When It’s Time to Wean Your Baby (learning)

January 29th, 2010 admin Posted in education |

By Marlin Rollins

When to wean is a question facing all breastfeeding mums. How does a new mum know when to introduce solid food into her baby’s diet and what sort of food can a baby eat?

At present the World Health Organisation recommends that all babies be breastfed exclusively for six months. A long time, you may think, especially in the middle of a colic episode or growth spurt! However, there are real concerns for the welfare of babies that have led to this advice.

In the past many babies were fed solid foods at very young ages. It is now believed that their bodies were unable to cope with the demands this placed on them; a dramatic increase in the incidence of allergies and food intolerances meant guidelines were reviewed and altered.

The main danger that comes with introducing solid food too early is that babies may receive too much salt in their diets, leading to potential kidney problems in later life.

So, if you follow the advice of the World Health Organisation, you will see that it makes sense to put off giving food other than breastmilk for the first six months.

So how do you encourage a six month old baby to eat solids? The main thing to remember is that you should introduce solids gradually.

When your baby is ready for solid food he will begin to demand feeds more often, and may never seem satisfied for very long. He will start to take an interest in your meals and may even try to help himself! He will begin lip-smacking and chewing as he mimics you. A real sign that solids are imminent is the development of teeth.

Speak to a health-visitor if you think your baby is very hungry. If your baby is under six months you may find that he is just going through a prolonged growth spurt. If this is the case, his hunger will normally settle down after a few days when your milk supply has increased.

When your baby reaches the six month target, and you are sure that he is ready for solid food, try a teaspoonful of watery baby rice or baby porridge. Try to keep foods very bland and runny at the beginning.

Once he is used to solid foods, and is no younger than six months, you can quickly move onto adult cereals like Weetabix and Readybrek.

It is wise to only introduce one food at a time so that you can identify any intolerances or allergies. Sometimes these can take several days to take effect, so stick to one food for a few days before moving onto another.

Some babies are happy to have one solid feed a day at the beginning of weaning, whereas others require more frequent feeds. It is a good idea to offer the breast before and after each feed to maintain a good milk supply.

Cows milk and dairy products, eggs, fish particularly shellfish), nuts (especially peanuts), some fruits and foods containing gluten can all cause allergic reactions. So be careful with your choices…

From six months babies can digest protein so red meat, fish ,eggs, cheese, chicken and pulses can all be introduced.

Do not give peanuts to babies under one year old: if there is a history of allergies in your family avoid giving them for at least three years. As well a being an allergy hazard they can also be a choking hazard.

Honey should also be avoided for the first year as babies can contract botulism from it.

Eggs must be thoroughly cooked but can be introduced from six months.

Buy gluten-free baby food at the beginning of weaning, if possible, as gluten can cause coeliac disease. Usually a six month old baby can digest gluten without any problems but younger babies are more at risk.

Some babies react to citrus fruits such as oranges but alternative fruit juices can be given instead, such as apple juice.

Never add salt to food which your baby will eat. If he is ready to eat the same meals as the rest of the family do not add gravy until you have removed the baby’s portion, as gravy can contain a lot of salt.

It is best to introduce savoury foods prior to sweet foods as babies very quickly develop a sweet tooth! They tend to enjoy pureed carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, turnip and parsnip and any combination of these foods. Babies also love stewed apples and pears or mashed bananas and strawberries!

However, many babies dislike potatoes at the beginning of weaning. When the baby is a little more experienced with tastes and textures you can start adding some potato to his meals.

Let the baby decide when he has had enough of any particular meal. Never force-feed the baby. He only needs a little bit of solid food each day. For some babies a few spoonfuls will be enough; for others a main course and dessert are required!

If he refuses to eat one type of food avoid it for a while and try something else. Return to the disliked food after a few days and try again. Some babies can be very fussy, whereas others eat whatever is placed in front of them!

Take it slowly and it will not be such a big change for either you or your baby. Weaning should be a fun experience for you both. After a very short time your baby will look forward to his solid feeds and will even start to let you know that he wants more!

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Are You Considering a Private Tutor?

By Marlin Rollins

Your child’s school activity is falling behind other classmates, his/her grades aren’t high anymore, or your child is just not coping with teachers’ requirements. All these represent valid reasons for you to get a private tutor for the child. The private tutor will help your child with difficult homework assignments, will explain him/her different concepts or ideas, and will teach him how to study efficiently for tests.

If you hadn’t had a private tutor for your child before, it would be good to know what to bring to a tutoring session. Your child should bring the textbooks for certain subjects they will be studying, notes from classes, previous tests, assignments, workbook problems, class syllabus etc.

The tutoring activity is not the private tutor’s exclusive responsibility. In order for the tutoring sessions to be successful, you, as a parent, share a great deal of responsibility. You have to keep an eye on the child when he/she is not at school, to make sure he/she is studying enough. Parents, child and private tutor have to collaborate together for achieving best results. Therefore, here are some things you should do as part of your role.

Before the tutoring session you ought to make sure that your child is familiar with the material the private tutor will be working on. You should encourage your child to make a list of questions on things he/she didn’t understand during classes. Also encourage your child to ask questions whenever a problem arises. Instruct your child to share with the private tutor his/her preferred method for studying. Make sure the child is behaving respectfully towards the private tutor. And always supervise your child’s studying activity; make sure he/she is studying thoroughly.

Your child’s most important responsibility is to study. But, apart from this, he/she also has to retain himself/herself from doing some prohibited things. Here are the most common mistakes the tutored children are doing. Children expect and even ask the private tutor to do the homework for them. They start studying for a test when it’s too late and they don’t have enough time to learn. Or they ask for the private tutor’s help in case of a test when is too late. And, the worst mistake of all, they don’t study for the tutoring sessions, therefore the parent’s financial effort and the private tutor’s activity become useless.

In conclusion, the learning process is an effort that requires commitment on behalf of parents, students and private tutors. All these factors have to cooperate and act responsible for best studying results.

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Some Facts About Autism

By Marlin Rollins

Do you know autism affects male children four times more than female children? The characteristic feature of autism in children includes non-verbal and impaired verbal communication. In addition to this the autism in children creates imaginative social interaction and activity. Infantile autism in children develops at about 30 months of age. Autism in children is a condition in which they find it difficult to build normal relationships with others. This can easily be diagnosed by disturbances normal characteristic behaviors.

It has been found that autism in children is occurring at a rate of 4 in 10,000 children. Moreover, autism in children is considered a lifelong disease. The occurrence of the disease ranges from mild to severe. In mild form, the child with autism can live independently, whereas in severe form the autism requires medical supervision and support throughout his/her life.

The risk factors and causes of autism include viral infection. Viral infection, mainly rubella virus during the first term of pregnancy, may predispose the occurrence of autism in children. Genetic, traumatic and infectious factors are the physical bases considered to be the main culprits for the occurrence of autism in children. In early stages, it has been considered that the autism in children is mainly induced by the parents, but it is not true.

Autism in children can occur in two forms: Patients exhibit the symptoms of autism within the first few months of life, or the child would be apparently normal up to 18 to 24 months of age, and then the symptoms would occur suddenly.

The symptoms of autism in children include nonverbal and verbal communication skills, along with odd facial expressions and speech difficulties. The language used by the children in the autism is often immature, unimaginative and not concrete. The language will be stilted in nature. Keep in mind that all of these symptoms may not be present in all children with autism.

Children with autism can also be less aware of stimulus in the external environment. In some cases, they are unable to recognize their parents after the first few months of life. Autism in children can lead to toilet training problems. The autism in children can hamper the child’s ability to smile and show emotion and can end with behavioral abnormalities, such as walking on tiptoe, tantrums, unpredictable behavior, strange postures, staring at hands, and rocking.

They may also prefer playing alone, remain aloof, and become segregated from other children. Autism in children may cause the affected child to become obsessed with one action or topic, and extreme confrontation to change of any kind. The children with autism may want to set a separate environment for themselves and also may establish their own behavioral patterns.

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