It's trickier to keep babies safe in monsoons, but taking care of a few important things can make it alright: <ul><li>Make sure that your baby’s clothes are dry and warm. Clothes often remain cold and damp after a wash in the monsoon. Clothes that remain damp can result in your baby catching a fever or cold. It is also best to opt for breathable cotton fabrics and avoid synthetics that may cause rashes.</li><li>Monsoons are always accompanied by several insects and germs like flies, fungus mosquitoes, etc. Hence the chances of babies falling ill also increase during monsoons. To keep your baby free of these, ensure that you and everyone else handling your baby should stay clean. Keep an eye out for nappy rash - change diapers regularly and apply a good diaper rash cream.</li><li>Disinfect your home and surroundings too regularly to keep germs away. Unclean surroundings can harbour many disease-causing insects and pests, as well as bacteria.</li><li>Monsoon brings with it malaria and dengue causing mosquitoes. To prevent your baby from catching these diseases, it is best to use bed nets or mesh windows. You can also use mosquito repellent creams for your baby after consulting with a doctor. There are also liquid, card and coil repellents available that are safe and effective against mosquitoes.</li><li>It is best not to take your baby out during monsoons, especially when it is raining. The humidity and the change in temperatures might lead to your baby catching the flu. If you have to take your baby out, make sure that your baby is covered correctly and completely dry throughout your outing. If you go out, avoid dirty areas with puddles and mud. Ensure that you are not taking your baby to crowded places as it’s easier to get infected with people around. When you take your child outdoors, keep wet wipes handy to ensure your baby stays clean all the time.</li><li>Some infants are allergic to specific pollen and allergens. Make sure your baby is kept away from these during the rains. If you notice any rash, redness or other symptoms, consult your doctor immediately and get it checked.</li><li>Check your house for dampness, leakage before the monsoon arrives. Get them fixed if there is a problem. Check for fungus or moulds around the house. Secure the loose electric wiring, if any. Clean the drains and keep bathrooms hygienic</li><li>Always feed freshly prepared food to your baby in monsoon as food tends to spoil quickly in monsoon.</li><li>Since you can’t always find clean water when you’re outside, make sure you carry a small bottle of sanitiser and use it to clean your hands whenever handling the baby.</li><li>Many doctors recommend getting a flu booster shot when the monsoons are around. Make sure your baby gets all his/her shots before the monsoon.</li><li>Since a baby is primary indoors in monsoon (s), he doesn’t need a daily bath. Two to three times a week, and especially around humid times, can give your baby relief from the heat as well. If your child has been outside, definitely give him a nice warm water bath.</li></ul>

Taking the right precautionary steps before the arrival of any season will keep your baby safe and healthy.

Monsoon Precautions for Babies | Tips & Precautions

Taking the right precautionary steps before the arrival of any season will keep your baby safe and healthy.

Monsoon Tips and Precautions for Babies

Kids tend to avoid healthy food due to the high taste levels of junk food. These activities will be a great help to develop their interest in food:<ul><li>Take them for grocery shopping.</li><li>Cook and Bake with them; there is nothing more exciting than this.</li><li>Teach them gardening - grow foods in your backyard.</li><li>Place the food on the plate in the colours of a rainbow; this way you can include all sorts of food on your child's plate. The easiest way is to prepare a food salad or a vegetable salad.</li><li>Hide vegetables and fruits in an opaque box or carry bag and ask the child to close their eyes. Then ask them to put their hand inside the bag, pick up food, feel it and then try to identify the vegetable/fruit through its texture. You can do this activity separately for vegetables and fruits to make it easier for your child.</li><li>Food obstacle course activity. Design an obstacle course in your house where you place different fruits/vegetables as obstacles. The child will have to eat a small portion of that vegetable or fruit before advancing forward. You can carry out this activity in a group and it will be a lot more fun.</li><li>Weave a story around fruits and vegetables and narrate those during their mealtime; check out food-related stories on our app.</li><li>Sing them songs/rhymes about food; you can a few songs related to food on our app.</li></ul> Keep in mind:<ul><li>Do not give them screens during mealtime; this way they will know what they are eating and will appreciate the food on their plates.</li><li>Let them have their favourite snack or dessert once in a while. But do not use them as treats for eating the food that they like less.</li></ul>

Thinking of interesting ways to present food to your child(ren) will make them eat all types of food.

Activities to encourage and develop child's interest in food

Thinking of interesting ways to present food to your child(ren) will make them eat all types of food.

Activities to develop your child interest in food

<ul><li>Protect your child from too much sun. The sun's rays are strongest between 10 AM and 4 PM so avoid taking your child out during these hours.</li><li>If you plan to take your child outside, apply sunscreen to them which provides protection against UV rays. Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before going outside. Reapply every two hours and after being in the water or sweating. Use sunscreen on cloudy days too as the sun’s rays pass through the clouds as well. Do not skip sunscreen if you are taking your child out; only skip if your child is wearing clothes that cover his/her entire body.</li><li>If your baby is less than a year old, keep them out of the sun as much as you can. Dress your baby in lightweight, light-coloured clothing with long sleeves and long pants. Make sure to cover their head.</li><li>Select sunglasses for babies and children that provide 100% UV protection.</li><li>When it is too hot and humid, children should not play outside or exercise for more than 30 minutes at a time.</li><li>Make sure your child drinks plenty of fluids even if they are not thirsty. Water is best of all. Dehydration can cause fatigue and muscle cramping.</li><li>Keep your child covered at all times when outside or sit in the shade as your child’s sensitive skin can get a sunburn. If your child gets sunburn, the best remedy is to use a cold compress for the affected area. If it’s too much, consult a doctor.</li><li>Never leave your kids unattended in a closed car even for a few minutes and even if the windows are open. The temperature inside a closed car increases too quickly and can be fatal for a child.</li></ul>

Handy Summer Care and Tips For Babies

Summer Precautions for Babies

In a joint family, every member takes their turn to nurture and nourish the child. Joint families are a boon to working parents or otherwise too. Children get to learn to respond and interact with others, adapt to changes and people. Raising a child in a joint family also becomes a bit easier on the mother because of the whole support system. Like every coin has two sides, bringing up a child in a joint family also has its own set of pros and cons. <ul><li>A joint family has too many authoritative figures which usually can give contradicting signals to a child. In a joint family, the same message should come from all the adults in the family. If jumping on the bed is not allowed, then the same message should come from both parents and grandparents.</li><li>It Is given that the parenting styles of grandparents and parents are going to differ. And when the differences arise, children are quick to catch those. So whenever you feel conflicts arising, it is better to sit down and talk about the differences when the child is NOT around. Set ground rules about raising your child.</li><li>In a joint family, a child learns good family values from the elder family members.</li><li>Children in a joint family are less hooked on gadgets as everyone in the family is ready to cater to their needs, be it emotional, social, physical, or in academics.</li><li>Making decisions for a child might get conflicting in the joint families as the grandparents tend to impose their thoughts and opinions. Sure, at times the help and insights are great but at the end of the day, it is solely the right of parents to decide the best for their child.</li></ul> In the end, it is up to parents to weigh the pros and cons of raising a child in joint and nuclear families and then decide what’s best for their child(ren).

A joint family is a large family where the grandparents, father, mother, uncle, aunt and their children live unitedly under one roof.

Parenting in a Joint Family | Types of Family

A joint family is a large family where the grandparents, father, mother, uncle, aunt and their children live unitedly under one roof.

Parenting in a Joint Family

Before guiding your child towards the spiritual path, accept it in your life first. Children can feel when parents fake something. So it is important to be completely true to what you believe in before nurturing your child’s spiritual side. Developing spirituality is a lifelong journey towards self-discovery. What is spirituality?The dictionary defines it as being concerned about the human soul and spirit as opposed to physical and material things. It does not matter in which religion you believe. It is important to believe in the energy that is greater than us. Spirituality is developing life values like gratitude, compassion, sharing, acceptance, faith, etc. Being spiritual is respecting life, respecting the rights of others, and appreciating the environment. For example, teaching ‘sharing’ to children is important; be it sharing their toys with other children or sharing their time and energy with elderly people. It is important to let our children know how these actions make other people feel good. Not to mention when we help others, we are truly helping ourselves. Spiritual kids are happier and healthier and have a better sense of values and morals.Spiritual well being leads to fewer chances of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Spiritual well being also leads to emotional well being in children. There is no particular age when you can start instilling spirituality in your children. You can teach your babies and toddlers too. At this age, they might not understand it mentally but they will feel the energies, vibrations, and love and will know that this is a state of being. Here are a few ways to nurture your child spiritually:<ol><li>Set an intention:&nbsp;First thing in the morning have everyone in your family set their intention for the day. Have your children state their intention, for example, their intention for the day could be something like: I intend to be mindful in school today, or I intend to have a happy day.&nbsp;At the end of the day, ask them if their day turned out as they intended it to. If not, ask them where it went off track and what they could have done differently.</li><li>Gratitude journal: Make it a habit that everyone in the family writes down at least one thing they are grateful for every day in the evening. It can be anything from being happy for being alive to thanking another family member for something they have done for them. Alternatively, if you as a family eat dinner together, have everyone at the dinner table state what they are grateful for.</li><li>Guided visualisation: Children are visual learners so guided visualisations or meditations work great. Guided visualisations can create healthily, thought-provoking images to transform negativity into positive affirmations. Guided visualisations provide relief from stress and anxiety, decrease panic attacks, boost self-esteem, and provides opportunities for children to connect with themselves on deeper levels. Guided visualisations are best to use before bed so as to calm your baby down and put them in the space to have good dreams.</li><li>Martial Arts:&nbsp;As odd as this sounds, martial arts actually emphasises self-control, respect, and compassion. Apart from teaching self-control and discipline, martial arts boosts self-esteem and confidence, it provides a tool to channel anger. It is also a great exercise</li><li>Yoga:&nbsp;Yoga brings about inner peace, is a good way to increase children’s awareness of their own bodies, aids their sense of balance. It also reduces stress and lowers anxiety levels in children.</li><li>Arts and Crafts:&nbsp;Arts and crafts provide children with the opportunity of being creative and use their imagination. Hence, art and craft is great way to explore spirituality. Art also helps children in expressing their deepest feelings for which they don’t have the words to say out loud. Children tell the truth through their art.</li><li>Explore nature: Exploring nature helps in self-discovery. You can teach several aspects of life using the elements of nature. For example, you can teach your children about transformation by talking about butterflies; teach them about the interconnectedness of life by talking about ecosystems while hiking in the forest; teach them about conservation by picking up trash wherever you are; take them for stargazing. There are endless ways to teach children about the universe and its place in it through the exploration of nature.</li><li>Community Service: Volunteering for a community service project can provide children with a broader understanding of how they fit in the world. It helps them develop compassion and empathy for others and find gratitude that their own circumstances are different from others.</li><li>Encourage your child to share his or her dreams with you: By showing a genuine interest in your child’s dreams, the child will learn to value them. Encouragement to share will build their self-confidence and in turn create an optimistic and cheerful approach to life. By encouraging a child to share aspirations we are ultimately supporting them in believing and achieving them.</li><li>Listen to your child with full attention and concentration: When children try to communicate but aren’t heard and honoured, they try to guard their feelings over time and keep to themselves most of the time. Take time out to sit and listen to your child’s joys, achievements, frustrations, and dreams.</li></ol>

Children can feel when parents fake something. So it is important to be completely true to what you believe in before nurturing your child’s spiritual side. 

Nurturing your child's Spirituality

Spirituality keeps one grounded and helps an individual live an emotionally and mentally content life.

Nurturing your childs Spirituality

Ravina Sewani

Choking is caused due to an object — usually food or a toy — getting stuck in the airway. Because of this, the air can't flow normally into or out of the lungs, so the child can't breathe properly. Most of the time, the food or object only partially blocks the trachea, which gets removed by the coughing and breathing returns to normal quickly.&nbsp;It's best to do nothing. Watch the child carefully and make sure he or she recovers completely. The child will likely be fine after a good coughing spell. Don't reach into the mouth to grab the object or even pat the child on the back. Either of these steps could push the object farther down the airway and make the situation worse. Stay with the child and remain calm until the episode passes. Sometimes, an object completely blocks the airway. If airflow into and out of the lungs is blocked and the brain is deprived of oxygen, choking can become a life-threatening emergency. A child may need immediate medical help if (s)he:<ul><li>Can't breathe</li><li>Is gasping or wheezing</li><li>Can't talk, cry, or make noise</li><li>Turns blue</li><li>Grabs at his or her throat or waves arms</li><li>Appears panicked</li><li>Becomes limp or unconscious</li></ul> Until the help arrives:<ul><li>In these cases, if you've been trained, immediately start abdominal thrusts, the standard rescue procedure for choking.</li><li>Start CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) right away, if you've been trained in it. If you can see the object in mouth, only then remove the object.</li><li>If you have not been trained, and no one else is available who has been, wait until help arrives.</li></ul> Prevention:<ul><li>All kids are at risk for choking, but those younger than 3 are especially at risk. Young kids tend to put things in their mouths, have smaller airways that are easily blocked, and don't have a lot of experience chewing, so they might swallow things whole.&nbsp;</li><li>Avoid foods that pose choking risks.</li><li>At mealtime, be sure to serve a child's food in small bites.</li><li>Teach kids to sit down for all meals and snacks and not to talk or laugh with food in their mouths.</li><li>Toys and household items also can be choking hazards. Choose safe, age-appropriate toys. Always follow the manufacturer's age recommendations.</li><li>Take the time now to become prepared. CPR and first-aid courses are a must for parents, other caregivers, and babysitters.</li></ul>

Choking is caused due to an object — usually food or a toy — getting stuck in the airway. Because of this, the air can't flow normally into or out of the lungs, so the child can't breathe properly.

Choking in children

Read the article to find out how you can help your child if (s)he experiencing choking.

child has something stuck in throat

Read the article to find out how you can help your child if (s)he experiencing choking.

Choking in children

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