I have been working in the parenting related world for quite
some years now. While that was not how I started writing my parenting blog, it
sure was the way I got to lots of other parenting related forums and sites.
Of course being a parent and loving kids generally is a main
reason that got me in this field. And this is also one of the reasons why I have
had so many disagreements, even arguments, with so many parents over the years.
Of course every parent has a different approach to bringing
up kids. And I truly respect and understand that.
But the underlying thought needs to be the best interest of
the child, keeping in mind its health and love and care – right?
Maybe sometimes wrong.
A major trend I am noticing nowadays in the parenting world
is mommies trying to introduce food to baby much before crossing the sixth
month.
Breast milk is the only food a baby needs for the first six
months of life, not even water. This simple fact is something that seems to be
getting more and more difficult for parents to understand these days.
And there are many reasons behind it.
The first reason is that breast feeding exclusively means
you cannot lose weight – no, if you are feeding your baby, your hunger levels
will be at an all-time high, and losing weight is more of a dream, while
putting on more is the reality.
I have met many many mums who have asked me on a personal
level as well as through various mommy sites and forums about what they can
give their babies, the youngest being barely 4 months. Really? You want your
baby to stop feeding exclusively that soon? You might as well have started on a
formula from day one.
I may sound rude, but that is the intention here.
I very well understand that a baby sure needs additional
feed if the mother’s feed is inadequate. But denying your baby this most
important source of nutrition just because you don’t want to feed is
ridiculous.
Then there is this lady who mentioned she was done being fat
and now that her baby was 2.5 months, she was starting on a diet of only
liquids and no solids and such. Wow….let’s clap for her ladies. I mean, if we
have mommies like this who are ready to start a no-eat diet while supposed to
feed a new born, imagine what kind of an example we are setting, and what kind
of an example she will be setting for her baby.
The cake needs to be reserved for another mommy, who
recently asked on a mommy forum about what she could give to her new born to
make her sleep through the night without waking up. She mentioned that there is
something available in the market that you can mix with gripe water and give a
baby. This will induce sleep in baby and baby won’t make up for any feeding
through the night.
I promptly came out of the forum, controlling the urge to
revert.
I fed both my daughters exclusively for the first six months. I fed my elder daughter till she was 2 years old. My younger one stopped on her own when she was about 10 months, though I would have liked to continue for at least a year. I was on no diet for the first six months of feeding and ate healthy and everything nutritious.
Coming back, if people like this are allowed to become parents,
no wonder we have so many cases of neglect and abuse being reported against
babies and children.
It’s a shame when perfectly educated and capable mothers
start taking the easy way out and choose not to feed or lessen feed, just
because it makes them fat or hinders sleep or makes it difficult for them to go
out and party.
What can I say? I guess my being rude will say it all.
- Debolina Raja Gupta
**********************************************
And like I always believe in and say:
'Heal the world we live in
Save it for our children' - MJ
Happy Parenting!!!! Be good to your little one, and to the millions of little ones out there who truly need every bit of love and compassion they can get.....Be a grown up...save the little ones.... Debolina Raja Gupta
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