At the hospital Sam was smiling at the Dr and he thought that its just minor scratch since the baby is not at all crying! but when they cleaned it up, they found it big enough to be given 3 stitches!!!! Then Dr asked if I would be OK to hold him while they do the stitching but I wasn’t too sure….  because I was on the verge of crying out loud but somehow trying to control since I was alone with him at the hospital and had to manage everything till my  husband arrived…

Then i decided to go inside the room and held his arms, another person held his head tightly and one held his feet, while the Dr did his work … those 8 minutes were again one of the toughest moments so far … but he was fine after coming home and started playing all over again … After all its just a part of growing up … He would be fine soon!

I am glad that he will atleast have 1 tooth on his first b’day (2 days later)… Well.. out of all the milestones, this one made us wait the longest… but still, it’s achieved, well in time

So, I asked an experienced friend and got the right mantra for getting your child into the morning routine. She told me to start putting him in bed earlier by 30 min everyday and wake him up also 30 min prior to his normal time …. and she promised me that he’ll get accustomed to my desired schedule within 1 week! …

I followed it for a week … initially it was quite tough to put him to bed early, but then I switched the lights off and gave him bottle-milk …. he would slowly start feeling drowsy and go to sleep in 45min-1hr.

Even waking him up was quite challenging, but as soon as he woke up I would give him some water, wash his face and take him to park …. he would sit there, talk to people, see the flowers, birds and the rising sun!

And yes! he now ‘wants’ to sleep at 10 and wake up at 6 (with a smile)!!!! My biggest worry is over and now I can focus on getting other things in place before getting back to my work!

I had been working round the clock to make sure that Sam doesn’t get dehydrated… so gave him plenty of home-made fluids as well as ORS (oral rehydration soln) frequently. I made him have all the possible things  like lemon-aide, lassi, juice, khichdi, curd, coconut water, ORS, watery fruits like melon… of course along with all the anti-biotics that he’s been taking, but nothing helped him stop the lose-motion! But thankfully the DR said that he doesn’t look dehydrated for the reason that you are giving him plenty of liquids… keep giving until it settles down. Will take another few days….

Besides preparing and giving him liquid diet, I got exhausted taking him to the loo every hour, washing , cleaning, changing diapers! and to make matters worse, my maid left the work!!! I don’t know when will this phase end or how long will it last! I felt like fainting after doing the house-hold work also….

while doing all this, I slipped in the washroom with Sam in my lap … no major injury though! but Sam got scared and I was too frustrated to hold back my tears… but when he saw me crying (probably for the first time) he immediately stopped crying and came to me ad touched my cheeks with his two little hands …. Ahhh … only you can understand my condition, son!

and today morning, he pulled out my laptop charger, put in his mouth and got electric shock! nothing can get worse than this I am sure…. but this too shall pass ….

I immediately filled his mouth with sugar which is a home remedy to heal the wound in the mouth…. what a tough evening it was … struggle has just begun

And we saw a big half cm big red bump on the upper side of his left arm. It was the place where he got his BCG vaccine shot on the 2nd day of birth. A boil… with pus …. after 7 months!!!! we were shocked to see it now! Normally this happens between 8-12 months of age but getting it so late raised a lot of doubts in our heads…. I called up the Dr immediately, but he said it can’t be due to BCG vaccine, as it doesn’t happen at 7 months.. could be a mosquito bite allergy!

When I took Sam to the dr and showed him, he agreed that it was due to BCG vaccine only. The reason for it to occur so late was the it might have been given too deep at that time that it took 7 months to come on the surface and rupture (while it is suppose to be given very superficially). He pressed the red area and to my surprise, Sam was smiling at the doctor!!! It means there’s NO PAIN… Dr just advised to wipe off any discharge that occurs thereafter and not to apply any lotion or antiseptic fluid.

I was relieved. The only thing that’s bothering me is… ‘The mark would be a bit bigger than usual’. Well I don’t mind as long as its covered under his sleeves!

With Sam, I have faced this problem quite an odd number of times… First time it happened at 3 months, when I had to ‘unwillingly’ put him to bottle feed (lactogen 1) as I had to undergo a surgery for gall stones. He was on outside feed for 24 hours and thereafter didn’t relieve himself for 3 days!! And when it happened, the whole process was so painful for him that he screamed out loud due to hardened stools… I could feel his pain too…

Then I asked my pediatrician and she told me to give him ‘pre-boiled lukewarm water with sugar’ . I tried and it solved the problem quite well. I got to know from my experienced friend that ‘2 spoons of orange juice’ also help in relieving constipation in kids. So this time when he tried having solids like khichdi, sooji kheer etc and didn’t relieve himself for a day, I, without further ado, gave him orange juice…. that also helped him equally well.

When you know some of the home-remedies for kids’ troubles, you are not scared of encountering the problem and the child is also prevented from popping in the medicines…. (these rememdies should be tested only for a day and if there’s no relief, doctor must be consulted)

Here’s the recipe for this special ’sweet-dish’ for kids…

Ingredients:

• Sooji (semolina) half cup
• milk one cup
• sugar 2 tsp

Method:

Roast semolina (sooji) in a pan for 2 min (till it turns golden brown. Add milk and while pouring it, keep stirring to avoid the formation of lumps. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Cool it down and feed the baby!

Today I tried making it with his very own ‘Lactogen’ (formula baby milk) because he had been comfortably taking it since last 3 months, so it was kind of safe on his tummy. Moreover you don’t have to add sugar while using baby formula milk…Once prepared this dish should be used immediately. Don’t keep it for more than 30 min.Make it fresh and feed the baby!

I’ll will have to wait for the next day to see the reaction though! Hope he’s able to digest it so that I can add one more thing besides fruit-pulp and daal to his daily diet. Soon he’ll be 6 months and definitely would need more things from outside other than mommy’s milk… wish me luck!

For massage, we need a good baby oil which should first be tested on baby’s hand for any kind of reaction. Personally, I had faced this problem when almost ‘no’ oil would suit Samarth. He would get rashes immediately all over his body. Since he was born in summer, olive oil proved to be ‘Hot’ and a famous baby oil didn’t suit him at all (due to chemicals present in it). Then Dr advised me to use ‘Coconut oil’ which is cooler, milder and very natural. But then he suggested me to switch to olive oil during winters due to cooler nature of coconut oil.

But then I wondered why do ‘infants’ need massage, when they are lying in bed all the time? Well, for one simple reason, their back muscles get tired lying in one posture for 20-22 hrs. Thus, infant in their 1st month need a masaage basically for their back. Later on, in second month, when they start pedaling with their legs and begin to move their arms a lot, it’s essential to give massage for their hands and legs along with back (as they are still lying for most of the time…) As the child grows, the duration of massage also increases from 10 min the beginning to 35-40 min at 4-5 months. At 5 months, when the child ‘wants’ to sit and stand with support, he/she needs a good oil massage for back and legs.

’sam enjoying with the massage lady’

Samarth has been getting his body massage done since he was 20 days old (what a luxury!!! ) and I have seen significant changes in him. He was born 25 days prior to the due date and therefore weighed very less (2.75 kg only !) … he looked weak and fragile. but after starting with the massage, within no time he started gaining his strength as well as weight. Now at 5 months he can sit without support and i surely give the credit to our massage-lady who had been telling me since day one not to worry about his health, as long as she’s giving him massage. We are planning to continue it atleast for a year or when sam decides to run away from her .. whichever happens first! so far he enjoys it and is learning to talk also since she keeps him engaged in a dialogue throughout those 30 min. Well i think if it has worked for us, so shall it for others… Good luck!

'cold-stricken Sam'

I was feeling proud of myself that I have prepared so well for the winters that nothing is going to cause any harm to him. But then ‘Aachhoooo’ was the sound which took my heart away…. once again…..and again……

Three little sneezes from this 5 month old made me skip a heart beat! And suddenly I felt like a loser (literally!) … did so much to protect him but wasn’t enough i guess…. “what went wrong….. where did I lack….. how will my parents and in-laws react to it” ….. with this the burden of blame, I took him to the dr who told me the exact thing which I did (out of oblivion, of course) ….. BANANA….. “not to be given during winters since its considered a ‘cold-fruit’ “…..

Ahhh!!!! now I know…. in the pursuit of trying new foods with him, I gave him banana, considering the fact that most doctors advise to start solids in the form of a mashed-banana …. but like they say, “every pregnancy is different, and every baby is different” ….what works for others, might not work for you!

Lesson learnt: don’t go by generalizations! each child is unique and deserves a unique style of bringing-up! so what’s your style, eh?