- Carolyn Davis, mother of 5-months old Catherine, from Kalamazoo, Michigan:
“I have a 5-month old baby. Is she ready for solid foods?”
Doctors and health experts agree that it’s best to wait until your baby is around six months old before switching to solid foods.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recommend that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life.
The reason for this is simple: until 6 months of age, breast milk – or formula provides all the nutrients your baby needs and can handle.
Moreover, until this age, her developing digestive system isn’t ready for solid food.
The good news is that babies give signals that they’re ready. These are the 7 signs you’ll need to look for:
- Head control – Your baby needs to be able to keep her head in a steady, upright position.
- No “tongue-thrust” reflex – To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow, your baby needs to stop using her tongue to push food out of his mouth.
- Chewing motions – Your baby’s mouth and tongue develop in sync with her digestive system. To start solids, she should be able to move food to the back of her mouth and swallow. As she learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling.
- Significant weight gain – Most babies are ready to eat solids when they’ve doubled their birth weight – or weigh about 15 pounds – and are at least 5 months old.
- Growing appetite – If your baby seems hungry, even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day, then it’s time to switch to solids.
- The “pincer grasp” – Your baby is developing a pincer grasp, where she picks up food or other objects between her thumb and forefinger.
- Eagerness – Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in her mouth.
- Nicole Green, mother of 3-days old David, from Grand Forks, North Dakota:
“How can I tell if my baby’s getting enough breast milk?”
This is perhaps the most common question among new breastfeeding moms. After all, you want to make sure that your baby’s getting all the nutrients he needs, but you can’t actually see how much milk your baby’s drinking when you’re nursing.
While most moms are able to provide their babies with all the milk they need, there are times when babies simply don’t get enough. And when the situation isn’t addressed, a baby can suffer from dehydration and failure to thrive, which are uncommon yet serious situations.
So how do you know?
Luckily, there are signs that your breastfeeding baby is getting enough nourishment.
These are:
- Your breasts feel softer after nursing, because your baby has emptied some of the milk that was making them firm.
- After feeding, your baby seems satisfied and relaxed.
- After gaining back his initial weight loss after birth, your baby continues to gain weight. Most babies lose between 5 and 10 percent of their birth weight and then regain it by the time they’re about 2 weeks old.
- In the first few days, when your baby is getting your thick, nutrient-rich colostrum, he may have only one or two wet diapers a day. After your regular milk comes in, however, your baby will wet five or six diapers.
- In the first month, your baby has at least three stools a day, and they change color to a yellowy mustard by the fifth day after birth. He may have less frequent bowel movements once he’s a month old.
Besides these, there are signs that your baby is not getting enough breast milk, and they’re equally important.
Watch for these signs if you’re concerned about your baby’s milk intake:
- Your baby is continuing to lose weight.
- Your baby is wetting fewer than six diapers in a 24-hour period after the five days following her birth.
- After his first five days, your baby has small, dark stools.
- Your baby’s urine is very dark, like the color of apple juice. If the urine is clear, he’s getting enough liquid.
- Your baby is fussy much of the time. He may fall asleep as soon as you put him to your breast but then fuss when you take him off.
- Feedings take longer than an hour, and your baby just doesn’t seem satisfied.
- Your breasts don’t feel any softer after nursing.
- Karen Schmidt, mother of 4-year old Jake and 6-year old Jason, from Blue Springs, Missouri:
“My two boys are always fighting and I don’t know how to stop it. How do I tackle sibling rivalry?”
Sibling rivalry is commonly found in families with more than one child, but it only becomes a problem when one child bullies the other.
It’s also a more complex issue than it first appears.
At first sight, you have two kids who don’t get along and are “at war” with each other. There can be many reasons for this, but at the core of this rivalry is a common theme that runs through it all – the sense that one sibling is the victim of the other.
And that child often believes that he gets less love from his parents than his dominant brother or sister does.
Sibling rivalry is a difficult – and painful – issue for many families, but the bottom line is this: rivalry and jealously are a normal part of life.
Your responsibility is to help your kids learn to manage the feelings that come along with it. If they don’t, these issues will be dragged over into adulthood.
To tackle sibling rivalry, you can choose one of the following three methods:
- Hold both kids responsible for their behavior – In many cases of sibling rivalry, both kids are almost equally responsible for the situation. So, as long as you know that there’s some equity in how the behavior is being conducted and in who’s starting it, then I recommend that you hold both of your kids accountable.
Set up a rule in your house that if fighting among sibling occurs, everybody goes to bed a half-an-hour early. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, or who started it. The key is to hold both kids accountable.
- Address jealousy – If one of your children is envious of his sibling, you need to downplay it. Don’t make it a big deal. I think you should say something like: “Well, you know, that’s natural, we all feel jealous sometimes”. Then highlight each sibling’s strengths, in order to make them feel good about their accomplishments. Mention things you saw and heard them do, and let them know that you’re valuing their efforts as much as their brother or sister’s.
- Don’t be a referee – As long as it’s not a bullying situation, don’t play referee. Don’t become the black-and-white judge of who’s right or wrong. And don’t ever try to decide who the worst “character” is. What you need to do is to show them what they’ll lose exactly the same amount of time from the activities they enjoy as the time spent fighting.
- Betty Griffin, mother of 2 and a half years old Michael, from Collinsville, Illinois:
“Why does my child have temper tantrums?”
To begin with, a temper tantrum is like a summer storm, sudden and sometimes fierce. One minute you and your child are in a restaurant enjoying your lunch, the next minute he’s whimpering, whining, and then screaming at the top of his lungs because he doesn’t like one thing or another.
Children between age 1 and 3 are especially prone to tantrums.
Doctors and experts alike agree that the problem is linked to uneven language skills.
In other words, toddlers are beginning to understand a lot more of the words they hear, yet their ability to produce language is limited. And when your child can’t express how he feels or what he wants, frustration mounts.
To handle a tantrum, you need to know how to act. Here are 3 tips:
- Keep calm and don’t lose your cool – A tantrum is not a pretty sight. A toddler’s “stage” performance may include throwing, hitting, and holding his breath, while screaming and kicking. While this may be hard to handle, you can rest assured that all of these can be defined as “normal” for a tantrum.
When your child is swept up in a tantrum, he’s unable to listen to reason. He will only respond negatively to your yelling.
Generally, it is recommended to stay with your child during a tantrum. Leaving the room can make him feel abandoned. The strong emotion he’s going through can be frightening to him, and he’ll appreciate knowing you’re nearby.
The most important thing to remember is this: If you stay calm, you’ll help him calm down, too. The key is consistency.
- Let your child know you love him – Once your child is calm and you’ve had a chance to talk to him about his tantrum, give him a quick hug and tell him that you love him. Also, rewarding good behavior is essential.
- Watch for signs of overstress – Even though daily tantrums are a normal part of the mid-toddler years, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for possible problems. If your child’s tantrums seem overly frequent – or intense – seek help. Your doctor will discuss your child’s developmental and behavioral milestones with you at routine checkups.
- Mary Baker, mother of 8-months old Heather, from Green Bay, Wisconsin:
“My baby often gets sick. How can I prevent this and keep her healthy?”
During the first two years of life, a baby’s immune system is developing. That’s why most babies get at least three respiratory illnesses and two or three diarrhea-inducing intestinal infections during this period.
To lessen the frequency and decrease severity of illness, you will need to:
- Breastfeed your baby as long as possible – Breastfed babies get fewer colds, ear infections, and intestinal parasites. And when breastfed infants do come down with these illnesses, they’re less severe.
- Keep your baby’s nose clear – If her nose is clogged, put non-medicated saline nasal drops in her nostrils and suction them with a nasal aspirator (both are available in pharmacies).
- Keep your baby’s sleeping environment as clean as possible. Remove dust collectors such as stuffed animals from the nursery, and avoid using products such as paint, aerosols, perfumes, and hair sprays near your baby or his room. And don’t allow smoking!
- Take your baby to your pediatrician for well-baby check-ups. During these visits, your doctor will give your child immunizations. Staying on schedule for vaccines is the easiest way to protect your baby’s health.