The baby should only be fed breast milk for the first six months since breast milk contains an adequate amount of water. Breast milk has a water content of over 80%. Start nursing the infant even while they are having hiccups, and then properly burp the child for at least 8 to 10 minutes. (A baby under six months old should never be given water to relieve hiccups.)
Now let’s talk about the why?
Up to the age of six months, a baby’s kidneys cannot handle water. In general, water can disrupt a baby’s electrolyte balance for infants less than 6 months, which can ultimately result in seizures. A baby who becomes intoxicated by water runs the risk of having serious health consequences and having their growth and development stunted. Consequently, six months is the recommended age for introducing water to a newborn (at that time, you should still only offer your baby a little bit of water). But as your child gets older, his or her kidneys develop. It might also be unhealthy to add too much water to baby formula. Always stick to breast milk or correctly prepared infant formula to prevent these issues. Visit www.caringmomster.in for more pregnancy and parenting advice.
Dear New Mom’s generally after child birth women required extra care.
Preserve your body heat.
Post delivery, women are requested to cover their head with scarf the whole day according to Indian tradition. This is because generally the body heat is lost primarily, covering your head is believed to keep you warm and protect you from unnecessary cold.
Keep yourself Stress-free.️
Stress plays an important role in decreasing breastmilk (BM). Hence find a way to take rest, nap with baby. Try to assign housework to other members during your nap.
During this period your digestive system will be very sensitive, hence proper diet plan should be maintained.
Always prefer fresh food and avoid leftover food.
The new mother is advised to eat on time and not too much or too little.
At first take plenty of oral liquids including water, juice, and milk.
Milk contains calcium which boosts milk production, drink 1 glass of milk morning and before bedtime.
*[Limit drinks that contain caffeine like coffee, soda. Too much intake of caffeine can cause irritability to your baby and also it can interfere with your baby’s sleep.]*
Cook dill leaves with 10 pieces of garlic cloves, consume medium quantity in the morning and night for 3 days.It is rich in fiber, vitamin K, iron, and antioxidants which promotes enough BM and easy to digest. Garlic cloves stimulate lactation (galactagogue).
For non-vegetarian eat mutton thrice a week which boost BM.
Among fish you can go for Salmon which is rich in omega-3, it also helps to boost lactation.
take spinach noon time it contains iron, folic acid, vitamins which is beneficial for both mom and baby.
Soak 5 almonds overnight & morning grind it, mix with milk and drink. Almonds are rich in calories, vitamins & minerals which boost BM.
take iron rich foods like pulses and legumes, green leafy vegetables, red meat, beetroot,
for vitamin D – exposure to morning sunlight will help, because during delivery mom would have lost calcium and vitamin. Till 6 month, doctor would have given calcium and vitamin supplements , continue the same.
Do not skip breakfast.
Avoid oily food, spicy and junk food like chips, chocolates, cakes and soft drinks, also avoid gassy veggies like cabbage, potatoes and cauliflower for the first three weeks after childbirth, as they disturb the digestive system.
Among Fruits: any fruits which doesn’t trigger cold. You can take apple, melons, small banana, papaya etc.
Avoid foods which cause indigestion, it depends on individual, check and go accordingly.
Take care dear MoMsters and follow our tips, stay healthy.
Here I am with a new short write up to give you little confidence, to give you little comfort from my side.
After delivery, for any new mom it is quite a difficult and challenging time for the first few months.
Those sleepless night,
those unbearable suggestions ,
those heartbreaking cryings of the newborn.
Amidst, you have household work to do. You have to look after your newborn.
And above all, if something is not done as per the expectation of few family members, you will be held guilty.
But, the bitter truth is, in India and in most families these are happening. If few moms are blessed with understanding husbands then they might be frustrated with in-laws
If few are blessed with an understanding husband and in-laws both they are worried about not having proper Breastmilk supply
The worst cases I have heard, where a mom has gone through a tough phase because none of her family members helped her and she had no one to look up to for help. But now after 2 years of Motherhood she has made herself more stronger and independent.
So, mommies, why I cited these examples is because each one of us has some or another problem but a very common problem is postpartum depression. We have to deal with it from day one else our life will look like a burden. Motherhood will look like a punishment.
I know, I know, It is easier said than done.
But believe me, I have gone through this phase and have chosen this topic because it helped a lot in terms of gaining confidence, in order to overcome fear, anxiety, and sadness.
What is *Me time*
It is a time to spend with oneself. Doing what you love to do or at that point in time thinking of doing that. It could be listening to music, or just relax or watching youtube, learning new courses like Digital Marketing, Python programming, Coding etc , going through your old photos ..anything but all alone and it should make you feel better.
No Household work or office work or any pending work.. No No…
How is that possible??
Yes, very much possible.
If you think any of your family members support you, ask him to take care of the baby for half an hour to one hour. And this is why you get your #MeTime.
The Worst case scenario which I have heard or seen is where people think it is only a Mother’s duty to look after the baby, in that case also those moms survived happily and took out their #MeTime.
The only time is early morning. When All family members are asleep, no one wakes up. Just wake up according to your baby routine matching with other family members’ sleeping patterns. Take out at least half an hour and the whole day you will find energized.
It is difficult after a sleepless night but we know we have to wake up after every 2 or 3 hours to feed the baby for the next 6 months. So, why not accept this fact and make use of it.
Yes, I have shared a general idea. If anyone thinks this might work for them .. try and please share your experience.
“Please consult your pediatrician Surbhi(an imaginary character), Your baby should have started walking by this time, he is already 12 months old now” – Suggestion by few wellwishers
“Oh! my baby started crawling by this month, I think you should give him a regular and proper massage” – Suggestion by few more wellwishers
and what not ??
can you relate Mommies?
Have you heard these kinds of comments/suggestions ???
Phewww….. you are not alone to face all these demoralizing comments.
There are many other moms including me and my fellow members who once heard these comments in disguise which were named as suggestions.
You might have felt if you are doing something wrong or not doing something which is really needed for your baby to transit from one stage to another stage.
It creates self-doubt or a pang of guilt and we start comparing our kids with another one and feel very low.
Please hold on !! Control your thoughts which have been turned into negative and demoralizing thoughts over a period of time.
Please be informed that for a baby it takes time to transit from one stage to another.
and it absolutely depends on babies when they will be ready for the next stage. There is a range of months, not a particular month. Hence, if your baby is in between those ranges and still about to take up the next stage, then there is no point in worrying.
Just to make you more comfortable, I will try to list down a few stages and a range of months during which a baby can show those developmental stages.
Vision : Newborn can see objects that are 8-15 inches away
Sound : Responds to sound by 1 month
Smile : Begins to smile by 3rd month and laughs out loud by 4th to 5th month
Teething : Begins by 6th to 7th month.
Rolling over : 3 to 5 months
Neck Stability: By 6 Months
Sitting With support: 4 to 7 Months
Sitting without support: by 8th Months
Crawling which includes crawling like a snake and then proper crawling with the help of hands and knees: by 9 to 10 months
Standing by taking support: in between 9 to 15 months till they start walking
Walking: 9 Months to 16 Months
Talking: by 6 months 2 or 3 words like gaga, mama, baba, etc and by the end of 2 years few phrases. In between, it is just a combination of 6 to 7 words.
So, I hope after reading it one can take a sigh of relief that their kids are absolutely normal. Now, the question is how to ignore those negative sounds and still continue the relationship. I will suggest just smile and say “wow! your baby is really smart” good to see such fast progress.” or “Yeah! we had a meeting with the pediatrician yesterday or recently, he said few babies take time to walk or crawl, etc (be very honest), and based on the situation.
Last but not the least, If you are reading this article, then you know what “NOT” to say to the other mom 🙂
You can ask in comment section, if you have to face such situations. We will try to share few more points.
hahha… Yes, whoever has gone through these so called comparative situation might have a good laugh after reading it. But, those who are still listening to such comments might be experiencing some irritation, unexpressed feelings and what not?
It is so irritating when we hear that everyone around us start saying “your child face is just like your husband” but if anyone by mistake try to say that the baby looks like his/her mother, we could see many raised eyebrows .. !
Isn’t it so funny that a newborn who needs a calm and peaceful environment, love and care, he gets all these sorts of silly things which has no relevance. It actually takes away a mother’s mental peace at that point of time. It might not seem a big issue but even a mother expects that someone would say that the baby has got her smile or eyes or nose. These little issues are ignored with unexpressed frustration which gets piled up gradually with lot of other issues and oozes out once it reaches its limit.
But, let me tell you my dear Mommies, even we should not expect to hear from someone saying baby is like mother. Reason is very simple, a new born baby looks like a newborn. It is not a movie like Suryavansham (father’s and son’s role by Mr Amitabh Bachhan) or other such movies where father’s and son’s faces are same.
Now, again these comparison are evergreen till our baby becomes a father or mother or till we die. So, do we need to be frustrated all the time.
A BIG NO … NO… NO
Just ignore it. Once baby grows try to analyze by yourself which feature he has received from you and your husband. Yes, babies inherit few characteristics which will be visible later like big eyes, green eyes, a dimple or a broad forehead or a big head etc. It is very common. But amidst all these comparison… One thing is very true.. A Newborn looks like a Newborn… 🙂 Let him enjoy his own identity. Let us not trap him in our so called superficial demand of looking alike.
At the end, if you are a new Mom please ignore such conversation. Smile and think that it doesn’t matter how does he look like or resembles with, what matters is his developmental stages and the joy which is going to be unfolded everyday. Those precious time matters where both the parents spend time with the newborn and help each other in baby’s growth day by day, month by month and year after year.
That is the only things matter…. Nothing else matters to spend our energy over.
Let us save our energy and confidence that will help us grow as a mother along with our baby.
Why does it happen that when we ladies become pregnant , though we become a new source of happiness in the family, we feel lonely, not supported emotionally or pampered -sometimes or most of the times or all the times.
Yes, it is true that we will have to take care of a growing baby. We are suppose to do all the household works at the same time despite having no mood to do sometimes. We also have to fight with stress or work if I am a working woman. So, why an issue gets into these happy moments and it feels that pregnancy is not a beautiful journey but a forcefully manipulated happy moments.
Yes Mommies, today we will discuss about “Emotional yet Not Supported Emotionally” journey of New Moms.
The first step of motherhood journey starts with an Emotional Connect with the unseen baby which is not even inside the womb. It starts with Emotion and it is for life long. Only the form of Emotion varies at every stage of motherhood.
It is very unfortunate that the near and dear ones fail to understand our mental condition during the journey of motherhood.
When we find out that a small life has started occupying our body space, we smile but no clear feelings to express. A mixed feeling, a fear, a doubt, confidence goes away just because we start judging ourselves as a mother now. If we will be able to carry this for next 9 months carefully, what if something goes wrong, am I good enough to become a Mother? and list goes on…
Now, when we are fighting with such emotions already, there are several suggestions starts coming in all the time. Whether we require or not it keeps coming and coming and it becomes never ending process.
Now, if we complain about it, we become not so caring mother or we will be pointed out our mistakes that might lead to some problem during pregnancy. When we look upto someone who we think can give us some emotional support, they also turn out to be a different person altogether.
It is not that all suggestions are bad or all become our enemy. But, due to lack of constant emotional support everything feels like negative.
The bad news is that women who have gone through the same phases, are also unable to understand. Either they criticize or talk nonsense. But, one cannot expect an emotional support from them too.
So, my question is why, why Emotional Support is so difficult that we donot receive time to time. ?
Yes, we are going to be a mother. It brings a lots of responsibilities towards baby, family and yes, towards ourselves too. This “We” part is forgotten during this journey.
We start getting judged as a Mother by our appearance, habits, the way we represent ourselves and so many. Really, does it even matter to discuss when you say we should be happy and positive all the time so that baby would be safe and happy. No, Not at all.
Now, the question is these things cannot be changed overnight and we, during pregnancy time need peaceful time and space. So, how to manage them and these emotional issues when we are going through a lots of emotional changes and outbursts.
Let us find some solution so that we can avoid it to an extent.
At First, Accept that these things are inevitable, cannot be stopped/avoided completely. Acceptance over ignorance helps a lot in these conditions.
Let us not jump into any kind of arguments because at this point of time we are unaware of our own emotions. Suddenly one argument will take us from being positive and stronger to negative and weaker version of us.
What if we just smile on something someone says even if we donot agree with and it does not make any sense. few examples are, “you look weak that will effect your milk supply later” , “your belly size says that it will a boy/girl”, ” you are so careless but now you cannot because you have to be very careful with baby” and list goes on.
If we hear all these things, at first only one thought comes into our mind, “Whatttttt”
How do they know how strong I might be feeling, how do they know if it is a girl or a boy just by seeing a belly size, how can they judge us as a mother based on my rapport with them.
We might feel irritated, and burning with anger but what if we count till 5, control our anger and try to divert the topic. Yes, divert the topic because what do all they need is gossips. Let them talk on the topic of our choice.
Next solution might be avoiding talking to them directly. If it over phone then we have some control but what if they are staying with us or are frequent visitors. In that case also we can simply say that we need rest after having few hi hellos…. !
many solutions we might find but we know there are unlimited things where we feel helpless and not emotionally supported.
Incase our family members understand, well and good else we donot have to be sad or disappointed.
Now, we need to understand ” We Have Power To Create A Life Within Us”. We are already powerful. We just have to recognize and cherish this super power. Nothing matters infront of our baby. We have to be genuinely happy. We need to feel it that our happiness is for us. If we are happy then we can make others especially baby happy.
Above all, we have to stay happy and confident for our baby. Post pregnancy once the baby is kept in our arm, all our sorrows, struggle and complaints vanish.. It gets converted to joy, happiness and Selfie or groupie time 🙂
I don’t know if I did justice with the topic or not. But I tried to put my best effort to cover all the points which will help new moms who have just started their journey of pregnancy.
Please do read and leave your feedback in the comment section. You can also suggest few topics which are situation based and Moms have to face it.
Let us share our joy and divide or difficulties by sharing it and building a community of new moms so that they will also get helped in some ways.
