As soon as the baby arrives in your house, you have all possible relatives giving you different kinds of advices. As you are a new parent, you are not sure of what you should be doing but there are some of the very common practices by Indian parents that actually harm their infants. Knowingly or unknowingly, almost all parents in India end up doing these things because they are told to. Some of these practices are out of ignorance and some are a part of our tradition. But it is very important to make sure that whatever we are doing, is for the good of the child.
Here is the list of these 5 common practices which you must avoid to keep your newborn baby happy and healthy.
1. No breast milk for couple of days after birth
Medically, the first milk of the mother is considered to be very healthy for the child as it is supposed to be rich in nutrients that are helpful in developing immunity of the infant. But in India, your mother or mother-in-law will ask you not to feed your baby with the breast milk for the first few days after the baby is born. And once they are done with some rituals, then you can feed your baby.
2. Give Honey to Newborn
Usually the day the baby is born, he is given honey. Someone from the family gives honey to the baby as it is believed that the child will become same as the person who has offered him with this sweet. But medically, a child is feeble as it is just born and is vulnerable to diseases. Honey causes botulism and there are chances that your baby might get affected.
3. Hard Massage
We all have seen grandmothers giving hard and harsh massages to the newborn baby. They do it with such intensity that the baby starts crying out loud. The intention is to make them strong and give their body nourishment but massage should be done with soft hands, using natural oils. Giving baby massage on alternate days is good enough. You can select either coconut oil or mustard oil.
4. Use Gram Flour or Wheat Flour to Remove Body Hair
When babies are born, their bodies are covered with hair. Medically, these hair go away as the baby starts to grow up. But we don’t want these unwanted hair and we want to remove them so that the baby has clear skin. We have seen that grandmothers scrub the newborns with balls made out of flour to remove all the body hair and to make sure that the skin glows. Do not worry about these body hair as they will go away with time. Moreover, baby skin is very sensitive and scrubbing it so hard can of course damage it or can cause some allergy.
5. Sweet, Spice and Salt Added Foods
Indians love spices and somehow we feel that an Indian baby would also love the same. Therefore, we all end up adding external spices, sugar or salt to their meals much before they have turned one. Medically, this is an unhealthy practice as a kid of this age doesn’t require any added sugar or salt to his food. And hence, it can be unhealthy for the baby. Kids enjoy bland food comfortably and once they start growing you can gradually introduce these externally added flavors to them.