It is a pity to see the so-called educated, intelligent and certainly rich and affluent would-be mothers and grandmothers fall into the trap of marketing strategies and do the shopping of branded feeding bottles and nipples abroad. Do they not realise the value of what God has given them the breasts with milk. This is, indeed, the best gift of God, and no matter how anti-colic, fancy, expensive bottles they buy, the artificial milk, the feeding bottle and the technique employed can be disastrous for the baby.
They are no match to the mothers' milk, which has innumerable health and emotional benefits for the mother and child both. Dreaded diseases like diarrhoea , pneumonia and ear infections are more in bottle-fed babies. The breast milk protects the baby from measles, chicken pox, asthma, allergies and also heart attacks in adult life.
The colics are normal in the newborn; they can be dealt with without medicines by intelligent mothers and doctors.
Why buy a fancy and branded oil when the baby does not need it at all. Babies have good circulation and well-functioning oil glands. The oil application in the newborns will delay the disappearance of jaundice, which is present in almost all the newborns. The long and dirty nails of the massaging person will give trauma and dirt to the delicate skin unnecessarily.
The clothes need to be washed, soft, suitable for weather, loose, front open , without hooks and pins as the allergies, injuries and accidents are common due to unscientific clothes.
Diaper rashes are common even with branded ones and are difficult to treat.
The toys ought to suit the developmental age and be safe. Fur toys cause allergies even though branded.
The traditional wisdom of grannies of keeping talking to the newborn is the most scientific way for brain development of the babies. The brain develops more than two-thirds in the first year of life and needs a lot of sensory input of eye contact, talking, touching, cuddling, clinging to the breast of the mother, etc.
Therefore, the best for the baby is the mother's milk and love, which God has given to the poorest of poor in abundance.
The writer is a Chandigarh-based consultant paediatrician.
