Wonders of a good Massage before Bedtime

I remember when my LO was born.I got one of many advice from a wellwisher that babies cud be given massages 3 times a day.But a good massage before bedtime is a must. It helps the little one to sleep easily.
Though massaging 3 times a day was a huge thing for me.....esp when I am sleep deprived myself.

Baby/toddler SLEEP TRAINING

How my toddler learnt to sleep on her own ?

I cannot tell in words,these days when I woke up in the morning, how fresh and energetic i feel  ? YES, I am normal again. I missed these sleeps for a year.Sleep deprivation has made me mad.My baby never wanted to go to sleep. when she became cranky I had to either rock her or breastfeed her to sleep. we all are sleeping past midnight.But to add to my horrrors , she used to wake up again in one hr at 1 :00 am.......i had to again rock her or feed her .......but then again she woke up in one hr at 2:00 am ..................and this whole cycle runs for the entire night .And in the morning, i even didnt feel like coming out of bed.

MAALISHWALI........to have or not have a masseuse for ur baby?

As soon as new mother and her newborn baby comes home from hospital ,a look out for a maalishwali is started immediately.
From  a long time in our country, it has been a tradition to get the baby massage and baby bath done by the expert hands of these women called maalishwalees or dais (massage women or masseuse).

Senior family members usually have full trust on whatever they do to the little baby just out from her mother's womb, No doubt older generation believes them religiously as they had no other source to get information on childcare during their time.
Though their knowledge is often suspected by the young generation of mothers who have gained more

HOW TO BATH UR NEWBORN BABY? with no tears and cries ; in simple ,easy and economic way

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this is part 3 of scared of bathing ur newborn!!!

Bathing babies is fun and play
One thing that I don't like about maalishwali's(masseus for babies) bathing style or traditional Indian way is that they don't care for crying baby.

I really don't appreciate babies tears and cries during bathing. If u do not want to see tears in your baby's eyes-
1. make sure its not ur babies nap time or he is hungry.
2. babies cry whn they are held loosely (which is very obvious during bathing as they are not in ur arms),so hold them properly.and securely in ur arm
3. if they crying a lot u can give them sponge bath too on that day.
4. babies usually cry while wiping or cleaning face, so u cud start cleaning fom diaper area then legs and then going up in end.
5 use tear less shampoo and make ur soapy water donot enters baby's eyes and ears.

Scared of bathing ur newborn!! part two

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.......its been months since I posted the first part and left it .......m sorry for that but now Its here


Right time for bathing babiesThere is no right time to bathe ur baby , it should be more like the time that suits u and ur baby, like u shud have no errands to do at that time and have very least chances of disturbance by anyone knocking at the door while ur bathing ur little one. Choose ur own time & take it out from ur hectic daily schedule  and enjoy it with ur baby.

In western countries, mostly babies are bathed during night or evening after or before feeding ,so that they fall asleep easily which is quite good.

but I don't know in India,we don't like this way ,in our country babies are first massaged and after sometime(abt half an hour )bathed. this is  usually done in morning(in summers) or noon(during winters). but there are some people who  prefer massaging and bathing at night too.
 
One of my neighbor who is from south(kerala) she told me that there babies are bathed in early morning before 9 or 10 am and then kept for sunbathing .(obviously south india don't have harsh winters like northern plains of india and they have plenty of sunshine in winters too).

I come from hilly regions of india , the winters are very severe here ,temp goes below minus too
and women here don't stay at home unlike women in northern plains(even if they are housewives) they have to go out of their house to work in fields ,bringing water from lake or river ,or taking care of cattles or farm animal  etc etc..........so women massage and bathe* their babies very early in the morning(between 5:00 to 8:00 am). so that babies cud sleep soundly, and are left under the supervision of grand parents while mothers go out for work.
*though babies are not bathed daily but they are massaged and cleaned regularly.

so in my view u must choose the best time for yourself whether morning,noon or evenings without considering what other people might consider as right time,
make sure ur baby must not be very hungry or sleepy that time, it must be her play time if possible. Best is feed ur baby half or one hour before bathing.
Bathing can be done before feeding but  after a feeding is when you want your child to sleep.Make sure that u don't have any chores to do at the same time while bathing ur baby ,and their is no one to ring the bell at that time (like milkman or maid) however it is impossible to stop everone from ringing the bell at that moment(like post man coming at the very moment) but still we can adjust some people's time so that u don't have to open door with dripping baby in your arms etc ) or leaving baby in bath tub alone( which shud not be done ever  ) even if u have a maid to come at that time make sure she comes first and then u can go to bathe ur baby while she does her work(if u trust her completely).

If u r really scared of bathing ur baby alone , best is to bathe ur baby whn ur husband comes from office and u can both help eachother.
bathing ur tiny baby seems really difficult and scary at first  but it is not impossible.and with time and practice it becomes more and more fun.

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Scared of bathing ur newborn !!!

Bath time with my baby is the best time I spend with her.She enjoys sitting in her bath tub and playing with water in it .Looking with amazement how water falls from tap or shower and trying to feel it with her tiny hands.But our fav game is splashing water and her squealing with excitement .
bath time is easy and fun for both of us now .

But 10 months back it didn't seem so easy to me.
She was a newborn and I was a first time mom.
She couldn't  hold her head and I was scared by people around me.

Bathing newborn apt to be frightening at first to the inexperienced parent_the baby seems so helpless,limp and slippery.esp after having been soaped.Then they cry loudly if held loosely.It adds up to more frightening.

My mother in law was so scared of bathing baby or even changing babies cloth that she thought its only maalishwali's task to do all this. she discouraged me too from bathing my lo( even sponge bath).
she herselves consider it's as a difficul task that can not be done by everyone

Now I look back and laugh at me and my ignorance . How such a simple bathing thing becomes so Big Deal.

A nice old lady came to our house for doing all this.Her timings were very late(around 2:30 pm)which was my baby's nap time. she was asked to do so much by my mother in law that she did everything fast and without wasting any time.Its not her fault she used to charge so less but helped inexperienced me & my scared mother in law.

All that unbearable crying
 My baby cried so much the entire time maalishwali used to massage,bathe and changes cloth.it was unbearable.It was disturbing her nap time daily.Even the maalishwali suggested me to change my babies clothand bath on my own but my mother in law didn't want me touch the baby.She was so scared of doing all this that she herself has never bathed her babies not even changed their clothes ever(strange!!!) .............

Is bathing Newborn is so scary?
NO its not at all difficult or scary.
Bathing newborn is easy and simple.
it should involve lots of plays and be fun ur lo.And yes there must not be any tears and cries.

How I started bathing my baby on my own?
When I returned to my place ,I discovered some of my own ways to bathe my baby without even buying a separate bather or special bath tub that would be a waste after 4 months,once baby start holding  her head and sitting on support.

        I am not against buying these baby products.they are a great help to some but u can do without them too.

So I just want to share my experiences and some easy,simple and economic ways of bathing newborn in my next post.

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