WHAT SHOULD SHE EAT?

Your baby will need all the iron that she can get now, because the iron stocks in her body at the time of birth have now depleted. In western countries, babies are given iron-fortifed cereal. Though the trend has started in India, there is still no substitute to home-cooked fresh food. Start introducing your baby to various foods, mashed potatoes, boiled radish, mashed peas(make sure they are well boiled and absolutely well mashed). Fruit, vegetable and cereal are all great for her at this time. Sweet potato, carrots, green beans are all a big hit with the little ones. One interesting point to note here is that babies get all their tastes of various foods from breastfeeding, so they are more likely to accept foods that are eaten by the mother often. Whatever you do, introduce foods one at a time, watch out for any allergies that erupt when she eats a particular food. Take the doctor’s advice immediately.

WHAT WILL SHE DO AT THIS TIME?

She will be doing SO MUCH MORE! It is as there has been an outburst of expressions and an enhancement in motor skills and other faculty- she is rapidly developing all her skills now. She can understand a few words but you will have to wait for her to grow up much more before she can start taking part in conversations. Help her to develop physical and verbal skills by encouraging her to play more with toys, pots and pans, building blocks etc. A social baby would generally love going around from person to person, but as illness can be spread by contact quickly, do not encourage this too much.  Keep talking and describing items and things around you- she will soon start recognizing the friendly neighborhood dog; point out the birds in the sky, airplanes, take her to the garden, and she will love watching the children play.

HOW MUCH WILL SHE SLEEP?

By now, your baby might have stopped nursing in the middle of the night. If she still does, try to replace that with rocking her gently to sleep. Help her to go gently to sleep on her own, by dimming the nights in her room, and seeing that she is allowed to sleep in silence. Put her in her cot or crib while she is still awake. Let her cry for sometime before you rush to offer her your comfort. Soon she will be well on her way to sleeping on her own.

WHAT YOU COULD HELP HER DO!

Give her plenty of scope to move around on her and play. Let her explore the world within her reach on her own. Each baby develops at her own pace, and with her own natural skill-sets, so do not get disturbed to see another infant of her age doing things that you ‘think’ are faster than your baby’s. Nature is her own teacher!

HOW MUCH SHOULD SHE WEIGH?

She will be still teething, or in some babies there is no sight of any teeth at all! So with your baby still in the teething phase, she might not be putting on weight as much as expected. Ask your doctor for advice if you feel that anything could be wrong- if she looks listless or out of sorts, then it’s best to take advice.