Dear Knetina,

When you got your first vaccine on your 6th week of life, you were terribly crying all throughout the day until night. I questioned everyone in the world on why did they allow these practices to continue. Babies don't deserve such pain. I wanted to take away all the hurt you were feeling but then I realized that there are things in life that you should face on your own. There are fights that you should win alone, with your own strength. There will be a lot of pain when you grow up but remember that Momma and Poppa will always be here to help you. When we're gone, I hope you use our teachings as armor in this battlefield. I hope you grow strong physically and especially spiritually. Just as how I endured my labor with you, I want you to hold on tight to God on your most painful experiences in life.

Love,

Mudra

I brought my beloved (yes, that adjective is necessary) one year old to her pedia earlier this day because she's constipated. Every time she poops, she exerts a lot of effort, cries and turns red. At first, I googled about this and look for suggestions to ease her constipation. I got results that said it was just normal, to just give plenty of water, etc. How could this pain be normal? I gave my baby lots of water in a day but it did not helped. So we finally decided to bring her to the doctor which told us that, it's not just about the water intake but the fiber intake that would ease constipation.

Apparently, according to doc, the cause of my baby's constipation is that she is not getting a balanced meal. I'm guilty about this because I got so busy with my work that I was not able to monitor my baby's food intake. She should be eating food that consist of fiber-rich food such as vegetables and fruits, mixed with proteins and carbohydrates in one meal.

The doctor have me a list of of food that will help soften her stool:

• Camote
• Green Peas
• Peanut
• Prunes
• Papaya
• Yogurt
• Corn
• Oats (Mixed with baby's milk)
• Mango
• Green leafy vegetable

Doc also recommended to change our milk from Progress Gold to NAN Optipro 3. She said it was a common complaint from parents that once they changed their milk to Progress Gold 1-3, their babies constipate.

Hope this helps. :)

Chopsuey is great because it consists of vegetables and proteins but make sure to prepare it healthier by using less oil.

On the first year of my first baby's life, she caught 4 major colds. Major colds for me means that she had slight difficulty in breathing, lacked appetite and the cold led to cough. What I'm sharing with you is real life experience and info from our pediatrician. Every time the cold turns out to be out-of-control, we immediately seek pedia's advice because, just because, I panic.

Major cause of colds
The major cause of colds as what the pediatrician said, and according to my observation also, is having contact with someone who has cold. So if your baby's parents (yes you!) have colds, your baby has a 99% chance to have colds too. If you notice slightest symptoms of colds, the best thing to do is to drink medicine immediately. There are over the counter medicines such as Neozep or Decolgen that would ease out your colds immediately. Keep your baby away from relatives that has colds. Just explain to them that the baby will suffer if the colds will be transferred.

• DO NOT kiss your baby on the face as you may transfer virus without knowing it.
• DO NOT give your baby to any relative that has colds.
• DO NOT let your baby play with his/her brother/sister, cousins, playmates or neighbors that has colds.

Relief

You cannot force the cold virus to go away immediately because that's not its nature. Additionally, your baby's immune system is still developing that's why colds will usually last for two (2) weeks. This timeline includes your baby's improvement in breathing and mucus secretion. These are the things that helps in making the baby feel better:

1. Using nasal spray and rubber suction
Nasal spray helps the mucus in your baby's nose to loosen up and would also make your baby's breathing easier because of unblocking the mucus. However, it should be used in moderation with a maximum of two times daily. This is because the spray can irritate and eventually wound the nose lining that will cause more problems.

Around 10 seconds after you sprayed your baby's nose with nasal spray, it is best to use a rubber suction to remove remaining mucus inside the baby's nose. This will definitely make your baby feel better afterwards because the thing that makes his/her breathing difficult will be removed. I have to warn you, though, that babies don't like their noses to be suctioned. They will definitely fight it. Just take the proper timing or distract your baby so you could suction properly.


2. On the first sight of runny nose, give your baby Disudrin BUT on a maximum of 7 days.
Follow the dosage of Disudrin (written on the box and on the bottle). Remember that you could use within 7 Days ONLY. Overusing of this medicine will cause rhinitis to your baby. I suggest that within 7 days, you make the most out of your baby's recovery, suction his/her nose, give lots of water, let her rest, give fruits, and follow this list.


3. Giving your baby lots of water
What can I say more? Water therapy is best for babies and adults too. Give her water every after milk or as often as possible.


4. Let your baby rest
Everybody needs rest when sick, that includes your baby. However, rest doesn't mean your baby doesn't have to play. He/she can still play as long as it's not with somebody who has cough and colds and as long as there will be no physical exhaustion.


5. Do not bath him/her on the first two days of serious colds
This is not our pedia's advice. I even know one doctor that bathes her baby with fever. There's nothing wrong with taking a bath but giving baby a bathtub-break is my rule when my baby is sick. Bathing alone cannot aggravate your baby's colds. What I'm concerned about is the long exposure to water that will lower his/her body temperature and will cause cold virus to spread more. You can still wipe your baby with warm wet cloth anyway.


6. Give your baby fruits with Vitamin C
Vitamin C works wonders. But also make sure that your baby gets a balanced diet to maximize the absorption of Vitamin C. I give my baby a mix of green leafy veggies, mangoes, tomatoes, apples and oranges in a day in addition to milk and some carbs.

The relief I listed is not applicable to your baby if he/she has:

• Temperature higher than 38 C - rush him/her to the pedia immediately.
• Serious difficulty in breathing where he/she cries for hours because she cannot breath - rush to pedia immediately.
• Mucus in nose has blood - rush to pedia immediately
• Coughing blood - rush to pedia immediately

An example of a bulb syringe to suck out mucus from nose

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