Sometimes just let them PLAY

The time our child starts to walk is the time we start to run, behind them of course !

And then we realize that we have burnt a lot of calories and started to sweat and they haven't even had to gasp once. Kids are full of energy. They don't get tired no matter how much they work all day. When we are in a park or a Shopping mall we get no direction as to where they run to and won't get our job done in time. During this time our pram would be a lot of help.just secure the belt and some toys would keep them engaged.

But after that, don't forget to give them their time ! 

I know of a family with two boys and whose parents were so over protective, the kids weren't allowed to go anywhere and do anything without the presence of their parents. They were very rich and always had an annual family vacation somewhere off our country. But as the boys grew , they realized their lack of freedom and started doing dangerous  stunts using friends car, distribution of boxes filled with unknown stuff to raise their pocket money within their school premises  etc, without their parents knowledge. These boys happened to be my brother's friends and their dad was a good friend of my dad. One day, the eldest among the two showed my brother a train ticket to another state in India as he was planing to flee . He came to know the boxes he had supplied contained drugs and when he informed the dealers he couldn't help them anymore, they started blackmailing him. Inspite of my brothers counsel he decided to leave that midnight. That night my brother told me the entire story and I immediately informed my parents. Our parents discussed the matter immediately through phone and later directly and the boy was saved.

Even days after the incident the boy was followed by many men , but since his dad always left him and picked him from school , he saw everything. Within that week they changed him from that school and the boy was given all the freedom and money he deserved. Today he is a responsible young man.(he's a year younger than me and this is a story that happened 11 years ago)

Moral: when we don't give our child love from our part, they tend to find love from others

Here to love our children means to, encourage them to do the things they love doing, give them adequate freedom with proper monitoring, to love them so much that-they wouldn't find anyone else loving them more than you. teach them religious principles , and the most important part- teach them to love you back.This is not a one-day process .

From the time our child starts to walk, let them explore! Run a little behind them and monitor them to follow your orders and teach them which direction they are allowed to walk and where to take a detour . After teaching them two-three times, they would start walking only in the path you taught them to and would stay away from the rest.

When they explore- teach them - to whom they can talk to and to whom they can't, from whom they can take an offered gift or chocolate  from and , from whom they can't. To make them do that you should be offering them more of their favorite gifts and eatables so that they wouldn't want it when someone else offers.

No matter where they go without you or if you leave your child with someone else for sometime, even if it's school, take time and listen to their story. I have already  started  doing that to my daughter Asiya who is just two years old. And since she has started to speak in sentences in her own baby language that we understand, she tells us everything.

They will always keep this knowledge they learn even after becoming adults.

They seek your advice when they're in trouble or when they need any help.

Before they are allowed go oustside alone, teach them how to face the world.

When they are toddlers let them walk and explore, take them out to a park or mall and let them play with whatever they want to play. Don't let your fear rule over and make you loose your trust over your child-let them play in pools of ball, go on a merry go round,  let them play on swings , slides and see-saws. Just don't take your eyes off them and always be ready to catch them when they fall. Be their courage, make them realize that they can do it.

When they start schooling , let them make friends but always teach them in all stages of life -you are theirs best friend. Let them go on school trips, let them do combine studies, let them develop their hobbies but don't let them to slip way too much from academics. During all the phases of schooling from kindergarten , check with whom our kids are friends with. You must have thorough knowledge of each of them.And detach them to tell the truth.

During this period , scolding them when necessary is okay.

No matter where they go teach them to inform you always- may it be for a movie or outing with a friend. But that doesn't mean spying, talk to your child from the time they start to speak and trust what they say.

When they are teenagers/adolescent , also called as the period of confusion. They need your most help. During this phase, they are already dealing with their changing hormonal activity. They are already having a battle with their body and mind. This time if we yell at them, they will never meet your eyes again . If you don't let them go like a kite with the strings in your hands, they'll never stay. Give  them their freedom but don't let forget to respect you and your family values. They would have developed their friend circle now, if they were in your guidance from childhood they would have made great friends. But still never forget to talk to them about their day atleast once a week , here talking means listening to them more and trust me , they wouldn't want too much advice.

Teach them their prayers and religion more. Tell them a little of your family stories of struggle and love. And don't forget to give them pocket money , but not too much.

When they are in college especially in hostel , the atmosphere would be totally different. But don't let them be alone. Call them at least once a week. When they come home cook them their favorite meal and shop with them. Give them surprise visits to college and hostel, meet with friends . Never forget to give them all the money the need not the money THEY want. Monitor how they spent (not by teaching them to tally) Ask for habits but trust what they say. Again talk to them when they are home.

Your children would be half- you and your partner and half- the society. When they are  very young gain their trust towards you and your partner and when they grow older and face the society , they must be ready for what comes. 

Children are exposed to outside little by little so ,each time teach them how to deal with each phase and when they become away from you they will remember all your teachings.

Give them time when they are young and they'll never forget it when they get old.

This is why maternity leaves are inevitable during early stages of you child's life and when they grow older , no matter what job you do , give them their time.

Be a friend to them , play and talk with them.

Love them and teach them to love you back. 

Home made moisturizer for your baby ( Anti-allergic, Best for dry skin, Best for babies skin, completely organic, no-chemicals, no-preservatives)

Your babies skin would be the most tender skin that you would have ever felt.

You might as well have noticed it glowing and being soft . You might also have noticed it's glow vanishing and  the change in its texture.

What may be the reason.

1. Never use soap on your babies .it would do more harm than good to your babies skin.
2. Give good oil massage for your baby before giving a bath. Let the oil stay on skin for a maximum period untill the baby is given a bath.
3. Do not completely wipe a baby skin dry, just pat dry (head must be dried thoroughly )
4. Immediately after drying , apply coconut oil on slightly wet skin. This acts as a wonderful moisturizer.( better than any baby cream in the market)
5. If you still feel your baby's skin is dry , have noticed eczema or has any type of allergic rash on the skin- apply this homemade moisturizer immediately after bath (better if given a body bath twice daily-1st in the morning and next before bed-time) and also apply in-between when you find baby itching or having flaky skin.
6. Normally for a breast fed baby , it's not necessary to give a daily bath until they start to move around and get dirty or is a messy-eater. For a new born baby a daily bath reduces body temperature and causes their calories gained by metabolizing milk for increasing body temperature instead of causing weight gain. So, reduced number of bath helps weight gain infants)

Ingredients for home-made baby cream /moisturizer 

Aloe Vera leaves- two large (to make 1 cup alovera gel)

Coconut oil -1cup

Peppermint oil- 5drops

Procedure

 Take two large leaves of aloe-Vera and cut either edges of the leaf , where thorns are present

Split either surfaces of leaf ( upper and lower with a spoon)

Scoop out the gel using a spoon

Make a juice of this scooped out aloe-Vera gel without adding any water

Take one cup of this alovera gel and one cup of frozen/or solidified coconut oil (best if virgin coconut oil is used)

Or if you want to make more quantity, take equal quantity of both

Put these two ingredients with 5 drops of peppermint oil in a mixer jar and blend until smooth paste is formed.

This cream can be stored in a refrigerator and warmed by a double boiler method while using or can be stored outside, in room temperature for any period.

Over time , the aloevera gel decays into the coconut oil leaving a strong smell of aloevera, but don't worry , the properties of the moisturizer would not be lost.

This is a very effective moisturizer and the best part that you KNOW what exactly you are applying to yours or your baby's skin.

One cup of aloe-Vera gel with one cup coconut oil gives me enough baby cream that would last for almost two weeks (normally)

But when it's cold or dry climate, or when Asiya and Athika are having allergy, eczema or any skin inflammation, it would hardly stay a week.

For me, I always make in this quantity as I cannot take the smell after two weeks period. And I do not use any other moisturizer or baby cream on my daughters.

As many of you know, my daughters are suffering from multiple food allergy. Their skin are extremely sensitive and almost always with atleast a slight rash even after all the care I give, obviously they are exceptional two little children who lost Their beautiful skin for a sorrowful familial allergy.

When they have eat something that does not suit their body., they get severe eczema and rashes all over their body. They cannot control their itch as they are small babies and even if their nails are cut-short , would get wounded.

This was of Asiya's first and one of the worst allergy, captured on 5th July 2016, when she became 1year old and we gave her cows milk. She had rashes all over, and edema over her face and eyes. It took a month to heal. But even for this, we didn't  go for any steroid or anti-allergic drugs.

Applying any Cream prescribed by their doctor would leave their skin burning and they give out a cry that we could not afford to hear again in our lives.

Finally their daddy came up with this recipe , and after it effectiveness on our daughters inflamed and wounded skin, we wouldn't want to take another chance.

It's always there in our home and we carry it in a small dispenser everywhere. With its continued use we have regained a lot of texture of Asiya's beautiful skin. We are in hope our daughters would recover from food allergy as everyone in her dads family did ,by the time they are 5-7 years old.

I would suggest it without any doubt, for any child like ours with skin allergies and eczema. Along with this avoid any soap and cut-off babies nails as early as it grows.

This is my daughter today ....she doesn't eat any chocolates, ice-creams or cookies and everyone feels sorry for her. But we are happy she doesn't even know what they even tastes like and she is healthier and gets rarely sick compared to any other child of her age.

Hope all our children have good health. And I wouldn't compromise on anything but ,the best , for my daughters

WHAT' S INSIDE MY BAG (mom of two)

Having a baby never made us hold back our love for exploring places. We are always spotted touring various destinations during weekends and holidays. initially we used to go for diaper bags as, it is a statement accessory for every new mom, but later on we agreed on to use spacious back-packs everywhere as it's easy to carry and would leave our hands free to hold our baby.

No matter where we go with our daughters we have the following in our bag. This is our main check-list before getting outside our home.

1. Diaper
2. Wet-wipes
3. Tissue
4. 2 or 3 Cotton wash cloth
5. Nappy rash cream
6. Spare dresses with matching sock and hair clip
7. Water bottle with filtered , boiled and cooled water
8. Sippy cup
9. Milk bottles for either of them
10. Formula dispenser-always check and load the dispenser 
11. A small flask with hot water.
12. Flannel in case of an infant
13. Caps for both of them
14. One or few plush toy or any favorite toy.
15. Hand sanitizer
16. A small snack box containing Asiya favorite dry fruits.
17. My wallet 
18. My mobile phone.

When we have planned for a longer trip or visiting an occasion that last longer and includes our children's meal time.

1. Atleast two servings of puréed meal for Athika
2. One main meal for Asiya 
3. Some cut and packed fruits /boiled veggies according to what's available
4. One uncut apple or pear with a pealer
5. More number of diapers for both of them
6. More spare cloths
7. Moisturizing cream
8. Night suit (for occasions that surpasses their bedtime) mostly we avoid attending such functions or leave early. And when we leave we feed and dress them for bed because mostly when we reach home, they would already be asleep.
   

HOW TO DEAL WITH A TODDLER

Being a mom of a toddler can cost you a lot of patience, energy and time.

This is the stage when a child finally stands on his own feet and explores the world. During this phase , a child is learning to do things by himself and learning to understand what he's been asked to do.

He asks for the things he wants, he hesitates to wear a diaper, he informs it's time for him to pee, he wants to do things by himself ,like taking a bath, eating his meal, cleaning himself after taking the washroom. Sometimes it's all fun for us parents to watch when they attempt to do new things but ,sometimes when we are in a hurry we'll get mad over their demands.

Initially ,It was hard for me to deal with my elder daughter when she had her transition to a toddler especially because I had an infant too to look after.

But thanks to my husband and my family I finally know the secret recipe to have a peaceful home with a toddler.

• The first thing to know while having a toddler at home is that they are very small innocent children who are just understanding the world around them. They are unaware wheather we parents are available for them or not, but they are totally aware that THIS IS THEIR TIME. Its not their fault that they sound fussy or stubborn to us , it's our fault that we are giving more importance to something else other than our child.

After I realized this, I try never to forget this, finally I have found peace in my heart without hurting the emotions of my daughter who needs me every second of her life.

• Second: we need to realize that we have so many people whom we trust and who care about us, if one person leaves us we have another to lend their shoulder for us to cry on. But ,our little toddlers just have US, we are the world to them, we are the only people they know deeply and are attached to the most. Imagine the time you yell at them , they feel so helpless and left out, whom would they run to?THEY ONLY HAVE YOU!

Each time we criticize them for something they did , they loose in developing their confidence . It can be noticed that during this stressed period a toddler pee without informing you, disobeys you a lot, does the opposite of everything you want them to do. Finally the harmony in your home would be lost and neither you nor your child would be relaxed.

1. Address them with LOVE. There are two ways to teach our child to obey us.

One way is to give our child everything THEY demand in OUR WAY.

Second is make them do everything WE want in THEIR WAY.

How to Tackle multiple food allergy in young children ?

My daughter is allergic to a whole lot of food items. so when we started weaning for her , it was very difficult . she couldn't eat most of the traditional food that normally a keralite parent would give her child.

When we fed her certain food she started developing eczema, also known as a type of allergic-reddish rash over her face , armpit, below her knees .upon all that she had my mom skin,which is extremely dry in nature.

She was a very active baby beginning from my tummy itself. she never stopped tumbling around in my tummy when she was there.as a tiny infant who was zero months old she was still extremely active throwing her hands and feet every second, here and there. Now that calls for a whole a lot of calories in her diet . she was breast-fed , soleley breast-fed until the age of six months.after that she was weaned initially on Apple purée made by her dad's special gift Phillips Avent.

And gradually as her growth demanded, we continued adding newer food items in her diet.she developed a kind of unidentified , itchy and reddened rash all over her body.later on when milk was added into her diet,cows milk , she developed a more intense rash which appeared on her face and was literally visible to anyone who saw my daughter. this was a sad sight. as concluded by the doctor, it was a milk allergy and it lasted over a month, considering the history of multiple food allergy running in her dad's family,  her daddy made a thorough study on food allergies and, multiple disciples for overcoming and managing it.

He advised me Two things regarding introducing new foods to our little girl.

Number one was to introduce only 1 food at a time .

Second one was, A food should be introduced continually for at least three days.

experts claim that, if any kind of allergic reaction appears within three days  of introducing a new food,that food would most probably be unsuitable for the child. 

But, for my active little baby I couldn't compromise any nutrition based on the assumption that it must be allergic for her . it was a big challenge for me and for her dad to find out which one  was suitable for our child and which were not. we had a big task in hand and with a whole lot of support from each other we where able to distinguish between the two.

For a child like ours with multiple food allergy ,parents would handle the situation in three ways 

The first type of parent would quit trying and depend on a single suitable nonallergic food for the baby

The second type of parent would provide unsupervised food that they please without any recheck and upon noticing any allergic change would depend on some deadly medicines

Thankfully we belong to a third group, parents who follows the rule of

3i's , meaning 

Introduce , Identify and Integrate

This is a very slow and lengthy procedure 

First step -we introduce a new food, one food at a time subsequently for three days .

Second step- we observe the child for any developing allergic reaction. This helps identify the suitable food from the unsuitable ones.

Third step-integrating one food with another in order to combine food together. Recipes tried by combination should consist only of those food items which are proven as non-allergic to the child by this method.

Please note :

• Do not introduce snacks or processed food to the child unless each ingredient is checked with the child
• Seek the help of a doctor in case of allergic reaction.
• Parents who are impatient , many tests for food allergy are available in medical centers.
• Once multiple food allergy have has been diagnosed , kindly stay away from harmful steroids and anti-allergic drugs which does not treat the allergic disease but merely cures symptoms.The reaction always subsides by it self by time.
• Stay away from food that Are allergic to the child and teach the child to stay away from those food by themselves once they are two years old.

Baby Food maker-Philips avent 2 IN 1

I'm a busy mom. But I'm not ready to compromise my children's mental and physical growth, just because I have to take care of my clinic.

Kids have a growth schedule. After birth certain days in a week seems important to them . As they face their growth spurt ,they demand more milk even sparing their sleep.

When they gradually become months old, certain months claim high quantity of certain nutrition.

And when they still grow attaining age over age, and are finally able to choose between their favorite meals and the food they dislike, they still require a healthy diet.

But to train them to accept all that's good, we must try and give them good and healthy food as early as possible.

To begin with , go for a neutral taste meaning - not adding any additional sugar or salt. to do that it's better to begin by boiling or steaming vegetables and fruits and blending them into  a smooth paste  .

Phillips avent combined steamer and blender was my best friend Who really help me with the weaning process . gifted by their daddy of course! He wanted me to be ambitious about my career but not forgetting my duties  to our children. nourishing my children with all the possible best food required a lot of time and effort but with my first child I started working six months after her birth ,but due to lack of time he thought it would be best if he got me a steamer come blender,because finally ,all I had to do was to peel-slice and put it there with a little water. when he asked me whether I wanted one,  I told him a big NO because , I was not sure whether I would be using it and if I didn't use it, he would feel bad and above all .....it was quite expensive for an Indian parent to afford.

But he ordered it without my knowledge. And now, all I want to conclude is that Phillips avent has helped me immensely in parenting.

My daughter despite being a baby with multiple food allergy, consumed a whole lot of healthy food which many normal kids wouldn't have even tried until they were older.

We were able to steam a whole lot of veggies and fruits and thankfully had those food added to her regular diet in a very early age.

And now being an extremely active toddler , she's used to the flavours of raw fruits and veggies and sometimes steamed ones without any added spices or flavours, and consumes a whole lot of healthy snacks.

Thanks to our early efforts and easiness with our best buddy Phillips , our cupcake prefers her healthy snacks over biscuits, cookies , chocolates and other junk food.

So, when my second daughter arrived, we had a clear path ahead of us , which we followed thoroughly.

PHILIPS AVENT helped us make our little daughters world better.

All the money and effort gave us a priceless result- our healthy and wonderful daught.

PHILIPS AVENT COMBINED STEAMER AND BLENDER

Homemade baby food

Purées

apple purée

carrot purée

beet root purée 

Pear purée 

Papaya purée

Mashed food

Sweet potato 

Tapioca

Mashed potato

Avocado

Ladies finger

Raw chickoo

Raw Finger food

Strawberry 

Apple

Papaya

Pear

Watermelon

Carrots

Cucumber

Mango

Grapes

Steamed finger food

Carrot

Potato

Sweet potato

Tapioca

Ladies finger

Broccoli

Traditional infant food

Kunnan kaya porridge.

Ragi- ragi dosa , traditional ragi porridge

 Navara- powdered navara porridge, traditional navara rice porridge

Wheat porridge

Miscellaneous hidden nutrition

Semolina arrowroot saffron balls

Arrowroot veg-soup

Avocado mayonnaise on bread

Palak paneer

Altered rice meal

Broken brown rice porridge

Broken brown rice porridge with green gram

Broken brown rice porridge with dal

Broken brown rice porridge with one spoon of powdered rakthashali rice 

Broken brown rice porrige with carrot

Broken brown rice porridge with flax seed

Baked food

Eggless and diaryless cookies with nuts

Eggless and diaryless cake with nuts

Eggless diaryless bread

Baked Kerala banana

Baked potato and carrots

Non veg delights

Mutton Liver

Mutton leg soup /mutton paya

Fish boiled in turmeric and salt

Fish  with dried gooseberries and seasoned with minimum pepper

Fish fry seasoned  with turmeric powder, ginger garlic and lemon

Chicken 

Avoid beef for toddlers as it may cause worm infection 

Juices

Pomegranate pure juice

Carrot pure juice

Orange

Musambi

Avocado

Watermelon 

Papaya

Lemon juice

Tender coconut

Coconut water .

Mango pure

Dry fruits 

Cashew 

Walnut 

Apricot

Almond

Fig

Dried strawberries

Dried cranberries

Dried cherry

Resins

Treatment for hemorrhoid-Home remedy

Ayurvedic treatment

1. Jatyadi oil -add some on a cotton and place it inside anus.

                    Times to do it- after defecation place inside and take it out

                                              And during bed time place it inside overnight,will heal                

                                              within a week .

       2. Powdered Dried mango seed(inside)+ Indian blueberry seeds+dried cumin seed

                   25grms.                                                50 grms.                   25grms

       

Consume powder.......1spoon powder  with Luke warm water after break fast and after lunch...........twice daily........not to be consumed after dinner.

      3. Abhayarishta - add 2spoon liquid to 1cup Luke warm water- have it 1hour after meal

Dietary changes

1. 1cup bitter grout juice and 1cup raddish juice -thrice a week
2. Coconut water daily once, having half glass on empty stomach very beneficial, because even a slight increase in stomach temperature initiates immense pain,,,,coconut water soothes
3. papaya , 
4. watermelon, 
5. njaval pazham, 
6. bale fruit( koovalam)- consume as fruit or as dried bale fruit powder- very very good.......
7. Fresh curd and oats as breakfast
8. Spinach 
9. Jackfruit
10. Green salad
11. Seasonal fruits
12. 1 glass cucumber and peppermint juice
13. Half cup aloevera gel  and 1cup water make a juice and drink.