How To Cut Baby Nails

This is something that gave me night-mares. I would always dream of accidentally cutting my baby's cuticles while clipping her nails. It used to take more than an hour to clip her nails with my shivering hands and I would not have even clipped them closely and it was of no use. Now my mom calls me an expert in clipping baby's nails. Thanks to my co-sister who gave me confidence and encouraged me. I would like to share a few thoughts on this that I learnt from her.

• Clip a baby's nail only when she is asleep
• Nail clippers/cutters are the best option for babies when compared to scissors
• Bring the tip of the clipper to the end of the baby's nail and carefully clip it from one end to the other. The position should be as shown in the picture.
• Baby's nails are soft after a bath. So try to clip her nails after giving her a bath
• Do not try to bite and clip her nails, instead use a nail clipper
• Do not try to tear it off from one end as it might hurt the soft cuticles of the baby
• Remember to put the clipped nails in a paper and throw it into a dust-bin

If your baby never sleeps on your lap and she wakes up if you try to take her from her crib/cradle to clip her nails when she is asleep, then you have no other go but to clip her nails when she is awake. When you do this, have some one to divert her and do not allow her to see you clipping her nails. It takes longer time to clip when she is awake, but it does not matter. Take your own time. Safety is more important than time-saving.

How Much To Feed A Baby

I had this question in mind when my daughter was born. She kept crying all the time and I was not sure if she was hungry. I wanted to know how frequently to feed her in order to keep her calm and hunger-free. Most of the web sites said feeding an infant once every two hours is more than enough. But out of my experience and my pediatricians advice I strongly feel that, feeding-on-demand really makes sense. During the first month of birth, an infant always likes to suck and it gives her a lot of comfort, reassurance and a secure feeling. So when ever she cries it is a mother's duty to nurse her. It creates a strong bonding between mom and child and the baby starts realizing that her mom is there to take care of her needs. As she grows up, she would stop crying very often and she would know how much to drink in a day. So even if you compel her to have more, she would not.

This might not be suitable for babies who are formula-fed. Frequently bottle feeding your baby might result in obesity.

If you are a working mom and would like to give your baby pumped milk then here is a very useful website that calculates the amount of milk your baby needs for each feeding approximately.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html