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Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps in absorbing calcium from the foods we eat. Calcium along with Vitamin D helps build bones and keep them strong. Apart from strengthening bones, Vitamin D also helps in fighting infection and is an important nutrient for heart health.

The main source of Vitamin D is sunlight and food items like fatty fish and fish oils, which babies may not eat at an early stage. Doctors recommend Vitamin D supplements for children which should not be avoided at all.

Zinc

Zinc helps in the creation of new cells and helps to heal faster. Zinc is an important nutrient in babies for their proper growth and development.

Sources of Zinc include meat, milk, cheese, bread, and cereals.

Vitamin C

The most important use of vitamin C is healing. Your toddler is going to fall while learning to walk and crawl. All kinds of scrapes are healed faster by intake of Vitamin C. It also helps in iron absorption and develops white blood cells, which in turns fights infection. Some of the main sources of Vitamin C include broccoli, sprouts, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Fruits like oranges, strawberries, and kiwi are also good sources of Vitamin C.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is to improve your baby’s vision, to develop his immune system and maintain healthy skin. Sources of Vitamin A are cheese, eggs, and yogurt. Dark leafy vegetables are also a good source of Vitamins.

Types of Iron

There are two different types of iron:

• Heme iron – It is found in meats and is absorbed easily by the body
• Non-Heme iron – it is found in plant sources like legumes, vegetables, and cereals.

Foods that are rich in iron include:

• Foods like chicken, fish, and egg are good sources of iron
• Grains and cereals: Iron-fortified cereals, whole wheat or multigrain bread, and rice.
• Legumes: Chickpeas, lentils, peas, and beans.
• Vegetables: Spinach, broccoli, sprouts, green peas, beans.

Iron can be best absorbed if combined with Vitamin C rich food. Good sources of vitamin C include oranges, tomatoes, and red pepper.

Let’s get the basics right

Your child has his own needs, concerns and emotional responses to every situation or event. Your being able to recognise and acknowledge these needs is the first step, followed by providing your child with the support and reassurance he needs to manage his emotions.

What you should know about responsive parenting

When you choose responsive parenting, you become more aware of why your child behaves the way he does in response to a certain situation, for instance, whether they react angrily, or can maintain their calm.

As a mother, you need to:

• Observe your child’s body language to gauge his reaction
• Interpret these observations to understand what your child is feeling at the moment, for example, hunger or sleep
• Act upon these interpretations, so that you can meet your child’s needs at the earliest possible instance

What makes responsive parenting important

It’s not enough to only meet your child’s physical needs, because his emotional needs cannot go unanswered. When you adopt sensitive parenting, research has shown that your child has better cognitive outcomes and is more likely to grow up to be a healthy individual.

Responsive parenting improves your child’s development not just in the short term but also in the long run. Remember that while genetics play an important role in your growing toddler, the environmental factors he is exposed to also shape his responses. In the case of low birth weight infants, responsive parenting has been known to decrease social anxiety and depression.

Particularly in toddlers, responsive parenting becomes important because the lack of it may result in a negative impact on the child. When we as parents don’t respond to a toddler, it may cause him some stress, which is related to the child’s ability to learn. It also impacts his behaviour and health negatively.

How rewarding is responsive parenting?

Responsive parenting results in a more secure bonding with your child, as your child is reassured of your presence in his life. A child who is more attached to his parents is more likely to have better problem-solving skills and abilities. He will also show a better understanding of language and have enhanced social skills.

What you can do to encourage your child

Reading a book is a great way to get started, but don’t forget to respond to your child’s questions and remarks. Encourage them to identify words or pictures. Establish a relationship with your child through simple activities and pave the way for an emotionally secure and healthy future.

From Birth to 6 months of age

An average baby weighs about 2.5 kilograms at the time of birth. The height of an average newborn baby is between 18 to 22 inches. A baby might grow half or one inch per month and gains around 200 grams of weight per month. You can expect your baby to double up in weight as and when they turn 5 months old.

From 6 months to 12 months

Babies grow slow from the age of 6 months to 12 months. You can expect them to grow on an average of 3/8 inch per month and gain about 150 grams per month. This is the time when their brain and body develops the most indulging into all sorts of activities. A relatively high-fat food and low fibre food can help boost their growth.

From Age 1 to 3

The toddler years are steady for the growth of height. This is actually when the babies indulge into a lot of activities and their height gain depends on their nutrition and activities. Babies who are fed healthy food, indulge into more outdoor games, and are active gain better height than others. Three small balanced meals with regular nutritious snacks keeps their nutrition strong for healthier growth. At this age, the baby boys and girls reach up to 37 inches of height.

From Age 4 to 9

During this time the baby boys and girls gain about 2-3 inch of height per year. A slight spurt in height is seen in kids who start hitting the age of puberty a little early. This is also the time when kids should get into playing games like basketball, football and even swimming to increase height at a faster rate.

From Age 10 to 14+

This is the age promises the most height gain for the kids. They start hitting the age of puberty and thus the height gain is accelerated too. By the time they reach the age of 16, girls and boys attain their adult height. It is now that activities like swimming, rope jumping, basketball or running can help the kids gain height better.

Sometimes the puberty height spurt can come early or after the age of 16 depending upon the growth of the child.

A child’s height is influenced by their genes, activities they indulge into, their growth, development, nutrition levels and more. While they should match the average height growth, making them active in sporting activities helps!

The early years

While language and understanding start to develop pretty much right after your baby is born, it takes a learning curve for your toddler to start communicating with you using language. Your baby’s brain develops the fastest between birth and age 2, while rapidly absorbing new experiences, knowledge, and information.

Remember that each baby is different and will develop at his own pace, but it’s always a good idea to monitor your little one to know how he is progressing.

Here’s how your baby will learn to speak

As your baby learns to speak there are further milestones that aid this process. These include:

• At the outset, your baby will be able to understand you. Babies can grasp concepts and instructions well before they can speak.
• By age 1, most toddlers will able to say their first word. Your child may not speak clearly at this stage but can make himself understood.
• At 2, he is likely to be able to string together 2-word sentences, such as ‘baby want’. From there, you can expect his language skills to take off, and by age 3, he can communicate in longer sentences.

Remember that a child’s language skills continue to develop, and they can learn right into young adulthood.

How you can help your child

When your toddler is developing language skills, repeated exposure to the same word or phrases can help him retain the information. As a parent, encourage your toddler when he speaks and practise words with him. When you repeat the words and encourage him to speak, your baby is more likely to respond positively and benefit from positive reinforcement.

Toys are another great way to develop your toddler’s speech. This is because a toddler uses toys to indicate an object or an action, which in turn gives a boost to their imagination and communication. Toddlers can grasp concepts such as shapes, colours, and size through simple toys such as stacking rings and building blocks.

While we live in a world wherein digital technology is everything, studies have shown that exposure to screens, be it televisions, laptops or mobile phones can hamper your child’s ability to communicate and lead to delayed development. It is therefore advised that a child under age 2 should ideally have no screen time, and a slightly older child needs to be monitored both for time and content.

In conclusion

You can really work with your child to help him develop speech and language skills, especially in his early formative years. Start off with activities that are engaging and which aid development, all the while keeping the experience light and fun. Enjoy this new phase with your little one!