When we say special foods, we are referring to anything that is not artificial – it has no preservatives or additives and is in sync with nature. Times are changing and most people have little or no time to cook complete meals. They prefer fast foods and do not mind if they are frozen or non-seasonal. All this has an …

You are planning to buy a walker for your kid who has just started sitting up. That will help him take his first steps, you feel. Perhaps you need to do a rethink on the issue. If you buy your child a walker, he will start walking sooner than he would have otherwise. But, don’t you think you are interfering …

If you are on your feet for a long time during the day, the veins in your legs will get distended and look like zig-zag nodules. These are called varicose veins. This is caused by the growing pressure of the blood flowing through the veins. When you are standing for a long time, you strain you legs a lot and …

Your child has been crying nonstop and running a temperature through the night. You try desperately to pacify her and wonder what could be wrong. Oh yes! Realization dawns on you. She was given a dose of the DPT vaccine the previous day. But isn’t a vaccine supposed to keep the baby healthy, you wonder. Why is she ill? Obviously …

An ultrasound scan is done with the help of a sonar device that reveals objects in fluid (amniotic fluid in pregnancy) by using high frequency sound waves, inaudible to the human ear. An ultrasound scan is a non-invasive, painless procedure and usually lasts for about 15 minutes. You will probably be asked to drink few glasses of water and not …

Learning is a lifelong process which begins from the moment of conception itself. Even within its mother’s womb, the child is constantly learning and developing. In the first 2 years, the child develops through close interaction with family members, in the close, secure and familiar environment of home. By the time a child is two years old, her world starts …

It was on. We were going ahead with the baby. After hearing the ‘good news’, the mom-in-law squealed with delight, while the mom did a jig at the other end of the phone, and we, the post-honeymooners, put on what we thought should be the proud-parents-to-be smile. We called up so many people to let them know that the honeymoon …

When the massage-woman started coming home after the delivery, I was a little taken aback. She was supposed to massage and bathe the baby and, hold your breath, the mother everyday. Though I didn’t mind removing bits and pieces of clothing to get massaged, which was actually quite painful, I did mind being bathed by this woman I had never …

When I’m working with a child, I try to move sensitivity to the emotional place where the child might willingly accept being physically touched by me. I might touch children on the back, shoulders, or top of the head long before I allow myself to give them a spontaneous hug, even though I might feel like it. Children often have …

Often, the grandmother picks up a one-week-old baby, holds him over a pot and makes hissing noises, quite convinced that the baby can be trained to pass urine in the pot! She is convinced that when she brought up her little babies, she never had wet napkins. There is no need to hustle these things and one should wait for …