<ul><li>Children never directly get fungal infection.</li><li>Your child can get fungal infection from any member of the family who has been infected already.</li><li>Generally parents apply ointment for fungal infection on the skin surface and it gets healed in a few days but the infection under the skin is left untreated.</li><li>It is better to always consult a doctor for complete recovery from fungal infection. Doctors usually recommend oral medication plus ointment.</li><li>Fungal infections easily spread from one person to another so it is advisable that the other members in the family should also get checked and treated if needed.</li><li>The best way to avoid fungal infections is to keep your surroundings clean. Fungus usually grows where there is a source of water and humid conditions. Make sure there is no such corner in your place which provides environment for fungal growth.</li></ul>

Fungal infections are very rare among children but you can always prevent it from happening by following proper measures.

Fungal infections in children

Samiksha Choithani

Cleft is a split in the lip that can be immediately identified during the birth of a baby. A cleft lip is a split in the lip. Cleft lip and cleft palate can affect one or both sides of the mouth. Cleft lip and cleft palate can occur independently of each other or can occur together. A cleft lip is caused due to many reasons - it can be hereditary, exposure to substances like cigarettes, alcohol or medications, diabetes or obesity during pregnancy. Babies having cleft lip can breastfeed comfortably, however babies with a cleft palate may have difficulty in sucking.&nbsp;Consider this while feeding a baby with cleft lip (Without cleft palate):<ul><li>The baby may find it difficult to seal nipple with the mouth. If there is a hissing sound, it indicates that air is entering in the mouth.</li><li>Try to reposition the breast and baby’s mouth to form a vacuum.</li><li>The nipple should be behind the tongue; this will help the baby to hold the nipple in its mouth.</li><li>You can adjust and change positions to identify the one that works the best for your baby</li></ul> A cleft palate is a split or opening in the roof of the mouth. A cleft palate can involve the hard palate (the bony front portion of the roof of the mouth), and/or the soft palate. Consider this while breastfeeding a baby with cleft palate:<ul><li>Hold your breast in such a way that baby can get a good grip and latch properly.</li><li>The cleft can be repaired with surgery after 6-12 months but before that do not stop breastfeeding your child.</li><li>Breast milk is very helpful as it does not cause irritation on delicate tissues of the nose and throat and can help to reduce ear problems. Try to avoid formula milk.</li><li>Take help from nurses or specialists to feed the baby with a cleft palate. There are alternate methods like bowl and spoon-feeding, use a breast pump to get the milk in a bowl and feed the child with a spoon.</li></ul>

A cleft occurs because the tissues of the baby’s face and mouth don’t fuse (link) properly.

Breastfeeding a child with cleft lip/palate

Try the following and see which one works out the best for you and your child: Laid back breastfeeding: Laid back breastfeeding is also known as biological nurturing which means that your baby's natural instincts will guide your position.You just need to make yourself comfortable, support your back, shoulder, neck and arms with pillows and bring your baby close to your skin. Rub your nipple on your baby's lips and your baby will open its mouth widely and start to latch. This is a natural instinctive way of nursing and you will be able to do it with ease. ﻿Cradle hold: Hold your baby in one of your arms wherein his/her head rests in the crook of your elbow and support rest of his/her body with the same arm. Cup your breast with your other hand and using your thumb and index finger, place your nipples along with areola into your baby’s mouth and ensure that the baby latches properly. To be specific, position your thumb on top and fingers below the nipple. The entire areola (dark circle around the nipple) should be in the child’s mouth. Football hold (Clutch or underarm hold): This position is especially useful if you have had a C-section, large breasts, premature baby or twins. This is a position where you hold the baby on the same side as the breast you are nursing from, tucking your baby’s legs under your arm just like a football. Hold your baby’s head in your palms and support his/her body with your arm. Cup your breast and latch your baby the same way you would do for the cradle hold. Sleeping or side-lying: Lying position is comfortable for mothers who have had C-section. Use your arm to comfortably position the baby’s head and hold the baby’s buttocks in the palm. Use the other hand to your breast. Use a blanket to cover the little one and your breast to help the child feel warm and safe.

For starters, most mothers find it difficult to stick to one position for breastfeeding. But with time, it gets better.

Breastfeeding positions

Causes:Blindness&nbsp;may be due to genetic mutations, birth defects, premature birth, nutritional deficiencies, infections, injuries, and other causes. Symptoms:<ul><li>Pupils are unequal in size.</li><li>Pupils appear white instead of black.</li><li>Eyes don’t move when an object or face is moving in front of it.</li><li>Crossed eyes.</li><li>Eyes flutter from side to side or up and down.</li><li>Eyes do not seem to focus.</li><li>Clumsy behaviour such as knocking things over or bumping into things.</li><li>Repeated shutting or covering of one eye.</li><li>Avoiding tasks that require good vision.</li><li>Frequent squinting and blinking.</li><li>Sitting too close to the TV, holding books too close to the face.</li><li>Face crunching and eye rubbing.</li></ul> Diagnosis: After you observe above symptoms in your child, take him/her to an opthalmologist for thorough examination and diagnosis as there are different types of blindness. An opthalmologist will examine each eye by measuring the visual field, peripheral vision, and visual acuity. Types of Blindness:<ol><li>Colour Blindness: It is the inability to identify the difference between a few shades of colours.</li><li>Night Blindness: It is the difficulty to see under poorly illuminated situations.</li><li>Snow Blindness: It is the loss of vision after excessive exposure to UV light.</li><li>Unilateral Blindness: It is the loss of vision in only one of the eyes</li><li>Bilateral Blindness: It is the loss of vision in both the eyes.</li><li>Congenital Blindness: It is the inability to see from birth.</li></ol> Treatment:<ol><li>Make sure you take an appointment with an ophthalmologist if you do notice any of the above signs and symptoms affecting your kid. Also remember to get a routine check-up done to ensure proper progress and eye health.</li><li>In certain eye problems, wearing glasses or contact lenses may help your kid in seeing better.</li><li>Certain eye problems can be tackled by performing a surgery. In all cases, treatment of the eye problem totally depends on the cause.</li><li>In some cases, children may suffer from vision problems due to nutritional deficiencies and following a healthy diet could help solve the problem.</li><li>Cataract surgeries and certain forms of medications and eye drops could also be a treatment option for some children affected by treatable forms of visual impairment.</li></ol> Prevention: Whether a blindness is preventable or not, can only be identified by an opthalmologist because prevention, like treatment, depends on the type of blindness. Raising a visually impaired child:Connecting to the right kind of people and finding proper guidance can be a lot of help. Here are some tips you can follow to make this journey better and easier:&nbsp;<ol><li>Find your support system: The people who would understand what you are going through and offer relevant advice. Connect with other parents going through the same situation.</li><li>Follow a positive attitude: It is going to be okay! You and the child both will work it out eventually.</li><li>Do not worry about a child's future. Just be rational and practical and believe that it is always going to be better. See how you grow through this experience.</li><li>Read some articles: Go through some of the materials online or just consult your doctor. Ask for some suggestions and maybe read a book or an article on what can make your journey more fulfilling for you and your child. See how you can better the process. A few articles will help for sure.</li><li>Join some organisations: There are some private and government-based organisations you can join. They have nominal fees. These organisations are of great help because they can provide you with every small detail, the problem along with their solutions.</li><li>Educate your family: Introduce your family and extended family and friends to hows and whats of the process. So the child gets similar treatment and it gets easy for everyone to communicate and understand better.</li><li>Most important of all is time and again, take a break. Do not feel alone or weak in the process. The challenges are big sometimes but there is always a way out. You will conquer it. So just go easy on yourself and your child too.</li><li>There are special schools for children with special needs. Their ways of teaching are different and are in accordance with the child’s special needs. Your child will gradually adapt to the situation and you too will cope with it.</li></ol>

Here are Blindness Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Prevention, and Diagnosis.

All about Blindness

Lip tie is a condition where the underside of the upper lip tethers to the top of the gum with a skin tag. The piece of tissue behind your upper lip is called the frenulum. When these membranes are too thick or too stiff, they can keep the upper lip from moving freely. This condition is called a lip tie. Lip tie isn’t dangerous for babies, as long as they’re gaining weight according to their paediatrician’s guidelines. But lip tie, once diagnosed, is easy to correct. A baby with a tongue tie may not necessarily have a lip tie. Babies with lip tie may face challenges to breastfeed or bottle-feed, as it restricts the baby from stretching the lips to open the mouth wide. Causes: The causes of lip tie are still unknown. Lip tie symptoms:<ul><li>Difficulty in breastfeeding is one of the most common indications that your child may have a lip tie or tongue tie.</li><li>Struggling to latch on to the breast</li><li>Difficulty breathing during feeding</li><li>Making a clicking sound while nursing</li><li>Falling asleep often during nursing</li><li>Acting extremely fatigued by nursing</li><li>Slow weight gain or lack of weight gain</li><li>Colic</li></ul> If a child has a lip tie and you’re a breastfeeding mother, you may experience:<ul><li>Pain during or after breastfeeding</li><li>Breasts that feel engorged even right after nursing</li><li>Blocked milk ducts or mastitis</li><li>Fatigue from breastfeeding constantly even though your child never seems to be full</li></ul> Babies who have a severe lip or tongue-tie may go on to have difficulty eating from a spoon or eating finger foods, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Lip ties don’t have as many complications later in life. Some paediatricians believe that an untreated lip tie can lead to a higher likelihood of tooth decay for toddlers. Diagnosis: A lip tie is diagnosed through a physical exam. Most paediatricians can diagnose a lip tie based on its appearance. Treatment:A lip tie can be treated on the basis of the class of lip tie. Whether it is a class 1, class 2, class 3 or class 4. It can also be fibrous, fleshy, thick or thin depending upon the texture of the skin fold. Manual treatment: For class 1 and class 2 lip ties, the baby doesn’t need any formal treatment. Parents have to gently slide the finger underneath the upper lip to stretch frenulum tissue. This type of manual practice can gradually release the tightness of the tissue and the child will have normal mobility of the upper lip. Frenectomy: This is a small surgical procedure where the frenulum is cut through an operation. A frenulum is a small fold of tissue that prevents an organ in the body from moving too far. Doctors usually use laser technology to cut the frenulum and so it is called laser frenectomy. General anaesthesia is not used; instead, a local topical numbing agent is applied to the frenulum. In this procedure, a child may or may not require stitches. The procedure hardly takes a few minutes to complete. Babies can experience mild pain post the procedure. Stay vigilant for any signs of swelling or bleeding from the lips and contact the doctor immediately. Prevention: Lip tie cannot be prevented.

Here are Lip Tie Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.

All about Lip tie

It is very for children to get acne between the age of 0-6 years. Generally it affects on the onset of puberty (puberty is the age where children reach sexual maturity).But it can occur at any age out of hormonal imbalance or sensitive skin. There is no natural remedy for pimples. Things you can follow to reduce pimples:<ul><li>Make your child drink enough water.</li><li>Wash his/her face a few times during the day with clean water.</li><li>Follow healthy lifestyle.</li><li>Reduce the intake of oily, fried, and spicy food.</li></ul>

It is rare that your child would get pimples or acne at this age. If it does happen, it is always advisable to consult your paediatrician.

Dealing with acne

Ravina Sewani

Wheat allergy is an allergic reaction to foods containing wheat. Allergic reactions can be caused by eating wheat and also, in some cases, by inhaling wheat flour. Wheat is found in many foods, including some you might not suspect, such as soy sauce, ice cream and hot dogs. Wheat allergy sometimes is confused with celiac disease, but these conditions differ. Wheat allergy occurs when your body produces antibodies to proteins found in wheat. In celiac disease, a specific protein in wheat — gluten — causes a different kind of abnormal immune system reaction. Symptoms of wheat allergy:<ul><li>Swelling, itching or irritation of the mouth or throat</li><li>Hives, itchy rash or swelling of the skin</li><li>Nasal congestion</li><li>Headache</li><li>Difficulty breathing</li><li>Cramps, nausea or vomiting</li><li>Diarrhoea</li><li>Anaphylaxis</li></ul> Causes:Exposure to a wheat protein triggers the body's immune system for an allergic reaction. Your child can develop an allergy to any of the four classes of wheat proteins — albumin, globulin, gliadin and gluten. Sources of wheat proteins:<ul><li>Breads and bread crumbs</li><li>Cakes, muffins and cookies</li><li>Breakfast cereals</li><li>Pasta</li><li>Semolina</li><li>Soy sauce</li><li>Meat products, such as hot dogs</li><li>Dairy products, such as ice cream</li><li>Natural flavourings</li><li>Modified food starch</li><li>Vegetable gum</li><li>Cosmetics</li></ul> Risk factors:<ul><li>Family history: The chances of your child being allergic to wheat are higher if there is someone in the family who is allergic to wheat.</li><li>Age: Wheat allergy is most common in babies and toddlers, who have immature immune and digestive systems.</li></ul> Difference between Wheat Allergy and Celiac Disease:Wheat allergy involves an allergic response to any of the four proteins in wheat. Whereas, celiac disease is caused by gluten (a type of wheat protein). Celiac disease does not cause an immune response but rather causes a problem with the absorption of food in the intestines. Diagnosis:Symptoms of wheat allergy and celiac disease are overlapping hence an allergist can determine whether an allergy is present or not. You will be required to give your child's medical history, family's medical history combined with a skin-prick or a blood test. Prevention:<ul><li>Develop a habit of reading the food labels for ingredients and allergy information.</li><li>Teach your child to mention about the allergy whenever (s)he goes to visit someone.</li><li>Inform your child’s school about your child’s allergy. You can also give the medicines prescribed by your child’s doctor to the school which they can use in case of sudden allergic reactions.</li><li>Be careful about the possibility of cross-contact; especially when visiting a restaurant.</li><li>Always keep the allergy medication handy for your child.</li></ul> Treatment:<ul><li>The best way to prevent allergies of any sort in children is to avoid the source of the allergen.</li><li>In allergies, paediatricians usually prescribe antihistamine medicines for mild allergic reactions. Whereas for severe allergic reactions like anaphylaxis, your child’s paediatrician will prescribe an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI).</li></ul>

Some children can develop allergic reactions towards wheat and need to be fed on a different cereal.

Wheat allergy

Palak Vyas

Vomiting in young babies and small children is not rare. Vomiting is very common during early weeks when you have just introduced solids into their diet. But if your baby looks happy and healthy, you should stay assured that nothing is serious. Vomits can be either of the following three:Spitting up:<ul><li>Young babies tend to spit up milk or solids as soon as they are fed.</li><li>This is normal and there is nothing to worry about if the content that they spit is less.</li><li>As the oesophagus of children is still developing, milk can leak back up after a feed and come out of the baby's mouth or nose.</li></ul> This kind of vomiting resolves on its own as the baby grows and his/her digestive system matures. In case of frequent vomiting, paediatrician’s prescribed oral hydration solutions should be used. Reflux vomiting:This is due to the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Factors like obesity, eating spicy food, excess caffeine intake, overeating also contribute to GERD. Little tips to avoid or reduce reflux:<ul><li>Hold and feed your baby while (s)he is seated or in an upright position. Avoid feeding baby in a lying down position.</li><li>Feed your child in smaller portions.</li><li>Ensure that your baby doesn’t jump or bounce immediately after eating food.</li><li>Give your baby milk or water after feeding to reduce acid or indigestion.</li><li>Avoid giving spicy or fried food to your child.</li></ul> Projectile vomiting:Projectile vomiting is when the entire amount of last feed is forcefully vomited out. This could be due to a blockage caused by thickening of the muscle of the stomach. It could be due to some gastric infection or even the common cold.In any case, do not give over-the-counter medication to your baby. Consult your child’s paediatrician as early as possible. Causes of vomiting:<ul><li>Stress</li><li>Motion sickness</li><li>Gastroentritis (also known as stomach flu; caused by viruses)</li><li>Food poisoning</li><li>Food allergy</li><li>Concussion</li><li>Migraine</li></ul> You should consult the doctor in the following conditions:<ul><li>Vomiting for more than 12 hours.</li><li>Blood or bile in the vomit.</li><li>If your baby is losing weight or not gaining weight.</li><li>If there is persistent indigestion.</li><li>If the baby generally seems unwell.</li><li>If the baby remains fatigued all the time.</li></ul> Diagnosis: Physical examination, medical history, and in some cases blood tests help with the cause of vomiting. Treatment and Remedies:Give doctor's prescribed oral electrolyte solutions (ORS) to prevent dehydration and loss of nutrients in children.Usually medicines are not prescribed unless it's stomach flu.Do not give your child milk or milk products.Give them liquid diet. Example - fruit juices diluted with water, broth of vegetable or pulses (consult your child's paediatrician first). Prevention:<ul><li>Develop regular habit of washing hands in your child.</li><li>Check the food ingredients to see that the food doesn't have anything that might trigger your child's allergy.</li><li>Store and cook food properly to avoid the chances of food poisoning.</li></ul>

Here are Vomiting Causes, Types, Diagnosis, Treatment, Remedies, and Prevention.

All about vomiting

Newborns and infants cannot inform when they are hungry. Some of these signs are subtle hints that will tell you when the child is hungry:<ul><li>The baby is putting fingers in mouth</li><li>Sucking lips or tongue</li><li>Making little crying sounds</li><li>Getting restless</li><li>Avoids other family members and only wants to be with mother</li></ul> Some babies are too sleepy and do not show any signs of hunger, but wake them up and feed the baby at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours. Babies often get hungrier than usual (every hour) during the growth spurt. Growth spurt is the time when the baby is physically growing; it lasts for 2-3 days. Growth spurts occur periodically, within 7-10 days of birth, 2-3 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months.

Irritability is probably the most common signs among babies that indicates a child is hungry.

eye watering health concerns

Following article(s) will help solve your concern.