12 conditions for good baby health

The first bricks in the foundation of the health of the future baby must be laid nine more months before his birth, as well as during the first years of his life. Of course, the significance of the genetic factor cannot be discounted - a lot depends on which genes the baby will receive from their parents, however, the responsibility of behavior and the correctness of their actions is equally important.

12 steps to a child’s health

1. Correctly, correctly and in advance prepare for a future pregnancy. This is the first step towards crumb health. The actions of most young people are characterized by spontaneity and hasty decision-making: “we need furniture - go and buy”, “went on vacation - the flight is scheduled for the next morning”. Accustomed to acting in this way, many women do not prepare for pregnancy and do not know what to do when they find themselves in an “interesting position”. Since most often a woman learns about her pregnancy by the end of 6-8 weeks, many very important actions to ensure the health of the unborn child are never done. Therefore, every woman who could potentially become a mother “today” wants to give some very important tips. To give birth to a healthy baby, future parents need to lead a healthy lifestyle and pass a series of tests, give your husband an analysis for sexually transmitted infections, and treat if necessary. In order to reduce the risk of probable fetal malformations, the expectant mother must take folic acid. Influenza vaccination is equally desirable. Having given this vaccine, a woman for the entire period of pregnancy will reliably protect herself and her child from the action of the virus. Even after the baby is born, the protective effect of this vaccine will be distributed to him through breast milk.
2. After pregnancy, make your lifestyle sparing. This does not mean that from now on the expectant mother should spend half a day in bed. Exercise is necessary for her and her unborn child, they just need to be slightly different. For your favorite runs in stuffy supermarkets, it is better to prefer a leisurely walk in a quiet park (walking in the fresh air, which is an excellent exercise for muscles and blood vessels and saturates every cell with oxygen, will prepare the mother's body for childbirth). When planning to go to the cinema, the expectant mother should think well what is more important for her: short-term pleasure or the health of the future crumbs (after all, in the large cinema there will probably be carriers of dangerous viruses and bacteria: staphylococci, tuberculosis bacillus, influenza, streptococci). Sometimes an infection (for example, rubella or herpes), taken in a crowded place, causes a miscarriage or fetal death. It is also responsible to approach the choice of places for a long-awaited vacation.From trips to a number of exotic countries (especially island states such as the Maldives, Ceylon or Goa), teeming with rare infections and parasites, it is better to refuse a couple expecting a baby.
3. Give birth naturally. A healthy woman should give birth on her own, and not through Caesarean section. Unfortunately, this operation, not so long ago carried out strictly for medical reasons, these days is performed unjustifiably often (“by agreement with the doctor”). Natural birth is primarily necessary for the child himself. In the process of passing through the birth canal, a powerful activation of the child’s body takes place, forcing it to produce a large number of hormones (norepinephrine and adrenaline) that protect the fetus from hypoxia and prepare it for contact with an unusual external environment, so different from the conditions surrounding it inside the mother’s tummy. A cesarean section operation, which unnaturally reduces the time it takes for a baby to move from one medium to another to a gap of a few seconds, is a huge stress for him and is far from harmless to health.
4. A woman who has just given birth must insist that the child removed from the womb (not yet wiped from grease and not wrapped in a diaper) is immediately applied to her breast. This action is intended to activate immediately two extremely important processes: the sucking reflex in the newborn and the onset of lactation in the mother. Colostrum secreted from her breast in the first days after childbirth is an ideal food for the baby. Containing a large number of proteins and antibodies, it prepares the baby's digestive system for breast milk and activates its immunity. The components of colostrum have a laxative effect, helping the intestines of the newborn to remove the original cal - meconium.
5. Breastfeed your baby. Mandatory breastfeeding at least six months is a reliable guarantor of the proper development and excellent health of the infant. All sane experts tirelessly repeat this, every loving mother must learn this. It depends on her how long the period of breastfeeding will be, since the best lactic antagonistic drug, called the "dominant lactation", is the maternal belief that she can and should breastfeed her baby. If on a subconscious level there is no such conviction, milk either does not appear at all, or disappears very quickly. Having convinced himself that breastfeeding is a duty to the baby, each mother should set herself up for the need to make it as long as possible. This hard work will certainly result in good health of the crumbs, who do not suffer from allergic reactions, nor from frequent colds and all kinds of infections (Tips for lactating mothers about HB).
6. Walk with your child at least twice a day for one and a half to two hours, remembering that walking with a stroller along a busy highway or shopping with a baby in your arms or in a sling has nothing to do with a walk. The best place for a walk is a calm green courtyard or a clean city park. A walk in a place devoid of any entertainment may seem boring for mom, but for a baby’s health it is truly invaluable (shouldn't this be the first thing you should strive for?).
7. Take care of the timely implementation of preventive vaccinations, booster vaccines and Mantoux tests: it is a holy duty of responsible and competent parents. The very first vaccinations (BCG and hepatitis B) for a newborn should be given during his stay in the hospital. Refusing to vaccinate her child, the mother should be aware that in doing so she risks not only his health, but also his life (vaccination calendar).
8. When seeking medical help, never hide from the doctors the true picture of what happened to the child. In the practice of any pediatrician, there are many cases where the baby’s life was in the balance of death due to the fact that his parents were afraid to admit that they had dropped the crumbs or fed them “delicacies” (for example, healthy and tasty black caviar), which should not to be in a children's diet. A true story about the event that preceded the baby’s poor health will help the doctor quickly make the correct diagnosis and provide him with qualified help.
9. Do not ignore the monthly medical examinations of your baby by a pediatrician and a number of specialists (in accordance with the prescribed schedule). They are necessary so that, identifying the child having any deviations from the side of health, the doctor can prescribe the appropriate treatment in a timely manner. Parental carelessness is fraught with the loss of valuable time: any defect (for example, a congenital dislocation of the thigh), the correction of which in infancy would not be any special problems, will be much more difficult to fix later.
10. Strictly follow the rules of introducing complementary foods. About any confectionery and sausages in the baby’s diet is out of the question (this is sometimes found in Russian families). The development of the enzymatic system is a gradual process, so untimely introduction of products from an adult table into crumbs can result in digestive upset, intestinal dyskinesia, and in especially neglected cases, the so-called inversion of the intestines (intestinal invagination) and even death (about the first feeding).
11. Never and in no way follow the advice of unprofessional leading pseudo-medical programs shown on central television channels: this can cause irreparable damage to the health of a small child, so you should not be guided by them in any case. With all questions relating to the health of the crumbs, you must contact a qualified specialist.
12. When trusting doctors, never shift the full responsibility for your child to them. All the actions of caring parents who heed the received medical recommendations should be directed primarily to what is really useful and necessary for their crumbs.

If the child

• Runny nose. You can suck the mucus with an aspirator or with your own mouth, rinse the nasal passages with saline or drip the nose with breast milk (how to treat a runny nose in a newborn);
• I started to watery or a rotten eye. Having moistened a cotton swab with saline, you can rinse the eye from the outer corner to the inside. Suppuration of only one eye is an alarming symptom that may indicate obstruction of the lacrimal canal. A pediatric ophthalmologist will quickly fix the problem by probing it;
• Fever has risen; the baby is hot to the touch. Having undressed the baby, he is quickly wiped with a damp towel and left in a thin vest. After this, you can make an enema using boiled water at room temperature. To the inguinal cavities and to the armpits can be attached bottles filled with the same water. If the temperature rises above 38.5 degrees or convulsions appear on its background, infant ibuprofen or paracetamol should be given to the baby and immediately call an ambulance. If the baby’s arms and legs, despite the high temperature, continue to remain icy, you must first warm them up by rubbing each finger thoroughly (you can even put on mittens and socks after the massage). After that, you can perform all the above steps (how to bring down the temperature of the baby);
• Dry skin (against a background of atopic dermatitis) or diaper rash. Frequent bathing and thorough cleansing of the skin folds with a swab soaked in sterilized baby oil will help the baby.
• Apathy, lethargy, prolonged lack of appetite, rash (in the form of small spots resembling subcutaneous hemorrhage), an incessant piercing scream - all these symptoms are indications of a doctor's call or immediate hospitalization of the child.

The health of the baby is the main value, which should be taken care of by loving parents. Observance of the simple rules set forth in the materials of our article will help them provide the optimal conditions necessary for the implementation of this difficult but extremely important task.

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