First time parents? Then expect to be bombarded by a barrage of advice related to your baby’s healthcare. While most of these advices would prove to be useful for your infant, there are some tips that are actually nothing more than mere myths that have no truth behind them. Accordingly, here are 9 baby healthcare tips you need to debunk and stop following immediately.
Myth 1: Don’t Hold the Baby too much. You will spoil him/her
Why else would a baby cry for you unless he/she needs comfort or is hungry, tired or in pain. So stop thinking your will raise a needy child if you tend to hold him/her too much.
Myth 2: Use alcohol to heal the umbilical cord stump
Some say that swabbing the umbilical cord with alcohol will help the area heal faster. However, it has the opposite effect on the wound and slow down process instead. So keep the stump dry and clean until it falls off on its own.
Myth 3: Freezing Teeth Rings will offer more relief
Teething rings offer respite from the discomfort and pain experienced by toddlers while teething. Some say that freezing the rings will offer extended relief. However, extreme cold can actually harm your baby’s teeth. So stay away from this one.
Myth 4: Keep your baby awake longer in the day in order to make him/her sleep better and longer at night
Many parents advice that letting your baby remain awake in the morning would make him/her sleep better at night. This is definitely not true as a baby’s sleep patterns would remain irregular for the most part until the first 6 months after birth. Forcing your baby to remain awake during the day would only lead to sleep deprivation and restlessness, thus making it hard for him/her to sleep in the night as well.
Myth 5: Bottle Feeding is unhealthy for your baby
While breast feeding is recommended for the first 6 months after birth, you can choose to bottle feed your baby occasionally. This way, you can ensure that your baby receives the required nutrition from pasteurized milk in case the nutrition from your milk is not enough.
Myth 6: Do not bathe your baby if he/she has cold or fever
There is no truth to this myth as well. You can choose to give your baby a light bath when he/she has cold. Ensure to not keep him/her exposed to the cold for too long though. A bath may sometimes be what your baby needs to feel fresh and better.
Myth 7: You can give your baby small doses of adult medicines
This is an extremely dangerous piece of advice. Adult medications can be harmful for babies even in small dosages. Babies are prone to suffer from several side effects like respiratory depression, elevated heart rate, diarrhea, stomach upset and agitation, etc. if they are administered adult medications.
Myth 8: Walkers can help your baby walk earlier
In contrast to this advice, walkers can slow down your baby’s ability to learn to walk on his/her own. Walkers also tend to be too fast for babies and can cause accidents as well. So choose to ignore them.
Myth 9: Treat your baby’s ear infection using breast milk
It is a common advice to apply a few drops of breast milk into a baby’s ear if the latter happens to suffer from an ear infection. Although this is a very well-known home remedy for ear infection, it should not be followed regularly. Breast milk has some antibodies that can help treat an infection. However, the sugars present in it can also trigger another bacterial infection.
As a new parent, you are bound to get your share of baby advice, most of which would be baseless myth. Make sure you find out if a particular advice is a myth or fact before following it.