SOME CHILD REARING MYTHS


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This Update shall touch upon some myths and misconceptions that lie in our
practice of bringing up our child.

You may not make out any specific pattern in the issues addressed.The reason
is that I have punched in the matter as it has come to my mind.In a day of
our Clinic practice there is a delectable variety of parental concerns,
parental misconceptions and confusions in the minds of the care givers of
the child.

I have drawn from this amazing variety and hence shall be brief to each
point.

One interesting ( allow me the liberty ) feature that I have observed over
the years is that those families where there is the parents AND the
grandparents - the following WILL happen ( and this happens in the best of
educated families too) :

The child WILL not eat : there will be so much pressure from so
many people that he shall get rebellious.Please leave him to himself and
give him some space !

THE MOTHER HAS NO IDEA ABOUT HOW TO RAISE THE CHILD :
There will be frequent comparisons between the times then and the times
now.You shall have to strike a balance yourself.Nobody can come to your
rescue !

WHY DOES THE MOTHER RUSH THE CHILD TO THE PEDIATRICIAN
SO OFTEN ?: Here there is a significant experience of the grandmother and it
shall help you to listen to her.Allow some home made remedies, have some
patience - most minor disorders in infants and children do get okay on their
own or with small home made recipes.

MILK WILL BE A VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE - THE MORE THE BETTER : I am
addressing this issue as the first one below.




MORE MILK - BETTER :

The general notion is that the more milk the child takes, the better.Milk is
a natural source of Calcium and is thus important.However it contains almost
no Vitamin D - the vitamin needed for assimilation of Calcium.Too much milk
shall eat into the tummy space of the poor child - lead to smaller solid
feeds and be counter-productive.

As a general rule of thumb , after the age of say 5-6 months, something like
600- 700 ml of milk a day is enough.


DELAY THE WEANING PROCESS - LIVER GETS AFFECTED OTHERWISE :

Weaning ( introduction of semi solids in the earlier exclusive milk based
intake) is ideally begun around 4 months of age.There is absolutely no
scientific rationale behind the fear that early weaning ill affects the
Liver.


LATER THE TEETHING THE BETTER - IT SHOULD START AFTER STARTS WALKING:

Teething should ideally begin around 6-7 months of age.The belief that
delayed teething ( especially that it best begins after the child starts
walking ) again has no scientific basis.Walking usually shall start sometime
around 1 year of age.That is too too late for teething.It may actually be an
indicator of Vitamin D deficiency and you may need to get to your
Pediatrician regarding this.


POTTY BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL :

Theoretically a very good thing - an ideal goal to achieve.But it shall
simply frustrate you and him. Please do not insist on it beyond a certain
limit.

What with the early morning rush of getting up from bed fast, getting ready
fast, gobbling the breakfast fast.....being able to pass his early morning
stool is difficult indeed.It is perfectly okay if he does no soon after
getting back from school, or else he may, on his own fit into a fairly
consistent time pattern - support him please.


TEETHING TROUBLE:

Let me admit, we Pediatricians do not actually know what exactly
teething trouble is !

We often take shelter under this nebulous entity when we ourselves do not
know what is going wrong.

All that we know ( and this is not any different from what you also have
experienced) is that some vague diarrheas/tummy upsets/colds etc happen
around 6-8 months.Why they happen,are they really and scientifically related
to teething,what we can do about these symptoms - SORRY !


MULTIVITAMINS ARE GOOD :

There are very select scientific situations when a specific vitamin is
needed.They are identifiable by your Pediatrician and he would prescribe
that specific vitamin.

The market is flooded with lovely multivitamin preparations - they have no
scientific role and you may best avoid them.


REFILLING PAST PRESCRIPTIONS :

It is common for parents to get a repeat round of drugs from a Chemist for
similar appearing symptoms. Agreed it saves you the time of having to go to
your Pediatrician,agreed it may work well enough this time too , agreed it
saves you some money too !

However, in principle it is not a very safe thing to be doing.What may
appear to you to be a 'similar' illness may be something else in the
Pediatrician's view.There are horror stories hidden in every Pediatrician's
closet of how an erroneous perception of 'similar illness' got complicated
limitlessly.

In case you still wish to refill your prescription , please do pick up the
phone and ratify with your Pediatrician.


ANTS ON URINE - DIABETES ?

It is common for ants to get attracted to a child's urine ( that may have
got spilled on the floor).

Do not panic - do not think Diabetes staright.Report to your Pediatrician -
he shall order a simple urine test for sugar ( for your satisfaction ).



EXPECTING A MEDICATION FOR EVERY AILMENT :

Please do not fall in this trap.Every ailment does not need medication -
there is no medicine for every ailment - medicines are medicines , they can
cause ailments too !

Trust nature and use some patience - your Pediatrician is always available
when these two fail.



EMOLIENT CREAMS ( SKIN SOFTENER) - COCONUT OIL BEST :

Keeping the skin soft , especially in winters is quite a problem.There are
several creams with tall claims- try them out.

Please also try good old coconut oil.

The only trick is that you should apply the coconut oil on a moist
skin.After his bath dab your child with a towel and apply coconut oil just
before the skin is totally dry.It works well.



TONGUE TIE - INTERFERING WITH SPEECH :

A rather common notion.
It has no scientific basis.
Family pressure may force you to visit your Pediatrician and he shall
rightly advise you NOT to get it removed.Please listen to him and do not
insist on a surgery he does not want to advise.



YOUR DOCTOR CAN ALWAYS HELP YOU ON PHONE :

As a very basic issue , it is never in your interest to solicit medication
on telephone.There is no substitute to a Doctor first examining the child
and then deciding, first ,whether to medicate at all , second - if to
medicate , what to offer.There might be a symptom you may miss out on
telling on the phone - this symptom may be really critical.

Yes, clarifications are usually made well on the phone - things like poorly
understood dosage,minor modifications in dosage, alternatives for
non-availability and so on.

Please also understand that it does embarrass your Pediatrician when he
insists on your visiting him before he prescribes.Kindly understand his
position.He is watching your interest.



INHALER THERAPY IN ASTHMA - STRONG MEDICINE AND THE LAST RESORT :

The diagnosis of Asthma comes as a bolt from the blue.Your Pediatrician
understands your concerns and shall usually try and explain the whole issue
well and relieve your anxiety as best as he can.

He may offer you inhaler therapy in preference to conventional oral
medication.Do not get alarmed.

There is established data and global consensus that inhaler therapy is the
best for Asthma.

Please make good use of it.

It is understandable that you shall feel this is the last resort,there is
nothing beyond this,the child shall get ' hooked to it for a lifetime' ,
inhalers are known to be used in adults only and so on.

The actuality is just the reverse.It is the lightest medication that can be
used.You may follow that oral medication has to get circulated throughout
the body for a fraction of it to reach the lungs ( the target organ ).

What if someone offers a medicine that bypasses the whole body and reaches
the lungs directly. What if only a small percentage of medicine thus has to
be delivered.What if the side effects on other organs of the body are
bypassed.

This is your friend - Inhaler.Please take it happily if your Pediatrician
suggests so.



HOMEOPATHIC / AYURVEDIC LIGHTER THAN ALLOPATHIC :

Diagnosis is perhaps made best by the Allopathic system of medicine due to
its refined diagnostic modalities.

Please get your diagnosis done properly - follow any system that suits you.
The idea is to get relief and satisfaction - the system that delivers it is
the best for you.