Breastfeeding Benefits

The Benefits of Breastfeeding

During breastfeeding nutrients and antibodies pass to the baby while it helps to strengthen the maternal bond. Most people agree that, under normal circumstances, breastfeeding is best for your baby. It provides the perfect nutrients and has many known benefits:

-Superior nutrition
Breast milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is needed for a baby’s growth and development.

-Most babies find it easier to digest breast milk than they do formula. The protein that is present is more nutritious and digestible that the major protein component of cow’s milk. The mother’s fat is also more easily broken down. Infants also have an easier time absorbing the important micro nutrients in breast milk than those in cow’s milk. The proportion of protein in mother’s milk is lower than in cow’s milk, making it more digestible.

-Breastfeeding also helps a mother bond with her baby. Physical contact is important to newborns and can help them feel more secure, warm and comforted

-Breast milk has agents called antibodies in it to help protect infants form bacteria and viruses and to help them in fighting off infection and disease. Breastfed babies are less subject to lower respiratory infections, ear infection, septicemia and urinary tract infections. virtually no baby is allergic to breast milk, while certain substances in cow’s milk can trigger allergic responses.

-Human milk straight from the breast is always sterile, never improperly prepared, contaminated or spoiled.

-Breastfeeding saves time and money. You do not have to purchase, measure and mix formula, and there no bottles to warm in the middle of the night.

-Nursing uses up extra calories making it easier to lose pounds gained from pregnancy. It also helps the uterus to get back to its original size more quickly and lessens any bleeding a woman may have after giving birth.

-Breastfeeding may lower the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

-Nursed babies are healthier. The rates of constipation and diarrhea are lower in breast-fed children. Also, breastfeeding is less likely to cause overweight infants or obese children later in life.

-Breastfeeding in convenient for the mother. It requires no planning, packing or equipment. It is always available, and at just the right temperature.

Child Care Tips

Safety Tips

- Always check bath water temperature with your elbow or wrist before putting your baby in to bathe.
- Never, ever, leave your child alone in the bathtub or near any water.
- Keep medicines and cleaning products in containers with safety caps and locked away from children.
- Don’t leave your baby alone in highchair.
- Lock household cleaning product, matches, knives, and plastic bags away from children.

Cleaning Tips
While keeping the newborn clean these guidelines can be taken into account:

- There is no need to bathe the baby everyday.
- While sponging your baby, always wash his/her face first while the water is the cleanest.
- Make sure that the nappy is dry and clean and in case the nappy gets infected, using a little antiseptic powder will help dry it.
- Always remember to wash the baby’s hands after he/she has come in contact with pets.
- Do not use disinfectants on your baby’s skin, because they take away the skin’s natural ability to fight infection.
- Till the baby is four months old, sterilize everything that goes into your baby’s mouth. Try keeping him/her away from people that are sick.
- After 4 months continue sterilizing milk utensils and water bottles.
- Never leave it at room temperature for too long, be careful about storage and heating milk.
- Good food preparation rules should be followed.

Tips to protect children from environmental threats

- Help children breathe easier.
- Don’t smoke or let others smoke in your home or car. Keep your home as clean as possible. Dust, mold, certain household pests, can trigger asthma attack and allergies.
- Protect children from too much sun. Have them wear hats, and protective clothing.
- Keep them out of the mid-day sun.
- Protect the children from lead poisoning.
- Protect children from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
- Keep pesticides and other toxic chemicals away from children.
- Always wash children’s hands before they eat and often wash their toys and bottles.
- Wash floors and window sills to protect kids from dust and peeling paint contaminated with lead – especially in older homes.
- To keeps pests from coming into your home, put food and trash away in closed containers.

Cooking With Kids

The kitchen it can be a fascinating place for young children. They see grown-ups working briskly in the kitchen, watch the steam rise from pots on the stove, and smell what’s on the menu that night. Even older kids might be intrigued by how baked goods and meals come together. It isn’t always convenient to invite them into the kitchen to help, but consider doing so when time allows.

Younger kids can watch on what you’re doing and help out with small tasks, like setting the table or stirring something. Older kids can be taught how to measure ingredients and crack eggs. Even teens might be
lured into the kitchen to help you something by telling them they can choose the dish and you’ll help prepare it with them.

To the kids, it will seem like fun, but there are other benefits to this time together:

-Preschoolers
see on how the dishes they eat are put together, and they get a hands-on experience, which is great way to learn and feel like they are helping out.

-School-age kids
can learn some cooking basics or lessons and use their skills in math as they help combine ingredients for the recipes. You can also use the time to talk about good nutrition and why you chose the ingredients you’re using. it can lay groundwork healthy eating later on.

-Teens
might appreciate the chance to improve their skills in cooking – good preparation for when they’ll need to cook for themselves. they might be interested in trying different cuisines. Do they love Asian foods? Visit and Asian market and put together something authentic.

Parents get out of this kitchen togetherness, too. First, there’s the quality time you’ll share. Then there’s a pleasure of sitting down the table together to enjoy what you’ve whipped up.

Here are some tips for having fun and staying safe while you’re cooking with kids

Choose the Right Time
If you’re going to have kids helping you in the kitchen, you don’t want to be on a tight time schedule. Instead of involving them in the dinner you have to cook lightning-fast, enlist their help on a weekend afternoon.

With younger kids, choose a time when they’re well-rested and not easily frustrated. And It’s also a smart idea to have another adult in the kitchen to help you something like helping you to keep an eye on your junior chef.

Choose the Right Tasks
Plan ahead a little when deciding what you’ll prepare together. For younger kids, consider starting with simple dishes with fewer than five ingredients. Then your child won’t have to wait it out while you tackle a complicated step. A tossed salad or easy muffin recipe can be good starter projects. Older kids can take cooking to the next level and work with you on more challenging recipes.

Stress Safety
Children need a supervision when they’re in the kitchen. Preschoolers must learn not to touch whirring electric beaters, hot pans. and stove tops.

Here are some safety tips:

-Give frequent reminders about what’s OK to touch and which items can hurt them.

-Talk about which kitchen tasks are for kids and which are for grown-ups.

-Establish a kitchen rules, such as washing hands and not touching knives or stove knobs.

Even older kids are need to be remind for their safety, especially if they’re working with knives and appliances, or at the stove.

Loosen Up
Kids cannot be counted on to be neat in the kitchen. Even adults have trouble with that. To make your experience together more enjoyable. Try to be patient and allow for some extra mess. To prevent cooking disasters, be sure that your child isn’t measuring ingredients over the bowl – risking a big oops. Instead, you might measure them separately and put them in bowls, like they do on TV cooking show.