Parental Guide To Reform Digital Junkies

'Teens and their addiction for screen'- that's something which worries every parent whose kids are growing up in this digital world. I, as a parent, find myself in the dilemma whether I should really take my child completely off technology and make him feel tech-handicap in the future or should limit his too much usage of gadgets so that it doesn't impair his development.

So here is what parents like me must try at their home to raise a low-gadget child-

Restrain yourself to give your child a dedicated gadget/device of his own to avoid interference with your own device and for your own convenience. Having to borrow your device will potentially reduce his screen time.

Limit the number of Apps that your child is allowed to install in the device. Once a new App is installed, make sure to take the test of the same to assess the appropriateness of the content that your child would come across while using it. I personally recommend using any suitable App that gives you parental control of the device with which you may restrict certain content to be displayed.

Try noticing whether there is a specific time slot when your child is hooked to the gadgets. If yes, break this pattern and engage him in some creative activity he/she loves. It effectively worked in my case. Everyday in the evening, I call my son to help me with dinner since he is fond of cooking and he takes pride when his opinion is considered with ingredients etc. Just a simple exercise and great relief!

Make your children aware of the consequences of addictive effects and let them realise themselves how their own behaviour had been deteriorating since they are glued to gizmos. Take them in confidence and help them understand that less time on screen simply means lesser time absorbing inappropriate content. I believe self-realisation sometimes can do what an advice cannot.

We all know that children imitate parents. The easiest way to limit media use by children is to control your own urge to be constantly online. Remind yourself why setting these limits are important for mental and physical wellness of your child & be a good role model by disconnecting your devices. 

The exposure to digital information is revolutionising every walk of life, but screens can draw these children from life's real pleasures. Technology is a positive force for learning and connecting, but not at the cost of losing someone's well-being. All the parents who wish for freedom from Digital Heroin must fix up a Digital Detox Routine for their family as early as possible because the older your kids are, the harder it is to enforce limits.

This post is a part of the Independence Blog Train hosted by Foodietweeter and Prettylilthingss1 and should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. I nominate Sanjivni to do the next post and take this train ahead.

Effective Healthcare Remedies for Infants

Although unavoidable, your baby falling sick never fails to make a mommy super anxious. My heart would drop to my stomach every time my child suffered from common childhood illnesses and I would stress and want the ailment to get cured without discomforting my little one with medication.

In the initial phase of motherhood, I consulted and trusted only the paediatrician so as to offer instant relief to my ailing baby; but gradually I started relying on natural remedies suggested by elders in my family that really worked wonders.

Today I'm sharing a quick remedy index for your baby's recurring ills that are not only completely safe, but also go a long way in developing your baby's immune system.

Diaper Rash: Your baby might urinate and defecate a number of times a day, but whenever you change his nappy, you need to gently pat the area clean and dry. A little carelessness in cleaning the baby's bottom may lead to irritating rashes.

Cure:
Direct application of coconut oil is the easiest way to treat diaper rash. You may further enhance the efficacy by adding 3-4 drops of tea tree oil in coconut oil that would kill yeast causing bacteria and treat painful yeast diaper rash.

Teething Pain: Before a tooth actually breaks through the gums, the baby feels irritable pain and discomfort due to soreness.

Cure:
The cheapest remedy to deal with fussiness of teething is to freeze a clean washcloth dipped in plain water or breast milk for half an hour and then give it to your baby to bite and suck. The numbing effect coming from cold textured cloth calms the pain.
A homemade teether made out of an ice cube, chilled vegetables and fruits (like carrots, cucumber and avocado) have been most mommies' preferred choice over wooden/plastic teethers and topical medication over the years. As the babies chew on these hard things, the counter-pressure helps reduce the pain.

Stomach Ache: Usually stomach pain is caused by food intolerance, infection, intestinal blockage or some sort of food/milk allergy, etc. The trick is to touch and find out whether the baby's abdomen is more stiff and swollen than usual.

Cure:
Boil 1/2 cup of rice in 2 cups of water for about 15 minutes. Strain out the rice and flavour the water with sugar. Give warm rice water to the baby after frequent intervals.
A flavourful alternate is to boil a handful of large raisins (munakka) cut into halves in water and give spoonfuls of this warm concoction to the baby every now and then.

If the baby rejects consuming anything and cries inconsolably, make a sticky paste out of half a spoon of asafoetida (hing) mixed with water. Apply this paste on your baby’s tummy in a circular motion around the navel area to counter flatulence.

Ear Ache: I remember feeling totally puzzled whenever my baby would cry due to aching ears. I would helplessly check every body part to find what was wrong, to no avail. If your baby grabs or tugs at his ears, this could be a sign that he's in pain. Also observe if there is any fluid drainage from his ears.

Cure:
If you don't suspect a ruptured eardrum, pour 2-3 drops of slightly warm garlic oil or mustard oil or onion juice in the affected ear.
Parents who disapprove of putting anything inside the ears may opt for making Onion Earmuffs. Simply slice an onion in half, microwave it until it’s soft and then wrap the onion in a cloth to hold it up to your baby’s ear.

Mosquito Bites: While mosquito bites seem common, it can be a major cause for worry if it causes swollen bumps on your baby's skin along with high fever. Parents should avoid taking babies to mosquito-infested areas. But if you have to, then do not leave the house without applying mosquito repellents to avoid any complications that may arise later like mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, encephalitis, malaria and chikungunya to name a few. Apply a baby-safe mosquito repellent like Goodknight Fabric Roll-On on your baby's pram or clothes before stepping out to keep mosquitoes away for long hours. Made of citronella and eucalyptus oil, this personal repellent is 100% natural. It does not leave any stains on application and is certified as dermatologically safe by paediatricians. Simply apply 4 dots to keep those mosquitoes away from your baby for up to 8 hours.

Cure:
If pesky mosquitos manage to sting the baby despite practising prevention tricks, the quickest cure at hand is to rub a dry soap bar on the bite immediately. You may find several alternatives in your kitchen like lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey or salt water that can be dabbed directly over the bitten area to curb inflammation instantly.

Cold & Cough: Babies who are less than a year old are more prone to cough and cold due to bacterial infection. They are vulnerable and easily infected on coming in contact with someone who is already sick.

Cure:
Boil few cloves of garlic into mustard oil. Let the oil cool and apply it externally on your baby’s neck, chest, back, under the feet and palms. The warmth of mustard oil and anti-bacterial properties of garlic help destroy bacteria that cause cold.
Another potent remedy for cold is to dry roast carom seeds (ajwain) on a flat pan and put it in a cotton cloth, making it a pouch. Place the pouch near the baby’s nose so that he may inhale the smell to soothe his nose and throat.
Placing a cool-mist humidifier in the baby's room is a popular instrument these days. It adds moisture to the air providing relief from dry, stuffy nasal passages.

Fever: A low degree fever should not scare you as long as your child is active and playful, as fever is our body’s way of controlling the temperature and its immune response. The fluctuation in the temperature may happen in the process and is natural to every baby. Fever may also occur as a reaction to vaccination or infections in throat, ear etc.

Cure:
Boil a handful of basil leaves in 2 cups of water until the solution is reduced to half. Add a little sugar and give it to your little one a few times a day.
In case of high fever, keep slices of onion under the feet of your baby and wrap the feet in the socks. Replace sliced onions every 4-6 hours until the fever is gone.
If you want to avoid stinky onions, take some slices of potato and soak them in vinegar for 10 minutes. Then place the potato slices on the baby's forehead and cover it with a washcloth on top.

These treasured natural remedies may shop results in varied time depending on the seriousness of the sickness of the baby, but are time-tested and have no side-effects. They are a brilliant alternatives for parents who are hesitant to use over-the-counter medication and feel more comfortable to nip the symptoms in the bud instead of resorting to medicines.
Let me know which remedy worked best to treat your little ones’ illness.

Caution: If any of the health-issues persists for longer than expected, do consult your medical adviser well in time.

Image Source: www.wikihow.com

Working Moms – Challenges and Solutions

Motherhood has always been the most celebrated feeling for all the women around the world. There is certainly a glory that this title brings along, but there are unfavourable challenges that are specific to 'working moms'. I still remember how dicey the situation had become when I had to decide whether to continue or sacrifice my job after my child was born. I knew if I had to resume my work, it would demands more on my effort, time, energy and resources to 'balance' work and family life. But I take pride to assert that I faced the situation and had been able to succeed.

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So based my experience, I'm sharing helpful tips on how working moms can deal with this dilemma and make their life easier without having to sacrifice their career or family-

1.) Raising Kids in Nuclear Family:
In good old times, when multigenerational or joint families were the norm of society, the elderly family members used to take care of children in the house in the absence of parents. But over the past years with increasing number of only two-parent families, the mothers are expected to take a career break and be around children to for their physical growth and mental development.
You can always enroll your school-going child to a certified day-care centre that ensures providing safe and healthy environment for him after school hours. For a younger baby, a trustworthy in-house babysitter may take care of baby while the mommy works.

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2.) Tackling Sick Children
As an extension to nuclear family concerns, most working moms feel alarmed of the possibility of their children getting sick (I really do). Because the responsibility of taking care for sick children usually falls on the mother. The situation to settle on either an inflexible professional schedule or a parental obligation brings the victim to a meltdown mode.

The best game plan to pull through this tricky situation is to prevent child’s illness. It’s customary for many parents to ignore initial warning sign of an upcoming illness and hope it won’t last. But if you’re aware of usual symptoms or causes of your child’s sickness, make a prior arrangement to nip the problem in the bud. My child is a mosquito magnet – so I use repellents like liquid vaporiser inside my home but my biggest worry is when he is outdoors – be it school or evening playtime especially because dengue mosquitoes bite in the daytime. I’ve now resorted to the protection of Good knight Fabric Roll-On to avoid exposure to icky mosquitoes. Just following a simple regime of applying four dots of all-natural product on my child’s clothes whenever he steps out for school or play has rescued me from panicky time.

It also makes a difference to make minor lifestyle changes including diet, clothing, outing time etc when it’s the time of year when it’s more probable for your child to fall ill. On a motherly note, try co-ordinating with an understanding colleague and do tell yourself “this is just life in the moment, let me spend the day with apple of my eye”.

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3.) Running Late of Schedule
Nothing adds to the stress of mommy if something doesn't go as planned in the beginning of the day. The uncertainty of the morning routine puts you in situation where unanticipated problems arise and leave you frustrated and dejected.
Preparing ahead of time is the key. Carefully look over the next day's to-do list a night prior and divide the schedule. It's better to decide priorities of the day and delegate few chores to your spouse. Marking important dates on calendar or setting a reminder on your smart device will let you start your day on calm note without missing any relevant event especially when it's related to your child's school.

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4.) Professional Competence
Despite the claims of companies to offer compatible work conditions for females, many mothers are not given key roles and are looked down upon if they demand for flexible working hours for themselves. It induces a feeling of lower self-esteem and low confidence in most women.
Do not be hesitant to forward a written plan to your company's HR team requesting them to adjust your schedule in a way that you may complete the required weekly working hours in a flexible manner. It will reinforce faith of employer for you if you may present the company with a substitute/alternate to compensate your responsibilities in case of emergency.

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5.) Mommy Guilt
Women have a right to have a career the way men do and they should be proud that they are capable of multitasking. But if you've chosen your career over your family or child, the creepy feeling of being away from your child may strike you any time. There can be infinite reasons for a mommy to feel guilty for not being a 'perfect' parent. At times, these feelings are subject to societal idealisation of motherhood.
Pause before you react. Give yourself a moment before you curse yourself of the worst guilt-inducing moments. Think of your contribution in fulfilling your child's needs by going to work. Find practical solution that may spare you some time to make good memories with family and children. Lastly, remind yourself that feeling guilty is actually a sign that you truly care for your child.

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6.) Communication Gap with Partner/Family
Living your choices amidst everyday chaos severely affects relationship between the couple and the implications of the situation might be to different extent. Many a times, marital relationship is strained due to lack of time or excessive fatigue, especially when both partners have long working hours or when the male partner poses a hands-off approach in sharing household responsibilities.
To tackle this very important yet less-acknowledged issue, both the partners must agree to consciously make an effort to get closer to each other despite an exhaustive schedule. It takes only a few moments every day to focus on keeping your marriage happy.

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There are many more obligations, work commitments and family matters than ever before that every working mom is juggling with. It might be hard to maintained sanity with life continually getting busier, but I'm sure these simple tips would help mighty mommy increase the harmony in her home..

Happy Parenting!!

Healthy Child, Healthy World : My entry for #immuneIndia

            

           Motherhood brings in bundle of responsibilities that keeps unpacking itself from one stage to another. When a new mom is preparing herself for a thoughtful upbringing of her child, the most challenging task is the well-being of the infant.

                Right after few months of my marriage, I had conceived with my only child and everyone in the family was more than delighted with the pleasant news. But as the time passed, I somehow developed some medical complications which lasted throughout the pregnancy term .... and I delivered my baby in seven n half months weighing 1.8 kgs causing loads of medical problems to myself n him too :(

                After his birth, my premature infant was unable to keep himself warm without help, so he was placed inside an incubator for 12 days and used to be brought to me only for feeding..... I had been dying to hug him, kiss him and love him till the time my heart wanted ...but the doctors weren't ready to take a chance. But finally after spending sleepless nights without my baby & by my repeated requests, the doctors allowed me to stay in KMC (Kangaroo Mother Care) ward wherein i made my baby in direct skin-to-skin contact wid me by making him sleep over my breast all the time so that he cud get enough warmth from my body. And i was really amazed when doctors told me that his body temperature got regulated at a better frequency following this method.

              This DIVINE TOUCH of mom n child made me believe the fact that AN AFFECTIONATE TOUCH CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS N CAN SURELY STRENGTHEN OUR HEARTFELT BONDS. The moment of this self-realization suddenly grew me up with a lifelong responsibility to keep another life not only alive, but provide him a secure, lovable family atmosphere always to feel blessed with such parents My son is my first love today and will always be ... !!! I can't ask for anything more treasured from Almighty ever...

                I still can visualize the early days when I had stepped in this phase of motherhood in my life for the first time, circumstances left me helpless, all alone in a new town away from elders who could guide me how to take proper care of my newly-born...

              Thanks to these reliable telecom facilities that proved to be my saviour that time. I used to make frequent calls to my mum or mum-in-law round the clock and they were always full of ideas that turn as effective as 'Sanjeevni Booti' for my baby...

              I had been seriously apprehensive about how to judge what my child is suffering from, when he was crying; what would be the proper cure to be given to him and will that be available that moment for us and much more...but I believe God gives us that much courage and wisdom to tackle every touch challenge as we become 'Mommies'.

              Few of the 'rules of thumb' that I played with, were pre-decided by me even before I gave birth to my li'l one...like I had promised to myself to leave my full time job to be with my baby; breastfeed him for atleast six months without any reason to leave him on other liquid dietary food, not to leave him at the mercy of any day care centres, not using the feeding bottles (after I stop breastfedding him), using home remedies when fallen sick etc.

                And I swear, sticking to these simple conventions set by myself had been really a job as there were situations when I was lured by good job offers, he was fallen ill & didn't feed himself properly and so on... but I was determined not to be weak and not to compromise in his health.
                          
              I personally suffer from severe hereditical dust allergy and when my son was around 3 yrs old, I could recognize the similar symptoms in him causing runny or stuffy nose at regular instances. Without wasting any more time consulting with so-called trained practitioners, I opted for tried n tested formula that my mum used to implement on me n my siblings ;)

              I taught my son to lick almost half spoon of Dabur Chyawanprash in play-way method as he was not convinced to eat something in such unusual brownish black color. Gradually when his taste was developed, he easily agreed to drink a cup of milk with Dabur Chyawanprash on regular basis.

              Interestingly, not only the internal immune mechanism of my weak child got stronger with natural ingredients of Dabur Chyawanprash, but my own allergies almost vanished.
I can't stop admiring the boost in my son's bubbling energy level that keeps him charged up with positive zeal 24x7 and I'm a content mom who can put this tagline on the door of her home .

'A healthy child makes a happy home'

This post has been exclusively written for #immuneIndia campaign of Dabur Chyawanprash  hosted by  Indiblogger.