideas such as a baby gift basket, a layette gift set, vital baby equipment, beautiful baby linen, a baby massage set, or a baby gift certificate. Each gift idea is unique. For the baby gift basket, some ideas they suggest is to create your own baby gift basket or go for the classical clothing baby gift basket where you can never go wrong. You can also go for monogrammed baby gift baskets, fun baby basket, mother and baby basket, gift basket for twins, or a pampering baby gift basket. They also have different suggestions for baby girl and baby boys. For the complete descriptions for each item, just visit their website and read on to find fantastic baby gift ideas.
Once the baby shower is finished, take stock of what is already there and not. For those items still missing from your list, make the necessary arrangments to have it readily available once the baby arrives.
Just some last few tips for a successful baby shower: hold it four to six weeks before the due date, establish a theme, write down the guest list, set the tone and size of the baby shower, plan the games, plan the menu, create baby shower party favors, and last but not the least, set the time and location, if it will not be held in your residence. Remember, baby showers are a fun way to welcome the baby that would be coming soon enough.
Baby Care Tips
The mother of a baby is the most busy person on earth, when she is not very gathered about her daily routine vis-à-vis the baby.
Breast feeding
Everyday she has to bother about the baby’s feeding, sleeping, clothing, changing and bathing. It is the best to feed your own milk to the child. Please do not forget to give her the first milk of yours because that would contain colostrums, which is vital for the immune system of the child. Mother’s milk will always create the body resistance and the child will be a healthy one in future.
When you are breast feeding your child, the food that causes problems in your body may be communicated to the baby as well. Foods that cause gas or cold should be avoided or the baby will have uncomfortable state or congestion.
Bottle feeding
If you are bottle-feeding your baby for some reasons, then make sure that the bottles are well sterilized and clean. Scrub them with washing liquids. Boil them for 25 minutes to kill unwanted organism that may have developed in it due to the fermenting milk. Steam sterilizer and cold sterilizer methods are also there, about which one has to consult with an expert and should see to it that those are readily available in the market.
Baby sleeping
The materials needed to put the baby to sleep are a good, firm mattress, sheets and blankets. Keep one feet distance from the nostril range of the baby if you are lying along with your baby on the same bed. There should not be unnecessary clothing or clothes around the baby’s body and bed which may cause temperature rise and heating. The baby is not going to talk about it, and you should be sensitive enough to remove the body coverings as much as possible. There should be a mosquito net, or at least a netted covering around the baby to keep away the flies and the mosquitoes.
Clothing
Summer clothes should be light cotton ones. When the baby is taken out, make sure that his head does not get the direct sun. In winter, there may be sweaters, trousers and other woolens.
Changing
The baby’s diapers should be regularly changed. The intervals should be fixed according to the baby’s routine of potting and wetting. Despite the routine, the baby may need changing because of untimely nature calls at times. It is the baby’s right to feel dry at every moment. See to it that the bed is not wetted and the smelly clothes and bed sheets are removed.
Bathing
The baby needs a mouth washing with cotton. A bath tub large enough to hold it and is easy to wash should be made available. The baby should enjoy the water which can be assessed if leg splashing which is very distinct. The baby should be rubbed with baby oil and baby cream. The nail clippers should be used at bath time. After bath, the baby should be thoroughly dried and should be applied with a baby powder.
Immunisation
The baby should be immunized against Small Pox & Measles with BCG within 3 months of its age. The first DPT (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Psertussis, Polio, HIB, Meningitis C) is due within the first 2 months followed by the 2nd and the 3rd one at one month intervals. The MMR vaccination against Measles, Mumps and Rubella should be done within 1 years of age. The boosters should be taken after the baby is 4 years old.
Training and Education
Though regular training and teaching should not be started before the age of three years, the child’s habits and sense of discipline is cultivated through the discipline the mother maintains. When the mother is calm against odds like the baby fever, or baby dysentery while making sure of the treatments, the child gets the idea to be calm against disastrous times.
The most important babycare tip
The parents should find enough time to spend with the baby.
Baby Carriers – Choosing the Right One for You and Baby
Mothers from all cultures have been using baby carriers to tote around their loved one for centuries. The common baby carriers of the past were simple baby slings or wraps which are still being put to use today in modern society. Baby carriers of today are available in a variety of styles, colors, sizes, and made from various fabrics.
Whatever type of baby carrier you choose, it is important to follow the weight recommendations of the manufacturer. Not all baby carriers are one size fits all, so if your baby is under the weight limit of the manufacturer, don’t take the chance by using the wrong size carrier.
You will also want to consider how the baby carrier will fit your body as well as your baby. The carrier needs to be comfortable for you meaning that it should not fit too loosely or too tightly. It helps to measure yourself from your should to your midsection so that you have a good idea of the size baby carrier to fit your body. Many baby supply shops will be happy to let you try on a carrier before buying, this way you can have a snug fit for you and your baby.
It’s a good idea to try on several carriers with your baby to see how easy it is to get your baby in and out as well as how easy it is to move about. Both mom and dad should be involved in the process as one carrier may not fit well for one parent as it does for another. You want to feel secure when carrying your baby in a baby carrier, sling, or wrap. Since you will not always have both hands on your baby as another security measure, you want to feel safe knowing the carrier is doing its job.
Once you have chosen the right baby carrier, it is a good idea to get used to feeling yourself with your baby attached to you. Meaning, you will now be wider and you have to be aware of where you walk and try not to bump into objects. Also be aware of what you drink (hot beverages) and never cook while carrying your baby. It only takes a second to tip over a hot pan or for your baby to reach out and touch a hot stove.
Although many baby carriers are made up of sturdy materials and fabrics, it is important to constantly check the wear and tear of your carrier. Keep an eye out for things such as stitching, buckles, ties, and straps. Make sure they are not worn which could lead to them coming undone.
It also wouldn’t hurt to read reviews of popular baby carriers to get a good idea of what other parents have dealt with. This will save you time when picking out a new baby carrier and you will narrow down your choices to the best quality available. There are plenty of baby forums that you can also ask questions about various carrier brands.
Keeping these tips in mind will help you to select the best carrier for your little one. A baby carrier will be one of the most used baby items you will use when you are on the go. Have fun choosing the right one for you and your baby.
Preventing Diaper Rash
As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. For all that we may fear the onset of diaper rash in our children, there is no certainty of absolute and total prevention – but there is a lot that can be done to make it far less likely, and it revolves mostly around keeping your baby dry and clean as far as is possible. Your baby will not be shy about letting you know when it is in any discomfort. This can prevent diaper rash from developing, but would obviously not be a way of preventing it before it begins.
The prevention of diaper rash is something that requires no small amount of diligence, as well as some luck. But there are some simple tips which can make the process a lot more straightforward. Firstly, you must change your baby’s diaper as soon as it is obviously soiled. This will prevent the infection from having somewhere to live. In the same spirit, it is important to clean your baby in the affected area after it has become soiled. Allowing the area to dry before putting on a fresh nappy is essential. A thin layer of ointment on the affected area will kill off germs while preventing others from taking hold. And applying the fresh diaper loosely will give room for the skin to breathe. Finally when your baby moves on to solid foods you should take a few days between introducing new items. This will help you determine if the infection is down to a food allergy.
How to Treat Diaper Rash
A baby with diaper rash will not be shy about letting his or her parents know that they have a situation on their hands. This, along with the readily decipherable signs of the problem, does mean that it can be treated at an early stage, and hence treated effectively and decisively. Treating diaper rash is not something that takes too long, and the results tend to be swift. Of course it could be almost instantaneous and any parent would still feel that it was an eternity, but it needs to be said that a parent who has a child with diaper rash is not a bad parent at all, just unlucky.
In cases of diaper rash, it is important to change your baby even more regularly than you currently do. It is something inside the diaper that has caused it, and this same thing will either aggravate it or retard its eradication if left unchecked. Keeping your baby clean and dry will prevent the conditions in which diaper rash thrives. If your child has scope to play outside or on a surface that wipes clean, you may even leave their diaper off for a time, as the flow of air around the area will speed the healing. If you use disposable diapers, using a different brand free from fragrance and additives may also help, especially if the rash is a symptom of an allergy.
After three days the diaper rash should be more or less gone. If it still persists, then a cream for treating fungal infections will be well employed.
How should you bath your baby?
To give your baby a decent bath there are a few things that you must stick to, aside from which you have more or less free rein to do as you wish. The potential for mishaps is taken as read, and no parent will want to take undue risks when washing their baby, so staying away from those is more or less self-explanatory. For simplicity, it is necessary simply to avoid lifting the baby too much – soap and water do not make for easy handling, and dropping your child is a constant and terrifying fear for parents – prevention is, in this case, a straightforward matter.
In the first six months of your baby’s life, a water depth level of approximately five inches will be fine. The temperature should be somewhere in the region of body temperature – slightly above is best (around 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as the water will cool from the moment it is in contact with the bath. You can then put your baby in the bath, using one hand to hold up his or her neck and head and avoid it getting bumped. You then wash him or her with a soft handcloth and a small amount of soap. Moistened cotton wool should be used to clean their face, and to moisten any dried mucus before wiping that away.
Rinsing away all soap and any remaining dirt requires a clean facecloth, and then you can dry him or her with a small towel which you can use to wrap him or her. Then you can use a mild moisturizer in order to keep his or her skin soft.
