Most pediatricians advise parents to wait until baby is about six months old before trying baby foods to supplement formula. But is six months a hard and fast rule that all parents and babies should adhere to. Each baby develops at a different rate, which is why the handouts from the pediatrician’s office have age ranges for developmental skills. Your baby will begin to show you when he is ready to start on foods. Remember though, to stick to one food for about a week when introducing new foods. For example, if you decide to start with peas, then feed your baby just peas for the first week. This will help you to pin down allergies early. Most experts also agree that parents should stick with the same category of food when introducing new foods. So if you start with peas, your next choice would be another vegetable, such as green beans. Once you have finished all of the vegetables you want to introduce to baby, you switch to fruits. Meats and desserts are always last on the list. Meats are more difficult to digest and desserts may contain sugars that baby does not need.

Oral thrush is a common ailment among young infants, the chronically ill, and the elderly. A common fungus called Candida causes thrush; you may recognize it as the familiar yeast infection. While a small amount of germs, including Candida, usually live in your mouth, a healthy immune system usually keeps it in check. Thrush is whitish, and looks like velvety lesions mainly on the inside of the cheeks and on the tongue. The irritated red tissue underneath the lesions may bleed easily. Eating can cause pain to the already irritated soft tissue of the mouth, resulting in decreased appetite and increased fussiness.

Colic is a common problem with infants beginning shortly after birth and lasting for months. Technically, colic is persistent, unexplained crying in a healthy baby between two weeks and five months of age,” although I have seen it in older infants. Parents may try a variety of homeopathic remedies including massage to calm fussy babies and stop the screaming. Over many years of parenting over 100 children, I have discovered a variety of techniques to try. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to discover which one's solve a baby’s symptoms, since colic does not have just one cause.

Some causes of colic are: 

• food intolerances
• hunger or overfeeding
• lack of sleep
• loneliness
• overheated milk or formula
• overstimulation resulting from noise, light, or activity
• swallowing air
• milk allergy
• lactose intolerance
• tension
• digestive tract immaturity
• Intestinal blockage (be sure your doctor rules this out before trying other remedies.)
• infection (be sure your doctor rules this out before trying other remedies.)

   

Cleaning progress always stops dead in its tracks for me when I open a miscellaneous box that needs sorting and find old photographs.  I am instantly transported to a different place and time, and often find myself gasping at how young the kids look, yet how big they seemed at the time. Sometimes the memories are fond, other times eye rolls abound, but always there is something worth remembering from that exact moment in time.

Children who have been adopted at an older age usually have little to no personal belongings with them when they arrive.  The only visual reminders they have of their past are often the memories they carry with them.  This can be good when it comes to letting go of the things they’d rather not be reminded of, yet a painful loss when it comes to the memories that they cherish and find fading.  Children who were adopted at a young enough age to not have any memories of their biological family or their adoption will also love going through the photos and learning about their past and how their family came to be.

Creating a lifebook for your child is a wonderful bonding activity for the two of you to do together, and the book itself will serve as an extremely useful tool for your child as he or she begins to sort out the events of the past, and the feelings and emotions that go along with them.