The First Days: Kangaroo Care and Massage Therapy
Congratulations! If you are viewing this post, you are probably a new parent! The first days of life are among the most important for you as a parent in establishing a bond with your infant - the child, newly freed from the hidden confines of the womb, is now living, breathing, and available to you to care for and love.
How better to begin this care and love than through the skin-to-skin contact known as kangaroo care!
Is your infant premature, or is she underweight? If either of these conditions applies, holding your baby close to your skin and allowing her to bond with you in this way has been proven to promote quicker weight gain in infants born too soon or too small. Gently massaging her skin has a positive impact as well. In fact, babies who experience this type of care tend to gain weight 50% than their peers who do not!
If your child was born on time and at a healthy weight, this tip is still for you! This type of contact has been linked to increased cognitive function later in life, an aspect that none of us can have too much of!
Breastfeeding: Jumpstart to a Healthy Life
As a new parent, particularly, as a new mom, you have no doubt encountered the question: to breastfeed, or not to breastfeed.
While the topic of breastfeeding has undergone some degree on controversy in the past few decades, the body of evidence now has come overwhelmingly in support of it as the best possible option by which to jump-start the health and wellness of your baby.
What are the benefits of this miracle milk?
- Infants who are breastfed are at lower risk for gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections
- Babies who are breastfed are less likely to suffer from diabetes, ear infections, SIDS, and obesity: the risk of obesity in later life is actually reduced by 20%!
- Some studies have suggested a link between breastfeeding and higher IQ scores
- Breastfeeding is beneficial for mom, too! Women who breastfeed are less likely to develop breast cancer and more likely to successfully lose the baby weight gained during pregnancy.
For more information and the debunking of common criticisms of breastfeeding, see the link below!
12 Things Breastfeeding Moms Hate to Hear
SIDS: Protection from Tragedy
The risk of infant loss to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, for young infants is among the greatest fears of new parents. While there are no definitive ways to fully protect from the possibility that this tragedy will strike an infant, certain measures can greatly reduce the risk that it will occur. These include:
- Allowing your baby to sleep with a pacifier
- Preventing your infant from coming in contact with second-hand cigarette smoke
- Making certain that the child’s bedding is not so soft that the infant sinks into it
Accomplish these safety precautions and your chances of protecting your child from this danger will be greatly reduced!
Baby Walking!
Once babies become mobile and begin to crawl and walk, your job as a parent or caregiver becomes more challenging than it was before! At this stage, supervise your baby closely: not only are young children unaccustomed to navigating the strange terrain of various surfaces over which they walk, but they eagerly look to explore everything in sight. The way they do this? The taste test!
Because a primary cause of mortality in young childhood is accidental injury, such as from choking hazards, please supervise your child closely at all times! You will be happy that you did. :)
Healthy Diet: Foundation for Life
What is one of the best ways to promote the present and future health of your baby?
Provide your child with a diet rich in nutrients and low in sugars and fats!
Obesity rates have increased drastically in recent years for children in the stages of infancy and early childhood in large part due to unwise dietary choices – indeed, by 15 months of age, parents reported French Fries were the most common “vegetable” that they fed their children. Taking care to encourage and provide a healthy diet for a child early in life is among the greatest contributions that you can make to promote a healthy future for your child.
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