Baby Bath

Bath time is about so much more than just washing your baby's skin. In fact you can make it into what ever you like, a relaxing and soothing time just before bedtime or a chance to extend play time and have some fun and laughs. Whether you use a baby bath, laundry tub or even a bucket, bath time is all about spending time together.

Baby Bath tips.

Here are a few bath time tips to keep in mind no matter how old your child is:

Never leave a child unattended in the bath.

Don't plan a bath for when your baby is over tired.

Bath water should be approximately 37-39°C.

Avoid a draughty location and if possible heat the room to a comfortable temperature.

Prepare everything you will need in advance and place it within arm's reach.

Prepare an area to place your baby as they come out from the bath and lay the towel out ready.

When washing start with the cleanest and most delicate areas first and work through to the dirtiest.

Never place or push anything inside your baby's ear to clean them. A gentle wipe on the exterior of the ear is all that is necessary.

Girls- Always wash a girl's genitals from front to back.

Boys- do not attempt to pull the foreskin back to clean underneath it. This will occur naturally over the first few years. If your son has been recently circumcised avoid tub bathing until the wound has healed.

Bath time naturally leads to massage time afterwards. Have everything ready for your massages like your baby lotion, so that baby does not become cold.

Keep your baby fresh.

Young babies don't need bathing very often. They don't get dirty in the way older, crawling babies do. You can keep your baby clean and fresh by 'topping and tailing', also known as a sponge bath. It's also handy for older babies if you are away or even if you just run out of time for the full bath routine.

Either cotton wool or two soft clean cloths

bowl or sink of warm water

hand towel for drying

a fresh diaper and clean clothes, if necessary

bin or bucket for waste.

Wash your hands. Lay your baby on his back, either on your lap, a changing mat or somewhere clean, dry and warm. For an older child have them sit on your lap or stand next to you.

Undress him, leaving his diaper on.

Wipe your baby's face, neck and ears with a damp WashCloth or cotton wool.

Dry with more cotton wool or a dry cloth.

If your baby has a 'sticky eye', clogged up with dried mucus, wipe each eye from the inside corner to the outside, using a piece of cotton wool dipped in cooled, boiled water (use a clean piece of cotton wool for each eye and wipe only once with each ball).

Now wipe his underarms and hands with a WashCloth or cotton wool or the cloth, and dry with a cloth or towel.

Take off the diaper. With a newborn, wash any dried discharge that may have come from the cord stump.

Wash the bottom and the genitals well. Wipe girls from front to back. Pat dry.

Massage your baby with baby lotion to soothe and relax your little one for bed time.

Place a clean diaper on your baby, and dress him.

NEWBORN BABY BATH

Bathing your baby is about more than getting him clean. It's a chance to play with him and spend time with him - and it is fun for both of you. It's also a great opportunity for dad to get hands on and involved in the daily routine. Your newborn may take some time to get used to the idea of bath time and become distressed when all of his clothes are removed. This phase usually passes quite quickly.

For the first few weeks you don't need soap or anything 'cleansing' like baby bath liquid or shampoo, water is fine. You need only bath your newborn 2-3 times a week.

Avoid tub bathing of your newborn until the cord stump has fallen away and healed, until then it is only necessary to give a sponge bath.

Lay a wet flannel or cloth across your baby's chest to keep him warm.

If you take your baby into the bath with you then you'll need someone to pass the baby to you, and take him from you when he's finished.

Talk, sing and play games with your baby, so he learns to enjoy it as a special time with you.

Always check the water temperature. Use your wrist, as this is more sensitive to heat than your hand, or use a bath thermometer. It's a good idea to fill the bath with cold water first, and then add hot. That way you don't heat up the bottom of the bath and risk burns, and you also avoid the slight chance that you'll put your baby in a bath that's scalding hot (because of forgetting to add cold water). Finally run cold water through the tap to ensure that the tap head is cold.

Hold your baby steady. If your baby is in a conventional bath (not a sit-in tub) support him across his shoulders, so his head is against your forearm. If he's in a tub, hold him under his arms with one arm. That way, you get a spare arm for bathing your baby's body all over.

If your baby is not enjoying himself and is showing signs of distress, just do the basics and get him out. You can try again in a couple of days, perhaps try bathing at a different time of day.

Avoid giving a bath immediately following a feed.

Massaging your newborn is a lovely way to get to know her body and expressions.

A separate baby baths isn't essential, though they can be a good idea, giving you more freedom of movement - and they're portable, to allow you to bath your baby in a warmer room. You can buy baths in a tub-like design, which means your baby can be upright, or you could use a new washing-up bowl for a tiny baby.

Your baby's umbilical cord stump dries and drops off within a week to ten days of his birth. You may receive advice from the hospital to clean this area daily or there is another opinion that excessive cleaning of the area is not necessary and simply keeping the area clean and dry is adequate. If you notice any redness, discharge or other signs of infection, ask your doctor for advice.

Diaper for new baby

Changing your baby's diaper is easy - you just need to stick to a routine. Here's a guide for how to do it:

Have everything you need to hand - changing mat, cloth, wipes or cooled boiled water, cotton wool, diaper disposal bags, and a couple of fresh diapers.

Choose a suitable diaper change spot: somewhere that he can't roll off, and where you don't have to strain to reach him, as your back muscles are still vulnerable.

Lay your baby on his back and undo the diaper. Lift your baby gently by holding both his feet and remove the used diaper, using it to wipe away as much solid waste as possible.

Carefully and gently wipe over your baby's diaper area, paying special attention to skin folds. You can use a wipe, or warm water and a cloth or cotton wool. For girls, wipe from front to back, to keep germs away from the vagina. For boys, clean around the penis and testicles, but don't pull back the foreskin. Check for diaper rash.

If necessary, dry your baby carefully with cotton wool or a dry cloth. Letting him kick his legs in the warm, dry air is a good way of reducing diaper rash.

Open out the diaper and slide your fingers down the side of the diaper to lift up the leak guards.

Lift your baby's legs up and place the clean diaper underneath (with the grip tabs at the back), so he's lying on it. The absorbent, soft side of the diaper should go against his skin, and the top edge of the diaper should be about level with the middle of his back.

Bring the front part of the diaper up between his legs and spread firmly around the tummy. If you have a boy, point his penis down in the diaper.

With one hand holding the diaper gently on baby, open up one Grip Tab and attach it to the front fabric fastening. Repeat for the other side.

Reposition the Grip Tabs to adjust the fit of your baby's diaper so they are comfortable. Double-check that the diaper is not too loose or too tight. Put your baby somewhere safe while you wash your hands and tidy up.

Remember if there are any solids in the diaper, dispose of these in the toilet. The used diaper can be rolled into a tight ball using the Grip Tabs to seal it.

DO NOT flush the diaper down the toilet.

The general rule for newborns is to change your baby about as often as you feed him. A lot of mums will change their baby in the middle of each feed. However you usually don't have to do it at every night feed.

Right from the start, your baby's diaper-changing time is a good time to have a 'conversation', as well as being a necessary part of the care you give. You're face to face with each other - so sing, tickle, talk and have fun!

Why do toddlers cry?

When your baby becomes a toddler, different things will make her cry depending on how much sleep she has had, whether she is hungry, is she in a grumpy mood, in fact just about anything may set off the crying. She may be frustrated because she wants to do something she can't …or you won't let her. It's best to try and address the problem before things spiral out of control. Offering a positive alternative or distraction can head the tears off at the pass and help them to move onto another thought or activity without any fuss.

Try not to disregard their feelings, they are very real to them and they are learning how to cope in different situations and they need your help to do this.

She may even have tantrums. Temper tantrums can be very upsetting to watch, and they can make you angry, too. But think about what it might be like to be a toddler.

When you are somewhere between one and two, trying to make sense of the world can be very overwhelming. You develop very strong feelings but don't have the words to express them yet. Other people are bigger and stronger than you are, and they can make you do things you don't want to do, like stop drawing on the walls with that permanent marker mum accidentally left on the side. Every day, things happen which you don't understand, and you haven't got the ability to work them out yet. You can imagine that you may feel a little out of control in this situation.

When you're little like this, you may want something a lot, and sometimes you can have it, and sometimes you can't. Or, you want to touch something, or play with something that looks interesting - and yet other people won't let you. They take the interesting thing away - yet you are old enough to know that the interesting thing still exists.

As a child, the world is a huge and powerful place at times - and every so often, it all gets too much. You lose control, and you just can't stop screaming, yelling, kicking and fighting. And mum or dad find themselves facing a full blown tantrum. If things have already developed to this point here are a few tips on what you can do.

Stay calm while your toddler has the tantrum

Make sure your toddler is safe and remove any objects that may cause harm.

Try to ignore it as much as possible.

Give her a cuddle afterwards when she's calmed down and reassure her that you love her.

Your baby’s arrival marks special joy in your life and opens up a whole new world for you. But at times taking care of a newborn can be bit overwhelming, especially for first time mothers. But worry not, follow our baby care tips to sail smoothly through the initial phase and then become a pro in parenting. Here are some tips :

 Wash your hands (or use a hand sanitizer) before handling your baby. Newborns don’t have a strong immune system yet, so they are susceptible to infection. Make sure that everyone who handles your baby has clean hands.v Be careful to support your baby’s head and neck. Cradle the head when carrying your baby and support the head when carrying the baby upright or when you lay your baby down.

  Check the diapers. Do this often. Check on the diapers every four hours or so. A healthy newborn would be urinating very often. Keeping your baby on with a soiled diaper can lead to diaper rashes.v Don’t be rough. Remember your newborn is not ready for a tough play. So all that throwing in the air, jiggling the baby on your knees isn’t advisable.

Child Health Care Tips:

Body Care

• Instead of soap you can sometimes use a mixture of gram flour (besan) and milk to bathe the baby.
• To massage the baby you could use

·                    A mixture of gram flour (basen) and cream with a pinch of turmeric. Apply the mixture on the baby’s body and gently rub it off.

·                    Take a small ball of wheat dough. Apply some massage oil on it. Massage the baby with this ball by rubbing it over the baby’s body. The strokes should be against the hair growth. This is an excellent remedy for removing body hair from a newborn.

• A rich moisturizer can be made by melting 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp lanolin, 2 tsp glycerine and 3 tbsp olive or almond oil, over a double boiler. Beat well.
• Boil a handful of neem leaves and basil leaves and wash your hair regularly with it to get rid of lice.
• To get rid of Band-aid or ugly gray plaster marks apply some lukewarm coconut oil to the area and leave it for 15 minutes. Wash off with soap water.
• To remove paint or fast colour from your skin, apply curd on the effected part. After few minutes rub and wash it off.

Dandruff Control

• A mixture of 2 tbsp of curd and a few drops of honey is an excellent anti-dandruff agent when rubbed on the scalp.
• Lemon juice mixed with mustard oil is an excellent cure for dandruff.
• For lustrous and dandruff free hair, apply a paste of cooked channa dal and fenugreek leaves and rinse off.
• To get rid of dandruff, apply a mixture of 10 gm pepper powder, 1 tsp lime juice and ½ cup milk on the scalp.
• Leave it one overnight and wash off next morning.
• Onion juice, when massaged on the scalp acts as a wonderful anti-dandruff agent.

Chewing gum Menace

• To remove chewing gum from clothes –

·                    Place the garment in a plastic bag and freeze it. You can then flick off the hardened gum easily.

·                    Soak the garment in white vinegar and then wash off.

·                    Rub the area with egg white before washing it off.

• To remove the chewing gum stuck to the floor ,clean it with a little kerosene.
• To remove chewing gum stuck to your hair, rub a little honey over the hair and the chewing gum will come off.

Clothes Care

• To prevent colours from running, soak the garment in salt water for 10 minutes before washing it.
• Nappy washing

·                    Stains disappear if you dry the nappies on the lawn or even on a plant, perhaps the extra oxygen exhaled by the plant helps.

·                    Half an hour of sunshine is enough to disinfect the nappies.

·                    Ironing takes care of any further fear of germs.

·                    If washing in a machine the temperature setting can be raised to effectively disinfect the nappies.

• Stain Removers

·                    To remove ice cream stains clean with a sponge dipped in borax solution.

·                    Curry stains on clothes can be removed by applying white toothpaste to it and washing after two hours.

·                    Ink stains can be removed with a slice of tomato.

·                    Sprinkle talcum powder on ink stains before washing off with soap and water.

·                    Ball pen ink marks can be removed easily with nail polish remover.

·                    To remove ironing stains from garments apply a little salt over the area and wash.

·                    Cuffs and collars, if turned inside out before being put in a washing machine, get cleaned very well.

Household Care

• Pest Control

·                    Burn dried orange peel in a corner of the house. The smoke will drive away the mosquitoes.

·                    Turmeric powder is a good repellent for ants. Just sprinkle a line of turmeric powder to cordon off the ants.

·                    When boiling water, boil some extra water. Pour this down your sink. This will kill cockroaches and remove their eggs.

·                    To eliminate cockroaches, knead some wheat flour with boric acid powder and make small balls. Place them near drains and damp corners of your house.

·                    To keep flies at bay, add a little salt and a few drops of kerosene to the water for mopping the floor.

·                    Betel nuts kept in the corner of a cupboard will help ward off cockroaches.

·                    Sprinkle borax powder under the paper covering book shelves and kitchen shelves to keep off silverfish.

• Before placing a photograph in a frame, lightly dust it with a little talcum powder to prevent it from sticking to the frame.
• Stick posters on walls with the help of toothpaste. The toothpaste can be scraped off later and does not damage the wall.
• Some castor oil mixed into coconut oil prevents the latter from freezing in the winters.
• Add a few drops of olive oil to the dried shoe polish and keep it overnight the polish will be as good as new the next morning.
• To clean the soiled edges of books, rub with very fine sand paper.

Craft Tips

• If the end of the cello tape is lost, keep it in the freezer. After few minutes take it out and you will easily be able to find the end.
• A handy colour palette can be made from an old ice tray.
• A little vinegar added to hardened gum makes it spread evenly
• If the cap of gum bottle has become tight and cannot be removed, immerse it in a little glycerin to open it.
• To ensure that the chalk doesn’t rub off the slate, just spray it with some hair spray.
• Chalk dipped in milk and used on brown paper gives a fantastic sheen.
• When using the cutting blade make sure you have kept a wad of old newspapers below the design to give it support.
• Always remember to close lids of varnish and enamel tins tightly.
• In the long run small tins of varnish or enamel paints are more economical than bigger packaging.
• Once a varnish tin is opened a wasteful skin begins to form on top, because of which always store the tins upside down as this makes sure that the skin forms at the bottom of the tin and therefore doesn’t cause problem in usage.
• The golden rule for brushes for varnishing is always to buy the best quality brushes. You don’t want to waste time and effort of having to stop constantly to fish out stray bristles.
• Keep a separate set of brushes for use in varnish as once used in varnish they are not good for use in any other medium.
• Never use damp brushes for varnishing. Always dry the brushes properly after having washed them.
• Sharpen scissors against the neck of a glass bottle.
• Sharpen a sewing machine needle by running the machine on sandpaper.
• Before painting terracotta pieces, soak them overnight. Once dry they will absorb paint better and the paint will not chip off easily.

WHY DO BABIES CRY?

IT’S NOT AWALYS CLEAR EXACTLY WHY, BUT YOU CAN BE SURE WHEN YOUR CRIRES HE IS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT. IT IS THEIR MAIN FORM OF COMMUNICATION TO YOU.

BABIES DON’T CRY TO ANNOY YOU, BECAUSE THEY ARE NATURALLY NAUGHTY OR GRUMPY, BABIES JUST CRY, IT’S WHAT THEY DO. SOME BABIES SEEM TO BE MORE SENSITIVE TO CHANGE AND DISCOMFORT THAN OTHER ARE, BUT IGNORING THEIR CRIES WON’T MAKES THEM CHANGE. USUALLY A CUDDLE WITH MUM OR DAD IS ALL THAT IS NEEDED TO HELP SETTLE YOUR BABY.

Fortunately, crying hardly ever indicates a major physical problem or illness. Yet if you are worried about it, then ask for your doctor's advice, to rule out any illness.

In the majority of cases, crying babies are healthy, even babies who cry for a long time, and at least once a day. Your doctor will be able to reassure you your baby's developing well.

Here are the types of things your baby might cry about, and which you can attempt to deal with:

o                    Is he hungry or thirsty? This is the most common reason for crying. Let your baby decide when to come off the first breast, if you're breast-feeding. Then offer the next breast. Make up an extra amount of formula and offer it if you're bottle-feeding.

o                    Is he getting a good, satisfying feed? Check your baby's position on the breast, to make sure he's stimulating the letdown reflex, which brings him the calorie-rich hindmilk. If you're bottle-feeding, check the teat hole is not too small and thus making sucking and swallowing difficult, or that the hole is too big and overwhelming him.

o                    Does he need 'winding'? Sit your baby in an upright position and rub his back.

o                    Is he uncomfortably hot or cold? Check his chest with the back of your hand; it should feel comfortably warm, not hot and clammy, or cold.

o                    In the early weeks it is quite common for some babies to suffer from colic.

o                    Is he bored and needs some company? Cuddles, soft singing, back patting, a bath, can all be calming and soothing.

o                    Is he tired, yet unable to settle down to sleep? Try rocking or pushing him up and down in the pram.

o                    Is he irritated by noise, excitement and people? If so go to a quiet room with him.

o                    Is he uncomfortable? Check his clothing for tightness round the wrists or ankles. A baby with diaper rash will cry in a wet or dirty diaper.

o                    He might just want a cuddle from mum or dad. He loves the feeling of security he finds in your arms, your smell and just being near you.