Up to the ‘Mark’ – Child Growth are you concerned?

I am a mother having a mere 1.5 year of experience into motherhood. My life has surely turned upside down but only for good. The life with my little one is dreamlike and fascinating. From giving him a bath, changing his diapers multiple times, playing with him after he comes home from day care and helping him eat food, I am in love with everything!

Yes, my kid is a busy man; hyperactive, observant, one filled with curiosity and then interested in doing everything that he sees people around him doing. I am sure he is fast assimilating everything that goes around him for his upcoming life. This gives me immense pleasure seeing him thriving so beautifully in this big world.

But I guess all mothers are not that lucky as myself. Yesterday I went to a small event ‘Kaleidoscope 2016’ in Riaan, my son’s daycare. There were several kids right from age 1 to 7 years. The bigger kids had painting competition while kids of my son’s age had a tiny-miny baby show. Most kids looked healthy but there were few of them who looked underweight and few those who hadn’t gained proper height.

The same is the case when I talk to my friends who also have become mothers. Though my kid has never troubled me with his eating habits but most of my friends do sound worried when talking about their children not eating properly or the child becoming very choosy in eating.

Eating is crucial for the proper growth and development of a child, especially in the first five years. It is important for reaching the milestones timely during the infancy stage and post that for right physical and mental growth.

In these five years, a child’s brain develops fastest as compared to any other time in life. So a child absorbs within himself all those experiences that he sees, things he hears and the behavioral traits of the people spending the most time with him (especially his parents) . All of these aspects are very crucial for leading a good life and are largely inter-connected as they directly influence the child’s social, emotional, & thinking capacities in short his overall development and his future life.

How to know if the child is lacking proper growth?

The easiest way to check if the child is losing out on growth is if the activity level of the child becomes less or the child becomes feeble and dull.

What to do?

As responsible parents, first thing is to keep a track of the height and weight of your kid. If there is a dip in weight especially after 1 year or it has become stagnant or slow, then consult your doctor for any medical condition bothering his proper development. But if your kid is just a fussy eater then one of the solutions to send the right nutrition to him is via milk. There are several fortified supplements with added nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and protein available in market these days giving the extra nutrition to the child and helping him catch up on the lost growth. One can give them in milk or if the child loathes milk too, then some of them can be given in water as well.

A piece of advice here is to keep a check on the proper sterilization and cleaning of child’ bottle, cup and any other cookware you are using just to risk-proof him from any potential infection. After all a happy child is a happy you!

This post has been written in association with Horlicks Growth Plus in the best interest of children. #CatchUpOnGrowth

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