section 4
Baby’s bath, rest and nutrition
6-9 months
meeting
22
Let’s review:
Once the meeting starts, welcome everyone and ask the participants: • Who can help us remember what we talked about in our last meeting? • Who was able to do the activity at home that we asked you to do at the end of the meeting? How did it go? • Does anyone have questions or concerns after doing the activity?
What are we going to learn? We will continue learning about the hygiene and rest that a baby needs at this age and the foods they can start to eat.
Lets talk about it! We are going to look at some pictures so we can talk about what we know about the topic. How do you bathe a 6-9 month-old? Tell us about it.
What do you do to help a baby start eating solid foods?
Why do you think babies like to be wrapped up?
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Activity:
“A safe place” We are going to make a list of what we should check around the house to make sure our baby can bathe, play and sleep in a safe place.
What we’ll need: • Big sheets of paper • Markers
WHAT WE’LL DO: • Remind participants that at the age of 6-9 months, babies will start to move around on their own. Most babies learn how to crawl during these months, they can roll over while they sleep and they can find things and pick them up… in other words, we have to work harder to keep them safe! • Ask the participants if they know of any babies who have had accidents at this age and give them time to share their stories. • Next divide the participants into 3 smaller groups and give each group a big sheet of paper. • Ask each group to draw pictures of the dangers their house might hold for their children: • The first group will draw the dangers to a baby during his or her bath. • The second group will draw the dangers to a baby who is crawling around the house. • The third group will draw the dangers to a baby who is sleeping. • Then ask each group to make a list of how to protect a baby from the dangers they identify. • To finish the activity, ask each group to share their drawings and suggestions with the rest of the group. Other Suggestions: In addition to keeping their baby safe, a lot of parents have trouble getting their babies to sleep during their nap or at night. You could ask some of the more experienced parents to give a few suggestions on how to get babies to sleep when they’re supposed to.
Summing Up:
What did we learn today? Now, we’ll review what we discussed today. • How do you feel after this meeting? Why? • What are the two most important things you’ve learned today? • What will you do differently based on what you learned during the meeting? • What did you like the most? Are there things you didn’t like? • Do you have any remaining concerns or questions about what we talked about? To finish, what would you recommend to improve today’s meeting when we do it again with another group. (Explain that answering this question will help the meeting be even better in the future for parents with small children.)
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To do at home:
The parents should discuss what changes they should make in their house to make sure it is safe for a baby to crawl around and play in.
Basic information for the facilitator: Learning more about the baby’s bath, rest and nutrition: 1- Hygiene:
• In this stage, infants learn to sit, stand and crawl and use their hands with much more confidence. Also their teeth begin to come in. Washing infants’ hands frequently and bathing them daily will help prevent children from getting sick with diarrhea, influenza, worms, skin and eye infections as we learned in previous meetings. • Mothers and caretakers need to practice proper hand washing: rubbing both hands with soap and rinsing with running water during critical times: after using the toilet, after cleaning the baby’s bottom/disposing feces, before handling food (preparing and eating) and before touching (handling) the baby. • To prevent flies from introducing germs to the house: cover food, keep the house clean, dispose the garbage and if feasible, avoid having sewage water running freely. • Around the age of six months, the protection from diseases given through breast milk begins to disappear and the infant needs to build his/her own defenses; hence introducing ‘starter’ foods to complement breast milk at this age is very important. • Keep the baby away from crowded places and sick people, if possible. This can prevent him from getting sick at such an early age.
2- Rest:
• Allow the infant to sleep as frequently and as much as he/she wishes. • For an infant, the amount of sleep in any given 24-hour period tends to change only slightly between 6 and 12 months, varying by only half an hour by the first birthday (14 1/2 hours on average at 6 months, 13 1/2 hours at a year). • If an infant has learned to sleep continuously through the night, the most common pattern of sleep at this age runs for 10 to 11 hour stretch at night, and two daytime naps that gradually decrease in length. Occasionally, some infants will also take a short third nap in the evening. • Some infants are not be able to sleep continuously and even those who sleep soundly will sometimes start waking up again as they become increasingly aware of their surroundings and want to test what happens when they call out at night.
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3- Nutrition:
• This is a critical period when infants could start becoming malnourished if not properly fed. From the age of 6 to 8 months a baby should begin to be fed two to three times per day. Give the baby small amounts of food that steadily increase in variety and amount. Infants should continue to breastfeed as well. Infants are ready for solid food when you see these signs: • They are able to keep the head in steady, upright position. • They are able to sit in an upright position. • Upon introduction of solid food, the baby is able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As he learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling. Note that the baby’s mouth and tongue develop in harmony with his/her digestive system. • The baby is still hungry after 8-10 episodes of breast feeding. A good rule of thumb is to start with cereals or diluted rice or maize porridge –“go” foods which are less allergenic than “grow” foods. First, nurse your baby. Then give him one or two teaspoons of the porridge or dry cereal mixed with breast milk to make a semi-liquid. Use a rubber-tipped spoon when you feed your baby, to avoid injuring his gums. Start with just a small amount of cereal or porridge on the tip of the spoon. • Begin with a once-a-day feeding, whenever it’s convenient for you and your baby, but not at a time when your baby seems tired or cranky. Your baby may not eat much in the beginning, but give him time to get used to the experience. Some babies need practice in keeping food in their mouths and swallowing. Once he gets used to his new diet, he’ll be ready for a few tablespoons of cereal a day. As the amount he eats increases, gradually thicken the consistency of the cereal and add another feeding. • Introduce other solids such as “grow” food - boiled egg starting with the yolk (not the egg white) gradually, and “glow” food - mashed green leafy vegetables one at a time, waiting at least three days after each new food. This way you’ll know if your baby has an allergic reaction to one of them and you can avoid that food in the future. If there is a family history of allergies, or your baby develops an allergic reaction during this process, start waiting up to a week in-between introducing new foods. Signs of an allergy may include diarrhea, a bloated tummy, increased gas, or a rash. • Babies should continue breast-feeding until they are at least two years old. • Patience while feeding the baby is very important to ensure that your baby gets the nutrients he needs to grow well. • The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends Vitamin A supplements for babies.
Facilitator’s Manual