Ask about her health

This is not just formality. You should ask her this question as soon as she arrives to baby sit. This will actually help determine if your sitter is actually in the right mindset to work. She may have been through a terrible day or she may be tired after performing some of her usual daily tasks. In other words, she may not have the inclination or energy to look after your kids. Finding out about your sitter’s day tell you whether you can risk leaving your child with her.

Note emergency numbers

Before you go out, be sure that your sitter has important numbers with her. You can display important numbers in a prominent place near the house like beside the telephone or on the fridge. These lists will serve as an easy and quick reference for your sitter should there be any emergencies. You should also leave your contact number with your sitter. If possible, tell her too where you will be headed for the nigh.

Child discipline instructions

Through proper discipline, children learn how to function in a family and society that is full of boundaries, rules, and laws by which we all must abide. With it, children gain a sense of security, protection, and often feel accomplishment. Without proper discipline, children are at risk for a variety of behavioral and emotional problems.

State directives/results and follow through; don’t issue idle threats. Give predictable consequences, such as, “If you behave in this way, this will happen.”

Special conditions

Allergies affect different children in different ways. Many children suffer from more than one allergic problem.
Children with an allergic tendency (referred to as ‘atopic’) often develop eczema and food allergies in early life. As they grow, these conditions may improve but asthma and later, hayfever, may develop. This progression is known as the ‘allergic march’. Bed linen should be changed weekly and washed at a high temperature (56ºC/133ºF or above) to kill the dust mite and remove the allergen. Other bedclothes, such as bedspreads, must also be washed weekly at high temperatures.

Finding a babysitter is just half of the job done. If you truly want to make sure that your kids are safe and have a great time, then you should know what to do before you leave your house.

Scientists from health center at Harvard University found a link between mother’s height and baby health. Specialists believe that woman’s height affects the size of her uterus. A smaller-sized woman’s body may trigger some complications during pregnancy and affect baby development in the womb.

Data, provided by Indian researchers, were compared and they came to the conclusion that it is mother’s height that influences some indicators of newborns’ health, including the risk of obesity, or conversely the lack of baby weight, development of anemia and child mortality.

It turned out that women with height below 150 cm have the risk of child mortality 70% higher, compared with, for example, women whose height is 160 centimeters and more.

Experts watched health of more than 50 000 children under 5 years. The results showed that parents’ height not only affects height of future children, but also development of fetus in a womb and further baby health.

Unfortunately, kids cannot say exactly what they are concerned – the intestines, pancreas, or something else, so parents should carefully examine problems in new born babies  and respond quickly to the situation.

Problems in new born babies

Colic

After two or three weeks after discharge from the hospital, in addition to all existing concerns, you may receive another one – baby colic.

They display themselves as follows – during feeding or shortly after it a baby suddenly starts shrinking feet to the tummy, worries, and then abruptly turns red and screams.

Do not be strongly frustrated, in most cases, colic is not a disease, just your baby’s gastrointestinal tract adapts to new circumstances and learns working independently.

To avoid such problems, remember that during breastfeeding you should pay attention to what you eat, and renounce the use of products that enhance gas formation, such as cabbage and grapes.

Be sure to latch a baby to breast the right way and let him sucking as long as he wants, because “front” milk (first portions) is over-saturated with carbohydrates, which can contribute to gas formation.

If your baby still suffers from colic, put something warm to baby’s tummy or simply change his position in the crib to ease pain.

Food poisoning

Your baby is asking for a pot all the time and complains he has a stomach ache? One of possible causes – food poisoning. It occurs after eating low-quality products and causes sporadic general malaise, nausea, vomiting, spasmodic pain in the abdomen, frequent (more than 6-7 times a day) loose stool with undigested food particles or mucus, with greenish veins. In this case child’s pulse becomes more frequent, skin grows pale, temperature rises.

In this case you should wash a baby’s stomach: give him to drink several glasses of warm water and irritate the tongue’s root until vomiting. In case if diarrhea lasts for several hours, immediately call your doctor.

Infectious diarrhea

Any stool disorder is called diarrhea. It can be simple and infectious. Simple diarrhea in children is caused by overeating, violations of terms or rules of complementary foods introduction, often a reaction to unfamiliar products. Infectious diarrhea appears due to toxins or microbes in gastrointestinal tract. Poisons that give birth to organisms and damages of digestive tract cause the disease. Infectious diarrhea begins 6-48 hours after microbes getting in the body.

Intestinal poisoning can occur if you drink water from the tap or fresh unboiled milk. Poor quality kefir or yogurt, stale eggs, cakes and sausages, poorly cleaned or washed vegetables and greens – all these products are dangerous.

Pay attention to the symptoms that accompany diarrhea. First, your child may become listless, he no longer sits or lies, refuses to eat, then his temperature can raise and a few hours later diarrhea or vomiting begins.

When you notice such problems in new born babies, you should call a pediatrician as quickly as possible, so that he would appreciate the condition. A baby with a slight poisoning is left at home and prescribed a treatment. The most important thing in the acute period of illness – replenishment of fluid loss from vomiting and diarrhea. The main thing – in any case do not give a lot of fluid at once (it can cause vomiting). Give a teaspoonful every 5-10 minutes.

“Acute abdomen”

Often pain in stomach is a sign of the disease requiring immediate diagnosis and emergency intervention. This state is called “acute abdomen”. It is accompanied by bouts of severe pain, which can be either constant or spasmodic, “spilled” or local. The cause may be ileus, acute appendicitis, peritonitis, perforated ulcers of stomach and intestines. “Acute abdomen” requires immediate hospitalization and surgery, as it represents a danger to a child’s life.

Acute abdominal disease also causes dizziness, growing abdominal distension, marked weakness, lethargy, pallor, cold sweat. In case of “acute abdomen” it is absolutely contraindicated to give your child pain relievers, because it “erases” clinical symptoms and complicates the diagnosis, massaging the abdomen, applying heat to the abdomen, force-feed a child, do an enema.

To avoid problems in new born babies associated with tummy diseases, observe the following rules: – Children under 3 years should not stay long in the sun – food must be neutral, that is, excluding exotic food and ethnic dishes. Fruits and vegetables should be washed well before use, use only bottled water.

Abdominal pain – a symptom of various diseases of the abdominal cavity. The causes of many unpleasant sensations are numerous. Some of the most frequent: food poisoning, acute gastritis, parasitic infestation, dysentery, biliary dyskinesia, acute appendicitis. Unfortunately, young children cannot precisely determine the place of pain, and it is difficult to diagnose it. In acute abdominal pain one should not be given painkillers, because when arresting unpleasant sensations further differential diagnosis is hampered. Thermal procedures (hot-water bottles, baths, etc.) are strictly forbidden

Many latter-day parents are experiencing some difficulties in the first baby bathing, because they do not know what to do with this and which infant bath temperature to choose. In fact, at first, the process of bathing may seem rather complicated, and parents need special attention. It is at first, when you must be extremely careful to avoid the most common mistakes. Once you get used to it, you and your baby will truly enjoy the process of bathing!

Here are 10 basic tips for bathing infants and infant bath temperature:

1. Never leave your baby alone in the bath. This is of particular importance. There should be no fuss and make sure you are not distracted. Even if someone calls you in the door or by phone, do not leave the bathroom, just do not pay any attention to it. If necessary, wrap a child in a thick towel and take with you, but never leave him unattended.

2. Infant bath temperature should be around 36-38 degrees Celsius. Most infants prefer cooler water than adults, so it is best to use a thermometer to make sure the water temperature is suitable for your baby. If you use automatic water heater, check the temperature setting twice. Maximum infant bath temperature can be 45 degrees Celsius. Also, if you mix hot and cold water, make sure the result is a desired water temperature.

3. Fill the tub for baby bathing no more than 10 cm deep. Although the amount of water will seem too small, it is quite enough to bathe a baby. Remember that too much water can be dangerous for a baby, so do not risk.

4. Remember that it is very slippery in the bath, so you will need to prevent baby sliding inside of it in advance. This can be achieved due to a special mat on the bottom of the tub. At the same time, your hands will be free, and you will not have to always hold a baby.

5. Prepare everything you need in advance, namely:

- Two dry and warm towels;

- A soft sponge;

- Ph-neutral soap for babies;

- Clean clothes;

6. Pay attention to the metal drain hole. It is best to put on a special coating on it. You can purchase it at any children’s store.

7. Do not overdo with the use of soap and shampoo. It is important to use soap and shampoo, designed for infants, and in some cases it is better not to use neither one nor the other. Also, never wash a baby’s face with soap – it is enough to wash it simply with warm water.

8. Make sure your baby is unable to reach the faucet. Sometimes, it might seem it is difficult enough to open the valve with water, but it may be quite different, and this may lead to unintended consequences.

9. It is always better to bathe a baby with a partner, relative or friend. This helps expediting the process of bathing and make it more secure.

10. Remember, there is no need to bath your baby too often. Newborn babies should be bathed about once every three days.

When your baby is weighed and measured, the pediatrician will tell you where your baby`s weight and length rank in terms of a “percentile”. This simply tells you how your baby compares to other babies of the same age. For example, if your baby`s weight falls into the 80th percentile, it means she weighs more than 80 percent of babies her age. Some people seem to think ranking in a high percentile is a good thing, because it means the baby is thriving. However, this is not necessarily the case. A baby in the 40th percentile might be thriving, but just destined to be a small person. For example, my daughter has consistently ranked in about the 50th percentile, and she is very healthy, and has plenty of meat on her bones. My husband and I are not very large people, and it seems that she has simply inherited our body size.

Your baby`s length will be ranked in exactly the same way, and can give you an idea of whether your baby will be tall, medium or average in height. If both you and your husband are short, don`t expect a baby to rank in the 90th percentile in height, though it can happen.

One thing you do need to look for is a major difference between the height and weight percentiles. They should be pretty close. If your baby is in the 40th percentile in height, and 90th in weight, you might be feeding her a bit too much. On the other hand, a baby in the 90th percentile in height that ranks in the 30th percentile in weight is probably a bit on the thin side. Your doctor will advise you if your child`s diet needs attention.

The most important thing you can do to monitor your child`s development is to attend those well baby visits with your pediatrician. Your doctor will be monitoring your baby`s progress, and in the event that any area needs attention, he will be able to alert you to the issues. This first year of development is critical and it is good to keep tabs on the progress.

A baby nursery, or separate bedroom for a new born, is not the usual practice in many countries. My children by my first marriage were brought up in England, where a baby, on
being taken home from hospital, will go home to a separate bedroom or nursery. My young daughter, Saffron, was born here in the Philippines where the tradition is for babies to sleep with the parents.

It can be a difficult choice for new parents: do we put our new baby in her own nursery room, or do we have her in our bedroom in a crib or even in our bed? There are conflicting opinions about this choice, and it is one that attracted quite a lot of comment and surprise here when we opted to put Saffron in her own crib in her own nursery room, the day she came home from the baby clinic.

I was very firm in my own mind that a separate room is best in the long term and therefore it is best in the beginning. A baby, and then child, will grow in accordance with what they are used to, and what they come to see and feel as the norm. The most important things for a baby are that :

1. They are fed well;

2. They are kept clean;

3. They are comfortable;

4. They feel secure knowing that the parents, especially mother, will be there when she wakes.

5. They are loved.

All of those things are easily achievable in a baby nursery separate from the
parents’ room.

Advantages Of A Separate Baby Nursery

A separate baby nursery brings with it a number of important advantages, for the baby and the parents. These include:

1. The baby will sleep undisturbed by parents coming and going. As they get older that will be particularly important in the evening and night.

2. The parents will have their own privacy and time for themselves. This will be more and more appreciated as the weeks, months and then years pass.

3. The parents will sleep better too, especially compared to those who have a baby in their own bed.

4. The baby is more likely to grow into a strong and independent child, with a large amount of confidence. So long as they are happy and secure, they will not be worried about sleeping alone, as this is what they have come to expect. They know that when they wake, their mother and father are close to hand.

Disadvantages Of A Separate Baby Nursery

I cannot think of one genuine disadvantage of a separate baby nursery, assuming that the room is within earshot. A baby at birth can cry quite loudly, and why should that be if the natural state is always for the mother to be at their side? A baby cries so mother can hear from a distance. If that distance is another bedroom nearby, then that is fine. The baby will be unconcerned if it cries and you appear
through a door rather than at her side already.

Some first time parents will worry that they will not hear the baby if they are asleep and she is in a separate room. There is no need to worry; the mother especially will be tuned in to the cry of the baby, and will be subconsciously alert to the slightest sound. My wife was concerned about this very thing when Saffron was born, so for her assurance we left our bedroom door open, and Saffron’s door too.
She soon realised there was no risk of not hearing the baby, so first Saffron’s door, and then our door, were later kept closed at night.

Always remember, babies cry to be heard, so unless you are both very heavy sleepers, there is very little chance of you not hearing the baby when she is hungry, needs changing, or has some other problem.

To start, we need to look at the reasons for behavior. According to behavioral approaches, most of the behavior we see results from one of three reasons: a request, seeking attention, or a sensory reason. Let’s look deeper at these three reasons for behavior and the ways we currently handle them.

Handling a request is fairly straightforward. To put it very simply, a request is usually something externally controlled by both reinforcing appropriate requests and not reinforcing inappropriate ones, such as a tantrum.

For negative attention-seeking behaviors, we can eliminate the behavior by not giving the negative behavior attention and give attention for desired behavior – very straightforward, and again, usually externally controlled.

The sensory reasons arise from both the external and internal events that a child experiences through the five senses, and may or may not be externally controlled. In all of these situations, our internal responses – our feelings and thoughts about events fire us into action. In stressful situations, the resulting “knee jerk” reactions are often difficult to manage with a purely behavioral approach
for a few reasons:

1. Thoughts and feelings are often lightning-fast, internally-controlled events, therefore difficult to manage through external behavioral modifications.

2. Thoughts and feelings can’t be measured, and as a result, behavioral approaches simply don’t address them. It doesn’t mean that these things don t exist or aren’t important. It just means that they’re left out of the equation.

3. Behavioral approaches address the cause and consequence of behaviors the beginning and the end. But internal responses (i.e. thoughts and feelings) happen in the moments between the cause and the consequence. By not dealing with thoughts, feelings and solutions at these moments, we leave a child to figure out solutions on his or her own.

4. Children on the autism spectrum have a limited ability to adapt to new or changing situations, solve problems, compare past to present, or see possibilities. Because of this, if a child never learns how to think through a challenging situation during the emotional moments, when faced with it again, the same behavior will probably repeat itself, no matter what the consequence, or how many times they’ve
been through it before.

This situation calls for tools to deal with overwhelming thoughts, feelings and strategies in the moment before the tantrum, not just consequences after. In the book The Explosive Child, Ross Greene talks about this situation. This book applies to any disorders that have limitations in problem solving and executive thought, including all PDDs, such as Asperger’s Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and all autism
spectrum disorders. ADD, ADHD, and various other developmental disabilities also share these problem-solving / executive thought issues and can benefit from using this approach, according to Dr. Greene.

In the book, first we pick our battles carefully, and then talk through our thought process out loud. This way our children can hear us think through situations before tantrums. This also creates a memory of how they triumphed in the situation without resorting to negative behaviors.

Progress is made in small increments, but as time goes on, tantrums should decrease, and you can even start to ask your child to contribute ideas about solving problems during those emotional moments. In doing this, you help your child learn how to solve problems and become confident about handling new, changing, or challenging situations. You’ll combine the best of all worlds, to the benefit of your child.

Diaper rash is a really annoying baby problem.

Some babies are just more prone to diaper rash than others, and if yours is prone, you`ll really have to keep on top of the problem. The most important thing you can do is change your baby`s diaper regularly. Diaper rash is caused by the skin being constantly exposed to wetness, so changing frequently can prevent the problem. Most of the diaper rash ointments on the market are designed simply to protect your baby`s skin from wetness, so they are great at preventing diaper rash. If your baby is diaper rash prone, you might want to use an ointment at every changing as a preventative measure.

But, what if your baby already has a raging case of diaper rash? As I said, most of the products labeled as diaper rash ointments are best at preventing diaper rash, not healing it. There are a few concoctions that can help cure a bad case of diaper rash.

The first is Maalox – yes Maalox. Put some liquid Maalox on a cotton ball and apply to baby`s sore bottom. Let it dry a bit before diapering. For obvious reasons, don`t buy the
mint flavor, and don`t use this bottle of Maalox for anything but treating diaper rash.

A second helpful treatment for diaper rash is an oatmeal bath. There are some good oatmeal bath products on the market, even some designed especially for baby. These work wonders on diaper rash. Usually one or two baths is all it takes.

Finally, I had great luck when I mixed diaper rash ointment with a little bit of hydrocortisone cream. About 3 parts diaper rash ointment to one part hydrocortisone. One caution here- check with your doctor before you try this one, since hydrocortisone cream is normally not recommended for use on children under the age of two years.

If these remedies don`t work, check with your pediatrician. There may be some prescription products for extreme cases. But, the most important measure to take for diaper rash seems to be persistence. Keeping on top of the problem is your best bet for keeping the rash at bay.

- Diaper Rash – Diaper rash is caused by baby`s bottom being constantly exposed to wetness. For most babies, changing their diaper a little more often and applying an over
the counter cream are enough to solve the problem. If all your measures don`t work, or if the rash looks different than a typical diaper rash, call the doctor.

- Cradle Cap – Cradle cap is the presence of scales on the baby`s scalp, and usually occurs in very young infants. It is actually a form of dermatitis, and usually is not bothersome to the child. For most babies, a massage using petroleum jelly followed by a shampoo will take care of the problem. Try this at every bath until the problem stops recurring. Cradle cap is worsened by weating, so keep your baby`s head cool, avoiding the use of hats. If these measures don`t work, your doctor can prescribe an ointment or shampoo. Babies typically outgrow cradle cap within the first six months of life.

- Mystery Fever – Nearly all babies have this at one time or another. A low grade fever, with no other accompanying symptoms. If your baby is under two months of age, you should
seek medical attention with any fever. Otherwise, as long as the fever doesn`t go above 102A

Bruxism (greeting of teeth) occurs as a result of rhythmic clonus of masticatory muscles, accompanied by low sound, resembling gritting or clicking. During bruxism, a change of pulse, arterial pressure, breath etc. takes place. This phenomenon during sleep is met rather often. Mechanisms of bruxism origin are still not clear.

No personal changes, typical for those who suffer from bruxism were found. It is considered that bruxism can be one of displays of defects of sleep regulation, like somnambulism, night enuresis and nightmares. It was discovered that these phenomena are displayed more often under epilepsy.

Bruxism is found in 5-15% cases in population, and in about 50% of children. There`re facts about inherited predisposition to bruxism. Bruxism causes no problems for majority of children, and many of them get out of this habit with time. During sleep, you may notice several episodes of bruxism, lasting up to 10 seconds. If bruxism`s episodes last longer and are extremely intensive, then this may lead to damage of teeth and surrounding soft parts.

During severe fits of bruxism a child may wake up in the morning with headache, toothache and even painful feelings in his face. This may turn out to be very serious. If gritting of teeth
lasts for more than months and years, teeth can undergo significant wear. Moreover,this may damage the joint that helps lower jaw to join a side of head.

If your child is gritting his teeth all the time, you should consult a dentist, which can make a special tire for your child, which won`t allow teeth to adjoin. If your child is gritting his teeth only sometimes, then you can try to use methods, recommended by experts, or you may also use them together with a tire in his mouth.

Give rest to jaws. If your child doesn`t chew, swallow or talk, his upper and lower teeth shouldn`t adjoin. If teeth adjoin, there`s only one step to gritting left. Explain to a child and ask him to try keeping his teeth slightly pulled out, when his jaws are relaxed.

Encourage exercising. Regular exercises can help your child to relieve stress and muscle tension, which lead to a night gritting of teeth. Calm occupations before going to bed. A child shouldn`t take part in some struggle, drawing and other impetuous games before going to bed. Strained muscles need time to relax, before a child falls asleep. Create a calm atmosphere for your child 1 hour before he goes to bed. You can read a book or give him a possibility to read or look through pictures by himself during this period.

Try to put your child to bed earlier. Probably, your child is just too tired, and this may lead to gritting of teeth in the night. In this case, earlier going to bed may help him. If your child usually went to bed at 9 pm, try to put him to bed at 8 pm.

Avoid eating before going to bed. If digestive juices are working in the night, this may lead to excess tension of a baby during sleep. Don`t give anything to your child, except water, an hour before he goes to bed.

Speak with a child about his problems. If your child is worried with some difficult home task or a coming school performance, this may serve as a reason that makes him gritting his teeth in the night. If something worries a child, don`t let him go to bed with this anxiety in his head. Talk to him before he goes to bed, so that all troubles would leave him, this often helps to relieve tension. Make a 5 or 10 minutes conversation a daily sedative procedure before your child falls asleep.

Apply warm, wet compresses. If your child`s jaw aches in the morning, moisten a terry-cloth tissue in warm water, squeeze it and apply to an aching jaw till your child feels better. This
will help to calm down pain.