TheMomsCo launches baby care range, to expand offline presence

Mom and baby care consumer goods startup The Moms Co has launched its baby care range, 6 months after it raised capital from Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners even as it readies to expand its offline presence.
                                                     

As part of the toxin-free range, the Gurgaon-based firm will launch 8 products including Baby wash, shampoo, oils and creams among others.The Moms Co has partnered exclusively with Amazon India to retail the new range online and is looking to target the Rs 2,940 crore baby care and pre and post natal care market in India, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% by 2021.

The range has been launched offline as well through its 4 brand stores in premium hospitals across Delhi and NCR.

Beyond the baby care range, The Moms Co is also looking to ramp up its offline play and is looking to establish an additional 6 stores taking the cumulative offline play to 10 stores this year.

“The first leg of our expansion outside Delhi-NCR will be in Bengaluru, which today accounts for 20-30% of our sales,” said Malika Sadani, Founder and CEO of the firm. The Moms Co will continue to establish stores in women and maternity speciality hospitals across metros.

Modelled on the US-based toxin-free consumer goods firm The Honest Company, founded by actor Jessica Alba, The Moms Co aims to be the one-stop shop for natural, toxin free, certified products for new and expecting mothers and their babies.

What Happens When You Let Babies Feed Themselves?

I remember the first time my daughter discovered her hand. The look of amazement on her face was priceless. It wasn’t long before she was putting that discovery to use, trying to put everything she could find into her mouth.
                                                   

Babies want to feed themselves. It sometimes feels as if parents spend more time trying to stop them than encouraging them. Over the last few years, however, some people have begun to ask if we are doing the right thing.

Baby-led weaning is an approach to feeding that encourages infants to take control of their eating. It’s based on the premise that infants might be better self-regulators of their food consumption.

Those weaned in a baby-led approach seemed to be more responsive to being sated and were less likely to be overweight. A case-control study from 2012 also argued that baby-led weaning was associated with a lower body mass index (B.M.I). Such trials cannot establish causality, however, and may be confounded in unmeasured ways.

Both got standard midwifery and child care. But one group received eight more contacts, from pregnancy to the newborn’s ninth month. Five of these were with a lactation consultant, who encouraged the mothers to prolong breast-feeding and delay the introduction of solid foods until 6 months of age. The three other contacts were with research staffers who encouraged parents to read hunger and fullness cues from their infants and provide their babies (starting at 6 months) with foods that were high in energy and iron —  easy to grab but hard to choke on.

The researchers were thorough. They frequently tested parents’ adherence to the baby-led approach throughout the second half of the first year of life, with outcomes collected by researchers who did not know which group participants had been assigned to. Before randomization, most of the mothers were planning to spoon-feed their babies, so this was a new way of thinking.

Add scoops of formula in the feeding bottle for easier preparation when on the go

When you are travelling long distance with your toddler who still needs milk or is dependent on formula feeds (once or twice during the day), you will know that preparing formula on the go becomes a bit problematic. First, you have to pack the big bottle of formula food, boiled water in a flask, feeding bottles all of which makes you diaper bag become heavy and bulky. Toting a heavy diaper bag and taking care of a toddler while travelling isn’t easy. Instead, it makes your travel and holiday even tiresome and stressful. But no matter where you are holidaying and how much time you have to stay outdoors, you cannot ignore your child’s hunger pangs, especially if she throws a tantrum for a bottle feeding. Here’s few thing to keep in mind if you are formula feeding your baby.
                                                   

I am not in favour of formula feeding, but I have been guilty on some accounts to give my child the bottle when natural nursing was not possible, especially while outdoors. Now, I know many mothers like me who love to travel but stop from doing so as travelling can disrupt their child’s meal times. If you are on a road trip, I am sure you have already made preparations to carry some semi-solid foods for the little one. If your child is dependent on formula feed or bottle feeding which sometimes they turn to just for comfort, it might be difficult for you to prepare a feed when on the road. But here is an easy solution for the same:

To make things easier add the scoops of formula in the feeding bottle and use it when needed. When your child breaks into a tantrum or cries for a feed just add lukewarm water and shake the bottle a little to prepare a feed. This will save you time and help you prepare the feed within seconds. Read to know how many formula feeds the baby needs during the day.

However, remember to add scoops of formula in a clean, sanitized and dry bottle. If the feeding bottles have droplets of water or moisture inside avoid using it to store formula food for later use. This might make the powder go rancid within half-an-hour after coming in contact with the water droplets or moisture. Ideally, once you mix the powder with water you should use the formula within the first half-an-hour. So if there are residual water droplets in the bottle it could make your child’s food rot if kept for long.

Community donates care packages for babies

Hannah McNulty knows first hand the struggles associated with helping raise a premature baby. This holiday season, she has decided to provide parents of infants who are born prematurely with a early Christmas present.
                                           

Through the help of local sponsors, McNulty was able to donate 15 totes full of heart-felt cards, diapers, wipes, blankets, gift cards, lotion and lip balms to Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Hospital. Attached to each donated tote is a purple ribbon which symbolizes prematurity awareness.

Giving back to the community is important to McNulty because her brother, who was born six weeks early, was placed in special care. The same young man who doctors feared would not make it past birth is now healthy and will be turning 14 in January.

“My family didn’t have to spend time over the holidays in special care, but we thought it would be nice to help those who do,” she said in a news release.

Jesus and Erika Delgado, who on Dec. 21 welcomed Lorenzo Delgado into their family, were the first couple to receive one of the Christmas totes. They were more than pleased to get some extra assistance during the holiday.

“The thing that feels the greatest is the idea of someone expressing the love of humanity to their fellow human beings,” said Jesus Delgado. “It really warms your heart that there are people out there thinking of people in general and it makes everyone who hears the story want to do the same.”

St. Rita’s clinical nurse manger for labor and delivery, Lisa Shafer, said the hospital is always grateful to receive donations for the babies because they know it will have a great impact on the families.

“We understand that it can be difficult for families to not be home over the holidays, and donations like these help bring smiles to their faces and a festive air to our hospital,” she stated in a news release.

THIS AMAZING PROGRAM OFFERS PARENTS MENTAL HEALTH CHECKUPS DURING ROUTINE CHILD VISITS

It’s your baby’s well-child checkup and things are going smoothly. Your baby has been weighed, the doctor has listened to her heart and lungs, peeked in her ears and throat, and has officially given her a clean bill of health. You’re preparing to gather up your diaper bag to leave when the doctor turns to you and asks, “I see your baby isn’t sleeping very well. How are you doing with that?”
                                               

You might be taken aback for a moment, but when you stop to think about it, you might realize that you’re actually not doing very well … at all. Having a medical professional inquire about your mental health provides you with the opportunity to open up about symptoms you’ve been experiencing, so you can get the help you need.

Dr. Rachel Briggs, director of pediatric behavioral services at Montefiore Medical Center and the associate professor of pediatric psychiatry of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, tells Babble that the way the program works at their offices is simple:

Before a child’s appointment, caregivers are given a health assessment screening questionnaire that they usually fill out in the waiting room. The pediatrician will then review the screening tool, and based on certain information provided, connect the caregiver with a HealthySteps specialist (usually a social worker, nurse, or psychologist) who can provide further assistance and resources right then and there at the same appointment.

Dr. Briggs adds that there are two basic parts to the program: the first being more preliminary issues, such as sleep disturbances or sibling rivalries, and the second is for families that are more at-risk. For the second leg of the program, a HealthySteps specialist makes a special point to attend every appointment the child has and provides additional screening and assessment tools. Parents can take the American Academy of Pediatrics’ ACEs screening tool to determine their risk level.

Don’t be late for your doctor’s appointment

I am worried that I might sound a bit preachy over here, but this is one advice I would like to give other mommies for sure. It might sound lame but this is one valuable piece of wisdom I am sharing over here today. I know from experience of being a mother of two that you can never reach anywhere on time when you have kids to take care off even if it means going to the doctor’s clinic. But this is one place where you have to maintain punctuality. Because like you there are dozens of mums who will be flocking the clinic at the slightest sign of a cough or cold and have two dozen questions in their mind to which they seek an answer. So if you miss your turn you will have to wait till other paranoid mums just like you finish their turn. This means sitting at the doctor’s office with the babies a tad too long awaiting turn, which can make your otherwise well-fed and quite baby go cranky. Remember, babies don’t like to wait this can make them irritable and throw temper tantrums that can be difficult to handle. So if you want your paediatrician’s visit to be fuss-free be there on time. Here are 19 baby care tips for new mums.
                                               

Here are few things you should do to make your paediatrician’s appointment fuss-free:

1.Call and ask for a time that is convenient for your baby. Unless it is an emergency, don’t delay to call and fix an appointment. If you call first chances are you can book a favourable slot for your baby (given the doctor is free at that time) and avoid being at the clinic during your baby’s sleep or feeding time.

2.If you don’t get a slot according to your convenience, plan accordingly to be there on time. Try and finish feeding, cleaning or bathing your baby before the schedule. If it is a vaccination schedule this is a must. You won’t be able to breastfeed your baby for at least half-an-hour after vaccination. Here are eight ways to ease post-vaccination pains.

3.Always pack a snack and carry your kid’s favourite toy with you. A paediatrician’s clinic will have lots of toys to keep babies entertained but only her favourite toy can help calm a tantrum outburst.

4.Before you leave the house call up at your paediatrician’s clinic to check if the doctor has arrived and how much time will it take for your turn and plan accordingly. It makes no sense go and wait for an hour before.

5.Being on time will also help you to avoid the rush at the clinic. Too many people around can make your baby cranky.

6.A day prior to your appointment pack the bag that has all the essentials like the paediatrician’s files, reports, extra diapers, baby wipes, a towel, sanitizer, etc. Just before leaving add the water bottle and snack into the bag. Here are 10 diaper bag essentials you ought to pack.

Sometimes even with all preparations, you might find it difficult to manage your baby at the clinic, especially if your baby is sick. Those days take a deep breath and calm down. Remember, this too shall pass.

Staff to overrule parent wishes in baby sleep safety crackdown

PARENTAL wishes about their baby's sleep routines at childcare will be overruled by staff, under a new national child safety crackdown.
                                             

In a bid to reduce cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, staff will ignore the wishes of parents who want their babies to sleep on their front or side, unless a valid medical reason is provided.

The most recent figures show 28 Queensland child deaths in 2015 were a result of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI), which includes SIDS.

That same year, 33 babies in NSW also died as a result of SUDI.

From 1989 to 2015, 4921 babies have died as a result of SUDI, although that rate has fallen by 80%.

The charity Red Nose, which aims to raise awareness of safe sleeping practices in order to prevent SIDS, came up with the guidelines.

They will be enforced from October 1 by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority.

Parents who want staff to swaddle or wrap the arms of babies over three months old, or to wrap babies who are old enough to roll, will also be overruled unless they have a doctor's endorsement.

Always place baby on the back to sleep and not on the tummy or side. There is an increased risk of sudden unexpected death for babies when they sleep on their tummies and there is a danger of rolling to this position if they are slept on their sides.
It is important that babies are always placed on the back to sleep. Babies who are usually slept on the back and are placed on the tummy or side for the first time are at an increased risk of sudden unexpected death.
Once a baby has been observed to repeatedly roll from back to front and back again on their own for several weeks, they can be left to find their preferred sleep position (this is usually around 5-6 months).
At the critical time of starting to roll it is very important that the sleep environment remains safe
Babies that can roll should no longer be wrapped
Babies born preterm should be slept on the back as soon as they are medically stable (out of oxygen).