Travelling with Babies

Travelling with babies or young todlers always needs lot of pre preparation. Right from their clothes to foods. I often feel that i am a mobile storage device :) My handbag carries more of my baby stuffs than mine.

Even if i step out for a while i make sure i carry necessary things for my baby like water, snacks, wipes, diaper etc.

Me and my hubby are fond of travelling, and we have been travelling almost every month, which has inturn given me more understanding of how to handle my baby and what to carry for her when we are out. Things that one should always keep in mind are the basic neccesities for the babies. Below is a list that are required when out on a travel.

Feeding Bottles
Extra Diapers
Wipes
Milk powder or small tetrapacks of fresh milk
Snacks
Baby food ( if its long distance travel )
Boiled Water
Dress
Bib
Baby lotion
Santizer
Stroller (can be optional)
Favourite Toy
Favourite Book

So next time you travel, you are sure to carry these basics for your baby. Happy Voyage !!!!

Baby's Development

Baby's can start recognizing objects as early as 2 months, they start with identifying their mother, father, grandparents and others. They can see colors from 3 months on, thats when we should show lot of colorful rattles which lets out various sounds, here they recognize both color and sound.

We even can start reading books and show them pictures.By 6 months they can almost see and understand shapes,colours and sizes. You can show various pictures of birds,animals,house hold things, parts of body,etc. This sharpens baby's observation. I started showing various pictures to my daughter right from 6 months, she is a year and 4 months old now and can recognize everything in the house. She can point rightly to what ever we ask. Initially you cant expect any response from your baby, you ll feel as if its going to dumb ears, but believe me they are gathering all the knowledge in their tiny brains.This is what they do these days at a playschool.

Feeding Babies

Feeding is the toughest task. You never understand what runs through babies mind. Sometimes they eat well, sometimes they just neglect to eat even their favourite food even if the routine is followed. One thing i have understood from feeding my baby is if she is hungry she will eat what ever i give. So always remember not to force your child. But i make sure that what ever little she eats is nutritious. So right from she started her solids, i made the  habbit of feeding her fruits and veggies. So now she never says no to them atleast. Another important thing i noticed from my daughter is she wants to keep playing all the time, and she does not want to waste her time in eating food, so feeding her has to be like a play, these are the ones she loves to play during her meal time, peek a boo, watching and dancing with the rhymes,reading her story book etc. That way she ends up finishing her bowl.Well there lies lot of excerscise for me too which helped be shed those extra calories :)

Here are few recipes for babies and toddlers

Apple Puree : 

For 6 months to 2 years

Wash and Boil one large apple in a pressure cooker until its soft and you are able to peel the skin.Blend the boiled apple in the blender and make it a puree.You can even store this in a air tight container and keep refrigirated for 2 to 3 days.

Banana Puree :

Slice the banana and blend it in a blender and make it a puree. You cannot store banana, as the colour of the puree will change as banana is rich in iron.

Banana is also rich in carbohydrates and fiber. And is a great source of energy. My baby just loves bananas.

Mango Puree :

Remove the skin of Mango, and blend them in to puree. Mango contains essential vitamins and minerals. You can also make puree of  pear, musk melon, and guava. Try not to add sugar to any of the puree as far as possible.

Vegetable Puree

For six months up to 2 years

Similarly one can also make puree with vegetables like pumpkin, carrot, potatoes , sweet potatoes, beans.

you can feed them separetely or in combination with either of the vegetables. Wash and boil the vegetable until soft, blend them in to puree. Add little salt to taste. Serve along with a teaspoon of butter or ghee.

Vegetable Soup:

For 10 months and above

Ingredients:

Onion - chopped 2 tablespoon

Cabbage - chopped 2 tablespoon

Carrot - chopped 2 tablespoon

Beans - chopped 2 tablespoon

Tomatoes - chopped 2 tablespoon

Water - 11/2 cups

Salt to taste

Method :

Boil all the vegetables along with little salt  in 11/2 cups of water untill soft. Let it cool . Now blend the vegetables along with the water in to a puree.Am sure no baby will say no to this yummy soup !!

Boiled Vegetables :

For Toddlers - 1 year and above

One can choose any vegetable of choice like French beans , carrot, pumpkin, Ladies finger,potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroot, brinjal etc etc.

Method:

Wash and cut vegetable in to small squares. Heat a pan, add a spoon of oil. Add the cut vegetables, if u take one cup vegetables, add one cup of water .Let the vegetable cook until soft in low flame. Once they become soft sprinkle some salt and very little pepper. Turn of the flame.Its ready to serve. This is a very nutritious snack for toddlers. You can give them at  any time of the day as its good for health. You can also mix two to three vegetable to make it little colorful.

Its Always Play Time for Babies !!!

Babies,the new entrants to the world filled with strangers are eager to know and learn what ever they see.Right fom day one they start building that store of knowledge.A brilliant way how they learn is through playing.

Every game my daughter  plays, whether it's pointing to different body parts when you ask her to or putting objects into containers and taking them out again, teaches her about the world around her. One day i felt that she was getting bored, and i did not know as to what  to play with her, after  a little research on google i found few sites that have games even for infants, these are the sites :

• http://www.babygamesonline.net/
• http://www.babygamer.com/online_games/free/infant/infant_games.htm
• http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesByAge&mcat=game_infant
• http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=30&e=myfplanding
• http://www.babycenter.com.ph/baby/development/letsplay/?intcmp=tnav_baby_play

Hope you have loads of games to play with your little one now :) Have fun !!!!