February 22

Easy Activities for early walk

Easy activities for early walk

Weeks back I shared my concern over parental worries for delayed milestone achievements by their kids. I have met moms who are worried about their kids’ development, and I always mention that every child is different. I also mentioned that I would share some easy activities for early walk and speech development, which I have used with my own kid. However, I would also mention here that, don’t force your child into these activities, if s/he is not comfortable. Also, connect with your pediatrician, if you have any doubts about your kid’s developmental delays. 

Easy Activities for early walk

  • Tummy Time is good exercise to boost your child’s motor skills and muscle development. You can start the tummy time of your child at as early as at 2 months of age. I have earlier shared the detailed article for tummy time mentioning how it is to be done and the benefits of the same. Tummy time helps your child strengthen thigh muscles to hold body weight. 
  • Crawl with your child and show them their favorite toy above eye level for them to make an effort to reach out. The curiosity to catch the toy will enable the child to make extra effort, this will help them boost their strength. 
  • Regular Massage with baby oil or desi ghee boosts the muscle strength and also provides energy to kids. Massage relaxes the muscles of your kid and offers them a soothing feeling. Kids feel pampered and loved. 
  • Massage when your child starts standing while holding onto an object. When your child stands up holding a table or chair, try and massage their legs at that time. This massage helps their calf muscles to gain more strength and kids respond to it while making a move. 
  • Assist your child in taking first steps by holding hands. Let your kids take first steps with your support.     

PS: Avoid Wheeled walkers for your kid as it might affect their muscle development. (My Paediatrician advised)

Love,

Wonder Mom

February 16

Travelling with your young ones

Travelling with your younger ones

So, we were on a trip last week to Shogi, Himachal Pradesh with our chota packet. I always thought travelling with your young ones can be very tedious, but trust me it was not that difficult. Our first trip was to Rishikesh with Kreesha when she was 1 year old. She totally enjoyed the road trip and does not bother at all during long journeys. I follow certain rules set by me and my husband so that there is less chaos. I don’t say that these are best, but they have proven to be helpful to me. 

Rules I follow:

  1. Packing Checklist – Helps a lot while travelling with your younger ones. A checklist for all essentials eases out a lot for mothers. Baby’s packing checklist should include everything as small as gloves to as big as coats. Nothing is small when it comes to kids. Starting from basics like undergarments, dresses, boots, medicines, toys, feeders, etc. include all items that your kid needs daily. Don’t just make a packing list for the kid but make one for yourself and general items as well. It will help you remain calm and sorted. 
  2. Extra dresses – Keep extra dresses for your kid, even if your kid is grown up. As you never know with kids, they might dirty their clothes much before you realize. Extra dress / set for your kid might increase the luggage a bit but would keep you relaxed on the trip. 
  3. Go to food items – Always some go to food items for kids like their favorite cookies, some homemade cake, dry fruits, fresh fruits. These quick snack things bring in relief to the hunger pranks of the child. Kreesha loves Amla candy and raisins, so I make sure I always pack them for long trips. 
  4. Tetra packs are best – I used to carry milk in the thermos / kettle. However, I have realized that with change in temperature the milk gets easily spoiled. Now, I always prefer carrying tetra packs of small size with me, as they don’t need a boil before consumption. 
  5. No to bulky toys – Kids might request you to carry bulky toys on the trip. You should try and pack some handy and small toys for the trip. 
  6. Pack enough water – 4-5 liters of water for a 3 member family on a long journey is sufficient to go with. Give your child a handy water bottle to keep her / him hydrated throughout the trip. 

Love,

Wonder Mom

February 3

How important are developmental milestones ?

Developmental milestones

I hate it when little are compared to each other, especially for their developmental milestone achievements. Speaking out of my personal experience, Kreesha started walking at the age of nine months. However she just started speaking at the age of 25 months. I was time and again told by everyone around that you need to consult the doctor, get her speech therapy and what not. But, I was sure not to visit the doctor for her speech milestone. 

I somewhere had this feeling that she started walking early so maybe she would take her sweet time to speak up. Also her paediatrician told me not to worry about her delay in speech as kids do take time these days to speak up. Moreover, the fact being every child is different and achieves their respective milestones at their own pace. 

With Kreesha, the best thing has been her quick grasping power and amazing memory. She started recognizing alphabets (Hindi & English), colours, body parts,objects, animals, fruits at the age of 15 months. Her responsiveness and expressions are the best thing. She started expressing and responding to almost everything at a mere age of 6 months. She used her gestures, hand movements and facial expressions to convey her thoughts. 

So, if your child has not achieved the developmental milestone, they are supposed to; Worry not. It is absolutely fine mommy. Your child is special in own way. Every child achieves their milestones at their own pace. However, you can assist them in achieving their milestones. I would soon be sharing some activities for speech and walking milestones. These activities are the ones, I have been doing with Kreesha to initiate her development.

PS: I am not an expert, but a mother who has been sharing her own experiences and views.

Love,

Wonder Mom