What Are Night Terrors?

Most parents might have comforted their child after an occasional nightmare. But if you have ever experienced what’s known as a night terror (or sleep terror), your child’s fear was likely inconsolable no matter what you tried. During that time, a child might suddenly sit upright in bed and shout out or scream in distress. The child’s breathing and heartbeat might be faster, he or she might sweat, thrash around, and act upset and scared. After a few minutes, or sometimes longer, a child simply calms down and returns to sleep. This kind of situation is really like a terror for the parent.

A night terror is a sleep disruption that seems similar to a nightmare, but with a far more dramatic presentation. Though night terrors can be alarming for parents who witness them, they’re not typically cause for concern or a sign of a deeper medical issue.

Unlike nightmares, which kids often remember, kids won’t have any memory of a night terror the next day because they were in deep sleep when it happened and there are no mental images to recall.

Night terrors are sleep disturbances in which a child may suddenly bolt upright in bed, cry, scream, moan, mumble, and thrash about with his eyes wide open, but without being truly awake. Because he’s caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake, he’s unaware of your presence and isn’t likely to respond to anything you say or do. In fact, researchers think of night terrors as mysterious glitches in the usually smooth transitions we make each night between sleep stages. As many as 15 percent of children have night terrors, typically beginning in the toddler and preschool years but sometimes starting later and continuing up to adolescence. An episode can last anywhere from two to 40 minutes, and when it’s over your child falls back to sleep abruptly with no memory of the incident.

In which phase of sleep Night Terrors occur?

During a typical night, sleep occurs in several stages. Each is associated with particular brain activity. Sleep is divided into 2 categories: rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (non-REM). The rapid eye movement (REM) stage is the stage when most dreaming occurs.Non-REM sleep is further divided into 4 stages, progressing from stages 1-4. Night terrors occur during the transition from stage 3 non-REM sleep to stage 4 non-REM sleep, beginning approximately 90 minutes after the child falls asleep. This sleep transition is from deepest stage of non-REM sleep to lighter REM sleep. Usually this transition is a smooth one. But rarely, a child becomes agitated and frightened and that fear reaction is a night terror.

Night terrors usually occur 1/2 hour to 3 1/2 hours after falling asleep. During these episodes people are unaware of their surroundings and unresponsive to attempts to comfort them.

They may not calm down for 10 or 15 minutes, although they return to sleep quickly once the episode ends. Generally they do not remember what scared them, but rarely a person will retain a vague image of something terrifying. A few children and adults who experience night terrors will sleepwalk during the episode.

The sleep disorder of night terrors typically occurs in children aged 3-12 years, with a peak onset in children aged 3 ½ years. An estimated 1-6% of children experience night terrors. Boys and girls are equally affected. Children of all races also seem to be affected equally. The disorder usually resolves during adolescence.

How are night terrors different from nightmares?

Unlike a night terror, a nightmare leaves your child truly awake he can remember his dream and sometimes talk about it, and he’ll seek out and feel comforted by your presence. Also, kids have nightmares during dream (REM) sleep, often in the early morning hours between 2 and 6 a.m. They commonly have night terrors, on the other hand, in the first few hours of the night, during deep non-dream (non-REM) sleep.

The easiest way to tell the difference between a night terror and a nightmare is to ask yourself who’s more upset about it the next morning. If your child is more agitated, he had a nightmare. If parents are the one who’re disturbed, then the child probably had a night terror. The “terror” of a night terror lingers far longer in the parent who watched it than in the child who lived it.

What Causes Night Terrors?

Night terrors are caused by over-arousal of the central nervous system (CNS) during sleep. This may happen because the CNS (which regulates sleep and waking brain activity) is still maturing. Some kids may inherit a tendency for this over-arousal about 80% who have night terrors have a family member who also experienced them or sleepwalking (a similar type of sleep disturbance).

Night terrors have been noted in kids who are:

• Overtired, stressed or fatigued
• Sleeping in a new environment or away from home
• Stressful life events
• Fever
• Sleep deprivation
• Medications that affect the central nervous system (the brain)

A child might have a single night terror or several before they cease altogether. Most of the time, night terrors simply disappear on their own as the nervous system matures.

In both adults and children, night terrors may be caused by unresolved psychological conflicts, traumatic events or fatigue. In children, traumas such as the loss of a favorite toy, overhearing a loud argument between parents, watching scenes of violence on television or listening to frightening stories could trigger a night terror.

Particularly among adults, prescription drugs such as antihistamines, decongestants, levodopa, reserpine, beta-blockers, and antidepressants, as well as withdrawal from addictive drugs, all can provoke sleep disturbance.

When to Seek Medical Care?

Sleep disruption is parents’ most frequent concern during the first years of a child’s life. Half of all children develop a disrupted sleep pattern serious enough to warrant physician assistance.

Understanding night terrors can reduce your worry and help you get a good night’s sleep yourself. But if night terrors happen repeatedly, talk to your doctor about whether a referral to a sleep specialist is needed.

In children younger than 3 ½ years, peak frequency of night terrors is at least 1 episode per week.

Among older children, peak frequency of night terrors is 1-2 episodes per month.

If your child seems to be experiencing night terrors, an evaluation by the child’s pediatrician may be useful. During this evaluation, the pediatrician may also be able to exclude other possible disorders that might cause night terrors.

How to Cope up With Night Terrors?

Night terrors can be very upsetting for parents, who might feel helpless at not being able to comfort or soothe their child. The best way to handle a night terror is to wait it out patiently and make sure the child doesn’t get hurt by thrashing around. Kids usually will settle down and return to sleep on their own in a few minutes.

Do not try to wake kids during a night terror. Attempts usually don’t work, and kids who do wake are likely to be disoriented and confused, and may take longer to settle down and go back to sleep. Don’t try to wake him. And expect that your efforts to comfort him will be rebuffed a child having a night terror really can’t be calmed down, and if you try to hold him it may make him wilder. Unless he’s in danger of hurting himself, don’t attempt to physically comfort him. Just speak calmly, put yourself between him and anything dangerous (the headboard of his bed, for instance), and wait for the storm to pass. Before you go to bed, take the same precautions you would for a sleepwalker, since children in the grip of a night terror often stumble out of bed:

• Pick up any toys or objects on the floor that he could trip on,
• Fasten a gate at the top of the stairs, and
• Make sure windows and outside doors are locked.

There’s no treatment for night terrors, but you can help prevent them. Try to:

• Reduce your child’s stress
• Establish and stick to a bedtime routine that’s simple and relaxing
• Make sure your child gets enough rest
• Prevent your child from becoming overtired by staying up too late

If your child has several night terrors, you can try to interrupt his/her sleep in order to prevent the night terror.

• Note how many minutes the night terror occurs from your child’s bedtime.
• Then, awaken your child 15 minutes before the expected night terror, and keep him/her awake and out of bed for 5 minutes. You may want to take your child to the bathroom to see if he/she will urinate.
• Continue this routine for a week.

The catch phrase “a gifted child” has become common in education today, raising parental concerns about recognizing a child’s giftedness even before he or she starts a formal education. A few parents even believe that they can “create” a gifted child if they provide a rich enough environment.

Gifted children come in all shapes and sizes. But how many of us as parents even know what “giftedness” is, or how to best support our children if they are indeed gifted?

Though most children aren’t identified as gifted until they begin formal school, some show signs of being gifted at a very early age. If you can identify the gifted child at early age then there are chances of giving more appropriate nurturing from then. Identifying a gifted child at the earliest possible age is key in providing the optimal stimulation the toddler needs to realize his or her potential.

It must be noted that more and more children are showing signs of early advancement due to parental awareness that leads to the right coaching and nurturance. Hence, to be placed in gifted programs today, the criteria are much tougher than it has ever been in the past and competition is rather stiff. However, regardless on whether a child shows signs early or later, all children deserve an opportunity to develop themselves to the fullest and at a tender age, parents are the best teachers/educators.

Now let us check out the typical behaviour patterns for identifying giftedness in the child. Let us break the first 4 years of child’s birth in 2 spans – from birth to 2 year old and from 2 to 4 year old.

Birth to 2 years – The following checklist is a rough indication of what you may want to look out for after your child is born up to 2 years of age.

• Early expressions (e.g. smiling)
• Unusual alertness
• Interest in books (turning pages of books before 1 year of age and paying attention when read to within 6 months)
• Interest in computers
• Unusually active and high levels of energy (but not hyperactive)
• Ability of recognize carers early (within a few months after birth)
• Playing with shape sorters by about 11 months.
• Ability to form two word phrases by 14 months
• Ability to understand instructions by 18 months
• Ability to say and understand many words before 18 months
• Could stay still and enjoy a TV programs by the age of 1
• Has favorite TV shows/VCD/DVDs by age 1
• Appears to require less sleep (yet not sleepy or irritable due to lack of sleep)
• Recognition of letters/alphabets by age 2
• Recognition and rote counting of numbers 1 ? 10 or higher by age 2
• Recognition of colors by age 2
• Recognition of first word by age 2
• Interest in puzzles by age 2
• Has long attention span in interest areas by age 2
• Ability to form at least 3 word sentence by age 2
• Interest in time by age 2

2 to 4 years – The following includes all/most skills in the checklist above.

• Early and Superior Language Skills - This child has advanced language development, such as an extensive vocabulary or the ability to speak in sentences much earlier than other children his age. Very often, this child will learn to read at a very young age, sometimes before twelve or eighteen months. They often love books and will use vivid imagination cues to fill in the blanks where they are unable to read more complex words and phrases. The child does things better, faster, earlier and differently as an accepted formula for identifying the child in this category.
• Unending Curiosity - This child has extreme curiosity and asks many questions. Interaction with the world around her and testing behavior is a typical action for the gifted child. Whether she is dismantling a tower of building blocks or dissecting the inside of a daisy, she is meticulously learning about her environment in a tireless way.
• Excessive Energy – More than just random hyperactive movement, the gifted child has a purpose to his energies and tends to be very tenacious in opening containers and figuring out rudimentary puzzles. He will not give up on trying different techniques and will be very upset if you interrupt his activities in this regard. Is unusually active, though not hyperactive. While hyperactive children often have a short attention span, gifted children can concentrate on one task for long periods of time and are passionate about their interests.
• Vivid imagination – Gifted children often create a vast and intricate network of imaginary friends with whom they become very involved.
• Challenges Authority - Saying no to a gifted toddler often results in testing behavior parameters. Telling the child not to pull your hair will often result in the opposite effect, sometimes including a humor response. The child sees your reaction to negative behavior and may be amused by the increased attention, raised voice or emotional response.
• Extraordinary feats of memory- This gifted child Is able to memorize facts easily and can recall arcane information that he learns from television shows, movies, or books.
• Emotionally Advanced – He may be very sensitive to emotional reactions from others and will tend to develop a compassionate response much earlier than his peers. He will understand the concept of pain early and will learn pain avoidance very easily. This child is likely to develop a compassionate way of interacting with others as well as pets and animals.
• Specific talent (if any), such as artistic ability or an unusual facility for numbers – becomes more apparent by age 4. For example, children who draw unusually realistic pictures or who can manipulate numbers in their head may be gifted.
• Ability to memorize and recall facts easily.
• Early development of a sense of humour.
• Ability to do one-to-one counting for small quantities by age 3.
• Recognition of simple signs and own written name by age 3.
• Ability to write letters, numbers, words, and their names between 3 and 4 years.
• Ability to read easy readers by age 4.
• Rather independent on the computer by age 4.
• Demonstration of musical aptitude just after 2.
• Ability to do simple addition and subtraction by age 4.
• High degrees of mathematical understanding by age 4.
• Reaches developmental milestones well ahead of peers.
• Interest in computers (not video games).
• Ability to solve a 20-piece puzzle by age 3.

The above checklist is at best regarded as a rough guide and bear in mind that not all of the skills and age guide mentioned is absolute. Some children may demonstrate these abilities at a younger age and some may be older and yet classified as advanced learners. However, this can be a good guide to look out for signs of early advanced development in children and provide the necessary platform for them to flourish.

Not every sign must be evident in order for the child to be gifted. In the very young child, the giftedness commonalities may become evident at different times and phases in the child’s development. Enriching the child’s environment with more complex stimulation will be advantageous, whether or not the child is ultimately deemed to be gifted by commonly established criteria or not.

Once a child has been labeled with the gifted tag, the parents take on the important responsibility of ensuring that this child receives proper nurturing and stimulation to develop his potential. Visit your local library for a wealth of information from the educational experts on this topic. Enrichment and varied stimuli including educational toys and books are readily available.

Other signs of giftedness may be a little harder to discern. By age 3 or 4, for example, some gifted children begin to realize that they are “different” from their peers. This can make them feel isolated and withdrawn; it may also make them likely targets for bullying.

They may begin to experience intense frustration because they can think more rapidly than they can express themselves, verbally or physically. If your child appears unusually angry or frustrated, you may want to consult a mental health professional.

A gifted child often…

• Reasons well (is a good thinker )
• Is a perfectionist
• Is an intense personality
• Is morally sensitive
• Has a wide range of interests
• Prefers older companions or adults
• Is concerned with justice, fairness
• Has a long attention span
• Shows mature judgment for age at times
• Is a keen observer and is highly creative

Testing your preschooler for giftedness

Though you may want to know if your preschooler is gifted, most children don’t need to be tested for giftedness before entering elementary school. However, consultations with a mental health professional may be appropriate if your preschooler appears to be unusually bored in school or shows any signs of emotional or social problems.

If your child is enrolled in preschool, speak to the teacher or school director to find out if the school is affiliated with any mental health professionals who specialize in working with gifted children. If your child is not in school or the school isn’t being receptive to your concerns, ask your paediatrician to refer you to a child psychologist who conducts tests for giftedness.

When giftedness is hard to diagnose

You might be surprised to learn that a child can be both gifted and learning disabled. In most cases, the disability is recognized while giftedness goes undetected. Giftedness in children from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds, and in those for whom English is a second language, is often overlooked as well. If your child falls into any of these categories, it’s best to find a psychologist who is sensitive to these issues. It is also important to ask your child’s teacher to observe him and look for talents that conventional tests cannot detect.

Finally yet importantly, you may want to check out the following website (The National Association for Gifted Children, UK) that provides an online questionnaire, which will give you an indicator about your child’s level of development. Please bear in mind that this questionnaire is a rough indicator only is by no means an assessment.

How to nurture gifted child

Don’t worry too much; feed the natural curiosity and love of learning in your child. Share many enriching experiences and expose him to culture, the arts, text, and the outdoors. Be patient with her probing questions and know that you are nurturing a child’s special gifts when you do that.

If your child has fun in these types of activities, then you know you are on the right track. If she seems bored or unhappy, step back and try something else. There is no possibility of over-stimulating your child.

Another common issue among parents of gifted preschoolers is achieving the right balance between stimulation and too much pressure. Many gifted children already exhibit perfectionist tendencies, and creating a stress-filled environment under the guise of “helping them reach their potential” can backfire.

In our achievement-oriented society, this is most important. It’s OK to have your child tested as a beginning benchmark but not as a license to turn him into a little adult. Results at this age are not always as reliable as with school age children. Keep his interests and natural abilities in mind.

Here are three simple tips for parents of gifted preschoolers:

• Let the child take the lead. Gifts will be encouraged, not squandered, if allowed to develop in a warm, loving environment during this time of exploration and rapid brain growth.
• Respect the child. Children become manipulative without power. Does that mean you let a child run the household? Absolutely not. However, you do want to avoid seeing your child simply as an extension of yourself; he is his own person. Part of this too is learning to take your child at his own merit, not comparing him to others.
• Keep the lines of communication open. Talk with your child. Don’t get caught up in doing so much directing and correcting that you never have real conversations. Find out what her fears and concerns are. Listen to her, understand her, and give her the chance to communicate as one human being to another. You want a relationship that will last.

One last piece of advice on interaction with teachers about your gifted child: “Don’t go in with the attitude: ‘What are you going to do for my child?’ You are much more likely to build cooperation if you have a pro-active meeting early in the year to discuss how you and the school will partner to address the child’s needs. Show your willingness and interest in having your child be challenged. Offer, if you can, to help out in the classroom (there may be others besides your child who need the intervention or different strategies). Don’t be satisfied with your child simply receiving extra work.

Creativity and imagination are premium qualities that all parents want their children to have. Creative people are backbone of the society. They can solve business problems, create scientific advances, write books and songs and become leaders in many areas. They are the architects of culture and therefore are highly prized.
As a parent, nurturing your child’s creative abilities involves a bit of a paradox. You need to let go a little, to back off and leave artistic and inventive decisions up to her. However, you can trigger imagination by asking thought-provoking questions concerning the whys, hows, and whats of objects and situations. It’s very important that you be available to provide reassurance when creative ventures don’t go right and praise for trying as well as finishing. When it comes to a child’s education, interaction is really a key.

If we try to understand about creativity centres in brain then technically speaking new synapses should be created in young brains as far as possible. Synapses are the connections between brain cells. We have billions of these necessary connections in our brains. Young people need to form synapses and then use these connections repeatedly to strengthen them as they grow and mature. It is important to make, as many strong synapses as possible while humans are young. Starting around age 11, some brain cells begin to die and disappear. This is a natural process necessary to prune myriad weak connections that youngsters have formed. It also institutes order in the young brain.

The closer we come to nurturing that creativity in a child’s early life, the greater the chance they’ll one day grow up into flourishing happy adults. The minute a child reaches the age where they are pushed into the world of public education, they are suddenly burdened with the pressure to succeed.

Instinctively, parents and teachers alike turn their main focus on their children getting high grades rather than succeeding as a human being.
Of course, curriculum is very important. But curriculum is not important enough to bear tremendous pressure on our impressionable children. Especially when the high cost affects the goal of truly happy, well-rounded kids. Parents would never purposely force harmful behaviours upon their children, but sometimes unknowingly do. This way parents themselves just demotivate child from using their potential, which might not always be shown during curriculum.

Here are some tips to help you know how to increase creativity in your child.

Tips to increase creativity  and imagination in your child

Encourage Them To Question
Curiosities are major step towards creativity. Children are curious and they ask many questions, with some capable of even baffling you. Make sure never to curb this habit. Rather, encourage them to ask questions and try to feed their curiosity as much as possible. But, do make sure that you don’t get political or dead serious in answering the questions. Provide open-ended answers and always be game with them. If you don’t know the answer, instead of directly saying no, tell them that it was a wonderful question and both of you should search for its answer.

Spend Time With Them
The modern life does not give people much time to spend with their children. So, you should try to make do with what little time you have. While your children are small, try to concentrate on them more than your career. You can even request your organization to give a schedule that allows you to spend more time with your children. The more time you spend with them, the more you will able to kindle their curiosity and creativity.
 
Play With Them
Play with your children like a child and not like an adult. Playing with them will help you bond with them. Persuade your spouse to be a part of the game as well. Incorporate creative games and imaginary plays in the time spent with your kids. Sing and dance with them and you will find your children more creative in few years. According to a recent research, those children whose parents spent more time with them became more creative.

Talk To Them
Talking to your children is very important to maintain a good rapport and communication with them. Although most people do talk to their children, it is generally in the form of instructions, rather than a conversation. Talk to kids like an adult, listen to what she has to say and give her advice if she wants it, but don’t impose anything on the kid.

Give Coloring Books & Toys
Give your kids toys that can be transformed into different shapes, like a colorful clay toy, and introduce them to color books from their childhood. It’s not necessary that they learn to be a painter. It’s just to develop their imagination and thus, enhance their creativity.
Preschool-aged children are much more interested in the process than they are in the final outcome. Children are incredibly creative, so open-ended toys and games that can foster that creativity are always great ideas. Avoid toys that are so specific that after playing with them a few times, the child becomes bored.
Wooden blocks, dress-up items, balls, train sets and tree swings allow children to come up with their own play scenarios and can allow them to learn more freely than with toys that aim for a specific outcome like many computer games.

Give Them Decision Power
Make kids the master, at times. We always want to decide for our children, as we believe that we know the best for them. However, we cannot decide for them all our life, can we? So it is better that you cultivate the habit of making decisions in your kids right from childhood, to make them self-dependent and creative. You can take their opinion and decision in small things. Although the absolute power should be with you, let them give a vote on what they want. If it’s reasonable, comply with it.

Provide Encounter With Nature
Take your kids for morning or evening walks. Involve them in gardening with you and make them learn about different plants. Encourage them to help the stray animals and take them to zoos and parks on a regular basis. Plan your weekend this way that you will be able to take your child to interact with nature. All this will help your child learn how to appreciate and love nature. And nature is the origin of all the creativity. Nature demonstrates the variety of creations by god. Wheyour child will start appreciating the nature and god’s creations, she will certainly tend to become more imaginative.

Read To Them
When you read to your children, they start imagining the story. The more you read to them, the more creative they would become. Reading aloud to children creates new synapses and reinforces old ones. The time-spent reading to your children will inevitably increase their creativity and imagination by allowing them to create a ‘œmental movie’ of what they hear.

Emphasize Process Rather Than Product
Encourage kids to make their own projects for school and don’t emphasize on making it perfectly. The most important thing is that your child learns to work on his/her own and uses creativity. A perfectly finished project is not necessary for that. Praise your kids if they make something by themselves, even if it is not that great and always encourage them to think creatively.

Art Projects
Art supplies are fun to buy, and you may be surprised at the number of them even a baby can handle and enjoy. Before the age of one, a child loves to scribble on a big piece of paper with a fat graphite pencil. She can move up soon to colored pencils, jumbo crayons, chalk, and, by age two, water-based felt-tip pens.
When your child is ready to paint, probably at about two years of age, think first of protection — one of your old shirts to cover the child and newspaper sheets or a special mat to cover the floor. A two year old can help you make finger paint. From the age of two, your child loves to pound, roll, and flatten whatever kind of clay you supply as her sense of touch develops. The most practical first clay is a plasticized variety you can buy at the store or a flour or baking soda and cornstarch clay you make yourself .

Make-believe play
You’ll see your child’s first attempts at make-believe before he can walk, when the two of you play peek-a-boo with a handkerchief. At six months, your baby pretends to groom his head, bald or not, with a hairbrush. Your child will amaze you with his inventiveness finding props — a receiving blanket becomes a swirling cape for dancing or a knapsack for carrying supplies to a hiding place blocked off with a pile of books under the dining room table. You can contribute props, too, including such castoffs as hats and shoes and other clothes, costume jewelry, and a briefcase or small suitcase. You’ll learn not to discard big cardboard boxes, the cores from rolls of toilet tissue or paper towels, the plastic containers strawberries come in, or almost anything else that is clean and intact.

Sometimes your child brings his dolls, stuffed animals, and puppets into imaginative play. Long conversations may take place as your child reenacts interesting or worrisome situations. You are also likely to see and hear versions of punishments and scoldings you recognize as originating with you. Go on encouraging your child for make-believe play. That way she will learn to wear her imaginative wings and fly in the sky of creativity.

These are the ways you can take up so that you can bring up  a creative and imaginative child. Every child is creative and imaginative. But how you nurture this potential in child is important in making a creative adult.

When it comes to first solid food for your baby, you definitely want to make no mistake, as this experience is going to be deciding factor for eating habits getting cultivated in your baby. There are many factors you should consider. There are many myths, much confusion and many misinterpretations. So its important to have a clear guideline.

Here we go by considering all aspects about first solid food for your baby -

• A good rule of thumb is to start with rice cereal, which is gluten-free and less allergenic than other foods. Give your baby one or two teaspoons of dry cereal mixed with enough formula or breast milk to make a semi-liquid. Babies shouldn’t be directly transitioned to solid from breast milk / formula. Semi-liquid is important milestone in the transition and the time for transition need to be a long enough, which depends on baby’s response to it.
• Foods should be prepared and given in a safe manner, meaning that measures should be taken to minimize the risk of contamination with pathogens.
• Ensure that you are using a soft comfy spoon.  Remember baby’s gums may be tender from teething and a hard metal spoon may aggravate baby’s gums. If baby refuses the spoon or if the spoon seems to make baby uncomfortable, use your finger!
• If you are trying to feed a baby solid when baby is very hungry, she may be more likely to resist. Always offer breast milk and/or formula first and then offer solids.
• Introduce new foods during the morning or early afternoon. This will enable you to deal with any adverse reactions when your pediatrician is in office.
• Don’t Make a Fuss Over the Feeding Session! Follow your baby’s cues and allow him or her to explore the dish, utensils and the food herself!
• Don’t Force Your Baby to Eat! Wait for baby to open her mouth when food is offered. Always let your baby eat at his or her own pace and on his or her own terms!
• Offer a Variety of Foods and Colors! Offer your baby different foods once you have begun to introduce solid foods.
• Some babies need practice keeping food in their mouths and swallowing. Give her time to get used to the new food habits.
• Start with single ingredients only, that too introducing each new food at a space of 4 days apart. This way you’ll get a heads-up if your baby has an allergic reaction to one of them. The signs of an allergy may include diarrhea, a bloated tummy, increased gas, or a rash.
• If you’re feeding your baby from ready-to-eat jars of baby food, scoop some into a little dish and feed her from that. Also, throw away any baby food jars within a day or two of opening them.
• Stay away from foods that might cause her to choke.
• Avoid fast food for as long as possible.
• While you are feeding solids to your baby, if your baby leans back in her chair, turns her head away from food, starts playing with the spoon, or refuses to open up for the next bite, she probably had enough. Understand the clues given by your baby. Don’t overfeed your baby. But also keep in mind that sometimes a baby will keep her mouth closed because she hasn’t yet finished with the first mouthful, so be sure to give her time to swallow.
• If your baby turns away from a particular food, don’t push. Try again in a week or so. Don’t try to make your child eat food he doesn’t like. Respect her preferences and avoid power struggles over food.
• Don’t be surprised if your baby’s stools change color and odor when you add solids to her diet. If her stools seem too firm, switch to other fruits and vegetables and oatmeal or barley cereal. Usually rice cereal, bananas, and applesauce can contribute to constipation in babies.
• Make sure that the nutritional value of complementary foods should parallel at least that of breast milk. Solid foods are not meant to provide for baby nutritionally in the first few months, breast milk and/or formula fill this role! Also do not let solids interfere with liquid intake! 

Each baby will have unique food preferences, but the transition should go something like this:

1. Semi-liquid cereals

2. Strained or mashed fruits and vegetables

Good fruits and vegetables to start with include – sweet potatoes, potato, squash, applesauce, bananas, carrots, cauliflower, green peas, broccoli, oatmeal, mashed ripe banana, mashed ripe avocado, boiled apple, mashed pear and peaches. All food should be strained or mushy as at this stage your baby will press the food against the top of her mouth and then swallow. 

• Vegetables and fruits should be steamed or boiled and should be mixed with baby food made into a puree or you can give just puree of boiled vegetables and fruits to your baby.
• Whether you are giving her vegetables or fruit always peel the skin and boil it in little water so that the vitamins are preserved. Don’t add salt or pepper.

3. Finely chopped table foods, including meat and other protein sources

 These points will definitely help you to get a good schedule for starting solids for your baby. 

Starting your baby on solid foods is a very important milestone for your baby as well as you. This is the beginning of lifelong eating habits that contribute to her overall health. For this reason we have some general guidelines that can help you start your baby out on the right track to a healthy life.

How do you know if your baby is ready for solid foods?

Your baby may be 3 months old or 4 months old when you start to feel she may need “something more” than formula or breastmilk.

Your baby may begin to wake more frequently at night for a feeding and/or may begin to eat non-stop (cluster feed) as she once did as a newborn. But Growth Spurts do not mean baby needs solid food. Offer your baby more frequent nursing sessions and/or bottle feedings instead of solids; you will find that within a week or two, oftentimes the growth spurt is over and baby is back to usual feeding.

As per AAP Policy Note – 194 -introduction of complementary feedings before 6 months of age generally does not increase total caloric intake or rate of growth and only substitute foods lack needed nutrients and the protective components of human milk (and formula).

Remember that BEST food for babies is breastmilk and/or formula and these contain all the important nutrients that an infant needs to develop properly. Breast milk in particular and/or formula will be enough to sustain your baby’s nutritional needs for up to age 4 to 6 months, so don’t be in a rush to start solid baby foods. In fact, introducing solids too early may displace the important nutrition your baby needs to receive from breast milk and/or formula.

What does WHO says about starting solids?

“Complementary feeding should be timely, meaning that all infants should start receiving foods in addition to breastmilk from 6 months onwards. It should be adequate, meaning that the nutritional value of complementary foods should parallel at least that of breastmilk.”

Starting solids too early can cause your baby to develop food allergies. Your baby’s intestinal tract is not as fully developed during the first few months and introducing solids at this time can be too much to handle.

How Will You Know When Your Baby is Ready to Eat Solid Foods? Here are some guidelines you must check out.

1. Loss of tongue-thrust reflex – When any unusual substance is placed on the tongue, it automatically protrudes outward rather than back by infants using tongue-thrust reflex. In the first few months, the tongue thrust reflex protects the infant against choking. The loss of tongue-thrust reflex might start appearing in babies at anytime between 4 to 6 months of age. This allows baby to drink and swallow liquids with ease. But with the tongue-thrust reflex still present, baby may simply drink in liquid purees or push the food back out.

As and when tongue-thrust reflex diminishes, baby is ready to hold the food in his mouth without protruding it. This is an important signal to be taken into account for starting solids.

2. Chewing motions – Your baby’s mouth and tongue develop in sync with his digestive system. Infants don’t have the digestive system strong enough to digest solid foods. Similarly babies are yet to master the synchronization of mouth and tongue at that time. To start solids, she should be able to move food to the back of her mouth and swallow. As she learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling.

3. Head Control – Your baby needs to be able to keep her head in a steady, upright position. This milestone is usually achieved for most of the babies by the time they turn 4 months. Reaching this milestone ensures that baby can control her head while eating solid foods if you start.

4. Sitting well when supported- Even if your child might not quite ready for a highchair yet. Your baby needs to be able to sit upright to swallow well.

5. Curiosity about what you’re eating.  Usually breast milk or formula is the only food for the babies. But as the baby grow, she gets interested in the food others eat. Your baby may begin eyeing your bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from your plate to your mouth.

6. Significant weight gain- Most babies are ready to eat solids when they’ve doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.

7. Growing appetite - The baby seems hungry even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day. As baby gets older, her appetite increases. But keep in mind that growing appetite cannot be an indication that your baby is ready for solids.

If baby is breast feeding at least 8-10 times per 24-hours ( even after the first few weeks which probably is not Growth Sprut), empties both breasts at each feeding, and still wants more and the time between feedings becomes shorter and shorter over a period of several days, then baby needs supplementary food intake. The baby also might be signaling by becoming fussy in the middle of the night, whereas before she slept through with no problem or her sleep periods are becoming shorter instead of longer.

8. Ability to let you know she is full from a meal with signs such as turning away from the bottle or breast. This is important so that baby is able to self-regulate the amount of food  is being eaten.

Please keep in mind that these outer signs of being ready for solids do not mean that your baby’s inner digestive system is mature and ready. You should discuss with your baby’s pediatrician about starting your baby on solid foods. Only when you have thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of introducing solid foods with your pediatrician you will be able to have a better grasp of just when you should begin offering baby solid foods.