Child health and wellness

  By: Aishat Idowu, R.N Photo source: istockphotos C hildren develop each skill in stages, one preceding the other— usually from simple to complex. It is important for mothers to assist their babies to have good transition at every stage of their development.  By default, every child will grow to a stage when they are mature enough to begin the use of potties and gradually stay off diapers. This stage of development is not constant and therefore varies from child to child.  While some babies develop quite early (18-24months) or even earlier, others are delayed (3-4 years) even without any obvious developmental fault. Generally, boys experience more delays than  girls. Toilet-training could be very easy for some, and at the same time, extremely difficult for others. The difference is in the recognition of the appropriate timing. Timing: is my child ready? The time to start toilet-training is as important as the whole process of toilet-training. Identifying when a...

 By: Aishat Idowu, R.N. I trust you want to have that healthy, lively, smart baby, one everyone will have at least ten reasons to have close by 😁, right? Sure. Follow through this article and you'll find "the how" of consciously making it happen.😊  Image source: depositphotos.com B abies , like adults are complete human beings with three main aspects of need— physical, psychological and social. These little ones have no definite preformed emotional behaviour, they learn from their environment, their mother/caregiver being their primary teacher. The relationship established from this stage serves as basis for personality development, temperament and overall behaviour. This aspect of their development is usually quite simple, but at the same time, it can be rather complex, resulting in unwelcoming attitudes in the babies. This other side occurs mainly when the baby is surrounded by unfavourable circumstances, especially those arising from the mother. In fact, apart from ...

By: IDOWU AISHAT, R.N. C rying    is the major and most obvious means of communication in infancy (1 month-1 year). Babies cry to express themselves and communicate their needs— food, comfort, pain relief etc. Nevertheless, babies may cry for " no apparent reason" for periods as long as three hours a day, occuring either during the day or at night. In addition to it having no particular reason, it has no specific cure either. This "no-reason", "no-cure" cry is called colic. What is colic? Colic is the frequent, intense and prolonged crying in an healthy infant. An infant with colic cries more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for more than three weeks, despite being apparently healthy. Babies affected Colic happens to any baby, irrespective of sex, choice of breastfeeding, birth order or any other factors. It affects term and preterm babies alike, occuring earlier (2-6weeks) in term ones and later in the preterm. It generally resolves by 3-4 months of age...

By: Aishat Idowu, R.N. Image source: Healthline.com O ne unavoidable aspect of infant care is "crying". Crying is that special way infants communicate most of their needs— they cry to avoid pain, when hungry, when in discomfort and even to express fear. Cries, especially those intense ones at night when the whole house is at sleep is the most frustrating. Of course, no one likes their sleep to be interrupted. If at all, not with a shrill cry that can tear apart the eardrum. Worst thing is, sometimes, you can hardly tell what these little human beings want/need; because all the seemingly possible "cry-causing factors" must have been dealt with. In fact, even if you write out a checklist of their possible needs/wants, most, if not all would have been met—  but the cry doesn't stop, it may even grow in strength and volume. This can be very frustrating to every mother/carer/parent.  So...how do you tell what your baby needs when he cries? As simple as this question ...

By Aishat Idowu, R.N. Image source: parent.com Have you ever asked the question "is my baby okay"all because he stops breathing briefly? Yes, your baby is! Why? Because your baby is perfectly normal but he's simply forgetting to breathe. Weird right? This is called periodic breathing. PERIODIC BREATHING is a breathing pattern in babies in which pauses occur for short periods, usually 5-10 seconds, or at least 3 seconds, then followed by a fast and shallow breathing that returns to normal without any help or intervention. It occurs more when babies are in deep sleep, but may occur during light sleep and while they are awake. With periodic breathing, babies will return to normal breathing shortly without any problem. Sometimes, it is not a single pause but a series of three or more pauses that are completely harmless. This pattern of breathing reduces with age and becomes very rare after the age of 6 months. It occurs in both mature (babies up to 9 months before birth) and...

Image source: parent.com B abies are cute, yet delicate with lots of demand. All it takes to care for them is correct information, love and lots of attention. Before anything, you have to be a smart mum or  a smart caregiver (as the case may be). You are already smart, so being smart with your baby is what you can do. Yes! It’s pretty simple.☺ You need the following to prepare yourself ahead (if you are yet to be a mum or parent) or use (for instant mums and parents). 1.    Being selectively open to information Every parent seeks information regarding babies health and wellbeing, this is normal and expected. However, you have to be choicy as regards what you hear and act on. You will hear many things, be your babies guard by not acting as told, unless verified from appropriate channels. Your baby is not for experiment! 2. Inquisitiveness Even though you are to choicely pick information, whenever information is provided to you, ask questions to satisfy your curiosity. It ...