How To Cure Constipation In Babies

The main reasons behind constipation in children are excessive milk consumption, lack of fibre in the diet, low intake of liquids or postponing nature's calls due to any reason. What are the signs? If you observe your baby struggling to pass the stools or if your baby doesn't pass stools for more than a day then constipation could be the reason. Also, the texture of the stool could also help you know whether your baby is constipated. Once you have identified that your little one is suffering from constipation, follow some of the below tips.

Offer More Fluids Make your baby drink some water on regular intervals. Even if your baby sips small quantities of water, it can help. Check the colour of the urine. If the colour is dark, it means your baby needs more water.

 

Offer Fruits Your baby needs some fibre. Offer fruits, whole grain bread and cooked vegetables. Fibre can ease bowel movements.

 

 

Stop Constipating Foods Try to avoid yoghurt, cheese, bananas, carrots and rice when your baby is constipated.

Activity Allow your baby to play. The body should move, jump, run and stay active to digest the food and get rid of constipation.

 

 

Optimise Milk consumption Too much of milk could cause constipation. Give small quantities of milk (not more than 3 ounces per day).

 

Schedule Potty Time Try to regularise the potty timings of your baby. This can reduce the chances of suffering constipation.

Does A Mom’s Voice Activate A Kid’s Brain

A new study claims that a mother's voice and interaction with her baby plays a major role inactivating certain areas of the child's brain. This study says that a mother's voice is more significant than others' voices around.

 

Certain areas in the child's brain respond more to a mother's voice. The areas of the brain related to social functions, emotions and reward processing tend to get activated when a mother talks to her baby.

 Also, this study further claims that the kid's communication skills with the world around may depend upon the connections formed in the brain at early stages with the help of the mother's voice.

 

It is a fact that most of us learnt a lot only by listening and communicating with mother at the early stages of life. So, this is why a mother's voice plays a crucial role in the brain activity of a kid.

 

Till now, most of us knew very little about the way a child's brain organises itself. But this study confirms that a mother's voice can bring about faster changes in the kid's brain. This is the reason why the role of a mother is considered as very crucial in every child's life. 

Facts About A Baby’s Weight 

 

 The weight of a new born baby tends to fluctuate a bit during the first few days of birth. In fact, the weight may dip by 5% which is considered normal. The baby gradually puts the weight again in a span of 15-20 days.

 

 In the first few months, a baby should at least weigh 115-220 grams. After 6 months, weight may increase drastically.

 After a year, a baby weighs more than double of the birth-weight. If the weight is more than that, then it is better to consult a doctor.

 

For optimal weight, health experts recommend breast feeding every couple of hours (nearly 7-12 times a day). In some cases, when the baby gains weight too fast, mothers may worry whether it could cause obesity. As breast milk isn't an unhealthy source of calories, mothers don't need to worry.

 

 The weight of a baby fed with other substitutes may vary from the weight of a baby who is fed solely with breast milk.

How to know whether a baby gets enough milk? Well, it is better to observe whether the baby feels satisfied after consuming the milk. Also, a baby tends to sleep after feeling satisfied.

7 Important Tips For Parents With A Dyslexic Child

"What it's like to be a parent: It's one of the hardest things you'll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love." - this is a famous quote which makes a lot of sense. Parenting is not an easy task. Right from the moment a child comes into this world, parents have to make a lot of sacrifices and commitments that last for a lifetime!

However, parenthood is synonymous to unconditional love and parents are willing to do anything to see their children happy and healthy. As hard as it is to admit, parenting becomes all the more challenging when the kids are born with certain ailments. It means that the parents have to put in more effort than usual to try and make their child's life as easy as possible.

Dyslexia is one such learning disorder that can take a toll on the parents of the affected child.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder in which in the child has difficulty in reading, writing, interpreting and understanding certain things that may hamper his/her progress at school and other everyday activities. So, here are some useful tips that can be followed by parents with a dyslexic child, to help make their lives and their child's life easier.

Tip #1 Patience is the key when it comes to dealing with a dyslexic child. Children with dyslexia take a longer time to do regular learning tasks compared to their peers. The parents need to be patient and support their children emotionally.

Tip #2 When giving instructions to your child, it is important to be firm. Make them understand that carrying out certain tasks or doing their homeworks is very important, in a tone that is firm yet encouraging.

Tip #3 Be forgiving towards yourself and your child. Having a child with dyslexia can weaken the parents emotionally and they may often blame themselves or their children. But, doing that can only make matters worse.

Tip #4 Ensure that you take your children out to places they like such as theme parks, museums, gaming arcades, etc, at least a couple of times in a month. Just like any other child, dyslexic children too need to unwind and have some fun!

Tip #5 Be flexible and accepting, when it comes to their school work. The learning skills of dyslexic children is very different from their peers, so the parents must understand their child's capabilities and limitations.

Tip #6 If they are studying in a regular school, ensure that you speak to the teachers and let them know about your child's problems. Keep in touch with the teachers regularly and pay a close attention to your child's progress.

Tip #7 Often, children with dyslexia are bullied and teased at school by other pupils, for being "slow" and different. If you suspect that your child is being bullied, make sure that you talk to the teachers and help your child get out of that situation.

7 Bad Habits Of Parents That Affect Their Children

As parents, we may often feel that we know what is best for our children and do not pay much attention to how the kids feel when they look at us behaving in a certain way or following certain habits.

It is a fact that parents are the very first and the most important role models to their children, as kids usually tend to learn most habits by watching their parents, during the initial stages of their growth.

One of the founding-father's of psychological theories on social learning has brought out a theory called the imitation theory, in which he says that children learn most of their social skills by imitating their parents.

So, it is very essential for the parents to be good role models to their children, in order to help them grow up to be model citizens.

Many a times, as parents, we tend to get caught up with life and forget to take all the necessary steps to be better role models to our children.

We follow certain practices and habits that may affect our children negatively, when they watch us indulge in those habits.

So, here is a list of habits that you can avoid, in order to keep your children from being affected negatively.

1. Self-Criticism

Many a times, we tend to criticise ourselves regarding our looks, careers, etc. This habit leads to your child developing unrealistic standards of beauty and success, which may later on cause physiological issues like depression and eating disorders in them.

2. Over Use Of Gadgets

Most modern parents indulge in texting, e-mailing, talking on the phone for long hours, etc, in front of their children. Kids will look at their parents doing that and they too will want to own cell phones and tablets right from a young age, which may affect their studies.

3. Setting Gender Roles

Some parents impose stereotyped gender roles on their kids. For example, girls should not involve themselves in sports, boys should not show emotions, etc. This habit can hamper their social lives extremely, especially in this progressive era.

4. Drinking And Smoking

Indulging in vices, such as excessive drinking and smoking, in front of your children may make them feel that it is alright to develop such habits. They may start drinking and smoking from a very young age, leading to health complications later on.

5. Being Over-competitive

Comparing your kid's achievement with that of other kids, insulting them about their school grades in front of their friends, thinking that it might encourage them to do better the next time can often be a blow to the child's self-esteem and it may affect his/her psychology 

6. Constant Arguing

If you are getting into constant arguments and fights with your family members, when your kid is around, your child may try to imitate that behaviour with his/her friends, making him/her more prone to an aggressive behaviour, right from an early age.

7. Physical Abuse

Hitting your kids even for a small mistake and "punishing" them often by psychically abusing them can have serious repercussions and may either make them extremely rebellious or very weak emotionally.

Facts About Schizophrenia In Kids

Schizophrenia is a persistent psychiatric disease. If your kid is suffering from this chronic disease, it can deform the thinking capacity of your child, which can result in various hallucinations and delusions.

However, you will be surprised and happy to know that these are the positive signs. Sadly, when there are positive signs, you have to be ready for the negative ones too. Social isolation, emotionless and violent behavior are a few negative symptoms of Child Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a very rare condition in children and it is extremely difficult to identify the symptoms in the early phases of the disease. The reason is, children are still maturing both physically and mentally.

In the early childhood days, your kid may start thinking that somebody is trying to control his/her beliefs or someone might be guessing what he/she is thinking.

In the school, your child may throw tantrums with an aggressive behavior, which his/her teacher might think as a behavioural issue. All these symptoms are part of suspicious illusions caused by this horrible disease.

Causes Of Child Schizophrenia

 
According to the researchers, Schizophrenia happens in children the same way it stems in the adults.

However, studies are still going on to find out why some individuals get it so early, while others don't. There cannot be a single cause of Schizophrenia; it is a very difficult interaction between the environment and genetics of your children.

1) Genetics: Genetics plays a very important role in the development of Schizophrenia in children. If you have a schizophrenic sibling or a parent, then you have 10% likelihood to get Schizophrenia. Now again, it is not necessary that if you have Schizophrenia, your child will also have it. So, the genetics can be a cause of Schizophrenia, but it can't determine the illness.

2) Brain Structure: If your child has an abnormal brain structure, he/she is likely to have Schizophrenia. This can also be one of the causes of the disease.

3) Environment: Sometimes environmental factors can also play an important role for causing this chronic psychiatric disease. According to a few researches, it was found that pregnant women with high stress levels can lead to Schizophrenia in their offsprings. Some other environmental situations that trigger Schizophrenia are viral infection in the womb, loss of a parent in childhood, child physical abuse, the child inflicted with viral infection as a baby, low oxygen level during labor and delivery.

Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

The symptoms of Schizophrenia usually begin in the mid-twenties to late twenties. The early symptoms can be seen even before 18 years of age. Symptoms may differ in nature and severity with the passage of time. They can deteriorate and sometimes, they may also lessen with time.

1) Early Symptoms: These include developmental issues like late crawling, delay in talking, arm flapping, rocking, delay in walking, etc
 2) Teenage Symptoms: A decline in school performance, trouble in sleeping, weird behaviour, depression, bad temper, feeling de-motivated, etc.

3) Late Symptoms: As the kids suffering from the disease grow older, they start showing more typical symptoms of the disease. Hallucinations, negative signs, delusions, disorganized behaviour, weird postures, excessive movements, irresponsiveness, etc., are some symptoms that appear later in the grown-up kids.

When Should You Consult A Doctor?

You must talk to a doctor if your kid shows weird eating habits, doesn't socialize, is paranoid, is lagging behind in educational performance, has strange fears and bizarre ideas, takes the dreams as reality or has a very aggressive nature.

If you see these symptoms in your child, you must seek out medical advice and medical care as soon as possible. If this serious disease is left untreated in childhood, it can lead to severe behavioural, emotional and a myriad of other health issues.

 

5 Expert Tips To Make Your Kids Stay Fit And Healthy

 

Most adults, these days, give a lot of importance to fitness. More and more people are making fitness routine a part of their day, in order to stay healthy with a toned body. However, many a times, parents tend to ignore the fact that even children need to stay fit, in order to remain healthy and strong. Parents tend to focus more on their kid's school work and extracurricular activities and so, fitness often takes the back seat.

Most modern day kids tend to lead unhealthy lifestyles - thanks to all those video games, access to phones and computers right from a young age, a whole variety of junk food, etc. The above-mentioned habits practiced by the kids can cause a lot of health issues such as childhood obesity, a weakened immune system, constant viral infections and stomach issues, stunted growth, etc. So, it is very crucial for the kids to maintain a regular fitness routine, in order to stay healthy and avoid a number of unnecessary health problems. If you want to know how to help your kids get fit and healthy, have a look below! 

 

Tip #1 Make it a point to ensure that your child gets involved in a regular fitness routine at least a few days in a week. Experiment with different ideas like karate, swimming, sports, junior gyms, etc, to see what works for them, so that they are motivated to continue. 

 

 Tip #2 Parents can spend some time every day involving themselves in playing sports with their kids, be it cricket, basketball, running, etc. This helps the kids to get fit as well as allow the parents to spend some quality time with their kids.

Tip #3 Set rules for your kids on how much time they can spend with their gadgets. You can tell them that if they spend an hour playing video games, they need to spend an hour playing an outdoor sport. Tip #4 You can try and talk to the parents of your child's friend and see if they can join the same fitness routine class. If a friend goes along, chances are that your children also will be more than happy to join the class.

Tip #5 You can try talking to your kids and educating them about the importance of being fit and the hazards of spending too much time in front of the computer or let them know how unhealthy junk food can be.