#weaningatarah 
No sugar (sweet) till 1 year..
When I announced to the elders how I'm going to wean Atarah, they looked at me like some alien. I follow Traditional Weaning where no salt and sugar is introduced to babies till 1 year. The constant question I get " Our parents never followed this rule, did we not turn out to be fine?". Well the answer is " No we did not turn out to be fine" but this is a huge topic and needs lot of debates and discussions. 
Sugar is junk and sweetness sets a preference to sweet food, Giving importance to vegetables, dals and lentils is more important than creating a preference to sheera, kheer, biscuits etc. Let's get back to some memory lane... How many biscuit option we all had as kids? 2 or 3. How many times in a month we had chocolates? Diary milk and 5star were luxurious chocolates that time. How many sweet shops were near our place? I don't remember seeing more than 1 or 2 in our entire colony. 

Now back to present.... Chocolates, Cookies, cakes, donuts, cream biscuits, chocolate biscuits, cookies biscuits, chocolate chips biscuits, jam biscuits, brownies... The list goes on. Here, there, every where we find these and it's so easy to access. The life style our grandparents had is different from the life style our kids are having. Those days these were available in limited stock but things are different now. When our grandparents got diabetes at the age of 70 plus years our parents got when they were 50 plus years and we are getting by 30 plus years.. Now imagine if we are going to follow the same rule as our parents did, At what age our kids will get? 
Kids eat what they are given, They learn and get their taste from their own kitchen first. Sweet in any form is not a good choice for a baby less than 1 year, Be it jaggery, palm sugar or any other sweetners. Never stock your kitchen with chocolates, Teach your kids to seek permission from you before taking a chocolate or anything from others. Let chocolate and biscuits stay as a luxury food or as a treat.. 
Prepare your baby's weaning by 4 months so that you will get enough time to decide what you want to follow. Remember things have changed now, the entire life style is changed now. So don't blindly follow what the older generation did.

#weaningatarah  
Babies doesn't need teeth to chew and eat textured food, Their gums are strong enough to chew, bite and manipulate food. Athu chews on roti, dosa, poori, vegetables etc. I see lot of moms sticking to purees and mashed foods till 2 plus year, everything is blended in blender and given. Only when we give the exposure babies learn, don't worry about gagging. When we understand the difference between gagging and chocking we will how and what all to offer. 

Eating egg dosa. 
https://youtu.be/l-0PGbGAdls

DO I SPOUT OR STRAW?
 #weaningatarah 


Weaning is overwhelming especially for the first time mommies, Apart from starting solids we are going to introduce a very important element "Water".. Lot of confusions amongst moms, How much water to offer ? How do I give? Is water that important though I breast feed?..

Till 6 months our paediatricians recommend exclusively breast feeding alone or formula milk. Both has enough water to keep the baby hydrated, As soon as we start solids we can start offering water but not more than 40 to 60 ml per day. Because too much of water will displace the nutritious Breast milk and formula milk which will be their main source of nutrition till 1 year. Also it simply fills their small tummy and they might not eat the solids. However if you notice constipation in Babies go ahead and offer more, by the end of 9 months you can slowly increase their water intake, Do not worry if baby is not taking water, just keep offering they will learn to drink water.

How to offer water?
Start offering water with spoon 🥄 first and slowly with small open cup, they will spill a lot but it's okay as they learn things making lot of mistakes. But it will be challenging when you take the baby out, feeding with small cups or spoon is messy. Most of the moms are confused whether to introduce spout or straw?

Spout cups /bottles : 

Ideal for bottle fed babies, bottle fed babies put very less pressure to suck milk unlike breast fed babies, they need slow transition. So start with spout first and slowly introduce straw bottle, it takes time to learn. Both formula and feeding bottle should be weaned off by 1 year, if you are planning to offer animal milk then opt for spout cup and slowly do the transition to open cup.

Straw cup /bottle : 

Breast fed babies doesn't; need a spout, they can easily drink from straw in few attempts. They don't need a feeding bottle as well hence post 1 year if you are planning to give animal milk simply offer in straw cup.

360 Miracle cup : 

As the name states water can be sucked from 360 degrees, it's spill proof. Few moms may not be comfortable introducing straw or spout hence this is the ideal choice. This is also called training cup, both water and milk can be offered in this, it takes time for them to suck as they need to put pressure. Do not panic if they don't take it in first few attempts. 

I introduced Philips Avent straw bottle when Atarah turned 6 months and she drank like a pro, She drank less water in the beginning but post 8 months started to drink more. 

I have attached images of straw, spout and 360 training cups. There are lot of brands available but go for a BPA free ones, Never pour hot water in bottle always cool and then fill the bottles. If you want sterilisation can be done or simply wash with any liquid soap, clean and dry.

#weaningatarah  
Food allergies in Babies

In India food allergy is something people ignore or does not understand the seriousness. People still laugh if we talk about Gluten intolerance or lactose intolerance, It is true that compared to the west we have less of food allergies but it's not nill. As we start weaning by 6 months let's look into things which are potential food allergens for babies.
1. MILK 🥛
2. NUTS
3. EGGS 🥚 
4. FISH 🐠 
5. CHICKEN 🐔
6. SHELL FISH ( PRAWN 🦐, LOBSTERS)
7. VEGETABLES LIKE BRINJAL, YAM etc
8. WHEAT 🌾 

These are the common food allergens and it's recommended to introduce all these before 12 months because the effect and damages will be more of we introduce later, So earlier the better. Milk in direct form is not recommended until 12 months but it can always be added little in porridges, sheera etc. Wheat has gluten and some has gluten intolerance which will have adverse affect on their gut. So any form of wheat is not recommended and they need proper treatment.

Symptoms of food allergies :

Rashes : Babies will develop red rashes all over the body.
Swollen lips and eyes
Watery eyes : Babies eyes will turn red and the eyes will become watery.
Itching : They may not be able to tell us but will behave cranky.
Vomiting and loosies : There will be continuous vomiting or loosies, but again when you over feed your baby they might vomit, so with that we can't conclude that particular food is allergic to them.

So when you introduce the above listed food always introduce in day time and not in the evenings, if they are allergic to the particular food the symptoms will show within 6 hrs and this is why 3 days rule of same food is not followed now. When you see the baby reacting take the baby to the doctor immediately. Adding nuts powder to their food is nutritious but test each and every nuts on them, simply soak the nuts ( 1 nut 1 day) grind and offer. When you have tested all the nuts then you can make powder and it can be added in their food. Eggs and other non veg foods is upto you; to decide when to introduce but make sure to do before 12 months, For Atarah I introduced everything by 8 months and she has no allergic reactions to anything. If you are confused and not sure that it's allergy or not, offer the same food item after few days.

Our elders may come up with " we never did all this to you". Remember it's alway good to be proactive, When you know your child has allergy you will not offer and suffer later. These days when I order cake 🎂 for parties I make sure it's eggless because there are lot of kids who are allergic to eggs.
Happy weaning!

#weaningatarah  
Constipation in Babies (6 months +)

After first few weeks of introducing solids I felt "My baby was so safe with Breast milk as her only food ", Moms who is waiting to wean off their babies will soon understand. It wasn't easy for them as well as for us, Constipation is one of the major issue.

Causes and Remedies 
1. Too much food will cause constipation, few moms will go overboard and offer 3 meals at 6 months itself. Their digestive system is still developing and they need only 1 meal at 6 months, 2 meals or 1 meal and 1 snack at 7 months, 8 months same as 7 months, 2 meals 1 snack at 9 months, 3 meals 1 snack at 10,11 months and by the end of 12 months they should be on 3 meals and 2 snacks. So slowly and steadily increase the food. Always remember to offer Breast milk 30 mins before their meals, if it's formula 45 mins, Because till 1 year breast milk or formula milk will be the main source of nutrition.


2. Not sure why we are obsessed over Apple and Bananas, few moms wants to offer steamed apple every day. Both apple and Banana causes constipation. It's better to start with vegetables first and then slowly introduce fruits, Instead of offering apple or banana every day offer varieties. Fruits like Papaya, pears, water melon, musk melon relieves constipation.


3. Rice is one of food which constipates, giving dal and rice every day without any vegetables will surely end up in constipation. When you make dal kichadi add vegetables like carrot, mattar, pumpkin, beans, potatoes etc.


4. Biscuits, the biggest culprit. It's not recommended for adults itself and it's definitely a big NO to babies. It's all made up of maida, sugar and preservatives, there is no such thing called wheat biscuits, as Baker I know wheat can't give softness. So do not fall for it.


5. Cow milk, We think if a kid is having 2 glasses of milk then thier daily nutrition is met but it is not. All the diary products should be limited to 200 ml per day. Cow milk protein is too much for the babies to digest so it will result in constipation. Till 1 year no animal milk, however can add little here and there in their food.

Laxatives :
Breast milk, prunes, papaya, pears, oranges, sooji, oats, dried grapes. Increase your breastfeeding session if your baby is constipated. Prunes is nothing but dried plums, simply soak in hot water for 30 mins and offer. Same way dried grapes can also be soaked and offered. Sooji is not that good in nutrition wise however if the baby is constipated it can be offered in porridge or sheera form but keep it occasional.

It's advised that water intake till one year should be less than 40 ml because if they consume too much of water then they may skip bm/FM which is not good. But decide according to the weather and baby's needs, go ahead and offer more water if the baby is constipated. Feel free to skip meals and offer only breast milk if the baby is highly constipated.