When the baby needs a doctor

When to call the doctor

Tania (4 months) - by Oana Stoenescu

Every experienced mother, who's raised a couple of babies, has an idea of which symptoms or questions require prompt contact with the doctor and which can wait till tomorrow or the next visit. But when we have our first child, we need to know what we should do in case of various symptoms of the baby. Personally, I used to read alot from the internet, regarding symptoms, suggestions, other opinions about the behaviour of babies, and it helped me alot at that moment. It's important to know what a symptom means, and what we should describe to the doctor in case of pain, colds, fever, etc.

By far the most important rule is to consult the doctor promptly, at least by telephone, if a baby or child looks different or acts differently.

How much should a baby sleep

Anne Geddes

When I had my baby girl, I often asked this question: how often should my baby sleep? I've learned that our babies are unique, and we're getting to know each other every day. Of course, the baby is the only one who can answer this question. One baby needs a lot of sleep, while another surprisingly little.  As long as babies are satisfied with their feedings, comfortable, get plenty of fresh air, and sleep in a cool place, you can leave it to them to take the amount of sleep they need.

Most babies in the early months sleep from feeding to feeding. I remember my baby girl was sleeping all the time until 2 months old; and she was fed on every two  hours (day and night), and this was exhausting to me, but, going back to that period, I liked it so much, because I had plenty of time for myself when the baby was sleeping. Now, when she's older, I miss those days, but every child's age has its own charm and excitement. Meanwhile, I've learned that my baby girl was different from other babies, that she was unique, that she had her own growing rhythm, her own schedule, and I had to adjust for it.

Vitamins in Infancy

Babies may need extra vitamin C and vitamin D 

There are only small amounts of these in milk  as it comes from the cow or  in solid food that are given early. Breast milk may contain sufficient vitamin C if the mother's diet is rich in citrus fruits and certain vegetables. Babies on an evaporated milk formula should receive 25-50 milligrams  per day of vitamin C in a commercial preparation until  they are received 2 ounces of orange juice daily. It does no harm for  breast-fed babies to take this too, as an extra precaution.

Baby Meals

Cheese Sauce (from 6 months)

15g butter

1 tablespoon plain flour
45g grated Edam or other mild cheese

150ml milk, heated

Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour. Stir with wooden spoon for one to two minutes then gradually add hot milk, stirring until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, add cheese and stir to melt.

This sauce has a variety of uses:

• Pour over steamed diced vegetable mixes, such as potato, pumpkin, parsnip and peas; or beans, carrot, cauliflower; or sweet potato, corn and broccoli.
• Mix with minced cooked chicken, mushrooms and parsley as a sauce for pasta.
• Mix with drained canned tuna in brine, cooked potato pieces and cooked diced beans for a warm salad.

Foods in the first year

Food combinations for your baby

The move from drinking to eating is quite a big one and baby has to learn how to eat. As well as learning about new tastes, baby has to get used to various textures (pureed, lumpy, mashed and chopped foods). By 12 months baby should be eating a wide variety of mashed and coarsely chopped foods - even  if he has no teeth.  Babies start to chew by the time they are around 7 months, teeth or no teeth, and they can easily handle mash andsoft lumps with their gums. 

From 9 months baby needs to be learning how to drink from a cup. By 12 months he will be able to hold a cup himself and drink from it. Teaching baby to eat or to drink is a learning experience for you both.

Creamy apricot dip

Babies love dips. This is an easy way to  combine different foos an let baby feed himself. Whole meal toast, pitta bread, cucumber pieces, peeled apple pieces and soft grilled or lightly barbecued vegetables such as zucchini, capsicum, pumpkin or asparagus make great dippers.

Here are some food combinations for your baby:

Nutritional sense

Aliments recommended for babies

Since babies don't know about high-sugar, high-fat foods such as soft drinks, sweets, potato crisps and pastries, they won't feel deprived if they are not included in their diet and they do not see you eating them; children will find out about these foods soon enough when they go to preschool or start going to parties.

First foods

Some time between his fourth and seventh month your baby will get to the stage where he is ready for more than a liquid diet. He needs to be physically able to take in solid food. This means he must ave good head control (which usually happens between 16 and 20 weeks) and the tongue-thrust reflex must have disappeared. While baby still has this reflex,any solids put on his tongue will just come straight out again.

Baby also needs to be interested in food. If you sit him on your lap while you are eating he will soon let you know. Sometime he may seem as though he is not completely satisfied by his milk and be unsettled.

Bottle Feeding

In the 1950s and 1960s, bottle feeding was made very fashionable by a number of Hollywood film stars who were photographed feeding their babies the "modern way". The companies which manufactured artificial baby milk spent large sums of money promoting their product, not only in the industrialised countries but also in the poorer countries of the world - with awful, sometimes fatal, consequences for millions of babies, who suffered from poor nutrition and from diseases spread by lack of hygiene and unsterilised equipment. Today, we can be confident that, while breast milk remains the best food for babies, infant formula or artificial baby milk is a good second choice - and far superior to ordinary animal milks or soybean milk.

Nursery equipment

Some parents don't feel like buying anything until they have their baby. The advantage of getting and arranging everything ahead of time is that it lightens the burden later.

What do you really have to have, in the way of equipment, to take care of a new baby? There are no exact rules, but there are some suggestions:

Anne Geddes

A place to sleep

A simple bassinet on wheels is convenient at first. Most parents start with a crib with a bumper pad to go all around inside. Cribs should have childproof side locking mechanisms, no sharp edges or lead paint, and at least 26 inches from the  top of the rail to the mattress set at its lowest level. The baby doesn't need a pillow for his head, and it's better not to use one.

Children's emotional needs

It's in the first 2 to 3 years of life that children's personalities are being most actively molded - by the attitudes of the parrents or of the others who provide most of their care. Whether children will grow up to be lifelong optimists or pessimists, whether warmly loving or cool, whether trustful or suspicious, will depend to a considerable extent on the attitudes of the individuals who have taken responsibility for amajor portion of their care in their first two years. Therefore, the personalities of parents and caregivers are of great importance. 

In the first year, a baby has to depend mainly on the attentiveness, intuition, and helpfulness of adults to get her the things that she needs and craves. If the adults are too insensitive or indifferent to serve her (within sensible limits- they shouldn't be submissive slaves) she will become somewhat apathetic or depressed.

Bodily contact and other bonds

We've put distance between mothers and babies

After birth, in many of the more natural, nonindustrial parts of the world, most babies are held against their mothers all day long by cloth carriers ( American Girl Starry Doll Holder ) of one kind or another.

Our society has thought up a dozen ingenious ways to put distance between mothers and their babies. It invented anesthetized childbirth, so a mother misses the dramatic evidence of having  carried and borne her baby herself.

Don't worry if, for any reason, you didn't have this earliest contact with your baby. This attachment and bonding process will happen as soon as physical contact with the baby begins.

Enjoy your baby

Anne Geddes

Don't be afraid of your baby

Your baby is born to be a reasonable, friendly human being. Don't be afraid to love her and enjoy her. Every baby needs to be smiled at, talked to, played with, fondled - gently and lovingly - just as much as she needs vitamins and calories. That's what will make her a person who loves people and enjoys life. The baby who doesn't get any loving will grow up cold and unresponsive.

Spoiling doesn't come from being good to a baby in a sensible way, and it doesn't come all of a sudden. Spoiling comes on gradually.

The involvement of fathers

Fathers and their role

A man reacts to his wife's pregnancy with various feelings: protectiveness of the wife, increased pride in the marriage, pride about his virility, anticipatory enjoyment of the child. But there can also be a feeling of being left out, which can be expressed as grumpiness toward his wife, wanting to spend more evenings with his men friends, or flirtatiousness with other women. But, there's much less chance of a man feeling this way if he's been able to actively participate in his wife's labor and delivery.

How you learn to be a parent

Anne Geddes

Fathers and mothers don't really find out how to care and manage children from books and lectures, though these may have value in answering specific  questions and doubts. You'll find that you learn the rest gradually through the experience of caring for your children. It's taking care of your baby, finding out that you can feed, change, bathe, and burp sucessfully, and that your baby responds contentedly to your ministrations that gives you the feelings of familiarity, confidence and love.

Mixed feelings about pregnancy

We have an ideal about motherhood that says that a woman is overjoyed when she finds that she is going to have a baby. She spends the pregnancy dreaming about the baby. When it arrives she slips into the maternal role with ease and delight.  But after a time, the woman realizes that there will be distinct limitations of social life and other outside pleasures.