The monsoon is showing all its colors these days. And I hope you are enjoying it after a long and sweltering summer with your baby. You can see the roads drowned and drains flooded with water. You can't even recognize the roads because of the heavy rain. Sludge and wastes of drains start floating on roads sometimes which causes serious problems and disease. So there are certain things which must be taken care in the monsoon for the sake of health of your babies.
Baby care Tips for Monsoon:
1. Don't let your Baby wet in Rain:
Newborns remain most of the time inside the home and in good care so they have less chance of getting wet. But if you still have to take them out with you, better take an umbrella and a cover for them in these days.
Rain catches mainly the kids who start going out and like to get drenched in rain. They like to play in rain and enjoy it with their group. More the time they spend in rain, more are chances to get sick. So take enough care that they don't spend much time in rain and better enjoy some indoor sports. Also during on their way to school or classes, they may get stuck in rain, so better provide them raincoats and hankie to stay dry and safe.
If you are sopped in rain, wipe off yourself and your baby well. Or better take a shower when you reach home.
It is important that if your babies reach home with wet clothes, get them dried immediately so that cold doesn't catch them.
2. Reduce no. Of Baths in Monsoon:
In monsoon, raining occurs very often. Because of this, temperature remains moderate. So you can reduce the no. of baths for your infant. Use the fans or Air conditioners to avoid the baths. As infant's body remains mostly humid in these days, give him a bath when it's really hot outside. And if you're already giving them bath after 2-3 days, remember to give them a good bath. Clean all their body parts like ears, arms and legs etc. After bath, clean them up very well in order to avoid chances of cold. Also reduce their bath time because spending more time in water can make them sick. As you are the best observer and care taker of your baby, so it depends on you to decide when to give bath to your baby.3. Keep them covered:
As the no. of insect-borne disease rapidly increase in monsoon, it is recommended to keep their body covered to protect from insects and mosquitoes. Whether it is inside or outside, cover your baby's full body so that mosquitoes can't bite them. Some parents dress their babies in layers. Benefit of this dressing is that if you find your baby sweating, remove one layer and if you find his body much cooler, put an extra layer of clothes. But remember that all these clothes must be clean and well dried. Wet and dirty clothes could cause cold or rashes.
The temperature in this weather changes a lot. Sometimes it may be too hot and in next hour, it may start raining. Dress your baby according to the mood of sun and choose the right time to wash their dirty outfits because you may not get enough sunlight outside to dry their clothes. As the body tries to exert extra water from body, so in humid days babies urinate more than usual. Keep checking their diapers and change them if you find it filled.
Choose light colored clothes for your baby and yourself, cause behind is mosquitoes and insects get more attracted towards dark colors. So light colored clothes will distract them and keep them away from your loved ones.
4. Massage:
Babies need massage in their early years for strengthening of their bones. It also helps them in digestion, blood circulation as well as weight gain. As you decrease the no. of baths for your babies, the oil which is used in their massage not gets cleaned from their body. It can block their body pores which is not good in any means. So clean their body regularly whether they bathe daily or not.
Decreasing the no. of massage could be an option. Still we recommend you to have your pediatrician's advise over it. Because every baby is different and he may need massage everyday apart from the weather conditions.
5. Food:
Infants don't take external food till 6 months. So you should not worry about their meals. But if your kid is older than 6 months then you must give him a healthy and nutritious food. Also the water which he drinks or you are using while cooking, must be clean and pure.
Maintain good hygiene as a lot of water-borne disease start arising because of flooded drains and mud. Don't put food for longer time and serve fresh instead. Wash the fruits and vegetables well before consuming them as it might bring infections from outside and make your kids fall sick. If the power-cut is the issue for filters, use boiled water and isolated thermal bottles for storing it. You can use it anytime you want and will be easy too.
There are certain checks which will help you to check the food if it was prepared a couple of hours ago. Bad odour, color change or altered taste indicates that the food is not good to eat and better consume something fresh. Digestion system becomes vulnerable to bacteria and virus in this season which might get your child loose motions or diarrhea. So serve them fresh food according to their appetite and don't overdose them in this weather.
6. Cleaning:
Cleaning of your home is very important if your infant is concerned. Due to their sensitive skin and digestion they get infected easily from virus or bacterea present in your home. This new problem is fungus or algie which enters in your home with rain. It spoils the food as well as hygiene of your home. To avoid any sickness or disease, clean your home regularly in this weather. All the related utensils of cooking like knives and spoons must be clean before you start cooking.
Clean your kitchen as well as bathroom and toilets. Because most of the infections and disease rise from washrooms. Don't wear dirty or wet clothes very often as the sweat and humidity could cause you skin infections and cough. Apart from your home, keep your locality clean. Put separate dustbins for organic and non-organic waste. It will reduce the possibility of any illness and will be good for your infants and family.
There are other precautions too like keeping hands clean, a shower if you get stuck in flooding roads and fogging to reduce the infections and mosquitoes in monsoon time. Use sanitizers and good quality cleaners for your home. It would collectively keep your baby and family safe from disease and viral infections.
Take enough precautions in this weather. Get proper vaccination done for your baby. Visit your doctor regularly to avoid any complication and to keep him fit and fine.
I hope this article would help you to maintain a good hygiene and take care of your baby's health very well this Monsoon.
It is an informative post.
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