Between two and five years, many children develop all kinds of food fads for many of which the parents themselves may be responsible. Very often the mother thinks that a particular food is good for the child and she insists on the child having it. The child becomes equally adamant and refuses to eat whenever forced to do so. Not …

The bottle can also be a bond between the mother and the baby. The mother can hold the baby in her lap and the closeness can be as satisfying as it is while breast feeding. The trouble arises when the mother thinks that since she is not breast feeding the baby someone else can do the bottle feeding as well. …

“Papa, why did you tell a lie to uncle?”, “Mummy, why can’t we live with Dada and Dadi?”, “Why can’t I have a party for my birthday at the Pizza Joint?”, “Where is Papa going?” – the thousand and one questions from the mouths of growing children can drive any parent to distraction. Often we ignore the questions because we …

It was two-and-a-half months since the baby was born. I had not stepped out of home after childbirth. That was not because I was ill or was inept at handling the new-found responsibility of parenting. It was because I could not imagine feeding in public, let alone do it. I often wondered how women managed to do it in buses, …

If you are expecting a child, you are bound to feel exhausted much sooner than you did earlier. This is a natural phenomenon, do not fight it. Weakness, lethargy and tiredness are normal symptoms in early pregnancy and are nature’s way of slowing down the pregnant woman to help in preserving the foetus. In other words, what you need is …

For the sake of convenience and easy reference, the major areas of development in a child have been grouped according to age. One Month Profile Turns towards the source of light, tries to fix his gaze on the mother or any object nearby like a toy, and briefly follows a light source. A sudden sound may cause stiffening, blinking, stretching, …

A child on the verge of adolescense needs a carefully designed diet plan. He requires plenty of calcium, protein, carbohydrates, iron, vitamin C and zinc, among other vitamins and nutrients. He needs calcium for his bones and iron to support the increasing muscle mass and for greater blood supply. Proteins are for general muscle growth of the body and carbohydrates for …

Speech has its beginnings in the cooing and gurgling of the baby from the third month onwards. He vocalises more and more and makes all sorts of noises which mean nothing and yet his speech is developings all the time. By six months he is constantly babbling and one can discern some semblance to sounds like ‘na-na, pa-pa’, etc. From …

Every child has  some creative potential which needs to be fulfilled. It only needs a free rein for the child to express it properly. Moreover, a child’s mind is extremely sensitive to his environment and all kinds of influences help give shape to his creative impulse. To help nurture your child’s creativity, you needs to provide opportunities as well as …

Pregnancy and lactation depletes the body’s iron and calcium reserves and iron deficiency can lead to anaemia. Deficiency of vitamin B12 too, can cause anaemia too. A lactating, anaemic mother should, therefore, eat a diet rich in iron, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin B12, vitamin C (for better absorption of iron), and vitamin D (for better absorption of calcium). Sources of Iron …