Dr Ajab Primuswala

The most important thing is to make sure that your child is diagnosed of autism by a psychiatrist or psychologist. You should not confuse autism with social anxiety or social awkwardness. As a parent you have to be extra loving and caring. Be very specific in what words you use with your child. This makes the child comfortable with you and develops a rapport which helps them in expressing themselves in front of you. Things to be taken care of:<ul><li>As a parent, we tend to get aggressive easily when we feel the child is not understanding or obeying us. But leave your aggression aside and be friendlier with your child. The first rule to deal with a child with autism is, be friendly and loving.</li></ul> <ul><li>Second most important thing is to know that a child with autism doesn’t understand eye movements or non verbal communication like signs and gestures. They always need verbal communication for better understanding.</li></ul> <ul><li>For example: If you want your child to sit down, rolling your eyes down won’t make any sense to him/her. It is better to tell him precisely, “Please sit down”. Or you can tell him/her that you would appreciate it if (s)he would sit down.</li></ul> <ul><li>Once you have child has been diagnosed with autism, start working with them as per your psychiatrist/psychologist’s guidance. Your child will develop a lot of coping skills if given regular therapy and constant words of encouragement from you. So when your doctor suggests therapy, go ahead with it and be regular in that.</li></ul> <ul><li>Don’t treat them as different children or disabled children. They are quite normal. It is just that their way of understanding; their way of perception is different than ours.</li></ul> <ul><li>For them, the world is what they perceive, not what we want them to perceive.&nbsp;Be very open in sharing how you are feeling. If you do not like their certain behaviour, you can verbalise and tell them , “I don’t like your behaviour and I would appreciate if you do not repeat it again.” Scolding them for everything they do, is not going to work in a progressive manner.</li></ul> <ul><li>As a parent you can tell people in your surroundings that you can be verbal and caring towards these children. Just don’t treat them differently. Don't be aggressive to them. Be loving and gentle. Convey this to you family, relatives, near and dear ones, so everyone treats him/her in a similar manner as they treat other children.</li></ul>

Children with autism, sure need extra care but they should never be treated as "misfit" children.

Raising a Child with Autism

Ravina Sewani

Babies who are prematurely born may have complications as some of their organs haven’t yet fully developed. Premature babies can have complications in the first few days, weeks or months and so are first kept in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for survival and to provide optimal environment for growth. Kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact) is a unique practice where a baby is taken care of outside the incubator. The baby is positioned directly on the mother's bare chest after birth and is covered with a warm blanket. Care should be taken to not move the baby too far away from the incubator as the machine is connected with tubes and wires. There are several benefits of Kangaroo care. They are:<ul><li>Kangaroo care regulates baby's body temperature and heart rate.</li><li>It promotes baby's digestion and improves oxygen levels for the baby.</li><li>It helps babies sleep longer, thereby promoting growth and protection from infections.</li><li>Kangaroo care releases hormones that support breastfeeding and increases the volume of volume that contains antibodies.</li><li>It is a great practice to develop the bond between the mother and the baby.</li></ul>

Kangaroo care is a method of holding a baby that involves skin-to-skin contact with the mother.

Kangaroo care for children

Cavities are tiny openings or holes that develop in the hard surface of the teeth. Cavities are also called tooth decay or caries. The main cause of tooth decay in children is unhealthy food habits. Causes:<ul><li>Excess intake of sugary food</li><li>Retaining sweet food for a long time in the mouth</li><li>Bacteria in the mouth</li><li>Not keeping teeth clean</li></ul> Symptoms of tooth decay or cavities:<ul><li>Toothache, mostly spontaneous</li><li>Tooth sensitivity</li><li>Mild to sharp pain when eating or drinking something sweet, hot or cold</li><li>Visible holes in the teeth</li><li>Brown, black or white staining on any surface of a tooth</li></ul> Diagnosis: Your child’s dentist can often diagnose tooth decay based on:<ul><li>A complete history of your child</li><li>An exam of your child’s mouth</li><li>Dental X-rays</li></ul> Treatment:Routine dental check-ups are very important because your child might not complain about the pain until the cavity has spread too much. So if your child feels fine about his/her teeth, take them for routine check-ups. In case your child experiences a toothache or mouth pain, see your dentist at the earliest. The dentist will suggest the treatment for your child depending on the intensity of the tooth decay. Your child's dentist may suggest one of the following: <ol><li>Early-stage treatment: If the tooth decay gets detected in its early stage, a fluoride treatment can restore the tooth enamel and prevent further decay.</li><li>Tooth fillings: A dentist uses a drill and removes decayed material from the tooth. The dentist will then fill the tooth with a substance, such as silver, gold, or composite resin depending on what is appropriate.</li><li>Crowns: For more severe decay, the dentist will place a custom-fit cap over your child's tooth to replace its natural crown.</li><li>Root canal: When tooth decay causes the death of your nerves, the dentist will perform a root canal to save the tooth. They remove the nerve tissue, blood vessel tissues, and any decayed areas of the tooth. If there is any infection, the dentist will apply a medication. Finally, they fill the tooth and place a crown on it. Root canals are usually very painful hence it is better to take precautions early on.</li></ol> Precautions:<ul><li>Reduce the frequency of sugary acidic foods, limiting it to mealtimes.</li><li>Opt for fresh fruit instead of dried fruits which are high in sugar.</li><li>Avoid feeding drinks containing sugars, including fruit juices, between meals.</li><li>Choose to give water or milk over sugary drinks.</li><li>Avoid adding sugar to their drinks/food while introducing your baby to solid food.</li><li>Avoid giving sugar-laden processed baby food.</li><li>Cleanse baby's teeth regularly to help prevent cavities.</li><li>Ask them to gargle regularly and drink enough water.</li><li>Develop the habit of brushing the teeth twice a day.</li></ul>

Tooth decay or cavities are very common among kids and teenagers.

Tooth decay - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Prevention

<ul><li>The first question is whether the child has been diagnosed with dyslexia or not. So without diagnosis, it could be just a lazy lethargic child who doesn’t want to read or write or is “not interested in writing or reading”.</li><li>“Not interested in reading or writing” means the child does not want to read or write at all. On the other hand, dyslexia is a disorder in which the child wants to read or write but does not have the capability of doing so in a perfect manner. If the diagnosis is done, then there are specific measures which have to be taken care of.</li><li>To bring it to your notice, dyslexia is not the only type which is a reading or writing difficulty. There are dyscalculia, dysgraphia and many more.</li><li>In dyslexia, the child cannot comprehend the red blue coordination of linings which becomes difficult for them to keep up with upper case and lower case letters of the English alphabet.</li><li>Here, you can use a broad red blue line notebook to train them to have them follow the concept from red to blue, blue to red and for middle case only blue lines. This can be a great help which any parent can do irrespective of whether you are trained in it or not.</li><li>You can also look through multiple resources available for dyslexia training and practice it yourself and help your child to read and write in that particular manner.</li><li>Dyslexia is not something that comes alone; it comes with a combination of other learning difficulties. The child will have to go to a special educator who is specifically trained in dealing with reading and writing difficulties in children with dyslexia. Trained educators usually design different programs for different children as every child has a different learning methodology. You can work on the special program which your child’s educator has designed.</li><li>You can also ask for support from your child’s school. Whichever material is going to be provided by the school, the child can get it prior and practice it at home. So when they are in school, it can be easier for them to cope.</li><li>As parents, you have to be more open. Being observant is what you can do for your child. You also need to be patient with your child as not get irritated for their slow pace of learning.</li></ul>

Children with dyslexia can be trained with professional help to cope with their reading and writing difficulties.

Caring for children with dyslexia

Palak Vyas

Some mothers&nbsp;produce more milk than their breasts can hold, which makes the breasts feel rock hard and uncomfortably full – a condition called engorgement.This condition might last temporarily for 24 to 48 hours. However it can be painful. What do engorged breasts feel like?The breasts feel large, hard and lumpy. The skin of your breasts look shiny and feel stretched, and your nipples becomes hard and flat. Breast engorgement can cause breastfeeding difficulties – which can, in turn, worsen the problem. Your baby might struggle to latch if your nipples are flatter and your breast tissue is harder,&nbsp;causing sore nipples. Causes of breast engorgement:<ul><li>Engorgement usually occurs because the baby is not feeding frequently enough (at least eight times in 24 hours).</li><li>Those women who doesn’t feed their babies or who can’t, due to any reason for example either they are working or too busy with chores due to large families, these women can develop breast engorgement. It can also cause when the woman produces more milk than her baby can have.</li><li>Engorgement can also happen if you suddenly cut on breastfeeds, maybe, because your baby is sick,&nbsp;either (s)he keeps sleeping longer, starting solid foods and other liquids, or going into childcare, which keeps him away from you for longer time.</li></ul> Treating engorged breasts:<ul><li>Breastfeed your baby for minimum 8 times in 24 hours.</li><li>Check that your baby has a good breastfeeding latch.</li><li>Try breastfeeding in different positions.</li><li>You can also massage your breasts gently while feeding to help the milk drain effectively.</li></ul>

New mothers might worry about breast engorgement but there is nothing to worry about much.

Understanding Breast Engorgement

<ul><li>The first thing to keep in mind is that you need to identify at which level of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) your child is.</li><li>The second thing is whether it is has been diagnosed and whether you are working on it or not.</li><li>On certain level of ASD scale, media can positively help children with ASD in expressing their feelings, their thoughts and their uneasiness. There are specific apps and specific websites which can help ASD children in their development.</li><li>Children with ASD usually cannot make direct eye contact hence, a few expert recommended applications can help an ASD child with expressing their feelings better.</li><li>At the same time, it is important to keep an eye on which kind of media an ASD child is using. If the child is randomly using phones or TVs from which (s)he is not learning anything positive, such media use needs to be avoided.</li><li>The media which an ASD child consumes should lead to progressive development in their condition. The media should not suppress their already delayed development.</li><li>Consult with a child psychiatrist or child psychologist to know whether the ASD scale of your child needs media usage or not.</li><li>Age of the child also needs to be considered before letting them consume content from media.</li></ul>

Media can be helpful to some children with autism while it might suppress a child's growth as well. It is better to consult an expert (psychologist or psychiatrist) before exposing your child to media.

Media use and Autism Spectrum Disorder

<ul><li>If the child gets sick again and again, the parent considers it as weak immunity but this is not true because every time a child falls sick, (s)he gets back to normal on their own so the immunity is fine. The immunity is weak when the child doesn’t heal and stays sick for long extended periods.</li><li>As a child grows, (s)he does not stay at one place or with just one person. This leads to a child getting exposed to outside environment and a lot of new people. Due to this, the chances of catching infections again and again are very high. And so the child falls sick frequently.</li><li>This does not mean that the immunity is less. In fact, the child should not be given medication again and again. The infection will be cured within a week as a child’s body learns to fight against outside germs. Fighting against germs will only make your child’s immunity stronger.</li><li>A child’s immunity completely develops by 5 to 7 years.</li></ul> To increase your child's immunity:<ul><li>Breastfeed your baby.</li><li>Encourage exercise:&nbsp;It enhances immune system through stress-reduction. Thus encouraging your kids to opt for age-appropriate exercise regularly, will&nbsp;make them physically fit and support their immunity. Regular moderate intensity exercise increases child’s immunity.</li><li>Give them nutritious diet: Deficiencies of Vitamins A, C, E, B6 and Folate, are also associated with reduced immunity. Micro-nutrients such as Zinc, Selenium, Iron and Copper are also important in developing a healthy immune system. Thus, a properly balanced diet with all required nutrients is extremely important, especially in the growing years when the immune system is still maturing.</li><li>Inculcate healthy sleep habits: Sleep is a restorative process that plays a critical role in the proper functioning of the immune system. It is important to develop and follow a healthy and optimum sleep pattern for your children.</li><li>Serve more fruits and vegetables.</li><li>Develop a good habit of washing hands: You should pay particular attention to their hygiene before and after each meal and after playing outside, handling pets, blowing their nose, using the bathroom, and arriving home from daycare. When you're out, carry disposable wipes with you for quick cleanups. To help kids get into the hand-washing habit at home, let them pick out their own brightly coloured hand towels and soap in fun shapes, colours, and scents.</li><li>Keep your babies away from second hand smoke: If you or your spouse smokes, quit. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 toxins, most of which can irritate or kill cells in the body.</li></ul>

Your child getting sick again and again does not mean that (s)he has a weaker immunity.

Increasing child’s immunity

In mastitis, your breasts might become tender, warm to touch, breast may get swollen, get a breast lump, skin redness, experience burning sensation continuously or while breast-feeding. Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast due to ineffective draining of milk. Mastitis is known to happen in only one breast but sometimes it can happen in both your breasts. Mastitis requires medical advice right away. When you are breastfeeding, milk production is a continuous process and if you do not empty your breasts, the pressure around the breasts increases and the milk builds up in the surrounding breasts tissues. This build up of milk causes redness and swelling. If the milk enters into the blood stream, your immune system might respond with fever or with chills and heat alternatively. Mastitis sometimes is also caused by bacteria entering your body through your cracked nipples or milk ducts. The risk of mastitis increases there is poor draining of milk, sore or cracked nipples, inefficient nursing, or if you wear a tight-fitting dress restricting your milk flow, if you smoke or have a poor nutrition compromising your immunity. If left untreated, mastitis could lead to abscess. Mastitis can be prevented by ensuring drainage of the milk from your breasts while breast-feeding. This can be done by allowing your baby to fully feed from one breast before offering the other.The usual treatment for mastitis includes prescription of antibiotics. Mastitis can recur if you do not treat the cause. You need to drain your breast totally during every feed. Continue to breastfeed through your bout of mastitis as this may help you. If you do not do this, you run the risk of another infection.

Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast due to ineffective draining of milk.

Mastitis in mothers

Samiksha Choithani

There is nothing wrong in using breast pumps. Breast pumps are useful and come handy when you are travelling or for a working mother or when a child is having difficulty to latch on the breast. If you have decided to use a breast pump, follow these simple instructions:<ol><li>Clean all parts of the breast pump.</li><li>Wash your hands.</li><li>Find an isolated place where you can sit in peace and pump.</li><li>While you start pumping, think about your child, this will trigger hormones and will help to generate sufficient milk.</li><li>Make sure the shield of the pump is centred over the nipple.</li><li>Once you start pumping it may take a couple of minutes to start the flow.</li><li>Switch the breasts every 5 minutes; ensure each breast gets a total stimulation of 15 minutes.</li><li>After using the pump wash it with warm soapy water.</li><li>The milk extracted using a breast pump is safe for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature.</li></ol> In case after using breast pumps, you are experiencing problems such as - less milk supply or sore nipples, it is better to consult a doctor.

breastfeeding health concerns

Following article(s) will help solve your concern.