Some gems picked up from questions put to our panel

Dear Meenal,

I have a 9 month old baby boy.As of now I am following the three meal pattern with a cereal in the morning, rice dhal & veg in the noon, fruits & juice in the evening & ragi porridge for the night. As of now the cereals I use are rice, wheat, ragi & lapsi. I would like to take u'r advice on any other changes & if u could clarify the following for me. 

1. Can oates be given?
2. Whether the instant cornflakes needs to be cooked?
3. Apart from carrots, beans,potato,tomato & spinach what are the other veg that can be given.

Thanking you,
Sreejayanthi.

U are doing fine. The corn flake are not to be cooked. They are ready to eat. U keep giving all the veg mentioned. If you consume nn veg then eggs and chicken can be given. Oates can be given but give them as another meal and expecting some big benefit. Click here to read more about diet of 9 mth and click here to read more about the diet of 1 year old.

Regards
Meenal

With regards,
SreeJayanthi.

I am 5'3" and wt is 43 kgs. I desperately want to put on a few kilos and hence have started taking a protein supplement called 'resource'. Is it ok it i take it once daily. will it help me to put on. pls reply urgently.

Meenal

All the protein supplement require you to have a good high protein diet and a plan of exercise. If you do that in addition to taking resource, ys it would help 

My Child is 5 months old and last few days she has got cold, cough & passing greenish brown thin stool around 4 times a day . The stool looks frothy type. Is this passing of green stool normal or do you advise something on this?

Green stools only mean intestinal hurry. Maybe you have given some medicines or it could be a part of viral fever that is giving her the cold. Ensure that she is taking in more liquid that she is passing out.

Regards 
Dr Chittal 

Based on reply recd from you am forwarding more details 

Background:

Following Medicines have been given

First 2 days

For Cold : Actifed Plus
For Cough : Viscodyne
For Stomach Disorder : Gremonag

After two days since symtoms viz stools being green continued we were advised to give following in addition to above

1. Stoomach Disorder - Dyrade-M
2. Chloromycetin
3. Also Econerm powder was given

After giving this medicine we have noticed that her face turns red on all three occasions after medicine was given - our guess is face itches/allergy to new medicine. This is after 1 to 1-1/2 hrs of giving the medicine. This red color has been after the additional medicines given to her. We have stopped all medicine except for cold & cough.

Her stool passing are stil around 3 to 4 times and still greenish.

Also I have developed fistula problem after child birth and am also on medication just before child had this cold cough & stool problem. I am also feeding mothers milk.

1. Cremaffin plus
2. Isabgol

We wish to have your advice weather any relation between the two or any other advice

Rgds
Medha

Dr Chittal

My son is one and a half years old. Can I start giving him boiled eggs? If yes ,what is the quantity? In fact,he likes it very much. 

You can give him upto 1 boiled egg 3-4 times a week.

Regards
Dr K N Shah

Is menangitisis vaccination essential?

If you mean HiB yes it is!

Dr Chittal

My baby is eight months old.should we give her any medicine/gripe water for easy in teeth development. 

Only Calcium supplements. Nothing else

Dr Suchetan Pradhan

Why does my baby daughter have pain in the ear after high fever 

Ear infections in most cases are an extension of the cold. Your daughter must have had a cold along with high fever, hence the ear infection.

Regards
Dr K N Shah

I am a mum of 6 month old boy Baboo. Baboo was delivered in India on 6.1.2001 and when he was 4 weeks old we came to Australia. Though the vaccination program of both countries is near about same but I am concerned for one thing. In Australia there is no needle for Measles which is given in India at 9 months of age. Here they give one needle of MMR at 12 months. We will be going to India in mid of Nov for 1 month. At that time my son will be 11 and half months old. Should I prefer to give him MMR needle before going to India? Here health nurse has suggested me to give that needle so that he creates his antibodies against measles and then again they will give him at 12 months. Is it wise to give same needle twice? I want to have your advise in this matter. 

Thanks

If we give Measles then MMR is give after 6 months and the Measles dose in MMR serves as a booster for the 1st one given. Second dose may be given but not within 1-2 mths. I would suggest that you give MMR before coming to India and Measles 6 mths later or give Measles in India and MMR 6 mths later.

Dr K N Shah

Thanks for an early reply. Now our visit to India is confirmed on 8 dec. Should I give my son dose of MMR in 9 months and next dose after 6 months here in Australia. If I bring the dose of measles here from India then I don't think any doctor will give it without any special recommendation.

My second query is as my son is over 6 months this time, what can I start giving him. This time I am giving him Boiled apple, pear, mashed banana, some boiled veges and moong dal.Should I give him some other dal because he is really now get irritated with moong dal.sometimes I do give him baby rice which I buy it from supermarket.

Thanks.
Tina

U can give virtually all dals. Click here to read more abt weaning at this age at.

Regards
Dr K N Shah

My daughter is 8yrsand 9months she is only 22kgs, she is a very poor eater is her weight o.k

Yes 22 kg seems less for 8 yrs. But I would like to know built of both parents. Please give me height and weight of both parents and her food consumption in a day all inclusive of snacks, chocolates etc. Then I will be able to guide you.

Dr Chittal

What type of food has to be given for child aged five for her healthy growing ? 

Every child need to be given balanced meal ie a combination of every thing on the food pyramid. Another important point is that NO force to be exercised while feeding. Click here to read more on revert if still having a query.

Regards
Meenal 

My daughter is aged 5 years.Even now she is sucking her thumb while sleeping. How can it be stopped since it will cause her teeth coming up. Kdly advise. 

Dr Pradhan

Dear Sir,

My son is 2 yr old. at present we r staying in china, where for us language is a problem, so my son has no friends. so he is aggressive by nature so i am unable to train him for toilet and thumb sucking. can u pl give me some guideline. 

Thanks

Sorry for the delay in answering as I discussed the problem with Dr Paul, our Psychologist. This is a challenge for you and your husband. Your husband has to get more involved in his care. He has to be his friend and both of you have to play etc with him so that he does not miss friends. At 2 yrs he does not want others his age, but wants companion. Second important point is you must NOT try too hard to toilet train him. On growingwell we have said that ALL children get toilet trained sooner or later and this does not cause problem. The problem is that mothers want things to happen as and when they want. Also the fact that he is sucking his thumb shows his insecurity. You have to handle this carefully. Read the following pages and then revert.

• Fathers start Mothering
• Basic emotional needs
• Toilet Training
• Thumb Sucking

Regards
Dr K N Shah

Dear. Meenal Sharma,

Our 2-year-old son is just refusing any solid foods for the last couple of months or so.. He drinks Pediasure once in the morning and milk twice daily...he also drinks fruit juice in the noon. Apart from this, we are having a trying time feeding him rice. He just closes his mouth tight. Please advice me of how to tackle this problem. He weighs around 11 kg.

Try making the dishes colourful and fragrant and different in taste than just plain rice. Learn more about this at Also do not force him to eat. Cut down the quantity of milk and juices given, so that he feels hunger. Click here to read more, and revert.

Regards
Meenal

My nephew is 81days old. He was given lactogen soon after he was born (his mother had c-section) but this had upset his stomach and later he was given lactose free milk. he was breast-fed but even then he started passing painful stools although normal. Now he is completely on breast-milk on doctor's advice. His problem is that he passes motion only once in a week and he seems to be in pain. What can be done? Can we give water in which raisins have been soaked?

Regards
Ranjini

Are you sure that he is in pain? Or are you just presuming. One motion per week may be tolerated if the kid is comfortable. Please try giving dried figs chopped in milk/ water. Give lot of water.

Regards
Dr KN Shah

Why is that water is not recommended for 1 month old  babies.

It is not that water is not recommended for these children. It is that till ONLY mother’s milk is going on, water should not be given 

Regards 
Dr Ravindra Chittal

My 21 month old girl weighs 22 pounds and height 31 1/2" head cir. 45 cms. Is she growing in the normal range? pls. reply. 

Thanks

Your child is growing normally. Just tell me how active she is and how is her food intake.

Regards
Dr Ravindra Chittal

Hello Dr. Chittal,

I'm Hema.I have a daughter aged 2 yrs & 10 mnths. She weighs only 10 kgs. She is 35 inches tall. As per the charts she is about 3-4 kgs underweight. She is an extremely active child. She goes to nursery school and is on her toes the entire day except for her sleeping hours. She does not seem to be weak. Her diet in a day includes about two medium sized rotis, rice, yoghurt, biscuits, dates and almonds, 3 cups of milk (with Bournvita once in the morning). She likes fruits ( which she consumes everyday) but not vegetables. I give her some vegetable soup on alternate days as she gets bored to eat it everyday. Her diet seems to be okay but she just does not seem to put on weight as required. I've been giving her Raricap for the past 3 months. Is there anything else that I can do to improve her weight. Please advise. 

Rgds

Please understand that weight is NOT an important criterion. Active child, alert child and intelligent child is what is wanted and NOT a chubby child. Secondly tell me her weight ay birth and height and weight of both parents and shall give you a definitive answer.

Regards, 
Dr Ravindra Chittal

She is very very active. She has:

8 oz milk + 1-2 cookies + slice of fruit
lunch - 1/2 bowl of rice+veg
some snack/fruit mid afternoon
dinner - 1/2 chapati + veg
8 oz milk before sleeping

Then relax and watch her grow. All the best!

Dr Chittal