Nisarga

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  • Brillkids to speed up your baby's learning

    early readingResearch increasingly shows that the more information you make accessible to your baby, the faster he or she begins using it. This is particularly true when it comes to language and maths.

    Babies this age are more “right brained” – they need to be, if they have to learn to understand people, interaction and express themselves. At this age, perception rules. They are constantly absorbing things they are exposed to, and this particularly holds true for language and mathematics. They can understand entire words or quantities as images, and comprehend them enough that a quantity expressed in different ways, or a word written in different fonts/handwriting is quickly identified as the same quantity or word.

    All this is happening even before they learn to speak.

    Our current ways of teaching children begin well after the child learns to speak. Children learn to read in school, by when they have already moved beyond the formative years when they can grasp these things intuitively and effortlessly.

    As more and more parents discover the value of early orientation to fundamental skills, methods which enable such learning to be fun are becoming popular. Flashcards, story books, sign language, DVDs and such resources add value and maximise ease of use. This also directly results in you being able to be consistent and persistent with your efforts.

    Two such programs are from Brillkids – Little Reader and Little Math. They literally take out all the guesswork and tedious labour needed to constantly create learning resources and present them correctly. They have trials for download on their site, and I must say I’m hooked!

    The only sorrow is that they don’t work on Linux, which is what my machine is, though I have a little used dual boot with Windows on it, which should be working (at least it worked a year ago). However, if you have a Windows computer, there really is no excuse for not checking out the trial versions of both of these. The trials are free. And if you wish, you can always buy. (aff. link)

    PS: One mystery of life was solved as I read their Teaching baby to read ebook. There is a quote from Janet Doman, daughter of Glenn Doman and director of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, “[At school] we are literally trained to read and talk at the same time. And this is not a good way to teach, because when you and I go to read a book, we subvocalize. We actually are talking, and it means we read very, very slowly. [A baby] will just take in the word, and as you teach him to read and he gets to be a better and better reader, he’s not subvocalizing. ” I learned to read very early and was an extremely fast reader, finishing a typical Enid Blyton in an hour and a half flat with distractions and all, could understand “less easy”English like Shakespeare, attempt crosswords and remember pretty much anything I read or was told. The two things I was never able to do were reading aloud and understanding what I was reading at the same time and reading aloud to memorize. The vocalizing probably wrecked my natural learning tempo. This quote explains much!

  • Tips on teaching a baby to clap

    Oooookay, I think we have cracked the clap code (though not actually clapped), which if you consider that Nisarg is not even 3 months yet, is pretty amazing.

    The little guy has figured out that its all about swinging his hands together, but doesn’t yet have the co-ordination to quite make them meet….

    If you want to teach your baby to clap, and he just stares back and blows spit bubbles at you, the following tips might help:

    1. Don’t hurry. ENJOY the fun you are having with baby, no matter what it ends up as. Babies sense you enjoying yourself, and it tempts them to enter the action you are leading.
    2. Pick your time. Don’t just pester the poor darling morning and night. The idea is to find a time when baby is alert, awake and quiet.
    3. Talk baby talk with your baby. Get his attention. You want him really looking at you, observing.
    4. Clap with an exaggerated movement (with an obvious swing of your hands). Laugh and share the joke with baby and do more baby talk.
    5. Do this a couple of times, and baby will likely get buzzed enough to wave his hands. Get all excited about that, and clap some more and wait, as though you are fully expecting him to do the same. If baby doesn’t respond, fine. Do something else. Repeating clapping a couple of times, or playfully clapping his hands together will work as interactive fun, but don’t turn it into a lesson. It will not make him clap, if he stops enjoying it.

    This is it. The whole session. Praise whatever swings baby makes, and clap in response. Eventually, the little darling is going to figure out how to make the hands meet when he swings them.

  • Baby weight gain and bonnissan

    I had written earlier about how Nisarg was having problems with gas and diarrhoea and the doctor had prescribed Bonnisan. Then I wrote about how after just two days, Nisarg had normal baby poop for the first time in his life.

    Well…. half a month later, we haven’t had a single loose bowel movement yet, and Nisarg is filling up quite well, with chubbying cheeks and slight hints of plumpness that we associate with babies. I don’t think he’s ever going to be one of those round babies, but hey, he’s healthy, active and putting on weight steadily. He also put on an inch in height – he’s now 22 inches.

    I don’t know what he weighs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s put on a kilo from the last appointment to the next.

    Maybe its just regular growth, but I’m of the opinion that the Bonnissan really helped. He just was cranky (for him) and slow to grow since the gas set in till before we started with it.

  • Pain and fear

    Just had some awful news. A friend of mine had a son recently and he developed some problems after birth and had to be hospitalized, where he died after two days. This must have been the hardest thing I have ever done….. I gave her a call and spoke with her briefly.

    What do you say to a new mother who loses her child?

    Just the thought of it was enough to shred all coherence from me, and we spent some torturous minutes of uncomprehending grief.

    As a new mother myself, I have no fear greater than this, and I can only imagine how a mother who should have been celebrating instead is dealing with engorged breasts and no one to feed. All the hopes, dreams, love….. shattered.

    I don’t know what to say, I don’t even know what to wish for…. Not my child. Mine is waving his hands and cooing as I swipe at tears, in a complete role reversal. For once, he doesn’t know why I’m crying and what to do about it. I’m grateful that I’m crying over a loss I will not be living with.

  • Neopeptine drops for infants with gas

    Okay, like I said that the baby’s loose bowel motions got sorted by Bonnisan, the other helpful miracle we had with the infant gas and colic was Neopeptine drops for infants. We had been asked not to give gripe water to Nisarga. Opinions vary on this from gripe water containing something that is risky for infants to accusations of doctors wanting to promote branded medicines instead of traditional remedies. Whatever the truth is (and we never investigated) we were not giving him gripe water to prevent infant gas. However, considering that a friend who gave her child gripe water regularly had similar problems to ours, so I’m not certain the gripe water helps.

    There are two things you need to know about infant gas. The first is that it is very painful and a leading cause of sleep deprivation for new parents. The other is that while medicines help, the biggest thing you can do is burp the baby and often. This simply cannot be repeated often enough.

    Neopeptine drops have digestive enzymes, and really helped cut the amount of abdominal pain from gas discomfort the baby goes through. Unfortunately, it took us a while to discover how to use it.

    Neopeptine drops for infants are available over the counter at most medical shops. So, if you are using Neopeptine drops for infant gas, here are some tips, which we wish someone had given us:

    • You have likely been advised to give Neopeptine drops only for extreme colic and exhaust other methods of soothing abdominal pain first. This makes you tend to wait for quite some time before the baby’s distress forces you to use it. You end up with a baby too worked up to patiently take drops and then too worn out and fussy to simply settle quietly. Don’t wait. Use it at the first sign of gas.
    • If your baby is suffering from intestinal gas, don’t give Neopeptine drops only when he is suffering abdominal pain. Give them for a day or two after getting relief from stomach pain as well, as long as you aren’t giving him more than three times, though we have given him four or even five doses once on the first day, when he was in a lot of trouble.
    • Give the drops before feeding. Pause. Then feed. Burp. Feed. Burp. Feed…. did I mention burp?
    • Neopeptine helps baby move the gas easier, but you can help it along. Give drops, burp, feed, burp, wait for some time, burp again.
    • Moving the baby’s legs will also help him pass gas, which will not hurt your situation.

    Have you used Neopeptine? How did you use it? How was your experience?

  • Right brain development in infants

    There is a wealth of information on right brain development in infants and how it can’t be started early enough and resources and all that. Like any other obsessed mother out there, I’m researching ways to entertain him in a manner that stimulates his development, and so far am doing pretty much exactly what came instinctively anyway.

    Talking a lot to him, teasing him to win those smiles, carrying him around and showing stuff, making funny faces and exaggerated actions, etc.

    The funny part is that the actions get him looking all solemn and puzzled at me when I’d have thought he’d laugh. He looks like he wants to ask “Hey, you okay? You seemed fine a minute ago”

    What I’m planning to do:

    1. Flash cards. He still sleeps most of the time, and seems supremely uninterested in the flashcards most of the time. So I guess this is going to be an acquired taste. At the moment, he’ll look at the cards very briefly and mostly look at my face as though trying to figure out what in the world I’m trying to do.
    2. Touch: He gets his massage and bath every day, and we often cuddle at bedtime. Other than that, he loves touch in general. Stroke his head, body, face-but-NOT-nose, and he’s virtually purring. I give him lots of other stuff to touch too – the plastic of his toys – hard, soft, bags…, rubber mat, soft cotton swaddling cloth, other cloth materials, sponge, wood, …. whatever we can lay our hands on
    3. Smell: So far, we like a couple of perfumes and sneeze at frying smells from the kitchen. Vicks , milk and baby powder are at the top.
    4. Movement: I carry him around in my arms, in a sling…. lift him high, dance with him in my arms, … He pretty much enjoys it all indiscriminately
    5. Mimicry: I do all kinds of stuff for him to copy. So far we have managed to stick our tongues out (both imitating me and when told), clap (sort of) and blink. He will suck instead of kiss, and we understand the sign for milk (I like to imagine), but can’t copy. I guess he’s too hungry and small to focus while hungry yet. Thing is, he enjoys all this stuff and is mostly waving arms and feet full power with that undecided half-smile on his face.
    6. Music: He likes most music (other than a couple of really loud songs, and Anup Jalota) Favourites being nursery rhymes in Marathi, and Usha Uthups Karadi Rhymes followed closely by Shakti and Ghulam Ali.

    And here I am, saying that I don’t get to do much because he sleeps so much. I guess its more about being aware of how much we are doing.

  • Nightmare night

    Last night Nisarg cried, and cried, and cried. Poor chap. He vomitted a couple of times, had loose stools, gas…. and was utterly miserable.

    He wanted to be held all the time and still sobbed on and off.

    Nothing worked. feeding, burping, music….

    Just as I was about to rush him to the ER of the nearest hospital, he started nodding off, utterly exhausted. Poor little boy. Care….fully, I put him down, and after a few sobs, he was out. Such a tiny body, so tired from the discomfort and crying.

    I was a goner too. I was tired myself, but all wired up. Sleep didn’t matter if I could just bring him some comfort…. Luckily, at 4am, this nightmare story ended from sheer exhaustion on his part. After staying awake for another half hour or so to just be sure that he was ok, I slept like a log.

    He woke up in the morning with a ear destroying scream, and I was like, “Not again….”. I began telling Raka how we were taking him to the hospital immediately after feeding, and he started getting ready.

    Just to be contrary I think, Nisarg drank and drank and drank like he was starving, belched like a drunk sailor, and was peacefully sleeping before his burping was done. He didn’t even stir as I put him down.

    Raka and I looked at each other in disbelief. Apparently, the guy was just hungry after his difficult night.

    I’ve been looking at him warily all day, but so far, so good.

  • The journey of vulnerability – A timeline

    Two eyes met, attraction sparked.
    Sexy, confident, secure

    Two hearts met intention formed
    Invincible together

    Two lives merged, married
    Embraced and celebrated

    Differences arose, got resolved…. or not
    Experience grew

    A small line on a stick changed colour
    Eagerness stirred

    The new life coming up became more and more real
    Plans began – would they be?

    The child was born
    The heart burst wide open

    The child continued to be
    starry dreams stood on stake

    Choices swayed in the wind, uncertainties trembled on melting edges
    would my baby pay the price of this unthinking ignorance?

    and now…..

    The secure heart has this gaping hole of vulnerability and glorious fragility marches forward with purpose.

  • What you see is what you get

    What you see is what you get
    I live with innocence.

    Scary innocence like I never thought possible
    Courage to be defenceless in the unknown
    And face and meet whatever comes along
    Till I want to hide him away to keep him safe

    One little guy who smiles, cries, grunts, stares
    And what you see is what you get

    No camouflage, no subterfuge, no pretences, no protection
    Can I bear it?

    Can I have the courage to keep looking into this mirror day after day?
    Can I rediscover myself to meet that honesty?

    My life throws up difficulties of simplicity
    My self expands to encompass everything and fails

    Yet I keep living each moment to my capacity
    There is one to whom I am all he knows as okay

    Where I have the power to define an entire world
    I try that what he gets is what he sees in me.

  • Teething before 2 months

    Is Nisarg teething?

    Everyone I shared this doubt with thinks I’m nuts. For one, he was born early. For another, he’s not even two months old yet. Its supposed to begin after four months and supposed to be even later for babies who come early.

    Since yesterday, he’s been fussy on and off for no apparent reason. I put him down to nap, then he wakes up almost immediately after, except for the night, which so far continues to be blessedly smooth.

    He’s suddenly started drooling, biting his fingers and sometimes (rarely) sucking his knuckles. I can see two white bits under the gum where his two lower front teeth could come. I can also feel those teeth with my finger, though they are inside.

    To me, it really seems like he’s teething.

    Dayum, this motherhood thing is one thing after another. Seems just yesterday I was complaining about not being able to sleep because of backaches from a huge front. Now, I can sleep very well, but am still exhausted. First the birth, then coming home, breastfeeding every two hours, diarrhoea, gas pains, figuring out pee communication, worrying about his weight gain all through and just as I was celebrating two days of a regular healthy infant, its now this teething thing, or something that seems remarkably like it.

    Anyone else had a child that teethed this early? Developmentally, he should be counted a month old or something. He’s still very tiny and not on the weight charts for his age at all. I’m just hoping that this doesn’t create a setback in his weight gain….