How to treat baby’s cold and flu?

As soon as your baby’s born you’ll be invited to enroll in some baby’s groups where you can learn from health visitors and other mum’s . Some of the topics they will discuss are baby development, immunization, sleep, baby’s food etc.  However, they will not discuss how to treat cold and flu and before you know it your baby will have a cold or flu.  This is partly caused by the group environment being the perfect place to pass on infections and also being out and about with your newborn in a pushchair will expose them to pollution from streets, cars etc.. You need to remember your baby doesn’t have a built in defence against these.   

In this case, the best thing you can do it is prepare yourself to deal with the situation because you can’t be over protective. Remember getting some of these bugs will help your baby’s immune system become resistant.

To be prepare you should get yourself  some of the anti-cold and flu items from the supermarket. These are:

1)      A warn humidifier or facial sauna

2)      A thermometer

3)      Saline drops

4)      Calpol  or Neurofren

5)      Karvol nasal decongestant

6)      Something to lift your baby’s cot

7)      Very soft tissues

The above list are the most essential items you can buy to help your baby get rid of cold and flu and you won’t always use all of them. For example if your baby gets a cold with a runny or blocked nose and suffers tiredness you might try the warn humidifier or facial sauna, saline drops, lifting the cot (so baby can sleep better at night), and if baby’s nose is very blocked you might use some tissues. The thermometer and medication might only be used if baby has a flu which includes other symptoms such as a temperature, tears, refusing feeding   etc .

What you should do when you observe you baby is starting to get a cold or flu?

You should using the warn humidifier or facial sauna as soon as you can. Any doctor will recommend you to put your baby’s face close to a facial sauna and this should be done as an adult does. I find this is a very popular thing and lots of people already  have one at home so you can use it as long as you take care to wash it very well by sterilizing the plastic pieces with a hot water and wiping it with alcohol gel.

To use the facia sauna try putting in clean water and switching it on on a low place or even on the floor. When the water starts to boil and steam comes out, hold your baby facing the sauna in a way so that he is getting the steam in his face but not touching the whole thing or burning his face. Let him breath as much as is possible because this is what will help the bad symptoms come out during the day. You can do this as often as you want during the day and also at night. At night switch it on in your baby’s room on the floor close to the cot. If you have a warn humidifier, you will find is even better because you switch it on in the room where you baby is, close the door and let the steam fulfil the whole room. Be careful as you use this to make sure that after exposing baby to the hot temperature that you don’t go somewhere cool or wipe your baby’s forehead with cold water etc. It can be very dangerous to change the temperature quickly even during the day.  Remember babies are very sensitive.

While doing this, always have some tissues around and clean your baby’s nose pressing gentle from up to down cleaning out all the mucus.

If when listening to baby’s breathing you sense they are full of catarrh you should try the saline drops. When using drops remember to do one nostril first and the second nostril five minutes later. NEVER put both at once otherwise the mucus accumulates in the back of his throat blocking the airways. There are different brands of saline drops on the market and after trying a range of them I found the best one is the Calpol Spray.  This is exactly because it has a spray function and one thing we know is that babies don’t like things in their nose and won’t  keep themselves still  for you to try.

For the same reason, if your case baby has a temperature and you need to use Calpol get a syringe to avoid fighting with the spoon. Neurofren does come with a syringe which is a help but Calpol doesn’t. Some mums ask if they should give Calpol or Neurofren and what is the best?  I personally think Neurofren is the best because it has a more acceptable flavour for babies and a deep and longer effect like a pain killer. However, Calpol has a fast effect but can be used without worry if your baby has asthma or eczema. Neurofren can’t be used if your baby has asthma or eczema and if you suspect these conditions the its better to use Calpol in a very young child. NEVER give your child both Calpol and Neurofren, neither together nor after 2 hours, nor after two days. Do not give your child any medication before reading and understanding the label. Remember if the symptoms don’t disappear book an appointment with a Doctor.   

How important is make your baby burp after feed?

It is extremely important make your baby burp because whilst they are feeding your baby is gulping a lot of air. This air gets trapped in baby’s stomach and since he cannot get this air out alone, you need to help him burp. Making him burp is the only way to help the gas leave. If you not able to get your baby to burp, that trapped air can cause a lot of discomfort and it’s also very dangerous. The amount of discomfort is also influenced by mums diet (if you are breastfeeding) or if your baby has a non diagnostic reflux.

The discomfort is caused when you put your baby down to sleep very quickly the trapped air can come back up suffocating your baby. Remember most babies cannot turn and lift their heads until later in their development. This is especially true in very young babies and new borns.

Mums diet plays a very important part in this subject as a lot of acid in your diet produces more air that potentially gets trapped. There was recently a case where a mum was breast feeding her baby after she had drunk beer. She was also very tied and didn’t put the baby to burp after feeding. Instead she put him to lie down straight away. As a result, the baby died because she suffocated on the milk. Of course this is a tragic and sad case but it needs to be remembered before any mum gives up holding their baby straight after feeds and making him burp.

All mums know it is very hard work to do this all the time, especially in the middle of the night when you have to wake up every 2 hours to feed your baby. This is exactly when you shouldn’t give up!

It is very important to learn effective burping methods so you can try different techniques. If you use the right technique you can make the burps leave much faster and make your baby feel comfortable again. Here are the different burp techniques that we recommend..
Positions to help baby burp

1. Lap position
Make your baby sit on your lap. Place one hand on your baby’s chest and keep your fingers under your baby’s chin. Rub baby’s back with your other hand in a circular motion so that the gas is released.
2. Shoulder position
This is the best and most popular way. With one hand hold your baby’s bottom and rest baby against your shoulder. Now just pat his back with your other hand. Continue to pat until the air is pressed up and released as a burp.
3. Belly position
Put a soft towel over your lap and place the baby on his belly in a way that his head is supported by one thigh while the stomach rests on the other. Pat the baby’s back in a upward motion till the burp comes.
4. Tummy Massage
Try massaging your baby’s tummy in an up and down movement until the burp comes.

Third-stage of weaning

 You’ll probably start this stage very well and finish it really tired. Everything was going amazing! Your baby was taking five bottles of milk per day - each one with 150ml of milk. She was also having mid morning fruit, a big bowl of food at lunch time, toast for mid afternoon tea and another huge bowl of scrambled eggs and soft cheese for dinner.  Suddenly, she starts to eat only half of her food and refuses the milk. You don’t know what is happening and struggle to get her to take 2 bottles of milk per day.

Don’t panic! It is normal. You’ll need to be very patient and start to change something around the house and maybe the way you cook. Babies get very easily distracted and get bored of the feeding routine at this stage. Being creative can bring you baby back to the everyday feeding routine. You can start moving her high chair close to the family table so she feels part of daily life. If you can’t change her chair - place it by the window where she can see the street movement or the garden. Another option is to switch on the tv to a baby channel just so she gets distracted (if you do switch on the tv 3 times a week for one or two hours it doesn’t mean your baby will get used to it nor will it be a habit for the future).

With all of these tips above, I still believe the best way to get your childs appetite back is to make their food smell delicious and let the smell waft all around the house. Who can resist a delicious cooking smell? Babies are just the same. If you have been frozing pure baby food it is even easier. Keep a garlic chicken or beef stock in the fridge for up to a week. Defrost the mix of vegetables you intend to give. For example 3 ice cubes of sweet potatoes with 2 of sweet corn, 1 of black bean, 1 of courgette and 3 of frozen chicken. Fry half a tea spoon of butter and add two table spoons of the stock, leaving it to burn a little bit, than add the ingredients and stir for 1 or 2 minutes and leave it to cool while you place your baby in a high chair. 

Second-stage of weaning

The second-stage of weaning starts after you have introduced vegetables and fruits at around seven months.
At this stage you can be a little bit more adventurous and make it even more lumpy. If you’ve started with a very creamy texture you may find your baby will refuse the consistency. However, it’s really important that you start do this because by one year your baby needs to be able to eat rice, mince etc. all of which will be in a normal consistency. Also at this stage, you should start to serve different kinds of vegetables together so your baby gets more vitamins and increases the amount of food intake.
As any mother knows it is healthier for your baby to have organic fruits and vegetables. The best way to guarantee she is really getting the best is to buy fresh food and cook it yourself. I know not every mother has the opportunity or skills to do this but it is worth considering.

The skills are something you can learn with a little dedication. I always cook dinner for my husband and myself but I like to say I just started to learn cooking after my first child. The reason is because I had to learn to cook without salt or sugar and substituting both for herbs and spices etc. I also started to read about the vitamins contained in foods which was very good for all of us.
However, if you cook every day for your baby it might be worth considering at the weekend or few days to offer your baby food from a jar. Especially if you will go out for lunch or dinner with your partner. This way, you’ll help yourself when you need to leave the house in a rush and it is babys time to eat. This also helps if you are going to spend a full day travelling. Trying jar food once a week will also help to make your baby less fussy and you’ll have time to observe which kind of jar food she likes.

How to introduce solid food and weaning your baby

Prepare this is one of the most important, exciting and apprehensive stages you will have as a mother, so it is really important to get it right.    

Firstly it’s important to understand that up to six months of age, babies only need milk and nothing else - not even water. This concept has changed in the last 30 years. Researchers discovered that the digestive system of a baby is still developing during the first 4 months after birth. Also, your baby is born with a supply of vitamins, minerals and iron which starts to run out around six months of age. Another reason to start weaning your baby at 6 months is to avoid the risk of allergies.

Before I go too deeply in this subject there are three things that are REALLY IMPORTANT I would like to say:

First: The major concern about starting babies on solid food comes from the fear of them choking on food. So, it’s vital that you learn what to do if this happens because it will happen sometime. 

IF YOUR BABY CHOKES lay her face down on your lap or forearm with her head lower than her chest. Support her head and give her five light slaps between her shoulders with your free hand.

    

Secondly: Once you start your baby on solids you shouldn’t just stop. Your baby will expect to eat the solid food once you start so it is advised that you carry on once started.

Thirdly: Milk is still the most important food for your baby’s development, so, when you start your baby on solids make sure she is having at least 500 ml of milk per day until they complete 1 year and if possible more. This is because milk contains all the nutrients she needs to grow.  When I talk about milk we need to remember cow’s milk it is not suitable for babies under the age of one.

You will notes that your baby can decrease considerably the milk intake after starting solids, if that happens, try to top up their allowance with 500ml milk by adding it in her diet through dairy products like fromage frais, cheese, yoghurt, butter etc.

Make sure your baby continues to take at least 500ml of milk per day after starting solids. If not, you should ask your health visitor about vitamin supplements (if your baby has a very balanced diet and is accepting food ok then you shouldn’t do that because you can harm your baby).

You can start your baby feeding baby rice (a very popular choice) fruits or vegetables. I personally will recommend you to start with plain baby rice at lunch time. Leave in more dry consistency instead of a ‘soup’ like consistency. Give it 2 days and observe her if she gets constipated or has colic, irritable behaviour or rash. If none of these, carry on with baby rice for a week or two. It is nice if you can change the meals every 2 days given for example plain baby rice 2 days, them 4 grains baby rice for another two days, banana porridge, apple fruit baby rice and others from the same range and consistency.

Once you have introduce those, you can go for fruits such as papaya, banana, mango or avocado and others boiled in a hot water or steamed such as pear, peach, plum, figs (its better to steam because it preserves much more of the vitamins). Give the same fruit for two days and observe if there is any allergic reaction. Vegetables can also be started with the fruits or before the fruits if you prefer. The process is the same for raw fruits and vegetables which have been boiled or steamed - after preparation from raw use a hand blender and add some water or milk but don’t make it too creamy. Its ok to have lumps for these foods but make sure they’re not too big so your baby doesn’t choke. If your baby gets used to all food being like a cream mixture you will find it difficult to introduce lumps in the future.

The preferred vegetables for babies are; sweet potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip, sweet, carrots, butternut squash, courgette, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peas, green beans and sweet corn.  

Most of the baby food can be frozen in advanced in a proper container or in a silicon ice cube container, and then stored in a plastic bag in the freezer. They will not loose their nutrients if it is done in the right way.

Your baby will make some good and bad faces for different food, it doesn’t mean she dislikes the food. Before a baby tries any kind of food at least 20 times they can’t say that they like or dislike. What you can do is try it again in a week or two until you complete more than 20 times. Babies also change their taste time from time. My baby use to love banana, papaya and avocado in the first months of weaning then suddenly she stopped accepting it at all. It’s a shame because banana is very good source of potassium. Papaya helps avoid constipation and avocado has essentials oils so I kept trying. Two months later she was eating it again!

Some of those first foods may not taste nice alone, but adding baby’s milk and/or baby rice can them taste better for your baby. When you move on to stage 2 of weaning it gets more interesting because you will start to mix flavours (check on Stage 2 of weaning).

Mums often ask how many times you should feed your baby. This depends on you and your baby. I started feeding my baby once a day at lunch time in the first week 2weeks before she reached 6 months old. On the 2^nd week she would have 2 meals a day and one months later 4 meals a day - mid morning, breakfast, lunch, mid afternoon tea and dinner. I did this because she is always on the go and although she was gaining weight and developing well she was tiny close to her friends (it was also one of the worst winters in Europe!). For me, it was a very good decision because she was still having her milk intake as well. Although all the others babies in her group were only having solid foods once a day, they were bigger than her. If your baby is big, developing well and still doing fine with milk, its better to start slow to avoid obesity problems in the future.

Giving baby salt and sugar:

Remember, up to 2 years old your baby should not have any sugar or salt. Eventually she will consume these when you start giving fruits and vegetables (we call good natural sugar intake) and on stage 3 of weaning when you can add a knob of butter into her food to make it more attractive. However, you should really avoid adding extra sugar or salt to her diet.

The Right Baby Food at the Right Time:

·         6 months: Food containing gluten as wheat, rye, oats, pasta, brow rice etc. well cooked eggs.

·         6-9 months: soft eggs, organic biscuits, finger food as sweet corn biscuits, all the berries fruits and kiwi etc.

·         From 1 year: add very small amount of salt or sugar (there are thousands of baby recipes books teaching how to cook for baby without adding salt or sugar). Whole cow’s milk as a main drink, pate, honey.  

Can I breastfeed and bottle feed my baby?

I believe any sensible mum in this generation knows breastfeeding is the best for your baby and all of them have been asked the question: “Is you baby bottle or breastfeed?”.  Even before you leave the hospital you will be asked this and I guess most of the first time young or middle aged mothers will try to breastfeed their baby but sadly lots of them will give up before the child reaches 6 months for different reasons. One of the most common reasons for this is the physical exhaustion cause by sleepless nights and the following busy days particularly if the mum is in charge of the house work without any extra help.

It is also the time when you start to jump meals, eat junk food or choose that easy pasta Bolognese you have been eating for the last 3 days. However, this is the time you are supposed to eat well once you start breastfeeding and your baby needs all the nutrients he/she will need to grow. So, at this point some mums will carry on until their baby reaches 6 months or even longer than that while other mums will start to bottle feed their baby earlier. It is worth remembering most of them will also try to express milk before moving on to formula milk but who ever tried to express knows it gives the same or even more work than breastfeeding your baby directly. In fact the discussion concerning this subject is not about breastfeeding or bottle feeding but about breast milk and formula milk. If you choose to express regularly because you are uncomfortable to breastfeed your baby, he/she will still get all the goodness of the breast milk.

The government campaign for breastfeeding is to introduce only breastfeeding for 6 months, however if you are considering formula milk you can always do BOTH! Yes, it is perfectly possible to do both breastfeeding and expressing milk once you start to train your baby to accept both. The Advantage of this is the fact that your baby is still getting the best milk for them and you will not be left with the sensation of having failed. You can also catch up on your sleep once you able to either get some help during the night with feeds or get some extra hours sleep (since formula milk sustains for longer than breast milk, giving you a bit more time to prepare a proper meal, or just go out for dinner). Doing things that make you happy will eventually just help you get back your energy and then you can give more to your baby.

How to train your baby to breastfeed and bottle feed both?

To begin with choose one of the many formula milk available on the market and don’t forget to choose one compatible with your baby’s age.

Firstly prepare around 30ml of milk because your baby will probably not accept much if he/she has been breastfeed for a long time. If your baby is between 2 or 3 months old they might accept more so its good to test some more and see how much he will have. The older the baby is the more difficult it is to introduce the bottle or formula. The trick is to start breastfeeding using a position where your baby is sitting on your lap and after a few minutes you can remove baby from breast to give them the bottle. It can take a while for the baby get use to this but it works if you do it all the time and soon they will get very excited when they see you coming with the bottle.

Don’t worry, your baby will not start to refuse breastfeeding and only enjoy the formula. They always prefer the breast milk for obvious reasons such as the taste will be different each time - but that’s the idea they will have both. Once your baby starts to drink the formula milk ok with you, you can put somebody in charge of the middle of the night feed or during the day when you go out.

You may be worried they will not accept the bottle but when baby is hungry and sees you are not around they will take the feed. It is a good idea to tell whoever will be in charge of your baby that they will cry and try to refuse but  they should still continue to offer the feed because eventually baby will take (this is expected in the beginning of the process, that’s why its important somebody else is in charge of the night feeding and you stay out of the way).

Once your baby gets used to the bottle and starts to associate it with food you can start to manage when you want to breastfeed during the day and starting a routine for it.

Don’t you worry about your breast milk; it will not finish, but it can decrease and adapt to your babys needs.

One other thing you may notice is when your baby becomes ill they will refuse the bottle. This is normal and your milk will provide baby with the defence they need to fight it.

How to store baby formula milk?

There are many tips for storing babies formula milk but it is always safer to make up a fresh feed whenever is possible. If its not possible to make a fresh feed you can store the feed for up to 24 hours. Remember, milk is the perfect environment for bacteria to grow, especially if it is inside a milk bottle which is idle for more than 2 hours.

1) A very popular and traditional way to store milk is prepare the feed in the morning each day and cool it in the back of the fridge for at least one hour. Then just take it out of the fridge just before use and re-warm it for no more than 15 minutes. This can also be done if you go out and about with your baby just remember you will need carry it in a cool bag with an ice pack and use it within four hours.
2) Cartons with 250ml of ready milk are available to buy in supermarkets. They are good choice if you are running out of time and will be out for less than 4 hours because once opened it needs to be consumed within 2 hours .
3) If you express milk you can follow the instruction of topic 1.
4) A very modern way to store milk for all day use and also ready to use outside the house at any time is to use a thermal flask. The best ones are those with press down tops (these are available in different sizes and colours in supermarkets such as Tesco, Sanisbury’s and Asda. I personally suggest buying 2 of them each with a size of 500ml. They are good to use for a whole day out and they also fit in most of babies bags. Simply boil fresh tap water the night before and immediately put the water into the thermal flask(s) and leave to cool for around 3 or 4 hours without the top on or until it is a good temperature for your baby drink direct. Put the top on (once cooled) and you will have a water enough for the next day. The only thing you need to do now is just get a baby bottle, add the cooled water plus the milk powder. Even easier than that is to get yourself a milk powder dispenser which you can put in as many scoops of milk powder as your baby needs per feed.

Which milk powder holders is best for use at home or going out with baby?
Multiple Compartment Powder Dispensers

3 compartments
Most milk holders seem to come with multiple compartments and a single top that spins to allow you to choose which compartment to dispense. These are available in Boots, Avent, Tesco etc.
The trouble with the multiple feeders (with 3 compartments ) is that they just store enough powder for 3 feeds which is not great for a long day out.

5 compartments
These are pretty big and a good example is the ones from Bibi which looks like a milk bottle with 5 layers.
These are easy to use to make the first feed but the other feeds are difficult because you need to change the layers underneath putting the empty one at the bottom and the new layer full of powder on top.
and also has a packet of individual circular mini containers from Tomme Tippee which can be carried inside a milk bottle. These are good because they don’t take any space in your bag unlike the normal milk bottles which have a colic device inside.

Individual milk powder dispenser
The third is the one I consider the best for the reason that you can store them inside your normal milk bottles before use. This is because most of them come in a pack of 6 with each container holding 8 scoops of milk powder - that means 250ml of milk. You can fill all of them in the morning with powder and keep on the kitchen counter beside your water flask. If you need to go out, just take the flask together with as many powder containers you think you may need in your baby bag. At the end of the day you will always know how many bottles your baby had.

Formula Dispenser: Bibi, Brother Max, Tomme Tippee and Philips Avent

A bottle flask with boiled water in a right temperature, Tomme Tippee dispenser with milk powder ready to go or be put in.
Remember; always do your hands hygiene before the preparation of your baby’s milk.