Baby's body and cheek colour is determined by amount of hemoglobin in blood. Hence if you maintain hemoglobin level more than 11 gm% in baby,not only cheeks but his/her whole body will become pink and healthy.
Here are ways explained to maintain baby's hemoglobin in normal range:
1.Exclusive breastfeeding in newborn till 6 months of age:
Exclusive breastfeeding means giving only mother's milk to baby and avoiding any prelacteal feed like honey and even water. Medications in case of illness are allowed in exclusive breastfeeding. Breastfeed is the best food for newborn till 6 months of age and it contains all the essential nutrients required to keep baby healthy. Iron present in breastmilk is easy to absorb than animal milk. But condition for this is that mother should be having normal hemoglobin and a healthy diet.
2. Complementary feeding after 6 months:
After 6 months, only breastfeed will not be sufficient to fullfill need of all nutrients and energy. Hence complementary feeding should be started after 6 months of age.Initially begin with fruit puree 1-2 times a day and gradually introduce vegetable puree,cereals,legumes in diet of baby escalating frequency of complementary feeding. Don't stop breastfeeding till 2 years of age.
3. Inclusion of iron rich food in diet of baby:
You must be asking now that which are these food items which are rich in iron?
Here is a list of iron rich food:
- Non-vegetarian food
- Jaggery(dark colored)
- All green leafy vegetables,beetroot, Broccoli, pumpkin seeds
- Ragi,jowar,bajra
- Figs, sprouts
- Avacado ,green peas ,Chia seeds
- Apricot, sunflower seeds
4. Avoid drinking tea, coffee immediately after meal:
Tea and coffee decreases iron absorption from meal. Hence you should avoid giving tea and coffee at least for 3-4 hours after meal.
5. Eat Vitamin C rich food with iron rich food and meal:
Iron is present in ferric form in vegetarian diet. In our gut iron is reduced to Ferrous form and absorbed in ferrous form only. This reduction reaction is enhanced by Vitamin C hence iron absorption is facilitated.
6. Deworming the child:
After 6 months of age, every child should be dewormed every 6 months. Albendazole is the drug used for deworming in child. Below 2 years of age it is given as 200mg single dose and above 2 years of age it is to be given as 400mg single dose. Remember that this drug should be given after a fatty meal.
7. Iron supplementation :
After 6 months,due to rapid growth of baby,baby needs additional supplementation of iron. As per government guidelines,every child above 6 months till adolescent age should be given specific dose of iron 2 times in a week throughout a year. Kindly consult your pediatrician for doses of iron supplements.
8. Screen for Congenital Anemia:
Some types of anemia are congenital like sickle cell anemia and thalassemia and many more. Consult your pediatrician to rule out possibility of these anemias in your baby.
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