Water for Babies

Lot of parents concerned about how much water a baby or toddler should drink. So lets discuss about such things here.

In general it is not good to feed water to the babies before 6 months. Breast milk and formula provides all the fluids they need. After the introduction of solid foods, water can be added to your baby's diet.

A child between the ages of one and three needs about 1.3 litres of fluids a day. This includes milk, juices, soups, water and other fluid items. Active toddlers need a lot of water to replace the fluid they lose, especially during warm or humid weather.

It is not a good idea to give your child more than the recommended amount of fluids per day. If you do so, it may cut his appetite for solid foods.

Hemoglobin

When we take our child to pediatrician for general health check up, they do hemoglobin test. If the hemoglobin count is lower than normal, then the child can develop iron deficiency anemia.

What is Hemoglobin?

Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Every red blood cell in the body contains iron in its hemoglobin, the pigment that carries oxygen to the tissues from the lungs. The body needs iron to make hemoglobin. If there is not enough iron, hemoglobin production is limited, which in turn affects the production of red blood cells.

Iron deficiency anemia is caused by insufficient iron intake. To be healthy, growing children need a constant supply of iron.

Food Sources:

Iron is found in many plant and animal food sources. Iron from animal sources is called heme iron which can be absorbed by our body very easily. Iron from plant sources is called non-heme iron which is difficult to absorb. Our bodies can absorb non-heme iron when we eat it with foods that contain vitamin C (such as orange juice, citrus fruit) or when we eat it with sources of heme iron.

Breast milk contains enough iron to prevent anemia for the first 4 to 6 months of life. After this, babies need other sources of iron in their diet, such as iron fortified cereal, lentils, peas and beans.

Children and toddlers who drink a lot of milk or juice are at risk of iron deficiency anemia. Limit milk intake to 2 cups (450 ml), everyday.

Some tips that can help toddlers iron intake:

Chicken with broccoli,
Add dried peas or beans to soups.
Adding raisins to lunches, hot cereal.
Using whole-wheat or enriched breads and cereals.
Offering water for thirst in between meals and snacks.

Steamed Veggies

Steamed vegetables are good for health rather than eating cooked vegetables. Cooking vegetables in large amount of boiling water loss all the nutrients especially water soluble compounds that are easily damaged by heat. Steaming softens vegetables while maintaining most of their nutrients.

When the babies are ready to have solid foods, we can made a puree of steamed vegetables and feed to them. Once they are ready to chew and eat, we can serve them as it is. Almost all the vegetables, carrots, broccoli, spinach, green beans can be given to children since they are rich in both vitamin A and C.

Steaming can be done in a steamer, or in a microwave, or it can be done in a pan with a small amount of water. Add a very little amount of water in a pan. Clean and cut the vegetables and then add it in the pan with a little amount of salt. Allow it to steam for less than 5 mins by covering the pan with a lid. Then serve it with cheese or butter for children.

Turmeric Milk for Kids

For the past few days... very busy in packing all the things...  Really it is a tough job to move from one place to another with a kid.. Finally moved from California to Pittsburgh before one week. But my son got cold and cough due to the climatic changes. He had sore throat and i remembered about the turmeric milk. I gave this milk to him. Now he is ok..:)

We all know that turmeric has been used as a spice in Indian recipes. It has antibacterial properties and is also used to heal wounds. Combined with milk, turmeric is used as a drink, lotion or even a face mask.

Milk strengthens bones. Turmeric milk provides additional benefits to bone health. It is known to help people suffering from joint pains.

One of the biggest benefit of turmeric milk to me personally is during cough and cold. It strengthens the immune system and reduces the symptoms of asthma. Taking turmeric milk also helps in blood purification.

There are so many benefits of turmeric milk. Here is a simple recipe:

Ingredients:

Whole milk - 1 cup

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Pepper corns- 1 or 2

Heat the milk with the spices for 2 to 3 mins. Let it cool down until its warm. Strain and serve. 

 

First Aid Care for Minor Scrapes and Cuts

Children often get scrapes on their elbows and knees. Scrapes usually don't bleed  very much but can get infected. So it is necessary to give first aid for such kind of scrapes to avoid infection.

Here are some tips:

• Stop bleeding by pressing the wound with sterile dressing or clean, dry cloth.
• If bleeding is from an arm or leg, raise the arm or leg while pressing on the wound. Don't raise an arm or leg that is broken.
• Wash the wound with clean, running water. Carefully wash the area around the wound with soap and a soft wash cloth. Try to keep soap out of the wound to avoid irritation.
• Apply a bandage.
• If the scrape or cut is very dirty, your child may need a tetanus booster shot. Check with a medical provider if your child's last tetanus shot was more than 5 years ago.

Carbohydrates

When we talk about carbohydrates in the diet, we're usually talking about foods that are rich in starch, and that is complex carbohydrate. And it is also known as polysaccharide. The name comes from the fact that
starchy foods are made up of many sugars. Poly meaning many and saccharide is another chemical name for sugars. And those sugars are linked together by chemical bonds.

Dietary carbohydrates are simple carbs, or simple sugars. The simplest simple sugars are called glucose.
Another kind of sugar is called fructose which is found in fruits. And the next one is galactose. These three are called monosaccharides,mono meaning one, and saccharide meaning sugar, so these are single sugars.

When glucose and fructose combined, or linked together, they form another kind of sugar called sucrose which is known as table sugar. Too much of this kind of sugar is not good for health.The other two unit sugar that you may have heard of is called lactose. And it's a combination of glucose and galactose. It's the sugar found in milk. And some people have a hard time digesting it.

These two sugars, sucrose and lactose, are examples of disaccharides or two unit sugars. Both of these types of carbohydrates give us energy. Now there's another type of carbohydrate, also a type of complex carbohydrate, that gives us no energy, because our bodies can't break it down. But it's important and it's called dietary fiber. There are two kinds of dietary fiber. They are soluble fiber and insoluble fiber.

Soluble fiber, you might've guessed it from the name, it dissolves in water. It's believed to support the health of the intestinal walls and it helps to regulate cholesterol levels. Insoluble fiber doesn't dissolve in water, but instead it absorbs water,like a sponge. Since it absorbs water, it acts as a stool softener. It prevents us from getting constipated. By the way, fiber is also a polysaccharide. But our bodies can't break these bonds, so
it doesn't give us any energy.

Now, both types of fiber are found in fruits and veggies. When we choose things like brown rice over white
rice, or when we choose whole grain bread over white bread, we're basically making a choice that increases
the amount of fiber that's connected to our starchy carbohydrates. And this is better for our health, and will also prevent us from getting hungry again too quickly. So it's a good thing to do. Go for the foods that are rich in fiber.

Proteins

Proteins are really important part of a balanced diet, because they form, the building blocks of children's growing bodies. Proteins make up a large portion of the muscle in our children's bodies. But proteins also play a whole bunch of other important roles in our bodies and our children's bodies. For example, when we get sick, our immune system is activated. Proteins are a very important part of that whole immune system. Proteins act as transporters in a variety of different roles in the body.

Proteins also help us maintain the right fluid distribution in our bodies. So the fluid stays where it should be
because of the fact that the proteins keep it where it should be. So if we're thinking of proteins as the building blocks of our children's bodies, then we can think of amino acids as the building blocks of the proteins. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids. And we can actually make a lot of them. But there are 9 of them we call essential, because we have to get these 9 from the foods that we eat.

Things like eggs, chicken, red meat and fish are good animal source of protein. Dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt are also a good source of protein. There are also many vegetable source of protein. And those are things like tofu, nuts, beans and other legumes like lentils. The important thing to note is that the
animal sources of protein tend to be complete. That means that they contain all of the 9 essential amino
acids in sufficient amounts to support growth, repair and maintenance of our children's bodies. Whereas the non-meat sources, for example, the dairy and the vegetarian sources of protein, tend to be incomplete.
So they might contain all of the essential amino acids, but usually not in sufficient amounts to support growth.

If you combine vegetarian sources of protein with other foods, then you can end up with a meal that provides
a complete set of amino acids.And some of these dishes are actually the traditional foods like Indian dal and rice. These foods naturally complement each other and provide you with a complete set of amino acids.
As with all diets, variety is the key to a healthy vegetarian diet.

Family Meal

Children learn a lot from their parents. They tend to pick up their parent's exercise habits. They tend to copy their parent's food choices in the long run. But they also learn a lot from us about how eating should happen. Do we sit down together and eat? Do we eat on the run, in the car or in front of the television? Do we answer our phones or check emails during dinner? There is a lot of evidence suggesting that children who sit down to eat with their families on a regular basis actually stay healthier.

Our eating behaviors teach our children more than just which foods are healthier for their bodies. When we sit together, to share a meal, our children can learn valuable communication skills like, how to listen to other people and to share their ideas in an effective way.

Throughout the history, mealtimes have also been an important way for families to pass on traditions and stories from one generation to the next. For older children, the dinner table can be a safe place to talk about anything that's worrying them, and to get advice from the people they trust most. Besides all of this, dinner time can be so much fun.

But in the meantime, here are some tips to get you started. Firstly, have everything you need at the table ready at the start of the meal. Then, have a story ready about your own day. Tell them something that happened to you, and how you reacted, and ask them what they think. This helps them to share their own experiences, if they ever want to, at the table. Finally, if you have enough food to share, try inviting some friends to the meal. Having friends of any age at the table helps make dinner fun and can teach your children that meals are a good time to relax and enjoy good food in good company.

It may not be realistic for some families to sit down to a meal everyday. But in general, the more often we can sit down with our children to eat, the better it will be for their health. There is pretty good evidence that
children who regularly eat with their families do better at school and have better health outcomes than those who don't. And of course there are many ways for us to spend quality time with our children, but eating
together can protect the whole family's health and add so much value to our lives.

Hunger and Glycemic Index

Lets see what is glycemic index and how it works in our body.

Have you ever wondered why you can eat a bag of candy and feel hungry just 30 minutes later? It has to do with something called the glycemic index of the food or the combinations of food that you choose to eat. So let's compare two snacks.

First, let's look at a candy bar. Then, the alternative snack, a bowl of brown rice with some stir-fried broccoli on top. The candy bar is high in simple sugars like sucrose and glucose which are carbohydrates that your body can quickly break down and absorb. This means that your blood sugar after you ate the candy bar raises very quickly, which means that the food has a relatively high glycemic index. When the blood sugar goes up like this, the body senses it and starts releasing the proportional amount of a hormone called insulin, that works to lower blood sugar and bring it back down to its normal level. So when blood glucose, or blood sugar, shoots up, insulin will also shoot up, but there'll be a bit of a time lag. And because of that time lag, there's going to be a period of time where the blood sugar dips lower than it should, and this is the time you feel hungry.

Now, if on the other hand, you choose the broccoli and brown rice as your snack, your body would have to work harder to breakdown the carbohydrates in that food. So, right after you had the bowl of broccoli and
brown rice, your blood sugar is going to go up more slowly than it did when you ate the candy bar. This also means that your insulin levels aren't going to shoot like they did when you ate the candy bar. They're going to be released in proportion to the amount of sugar entering your blood and the speed at which it enters into the blood. Blood sugar will go down but it probably won't go under the normal range of blood sugar. The result is that you're going to end up with a more stable blood sugar over a longer period of time.

So, choose foods with a low glycemic index whenever possible. Things like chicken and brown rice even
whole grained bread with cheese are good combinations. If you combine your carbohydrates with a bit of fiber, protein, or healthy fats, it will slow down the release of sugar into your blood.

Home Remedies to soothe our child's cold:

Cold usually lasts for one week to ten days. While none of these home remedies will cure your child's illness but they can help them to feel better.

Lots of rest: 

Child needs lot of energy to fight against an infection. So only when your child is under rest, he is healing. Bed is not necessarily the best place to take rest. If your child finds hard to take rest, allow them to sit and watch their favorite videos, rhymes, etc.

Turmeric milk:

Turmeric has natural antibiotic properties. Mixing a little amount of turmeric with a warm milk is considered as a best remedy for cold and cough due to its antiviral and antibacterial properties. It gives instant relief to sore throat, cough and cold.

Steamy air:

Breathing moist air helps to loosen the mucus in the nasal passages. Give your child warm bath in a steamy bathroom. If it is not a convenient time for bath, simply turn on the hot water shower, close the bathroom door, and sit in the steamy room with your child for about 15 mins.

Keep your child hydrated:

Drinking water at regular intervals will help your child to fight against the infection. Other fluids in the form of a warm soup or a fresh juice are also beneficial for replenishing the body's lost energy.


These are some of the home remedies to soothe our child's cold. Usually i used to try these things  for my son instead of giving medicines. :)

Essential Nutrients for Kids

Some vitamins, minerals and nutrients are especially critical for healthy growth.

Vitamin D:

A lack of this vitamin can cause serious illness such as rickets, a disease that weakens bones. This vitamin is present in fish, dairy products and egg yolks. Your child can also obtain vitamin D from being exposed to sunlight. The daily recommended intake of vitamin D for children ages 1 to 18 is 15 micro-grams per day.

Calcium: 

Sufficient calcium is essential for strong bones and good health. Toddlers need about 700 milligrams and teens about 1300 milligrams of calcium daily. Good calcium sources include milk and milk products or milk alternatives fortified with calcium, green leafy vegetables and fish. As a guide, 8-ounce glass of milk contains about 300 milligrams of calcium.

Iron:

Not eating enough of this important mineral can hamper your child's growth. By the age of six months, your baby has depleted the iron he or she received in utero. As you start to introduce solids, make sure to include pureed green leafy vegetables, meats, beans and keep including iron rich foods in your child's diet.

Healthy Fats:

Before the age of 2, your toddler's diet should be high in fatty acids to ensure healthy brain development. Good sources include whole milk products, fish and olive oil. After age 2, you should switch your child to low fat foods.

Sugar: Too much is not good

Most of the processed food that we find in a supermarket shelf today contains some form of sugar. And sugar can have many different names. It can be called corn syrup, glucose,dextrose,brown rice syrup, or even evaporated cane juice. But these ingredients are all really just variations of sugar.

When our children consume large quantities of sugar on a regular basis, they have a higher risk of developing Type II diabetes, and they have a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese. And when our children are eating a lot of processed food, it's easy for them to take in too much sugar without really knowing it.

Many scientists are starting to think that the large amount of sugar in the average American diet is actually one of the main reasons why we see so many people with obesity and diabetes. Small amount of sugar are almost certainly not going to cause problems for a healthy child who's eating a balanced diet. But when our children consume too much processed food, then they end up eating too much sugar as well. Sweetened drinks like sodas and energy drinks, and even fruit juices are very high in sugar.

The fact that fruit juice is on this list often surprises parents, because many of us have grown up thinking that fruit juice is healthy and it can be, if it is in the right amount. So a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice can be a great source of vitamin C, and fiber, and a really nice way to start the day. But when our children are drinking juice at every meal, or as a thirst quencher during the day, then the sugar really starts to add up.

We know that it's important for children to stay hydrated, especially when they're active or when they're
spending time in hot weather. But for a healthy child, it's usually best to stick with plain water from a clean, reliable source.

Cow's milk: When and how to introduce it

There are several reasons to delay the introduction of cow's milk until your baby reaches his first birthday.
Babies can't digest cow's milk as completely or easily as breast milk or formula. Cow's milk contains high concentration of protein and minerals, which can tax your baby's immature kidneys. In addition, cow's milk doesn't have the right amount of iron, vitamin C, and other nutrients for infants. It may even cause iron-deficiency, anemia in some babies, since cow's milk protein can irritate the lining of the digestive system, leading to blood in the stools. Finally, cow's milk doesn't provide the healthiest types of fat for growing babies.

Once your child gets ready to digest it, milk becomes an important part of his diet. It's a rich source of calcium, which builds strong bones and teeth and helps regulate blood clotting and muscle control. And it's one of the few sources of vitamin D, which helps the body to absorb calcium and is crucial for bone growth.
Milk also provides protein for growth, as well as carbohydrates, which will give your child the energy he needs to toddle all day. And if your child gets enough calcium, he'll have a lower risk of high blood pressure, stroke, colon cancer, and hip fractures later in life.

How much milk should my toddler drink?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), most kids will get enough calcium and vitamin D if they drink 16 to 20 ounces (2 to 2 1/2 cups) of cow's milk a day. Offer whole milk to 1 year old child (unless they're at high risk for obesity).

Don't offer more than 3 cups of milk a day because your child may not have room for the other foods. If your toddler feels thirsty,offer water.

What are the most nutritious food?

When we look at different types of food and different levels of processing of foods, we can start on one hand looking at highly processed junk foods. Processed junk foods are things like potato chips and you know, candy bars, and they would probably be the lowest nutritional content.

If we then look at the next best foods for our bodies and our growing children's bodies we see that if we look at things like processed canned foods or processed flours, these ones will provide us with a little bit more, in terms of nutritional content.,but, you know, they are not perfectly ideal, when you see what the next category has to offer.

So, we get even more nutrition when we are looking at foods like unprocessed or less processed types of.
Unprocessed grains and things like root vegetables,like beets and carrots,also allium vegetables,those are things like onions and garlic come under this category. Those things also offer us substantially more nutritional
value than processed junk food or processed canned food.

The last category, the one that gives us the most nutritional bang for our buck, are the very famous and very important things like fresh fruits and vegetables. So, these are obviously unprocessed. And these guys really give our bodies the most nutritional value, the highest nutrient density.

So what that means is that the foods on bottom row are low in nutrient density, are low in nutrition, and they're also foods that don't spoil very quickly, so they last for a really long time. And this is one of the reasons why they're so profitable for processed food manufactuers to make and sell.

And then on the other end, if we look up at the top here we see that these foods are very high in their nutrient density, or in their nutritional value to us. And at the same time they are going to spoil quickly because other sort of pests are going to compete for these foods. So what that means is, if we have something that we call a spoil rate, or the rate at which a food is going to go off if we leave it in our homes, then the spoil rate is going to go up with increasing nutrient density. So, if at all possible, we should choose foods that spoil quickly. Because that usually means that they're going to be better for us.

Creating a Balanced Meal

When we make a meal for our children, of course we want to make it balanced. And there's been a lot of talk about, how much carbohydrate, how much protein, how many vegetable servings everyday we should give to our children. And that is important, but we can't lose sight of the fact that a meal is so much more than
nutrients. A meal shows our children that we care for them, that we love them. And that's not to say that parent's who are too busy to cook for their children, can't find other ways of showing them love and showing them care. But the fact is that from the minute our children are born, they're dependent on us for food. So, if we do have even half an hour or 20 minutes in the day to make a fresh meal for them, it's really so much more than providing them with nutrients.We want to compose a meal that's fresh, that's attractive, and then we want to sit down with them and share it with them.

So, when we put together a meal, let's start by thinking, what am I going to serve for this meal. Dont start with the protein. A great meal will have lots of vegetables, a small portion of protein and a source of complex carbohydrates. Go unprocessed as much as possible with children.

You will set them up for success.And there's also been a lot of research about the importance of family meals and how children who have family meals do better in school. They do better socially. They have an outlet for their thoughts, for their problems and they have a partner in their dialogue. So, let's try and sit down.

Let's remember that we're serving our children more than just nutrients.We're serving them love and care, and let's try and sit together and talk with them.

Starting Solid Food for Babies

 Right time to start solid food for babies: 

• when your baby is about 6 months old.
• able to sit on your lap and hold their head up steadily.
• able to roll over.
• opening his mouth when you put a spoon near it.
• also most babies birth weight have been doubled when they are ready to eat solids.

My son started having solid foods in his sixth month. I started with cereals like cerelac, gerber etc.
Also i gave mixed grain cereals like D-mix. 

Around 7 months he had mashed rice, potatoes, bananas, dal, carrots etc.

How to start?

• Start with mashed food or cereals.
• At first give solid foods once or twice a day. 
• Try with little amount of food. If your baby used to eat then give them more.

What to avoid?

• Don't add sugar or salt in baby's food.
• Don't give food that might make your baby choke.

As your child grows around 10 months old he will use jaw to mash the foods.So you can start giving thin slices of fruits, baby rusks etc.

Avoid giving cow's milk until he is one year old.

Try new food once in a week. 

Take care of your child while he is eating. Enjoy dining with your child.