Dear MoMsters, with simple materials and a little planning, today we are going to give you a small idea, with which you can help your child learn math skills at an earlier stage by having fun all together and which in turn will boost their natural curiosity.
Counting steps as you go up or down the staircase.
Number skills are foundational for later mathematics learning, you can teach children early math skills through their daily routines and activities. For example, help your child to count steps as they go up or down the staircase or for older kids to ask them to climb a certain number.
What is required for the activity?
Chalk piece.
Staircases.
Parents support.
The objective of this game is very simple:
With the help of chalk, write numbers on each step.
At the initial stage, start writing numbers from 1 to 9.
As you move up the stairs count them with your child, by showing each number. (If your child loses interest in recognizing number then do not force them to do, at least walk together while calling out the number by climbing each step).
Try this activity once a day and numbering should not exceed more than 9, as the child would get tired while climbing up the stairs.
Note:Parents should not leave the child alone to climb the stairs; the activity should be done under the parent’s supervision.
“Be patient MoMsters, this activity will take some time to show a better result. One day, all of a sudden you will be amused to see that your child learned some concepts and repeating the numbers just to show you how intelligent are they.” They are, aren’t they? 🙂
Hello dear MoMsters your baby is 6 months old? Wohoooo 🙂 🙂 Congratulations for achieving this milestone, now this is the right time for your baby to start semi-solid foods!
For all nuclear families, who are a little bit confused about how to introduce solids to a 6-month baby, then keep calm, and read this blog.
Few tips to be taken care of while starting Solids for the first time.
Make sure you are not stopping the breastfed as it is still the major diet for 6 months old.
Use stainless steel or silver cup for feeding; do not use any plastic product.
Make sure that your baby’s feeding utensils are clean and sterilized with hot water, because your baby’s immune system is still weak and baby is vulnerable to infection, hence maintain hygiene.
Prefer homemade foods over buying packaged or ready-made foods available in the market, because homemade is the safest and the healthiest.
While feeding avoids giving gadgets like mobile or other radiation-emitting substances, which is not good for the baby’s overall development.
All about food tips:
Baby’s first food should be semi-liquid, gradually move to a thick consistency as your baby learned to eat.
At 6 months, do not introduce non-veg and dairy products.
Avoid biscuits, sugar, salt, honey, cow milk till 1 year.
Do not mix 2 fruits or 2 veggies.
Initially, the purees must be in flowing consistency.
After feeding food, give warm water; do not give water from feeding bottles. Use a small cup or glass.
You should introduce one new food at a time for your baby, and wait for a minimum of 2 to 3 days before starting another item. This will also help you to understand about any food item that is causing allergy/indigestion in your baby.
How do you know that your baby has an allergy to a particular food?
If a food doesn’t suit your baby, your baby may show the following symptoms:
Diarrhea
Runny nose
Rashes
Constipation
Vomiting
Colic (stomach pain)
If any of the above symptoms are seen, stop using that food and consult your child’s doctor.
Quantity of food:
2 tbsp. of fruit or veg puree, you can gradually increase to 3 tbsp. in the second week.
2 tbsp. of cereal, you can gradually increase to 1/4 cup.
It’s always better to be guided with your baby’s hunger, as appetite varies from day to day.
First 2 weeks just stick to Breakfast and Lunch. Observe how does his digestive system react and 3rd week onwards start adding semi-solid food for dinner too.
Slowly by 7th month you will get a little idea of his hunger pattern.
Food Plan:
After baby wakes up in the morning, breastfeeding is necessary and provides breakfast only after 1 and half hour gap.
Breakfast: 8 AM fruit Puree or veg puree
You can give mashed banana [Banana variety: I usually give baby (Nino) banana variety which is short chubby banana, because elders say bigger thick-skinned banana can cause wheezing and phlegm problem in babies], / steamed and peeled apple puree / steamed & mashed chikku / steamed pear puree / mashed papaya / ripen avocado mashed / carrot puree.
After 2 – 3 hours gap breastfeeding.
Lunch: 1 PM.
1st week – Rice porridge (the consistency of food should be flowing type not thicker one).
2nd week – clear moong dal soup.
3rd week – ragi porridge.
4th week – Semolina/Suji/Rava + banana porridge.
After 2 – 3 hours gap breastfed.
4th week onwards repeat any of these recipes for dinner, but do not give moong dal soup for dinner in order to avoid digestion issues.
Suggested Daily Milk Intakes for Babies:
0-3 Months of age: breastfeed every 1-2 hours once.
4-5 Months of age: breastfeed every 2 hours once.
6-8 Months of age: breastfeed or formula feed every 3-4 hours.
9-12 Months of age: breastfeed or formula feed every 4-5 hours once.
“Dear MoMsters these are just guidelines that might give you an idea about introducing solid food, when & what to feed. And these are hourly routines, check the appetite of your baby and feed accordingly.
If the baby doesn’t like food, wait for a few weeks before introducing it again. Don’t force your baby to complete the entire cup; it will take some couple of months to adjust with the food.”
Semolina/Suji/Rava + banana porridge:
Ingredients:
Roasted fine rava/suji – 2 tbsp.
Hot Water – ½ cup.
Banana – ¼ pieces.
Method:
(If your baby doesn’t like the texture of suji, make it to a powder by grinding in a blender.)
Sterilize the feeding bowl and spoon in a hot water for 5 mins.
Take 2 tbsp. of roasted suji in a saucepan to add the required amount of hot water to the suji and mix slowly. Make sure that there are no lumps formed. Cook the suji in medium flame until cooked completely.
At last step, you can add a natural sweetener like mashed banana, to the porridge. Mix well and feed the baby.
Ragi porridge:
Ragi is a rich source of iron and calcium. It is one of the best baby foods which is easily digestible and enhances immunity.
Ingredients:
The required amount of Ragi seeds to make powder.
Formula milk as needed.
½ cup of water.
Method:
Take ragi seeds, wash them thoroughly, and put them under sun dry.
Roast the dried seeds in a medium flame, cool them, and then grind it finely to make a powder.
In a cooking pan add 2 tbsp. of ragi powder and sauté for about one minute.
Then pour a half cup of water and break the lumps by continuously stirring.
Cook till it reaches semi-thick consistency.
Cool and mix formula milk as needed.
Serve immediately as formula milk mixed.
You can also skip formula milk, just prepare with the help of water for consistency.
Hope, this information might have given you all some idea about introducing solid to your baby.
These are very exciting phases. Make it more memorable by adding more delicious food for your baby.
Dear Momsters here are some fun exercises to develop gross motor skills in kids.
Throwing the crushed paper ball.
Throwing skills is a fundamental movement skill in the early years of the child and also it improves hand-eye coordination, manipulative skills, balance, and gross motor skill.
Materials needed for activity:
Waste papers. (We know that during COVID pandemic most of the parents have stopped using newspaper, instead collect some waste workbooks, old notebooks papers).
Empty bucket.
The objective of this game is simple:
Take waste paper; crunch them tight in order to throw easily.
Place a bucket at a 6 feet distance.
Before proceeding to throw, make your child count the number of paper balls. (At the beginning you can make 5 paper balls, counting helps to improve their maths skills in a fun way.)
Make your child focus on the target and throw the crunched paper ball into a bucket.
This skill takes time to develop as there is a lot of movements to coordinate.
Let your child stand closer to the target and as your child improves let him take a step back to be farther away.
Once all the paper balls are thrown in the tub, make your child count them and ask how many did you miss.
Reward them for their achievements even for the count one.
When you and your little one are done with the activity, wash your hands with sanitizer.
Enjoy the cute activity and please give us feedback and you can also share the activity pictures of your little one.
Dear Moms, here we go with some frequently asked questions by most of the mothers….
Does green poop indicate an infection?
Should I take my baby to the pediatrician if poop is green in color?
Don’t worry MoMsters, this post is exclusively for this topic only. we will clear all your doubts.
The reason for green poop is different for 3 stages of kids i.e. babies, toddlers, and older children.
Green poop in Babies
Imbalance of Foremilk/Hindmilk:
In the case of breastfeeding, there is thin and thick milk in our breast, if baby drinks only thin milk their poop color will be green i.e. they are taking in too much lactose (the natural sugar found in milk). Generally, liquidly foremilk is higher in lactose and lower in fat. Too much foremilk may also lead to gassiness.
whereas, hindmilk is rich in fat and has creamy consistency; it is gained at the end of a feed to fill him up.
(If you observe thin milk/foremilk comes out at the starting stage of feed, after 5 – 6 min thick milk/hindmilk will be sucked by baby.
Make sure your baby finishes feeding from one breast before your offer him your other one.
And check whether baby latching properly, bad latch also a reason for skipping thick creamy hindmilk. In that case check some feeding techniques or go for lactation consultants.
Illness:
A simple cold can also be the reason for the green poop in babies, continue breastfeeding your baby under such circumstances, as breast milk contains antibodies that can help boost the baby’s immunity!- read, Common Cold in kids and home remedies to cure it!
Infection:
If the stool is green with mucus, then he is suffering from infection or stomach bug. Consult doctor in such case.
Mother’s Diet
Some babies are sensitive to something you are eating, check accordingly mothers diet and skip the food which creating problems. And also check whether the mother consumed spinach, peas? But don’t worry, it’s not harmful for the baby until he is cranky because of your diet.
Teething:
During the teething phase, they end up swallowing excessive drool and saliva which leads to a green stool. Hence during teething keep baby’s surrounding clean and dust-free, make sure that they not chewing any cloth around them.
Jaundice:
During jaundice phototherapy treatment, the new-borns can have green poop.
Brand of formula feed:
Some formula feed can make your baby’s poo dark green, in such case discuss with your pediatrician and go accordingly.
Green poop in toddlers and older children
Your Child’s diet
After 6 months, once you started semisolid food; if you find green poop then that must be due to green foods such as pureed peas, spinach, and green beans.
Another possible chance is an allergic reaction, did you gave any new food? Once you start semi solid food check for 3 days one single food and figure out which food is the cause of the reaction. Make a note in which food was eaten before allergy reaction and discontinue for a few days and then reintroduce after some days.
Medication:
If a child taking iron supplements, then you may notice green poop; nothing to worry it’s a normal condition.
Another medication reason is antibiotics, if a lactating mother or baby has taken antibiotics then baby poop can be green colored; in that case, doctor may prescribe probiotics to avoid side effects of antibiotics.
When to see a doctor
If your baby continues to pass green poop frequently for longer days, then check with the doctor.
A sudden drop in weight coupled with green poop.
Diarrhea or signs of dehydration.
Green poop with blood tinges.
a fever higher than 100.4°F
Looking dull and lack of interest in eating.
General tips to avoid green poop
Before breastfeeding, mom should drink plenty of water, per day at least 6 litre of water necessarily.
Avoid giving cow milk/ buffalo milk to your baby before 1 year.
For toddler/ older child, add curd and banana in their diet. (Curd, yogurt acts as probiotic which is good for maintaining intestinal flora.)
Maintain hygiene while preparing formula feed and avoid feeding bottles, instead use a cup and spoon. Read – Common questions on Formula feed, click here for more details.
So, say goodbye to worries Mommies. Stay healthy and Stay Happy.. !!
