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Miss Poppy's Guide to Raising Perfectly Happy Children

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

6 months-1 year

'There isn't any formula or method.
You learn to love by loving-by paying attention and doing what
one thereby discovers has to be done.'—Aldous Huxley

'Sprinkle joy. '—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Babies of any age are adorable, but at six months they really start to come into their own with their cute little Buddha-shaped bodies and those perfectly kissable rosy cheeks. I love this stage: every day brings something new and exciting for both of you to learn and discover about each other.

The advances they make during this period are astounding: their babbling sounds will soon become first words, their physical movements lead to first steps, their first taste of solid foods, their first teeth. They start to develop preferences and attachments, and their likes and dislikes become quite apparent. It is fascinating to watch their personality begin to develop and shine through. Their characters are being formed; they should be gently nurtured, their curiosity encouraged. And so it begins, the great adventure. In the words of Dr Seuss: 'Oh! the places you'll go ...'

In this chapter we will discuss that amazing time between six months and one year. We will start by looking at the business of weaning and feeding your child—a subject that I have noticed often causes parents a certain amount of worry. We will then look at the importance of establishing a daily routine that works for both you and your baby, and how that daily routine will help you to encourage the one thing that I know all parents dream about—a good night's sleep! Following that, I will explain the ways in which you can expect your baby to grow physically, and how you can encourage them to increase their mobility by making sure that everything around them is perfectly safe. Life with a baby is of course not always a bed of roses. We shall be looking at what causes the baby blues and what you can do to counteract them. Finally I shall give you a few ideas about how working parents can make sure they start learning how to juggle their new responsibilities, and how you can ensure that your baby will have plenty of the one commodity that is most important to them at this—or indeed any—age: fun!

Baby Bistro

Man is born to eat.'—Anonymous

Pease pudding hot
Pease pudding cold
Pease pudding in the pot
Nine days old
Some like it hot
Some like it cold
Some like it in the pot
Nine days old

Weaning your baby on to solid food normally starts somewhere around six months. I find it usually depends on their size: if they weighed in at nine pounds or above at birth, they tend to start to need food sooner; others can wait—it really depends on the baby. The important thing to remember is not to panic if your child is still only downing pints of milk while your neighbour's baby of the same age seems to have developed a taste for gourmet delicacies. They all seem to catch up with each other in the course of the first year.

If you have been breastfeeding, by the time your child is six months old you may have given some thought to weaning your baby off the breast, if you have not begun to do so already. The important thing to remember is to do it gradually, both for your sake and the baby's. Your child needs to be introduced to the bottle gradually, and you need to ensure that your milk production is reduced in stages so that you do not suffer engorgement which can be very painful and lead to infection.

Food is a difficult thing for your baby to master. It's good to take your time and slowly introduce simple, fresh organic foods. Weaning happens gradually over the course of a few months, and will not affect their daily intake of breast or formula milk. This should continue as normal because the small amount of foods you will be offering will not contain sufficient amounts of the essential proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that your baby needs to grow. The milk still provides this, and will only be replaced as the main source of nutrients around the age of twelve to fourteen months.

For the first week of weaning, choose a meal time when your baby is in good humour and moderately hungry—overtired or over-hungry babies get very upset if you remove their milk source, even for a second, and we want this to be a pleasant experience—and begin by offering breast milk or a bottle of formula milk. If your baby is able to sit up, put them into their high chair, with cushions if need be to prop them up. If they are not yet sitting up, you may have to hold them on your lap, or put them in a car seat. Place a little cotton bib loosely around them. Mix up a small amount one or two teaspoons—of organic baby rice with a spot of their milk. Serve it to them on a plastic baby spoon rather than a metal one which they might find a bit harsh at first, and gently position it in their mouth and watch the wonderful faces you'll be rewarded with. I think the first look is of pure astonishment, as they don't quite know what to make of it.

If they refuse the spoon at first, dip your little finger in the rice and offer them a taste. Take your time and be prepared to sit and wait a while as they discover the texture and taste and pull many a funny face. Often they stick their tongue out or open their mouths as if to say, 'More, please!' Don't be tempted to pile it in—just a couple of teaspoons a day is enough at first. Finish off by offering them the rest of the bottle of formula milk or more breast milk, and continue to feed them for the rest of the day with their scheduled daily milk feeds.

Excerpted from Miss Poppy's Guide to Raising Perfectly Happy Childrenby Elaine Addison Copyright © 2007 by Elaine Addison. Excerpted by permission.
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