Dos:

• Your babies may develop language skills more slowly than the singletons because of prematurity, birth weight or other factors. Speak and read regularly to each baby to help prevent the delay in language development.
• Encourage individuality. Give them distinctly different names.
• Spend time alone with each twin so that they know they are important as individuals and not just as twins.
• Try giving them their own toys and encourage sharing as they become older.
• Give your twins separate gifts and cakes on their birthday.
• Unfortunately, many twins are born before their due dates. If your twins are born premature, be sure to maintain regular health care appointments and keep an eye on their nutrition, development and growth.
• Expect to go on a bit of an emotional roller coaster, which is perfectly normal. In time, your emotions will begin to settle down. Be sure to find time for sleep and take every opportunity to rest.
• Talk to your partner about your feelings and problems
• Find other parents of twins to talk with as you can get many helpful tips from them.You may also want to subscribe to books and magazines about taking care of twins.

Don’ts:

• Avoid addressing them as “the twins”. Refer them by their names as it will help them to learn that they are different individuals. Do not pick names that rhyme or sound alike.
• Avoid dressing them alike, for the same reasons above.
• Do not make comparisons between the twins as it may create competition between them.
• Do not forget the older siblings in the family. Try to set aside time regularlyto be alone with them.

Taking care of yourself Oh Mom:

To provide the best care to your babies, it is crucial to take care of yourself. Mothers of twins are more likely to suffer from “baby blues” or “postpartum depression” than the single mothers. You may feel a little depressed, easily upset or worried, lose appetite or find that you cannot sleep well even when your babies are asleep. If you experience any of these symptoms, seek your doctor’s help.

Source: Dr. Sonia

The reality: Your baby’s favorite playtime is after the 2 a.m. feeding. Crankiness peaks when you’re out and about. You had no idea a crying baby could keep the tears flowing for so long.

Sound familiar? In any given day, the average newborn cries for one to four hours. Find out why babies cry — and how to handle a crying baby.

I can remember so vividly my first daughter’s early months of life. She cried and cried and cried. The doctor told us it was simply colic, a common baby problem. Alycia was only comforted when her mom or I held her face down with a hand under her little tummy and cradled in our arms. From about 8:00 p.m.. to 11:00 p.m. every night we would walk and walk with her in that position. Julie and I joked that if she was ever kidnapped and we had to identify her, we’d need to look at the back of her head for a positive ID.

Patience is a virtue for new fathers, and learning how to work with a crying baby takes an extra measure of patience. But education and understanding the issues around a crying baby can be a big help in the process as well.

Why Babies Cry

Crying is a new baby’s first means of communication. As time goes on, parents get a little more attuned to the type of cry and what the baby is communicating, But at first, every cry seems the same. A cry from your baby probably means one or more of the following:

• Baby is wet
• Baby is hungry
• Baby is bored or lonely
• Baby needs attention
• Baby has had too much attention
• Baby is in pain
• Baby is tired
• Baby is waking up
• Baby needs to have a stool
• Baby is uncomfortable (too hot, too cold, too constricted)

What Should I Do?

Pediatricians and experienced dads and moms recommend the following strategies for dealing with a crying baby.

Respond to the cry. If the baby is by himself and starts to cry, pick him or her up. Or go to him or her and talk or sing in soothing tones. It’s important to be responsive-it builds trust that you will really need later.

Get close. Get your face right up close to baby so that when the baby opens his or her eyes, they see your eyes and face. Often the security from seeing dad up close can calm a baby right down.

Check the environment. See if the baby needs a diaper change. When you check the diaper, check for diaper rash or if a diaper’s tape or pin has come loose. If it has been a while since feeding time, take him or her to mom or get a bottle ready. If the baby is really warm or cold in a crib, change the blankets or sleeper.

Get moving. Many babies tend to settle down with a little walking, patting, or moving about. If you have a baby swing, you might try putting him or her in the swing and starting the motion. If you think about it, while baby was in the womb, he or she was moving constantly as mom moved about. We have even had success at desperate times with putting the baby in a car seat and going for a drive to get him or her to stop crying.

Try a little noise. We know that babies can hear sounds from outside the womb during the late stages of pregnancy. So a little noise like a radio turned down low, a fan, or other constant dull noise can sometimes comfort a crying baby.

Give baby something to suck on. Babies are a little weird sometimes-they want to suck, but they don’t want to eat. A pacifier can sometimes just do the trick.

Put him or her down. Sometimes we found our babies got overtired or over-stimulated and needed some alone time to calm down. Or if you are getting stressed about the baby crying, it’s important and safe to let the baby cry while you get some space. Trade off with mom. Call a neighbor to help.

Do not shake the baby-ever. Sometimes parents get too stressed with a crying baby and are tempted to shake the baby to get him or her to stop crying. This is an extremely dangerous approach. A baby’s neck can’t yet support its head, and shaking can result in brain damage, spinal injuries and death. Never, never shake a baby.

How long is too long? Different babies cry differently. The key is to watch for a crying pattern that is outside your baby’s normal pattern. The general rule of thumb is if a baby is crying constantly and uncontrollably for two hours, it’s time to call the doctor.

It’s also important to recognize your limits. If your baby’s crying is causing you to lose control, put the baby in a safe place — such as a crib — and go to another room to collect yourself. If necessary, contact your doctor, a local crisis intervention service or a mental health help line for additional support.

By Mrs. Mukherjee

In some children and infants, abdominal pain becomes routine and needs major attention to treat. There could be lot many causes that can create abdominal pain or colic pain in babies.

Causes of Abdominal Pain

There are many causes as said before that can develop abdominal pain. The diagnosis is rarely done as an infant or small child never gives you any sign and symptoms except crying.

There could be infection in the intestines caused by bacterial or any protozoa etc. Almost all infants have underdeveloped digestive system and so the intestines and hence it is quite difficult for them to digest whatever is given to them including mother’s own milk. The colic starts as soon as intestines receive the food material let it be milk only.

Some of the infants then develop diarrhea or watery stools. There could be lactose intolerance in which, the intestines are unable to digest the lactose present in milk. In this case, doctor may advise you to stop the milk and in such case, an alternate to the milk is supplied to the baby or infant.

Other reasons for abdominal pain may include constipation (which is more common in infants and children) are again due to less capacity to digest the food material by baby’s or infant’s intestines. Some infants and babies may produce gas in stomach and so in intestines; that may again lead to develop abdominal colic or pain. In infants, they should not be overfed as it may result in vomiting and gastro-intestinal disturbance.

Less commonly, inguinal hernia, bladder infection, appendicitis and pyloric stenosis may also give raise to abdominal pain.

Symptoms of abdominal pain

Infants do not complain but they just cry and nothing else. It is therefore, quite difficult to diagnose the abdominal pain or colic in infants. Children however can complain about their abdominal disturbance. Many times, abdominal pain or colic is associated either with diarrhea or with constipation and hence, it is assumed in many cases that the baby or infant could be having gastro-intestinal disturbance.

Many times, touching abdomen could be tender and painful so that makes baby cry a lot. Immediately after feeding, the crying of baby may suggest some digestion problem in the form of abdominal pain. All you need to do is to see the doctor if nothing works.

Diagnosing abdominal pain in babies

It is quite difficult to diagnose the abdominal pain in babies as they do not talk and so cannot complain about the pain or colic. Many times, putting hand on abdominal makes them cry a lot indicating that there may be abdominal pain or colic.

In major cases, you cannot diagnose abdominal pain until the baby or infant has diarrhea or constipation. Since antispasmodic drops do not harm in a major manner, they can be given in restricted dosage. But in rare cases, where there are chances of having intestinal obstruction, X-Ray abdomen or scanning and MRI become very helpful tool diagnosing the perfect cause for abdominal pain or colic in infant or in child.

Treatment of abdominal pain in babies

There are some home remedies like giving less than one milliliter of ginger juice and a very little pinch of rock salt. You can also give your baby the holy basil’s juice, which is very effective most of the times. On the other hand, any solid food is to be avoided and in a case, if baby has diarrhea, the extreme care is to be taken that baby does not become dehydrated because this may turn the case serious. In case of constipation, a doctor may put anal-suppository to the child or infant and if this does not work, the glycerin is injected through anus into the intestines that can take out the hardened stools.

Read Full : http://www.babycare.ayurvediccure.com/abdominalpain.htm

Breast milk is rich in nutrients that promote nervous system development and brain growth. Carbohydrates and protein levels in breast milk are perfectly suited to babies and the antibodies in breast milk contribute substantially to developing baby’s immune system.

Nursing:

• You should put baby to your breast as soon as possible after birth as their instinct to feed and establish a good pattern at the breast is strongly developed at this stage.
• In the first few days when colostrum is produced, simply feed baby as often as needed.
• Once breast milk comes in from about Day Three, two hourly feeding is very common, with the occasional longer gap of 3 or 4 hours.
• Small babies need nothing other than mothers’ milk which has enough water to quench thirst and nutrients to satisfy hunger.
• The initial milk (or foremilk) seems more watery and may even appear to have a blue tinge as it is primarily to quench thirst.
• This is followed by the hindmilk which is nutrient-rich and mostly looks creamier.
• Each feed also tends to occur in ‘courses’, baby often needing to feed 3-4 times with a little nap or a soiled diaper between ‘courses’.
• If you have an abundance of milk and baby seems to choke and splutter, lying and feeding or laying baby on your tummy down your abdomen while suckling tends to make milk come slower.
• Do not wake baby for a feed before you go to bed, thinking that will tide baby over for the night – if you interferes with the so-called ‘core sleep’, sleeping through will take longer to come.
• At the same time, try not to resent night feeding as it is an important part of nursing for many babies.
• By not limiting daytime feeds, you might well find night time feeds somewhat less frequent.
• It is important not to take baby off your breast before baby is good and ready, so that they can have the benefit of the whole cycle i.e. fore and hind milk.

Source: Dr. Sonia

Although boys usually weigh more than girls and are slightly longer, there is no ‘right’ size for a newborn. If your baby is active and feeding well, there’s no need to worry if she doesn’t fit neatly into the weight-length chart you see on the baby health centre wall.

In the first nine months, your baby will roughly triple her weight. If she’s not gaining weightat a healthy pace, it could be a feeding problem. Your child health nurse will be able to help you sort that out.

You might not even need to use a growth chart – as your baby grows, you might notice him outgrowing his clothes, bassinet, baby bath, or other items that seemed enormous when he was a newborn.

What your newborn might be doing

All babies pick up new skills in their first year. These are called milestones. Here’s a guide to some of the major milestones:

• At birth: unable to support her head unaided, closes hands involuntarily in the grasp reflex, startles at sudden loud noises.
• At four weeks: focuses on a face, might respond to a bell in some way (startling, crying, going quiet), follows an object moved in an arc about 15 cm above her face until it’s straight ahead.
• At six weeks:might start to smile at familiar faces, start to coo.
• At 12 weeks: can lie on her tummy with head held up looking around, can wave a rattle, starts to play with own fingers and toes.

According to a new research, one in five babies has certain symptoms that may lead to conditions such as ADHD. In the research, more than 17,000 children have been watched, for a period of 20 years, from 1990 to 2010 and many studies were compared, in order to verify if the excessive crying may have some sort of a link with behavioral problems. Although some experts said that parents should not be alarmed if their baby is crying a lot, if the excessive crying lasts even after the age of 3, then there might be a problem different from colic.

The results of the studies made between 1990 and 2010 show that children who were big cry babies developed ADHD, anxiety, depression and even violent behavior once they grew older. The crying alongside with the lack of sleep and lack of appetite made researchers get to the conclusion that there are the most important factors that influence a child’s behavior. Professor Dieter Raj, from the University of Warton, told the BBC that there were some treatments that parents could try in order to reduce a baby’s cries and to increase his or her appetite, but there is no evidence that these treatments really work or that they have an impact later in life. If someone could prevent behavioral problems, it would be very important from a public health point of view.

Parents know very well when something is wrong with their child and the study “really reinforces the need for attention at an early stage to prevent issues later in childhood,” according to Professor Anupam, officer for health promotion at The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health. Thus, parents should go see someone if they notice that their baby is crying too much and eats and sleeps to little. They should get help, because according to what the researchers involved in all the studies made from 1990 to 2010 said, these are the most common things that can lead to behavioral problems later in life.

Becoming an ANGEL and giving birth is one of the magnificent happenings of becoming a mother. This marks the starting period of a mother’s existence. Motherhood absolutely has its surprising awards however for women who have just become mothers, they need proper guidance in terms of the proper newborn baby care.

Bathing your Baby

This may sound quite surprising for you; do you know that newborn babies are not allowed to be bathed every day? The reason for this is to prevent drying up their skin which is conceded to be tender. Giving a sponge bath is an excellent choice because it is gentle and totally gives proper newborn baby care.

Bedtime and Sleep

Here some tips to help you take control of the situation when your newborn twins arrive:

• Do as much as possible for your babies at the same time. If you can’t do things at the same time alternate. For instance bath one , one night and the other the next night or bath them every second or third night and sponge them in between
• If you plan on bottle feeding, you need extra hands or to be very creative . . If you have no help then you can do a number of things; For instance, You can hold them both in your arms , then use a pillows to hold bottles that are in bottle propers to a comfortable height and feed them that way
• Also , If don’t have any one to help you , use as much equipment as possible to help you. For instance , for baby carriers you can use things like a large sling for two babies or one baby in a carrier and another in your arms. You can use baby swings and infant seats. A playpen can prove to be of more use for your twins than one baby. It is safe and the twins can play together for much longer together
• Newborn nursing twins can be physically challenging but can have some advantages over bottle feeding like fussing with dozens of bottles and endless amounts of formula. Try the double breasted approach as it saves time. Alternate the breast each gets at every feeding time to avoid creating favourites and to avoid mismatched breasts , should one baby turn out to be a more proficient sucker than the other one , or one baby getting less to eat if one breast turns out to be less productive provider
• Plan your twin sleep schedule properly as sleep will be scarce for the first couple of months but it will be scarcier if you allow your babies to waken at random during the night . instead when the first cries, wake the second and feed them both
• When both parents are around , divide the house hold chores – cooking, cleaning , laundry, shopping and babies . You take over one baby, your spouse the other . Be sure to alternate babies so that both children get to know both parents well and vice versa
• Keep records – make note in a permanent record book for immunizations , illnesses and so on
• When you are better rested yourself , stagger nap time – put one child down 15 minutes before the other – so that you can shower some individualized attention on the one who is awake. Even every day baby chores , can become special one-on-one time for each child
• Join a play group or mother and baby group and alternate which child you bring along each week
• Other parents of newborn twins will be your best source of advice and support ; be sure to tap them. Find a parents-of-twins support group in your neighborhood, or if one is lacking , start one. But avoid becoming too clannish, socializing with only parents of twins and having your babies participate in twin only playgroups.

By Dr. Verma

Babies who are massaged are often better adjusted and have more openness and trust with their parents at later ages than babies who are not. The closeness that is spawned by touch is very beneficial to them, both short term and long.

There is abundant evidence to show the positive benefits of touch for bonding and attachment and, more particularly, baby massage offers a very effective way for touch to be imparted.

Parents can undertake infant massage courses in order to learn the most nurturing and correct infant massage techniques and acquire knowledge to help them understand how infant massage directly benefits their baby. Infant massage is also known to provide a range of significant benefits for parents and when a parent learns how to massage their baby, they will readily appreciate and understand the ways that they too are positively influenced.

By Dr. Shobha

Video from youtube

• When newborn gazes into your eyes. Communicate with her by simply gazing back into her eyes.
• Hug and cuddle your newborn as much as you can. There is no stronger form of communication which says, “I love you,” than a hug. By doing this you are communicating to your newborn that they are important and loved.
• Speak to your newborn in a fun and musical voice which is often called “motherese.” Newborn babies show a strong preference for this and seem to really like it.
• Respond quickly when your newborn cries. This communicates to your newborn that she can trust the world to meet her needs. Having her needs met by you is a very powerful means of communicating your love for her.
• Newborn babies benefit greatly when you talk, sing and read to them. By communicating with your voice your newborn will learn to associate the sound as comforting and ultimately it will help her identify objects with specific sounds. Essentially, by talking and communicating with your newborn you are laying the foundations for language development.
• Sing lots of nursery rhymes (in case you can’t remember the words we’ve listed a few in the learning section).
• Smile back when your newborn smiles at you (newborn babies first smile happens at around 6 weeks of age.)
• Give your newborn a variety of objects and toys to explore and talk to her about them. How they feel and sound.
• When you are going about your daily jobs tell your newborn what you are doing. Even do this while changing her diaper. You can simply say, “Oh look you have a dirty diaper. I’m just going to change it now. Let’s wipe you clean.” Do this while feeding and bathing her as well. Talking is such a valuable communication tool – it would be a shame not to use it.
• Show your newborn the world by taking her for mini walks around the house or backyard.
• Cuddle, cuddle and offer some more cuddles! Affection and attention is like food to a newborn.
• Use the language of touch by massaging and stroking your newborn babies back, shoulders, arms and legs.
• Communicate with your newborn by repeating her sounds back to her. This will encourage your newborn to verbalize sounds in the future which is vital for language development.

By Mr. Sam Suri