HOW MUCH SHOULD YOUR BABY FEED?

When your child enters into her 18th week, she is now 4 and half months old, and she would have already started teething by now. If not, she soon will. Be prepared to be engulfed by advice from all sides, to start her on solids. Even more advice will pour in, from parents or grandparents if your baby does not sleep soundly through the night. But research has not proven that solid food helps a baby to sleep better. In fact, doctors advise only breastfeeding for the first 6 months, and there is no real need to immediately start off on solids.
 

• But you can surely start introducing your little one to the world of food.
• Let her sit by you at the dinner table, while she takes in the smells and the sounds of her family eating. She would want to grab the food from your mouth as you eat it!
•  If you do want to start her onto solids, then rice and dal is what is prescribed by mothers. The rice can be mashed up and the dal should be mashed well too and mixed with the rice.

But if your child rejects your attempts at giving her solid food, then maybe she is not ready. Not as yet. Try to give her some solids again, after an interval.

Your 18-week old will recognize familiar faces now. She can distinguish between faces she knows and the ones she doesn?, and when it comes to strangers, she is sure to turn away.

Yes, your little 18-week old  is turning savvier, day by day!

Do not panic if your little one is not gaining weight by leaps and bounds. An infant? growth chart is marked by spikes. And it? also not practical to keep getting her weighed on scales every now and then. Unless there is a serious drop in the weight, at which time you should be taking her immediately to the doctor, the best thing to do is to weigh her before she starts going to school. It would be in the natural course of things to use your instincts and of course, some natural rule of thumb.

HOW MUCH SHOULD SHE SLEEP?

After 4 months your baby should be adopting her favorite position to sleep, she will roll over into her comfortable pose. To avoid choking, see that she sleeps on her back, instead of on her stomach. Most babies cannot rouse themselves up from sleep if they gag, and sleeping on their stomachs can be dangerous. Babies usually sleep for 7 to 8 hours at night, some wake up for a feed, but soon, your baby will start sleeping through the nights. Giving you that much needed respite!


HOW MUCH SHOULD YOUR BABY WEIGH?

At 18 weeks, your baby should be generally double her birth weight. Weight varies from baby to baby, and if you feel that she is underweight, speak to her doctor who will then suggest putting her on to other foods. But if she is steadily gaining a little weight, then it is quite normal.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

It has been a long journey down the road for you and your spouse. Nappies, wet clothes, sleepless nights, bawls and wails and red faces. Take some time off for your spouse. Spend some quality moments with him. He needs you too.
 

To calm yourself during the day, take a quick break off from all that routine every now and then. Get some moments off, to re-balance your body and mind with some quick yoga or meditation, what we call ?top-lightmeditation. This  meditation is quick and gets over in a jiffy- as fast as when you are at a traffic signal, and waiting for the lights to change from red to yellow to green! Sit comfortably, inhale to a count of 4, wait for a count of 4, exhale to a count of 6, and wait again for a count of 2! Do this for as long as you can. Even 5 minutes of this is sure to relax, soothe, calm and get you ready for all the action again!