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Categories Other nutrition blog

Parents’ First Month With a Newborn

Parents’ first month with a newborn

“With every newborn baby, a little sunrise rises!”

God’s blessing has arrived in the house and you’re contemplating every little thing to provide for your little one. Hold your newborn’s fingers and step on this beautiful journey.

Caring for your baby

Your baby may be the only one born lately, but their addition to the home is a big change for everyone. Juggling your new role as a parent with all of your adult responsibilities in the first few weeks can be daunting and hard for even experienced parents.

What to expect

The first week is still a period of recovery and adjustment. Not only because of the likely tiredness from regular night feeding but also because one small infant can eat up the hours in a day! Prioritize any necessary domestic tasks and avoid trying to cram too many into a single day.

Feeding and mealtime routines for newborn babies

You can expect your baby to feed every 2-3 hours, around the clock, during the first few days and weeks of his or her life. If your baby is cluster feeding, it may be more frequent. Some new parents are concerned about cluster feeding because they believe it means their baby isn’t getting enough nourishment, but it is normal newborn behaviour and can help you stabilise your milk supply if you are nursing. Newborns should not go more than 4-5 hours without feeding because it can affect their weight gain and development.

Feeding may appear unstable in the beginning, but rest assured this is natural. Over the next few weeks, you’ll want to help your baby create a routine that ensures they’re fed every three hours during the day for the first few months.

Baby’s bedtime routines

For the first month, newborns sleep a lot and nap a lot, spending up to 20 hours a day asleep and no more than 60-90 minutes awake at a time. As long as your baby is placed on their back and a firm surface, there are many places where your baby can sleep safely, such as a crib, bassinet, or Moses basket.

After feeding your newborn baby and checking for anything which may be causing a disturbance, allow a little time to connect with your baby. They will also get solace from nearness and voice.

Settling the baby in a crib

When starting to settle your baby into the crib, it’s significant to remember that they have no context of what a crib is and that they are expected to sleep in it. Therefore, it’s vital to create a routine when leaving your baby to sleep.

White noise to soothe the baby 

Low-pitched sounds, such as rain or a steady mechanical thrum are ideal for use. White noise is most beneficial when used for both day and night sleeping and is kept on for the duration of the sleep. If your newborn wakes up restless, try to re-settle him or her in the crib or, if that goes wrong, repeat the holding and rocking method

Diapers for the little one

You can expect 1 or 2 wet diapers on your baby’s first day of life. This will increase gradually each day until day five. You can expect your baby to have 6 (or more) wet diapers per day after that. You should keep track of how many wet diapers your baby has because this is a good indicator of whether or not they are getting enough milk or formula.

Caring for yourself

It’s also a nice time to be gentle with yourself. It is crucial to recognise and respect the emotions that come with becoming a parent, so avoid attempting to follow ‘pre-baby’ routines. It makes no difference if you spend the entire day in your pyjamas; what counts is that you eat regularly and relax when you can.

Nourishment for the new mother 

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, leafy greens, protein-rich foods, and omega-3-rich foods like nuts and seeds. Continue to take your prenatal vitamins or try an omega 3 fatty acid supplement, which has been shown to improve the brain development of nursing babies as well as your memory.

The emotional rollercoaster

Parenting can evoke beautiful but sometimes upsetting feelings and memories. There is no better time to seek help if you are having difficulty managing any anxiety, lack of confidence, persistent sadness, or feelings of depression.

Experts to the rescue!

Like many other new parents, you may benefit from the assistance of a lactation consultant, physical therapist, pelvic floor therapist, nutritionist, sleep consultant, or other professionals.

Takeaway

Postpartum care should be a continuous process rather than a one-time event, with services and support tailored to each person’s specific needs. If you are looking for solutions, consult Kanupriya Khanna. She is regarded as one of the best dietitians in Delhi because of her unwavering commitment to making a difference in people’s lives by instilling good eating habits and lifestyles.

Transform your Grandma's dishes into modern foods
Categories Other nutrition blog

Transform your Grandma’s dishes into modern foods

Transform your Grandma’s dishes into modern foods

Everyone remembers their grandma’s delicious recipes served to them during their childhood days. They were so nutritious and wholesome. They have shown us how to take pleasure in a variety of healthy foods. And so today we will talk about recipes made in aromatic kitchens filled with nostalgia.

In the present day, the taste buds of the kids and adults alike have changed. Children love burgers, pasta, and pizzas a lot therefore, it is essential for parents to add interesting dishes to their children’s diet. The good news is that you can transform some of your grandma’s dishes for your kids. They would simply love them.

CHEELA INTO PANCAKES

We loved our grandma’s cheelas. They were made of wheat flour, jaggery and were grilled to perfection with dollops of ghee. You can remake this recipe by adding chopped almonds, cashew nuts, and pistachios along with some beet root juice. This will help the pancakes retain the taste and flavour and at the same time look colourful. The kids love to try this different style.

CHICKPEAS CURRY TO SALAD

Chickpeas curry was a popular dish in most Indian households. We loved this lip-smacking curry prepared by our grandmas. We can modify it by boiling chickpeas and adding grated cucumber, carrots, finely chopped onions, tomatoes, and coriander leaves and all of this makes the food look colourful and refreshing. You can add shredded cheese to the new recipe too.

POTATO SUBZI INTO CHIPS

This recipe is one of my favourite recipes from my Grandma’s kitchen. I remember my grandma’s potato vegetable cooked to perfection. We can bring alterations to this recipe by half boiling the potatoes, cutting them into wedges then coating them with oregano, mixed herbs, olive oil, salt and red chilli flakes. Bake them at 180• C for 30-40 mins till they’re golden brown. Serve hot.

PALAK PANEER TO SPINACH PANCAKE

Palak paneer was cooked frequently by our grandmas for lunch. It was a simple dish cooked with onions, tomatoes, and paneer. We would fuss over it, and our grandmas used to coax us to eat it. The protein-packed leafy vegetable can be remade easily to suit the modern palate. Chop the leafy vegetable and blend it with pre soaked moong dal, water, and some spices like red chilli flakes, cumin powder, salt and ginger. The batter can be spread into a pancake and cooked on both sides till it turns crisp. Add some cheese or butter over it and serve this delicious snack.

MIX VEGETABLES INTO SANDWICH

Mixed vegetables were usually prepared by our grandmas during festive occasions. The traditional recipe consisted of vegetables like french beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower, pumpkin,etc.

Use some of the boiled vegetables like French beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower, and mash them. Add some mixed herbs, pepper powder, cheese, salt and red chilli flakes to it. Fill them in sandwich bread and grill till it turns golden brown. The tasty, yummy sandwich is now ready to be served.

GOBHI INTO CAULIFLOWER NUGGETS

Cauliflower curry or a dry cauliflower vegetable is a healthy vegetable and grandma loved to cook it for us. It continues to be a well-liked vegetable even today.

This vegetable can be made in a different way that would suit today’s modern tastes. Parboiled cauliflower can be brushed generously with butter, panko crumbs, salt, oregano, red chilli flakes, and mixed herbs. Then bake them at 180• C  till they are crisp. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Bottom Line

These recipes will take you to your childhood days and connect with your old self as well as your kids. Apart from that, these lip-smacking recipes are nutritious too. To know more about the related health benefits, consult Kanupriya Khanna. She is regarded as one of the best dietitians in Delhi because of her unwavering commitment to making a difference in people’s lives by instilling good eating habits and lifestyles.

4 Ways to Help Your Child Form a Healthy Relationship With Sweets 
Categories Children Diet

4 Ways to Help Your Child Form a Healthy Relationship With Sweets 

4 ways to help your child form a healthy relationship with sweets 

There is a lot of fear associated with certain foods, which are often the sweeter foods: ice cream, cookies, and candy. Many parents believe that these foods are harmful to their children. We think it’s perfectly alright for kids to crave sweets. So, what should a parent do? Give our child candy all day? Or do you never serve them? Not-at-all. There is, in fact, a very happy medium. Let’s go over four strategies for helping your child develop a healthy relationship with sweets.

Where to start?

Let us return to the division of labour. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, parents are in charge of what, when, and where children eat, while children are in charge of how much and whether they eat. That means we get to decide when and how much we serve these foods, and our children get to decide how much they eat.

Kids notice when we completely restrict sweets, shame them, or create a negative atmosphere around them. They may desire these foods even more.

Here are my four best tips for removing sweets from their pedestal, i.e., treating them like any other food and teaching your children to do the same.

  1. No Limitations!
    When I mention this, I am sometimes met with a look of surprise. “Do you mean I just let my daughter eat all the cookies? But she’s not going to stop there.” But I want you to take a good, hard look at this; is she truly never going to stop, or is that just your preconceived notion? What you discover may surprise you: when we allow children to eat as much as they want of a particular food, it ceases to be special. It assists them in learning self-regulation.
  1. Avoid referring to these foods as good or bad.
    Stop transforming sweets into something they are not: something that makes us feel ashamed or judged when we consume them. When we label foods as good or bad, we begin to assign judgement to those foods. Does eating a cookie make us a bad person? No, but this message of good and bad can be internalised by a small child. Food is food, and we must remember this if we are to instill in our children a healthy relationship with food. Simply call the foods what they are: “We’re having cookies.” “Ice cream is on the menu today.”
  1. Do not use them as a substitute for other foods.
    I dislike using sweets as a reward for eating other foods, or for anything else. I want you to consider the message you are sending when you offer food as a reward: “I have to eat my broccoli to get my candy (yum).” We’re making the sweet seem special once more.
  1. They can sometimes be served with a meal.
    Here’s another opportunity I get a lot of strange looks and stares. However, to put sweets on a level playing field, serve them with a meal. Consider this: when a child knows they will be having a cookie (ice cream, etc.) as dessert at the end of the meal, what are they thinking about throughout the meal?

Getting that cookie. But if we give them the cookie with the rest of the meal, they won’t be talking about it and asking for it the entire time. You don’t have to give them all of the cookies they want, but you do have to decide how many.

Takeaway

If children do not understand when more opportunities for candy or sweets will arise, this can heighten their anxiety, making them MORE likely to continue asking and obsessing over it.

Instead, focus on strategically using language to reassure them that more opportunities to eat candy are on the way. To understand your kid’s needs better consult an expert.

Kanupriya Khanna is regarded as one of the best dietitians in Delhi because of her unwavering commitment to making a difference in people’s lives by instilling good eating habits and lifestyles.

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