Boosting Your Baby’s Immune System

A baby’s arrival is one of the happiest moments in the lives of parents and the entire family. Parents shower their love and affection on their babies and take all the necessary actions to keep them healthy and happy. Now-a-days, babies are exposed to a plethora of germs and viruses that cause them to fall ill. It takes a while to boost a baby’s immunity as they battle an array of germs, viruses and other disease-causing microorganisms. However, medical experts say that it is quite normal for babies to fall ill with cold, cough and fever several times in a year, as their immune system is developing towards overcoming these illnesses. This article aims to provide you some tips to boost your baby’s immune system via healthy habits.

Breastfeed your baby  
    
Medical experts strongly recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Breast milk provides complete nutrition for babies. Colostrum, the first milk that the breast produces after birth, is indeed a superfood for your baby. Colostrum contains antibodies and white blood cells that help boost your baby’s immune system. It helps to develop your baby’s digestive system. Breast milk is rich in antibodies like immunoglobin A, which protects your baby from allergies, ear infections, diarrhoea, pneumonia, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Crohn’s disease, etc.

Healthy diet

A healthy diet is highly essential to boost your baby’s immunity. Including fruits like strawberries, grapefruit, guava and oranges, and vegetables like broccoli, spinach, carrots, beans and tomatoes provides the necessary vitamin C and antioxidants that are needed to fight diseases and make your baby strong and healthy.  You can introduce these foods in your baby’s diet in the form of juices, soups and purees. Do not serve processed foods to your baby as these are loaded with harmful chemicals that weaken the immune system. Make sure that you always serve freshly cooked food to your babies. In case you do not have the time to go to a grocery store and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, you can purchase these online from and get it delivered to you conveniently from stores that offer grocery delivery such as  Cold Storage.

Massage

Massage is a great way to strengthen the bond between you and your baby. It is relaxing and calms your baby. Use good quality oil or moisturizer and massage with gentle and rhythmic strokes. Massage does wonders to your baby. Apart from soothing, massage aids digestion, improves blood circulation, helps in weight gain, stabilizes brain activity, eases the teething process and strengthens the immune system.

Sleep

Apart from a satiated tummy, the key to a baby’s happiness is sound sleep. New born babies should sleep for 14 to 17 hours per day and 4 to 11-month-old babies need a good sleep of at least 12 to 15 hours. A good sleep aids in proper brain development, keeps the baby healthy and free from emotional issues like anxiety and depression. Poor sleeping habits make a baby cranky, fussy and obese.

Physical activities 

Physical activity is highly essential for people of all ages as it keeps them healthy and active. Babies can be engaged in play-based physical activities, both indoor and outdoor. Being active ensures healthy growth and development, healthy weight, improves coordination, posture and balance, development of gross motor and fine motor skills, strong bones and muscles, and improved sleep. A physically active baby is not only healthy but happy too.

Clean and hygienic environment 

Keeping your baby in a clean and healthy environment is very important to keep illnesses at bay. Make sure that you dust your home regularly. Dust can contain poisonous chemicals from smoke, paints, varnishes and cleaning agents that can lead to illnesses in babies and adults. Make sure that no family member smokes indoor and near the baby. Open the doors and windows to let in fresh air and increase ventilation, use environment-friendly cleaners, clean various surfaces in your home, regularly.

Vaccinations

One of the best ways to ensure your child is protected from deadly diseases is to make sure that they are vaccinated as per their vaccination chart provided by the pediatrician. Vaccination is a safe and effective method to protect your baby from highly-feared diseases like polio, German measles and smallpox. Thanks to the modern medical science, these diseases have been eliminated.

It is very important that parents work towards boosting their child’s immune system, right from birth. A healthy baby means a happy family. Parents must also make sure that they not only work towards keeping their children healthy but also take care of their health needs by following a healthy lifestyle. Parents must make sure that they too sleep well, engage in physical activities and eat healthy foods. In case you do not have the time or energy to cook it yourself, you can order nutritious soups, salads and other healthy treats from online food delivery outlets like Foodpanda.

Author Bio: Nidhi Mahajan is a guest blogger and passionate about content writing. She has been blogging about Health for more than 7 years now with variety of topics covered under Health related articles. To read her more pieces on the stuff visit Health Guide at Pop-pins.com