As a parent, you might be worried if your baby can't sleep well at night because of hunger. However, many people are hesitant to give babies dinner because they say they can make baby worms. Is this presumption correct? Find out the answers in this article.
Reason why baby is hungry at midnight
The baby will eat or suckle as he pleases, because the baby's body has its own way of telling when he should eat or drink.
As the growth grows, the baby will suckle more often than usual. Usually this occurs in infants around 7-14 days, between 3-6 weeks, and around 4-6 months. Well, this is very possible for him to wake up in the middle of the night and ask for suckling.
Newborns usually suckle 8-12 times a day in the first months of their birth. If your child is 4-8 weeks old, he or she may start feeding 7-9 times a day. If you are breastfeeding, the baby may want to suckle every 2-3 hours, even faster than that.
Remember, every baby has a different level of hunger. This also depends on whether your baby is given breast milk or fomula milk. In general, breastfed babies will be hungry faster than milk babies, because breast milk is easier to digest.
Dinner makes baby worms just a myth
The assumption that dinner makes baby worms is not true. Worm infections and dinner activities are not interrelated.
Worms are a disease caused by parasitic worms that breed in the human digestive system. This disease is one type of disease that commonly occurs both young and old age. Even so, intestinal worms are more common in children.
But the food is dirty (already contaminated with worm eggs) or the cooking process is not good so that the worm eggs do not die completely, can cause child worms. Likewise, children can get intestinal worms if you or your caregiver do not immediately wash their hands after from the toilet; clean the baby's bottom; or gardening, before cooking dinner.
Moreover, babies have limited motion. So, the biggest risk factor for worms for babies is through various equipment and equipment that may have been contaminated with worm eggs, which then accidentally enter the baby's mouth.
These things allow worms to grow and develop in the baby's digestive system. So, it's not the dinner that makes baby worms. However, it is unclean to treat a baby that increases your baby's risk of getting worms.
Tips for not having baby worms
Hygiene in caring for a baby is one of the main factors in preventing baby worms.
Basically prevention of intestinal worms in infants is done by avoiding all factors that can cause worms to enter the body. Here are some things you can do to prevent your baby from getting worms.
- Always get used to washing your hands with soap after you have done any work before touching your baby or baby gear.
- Place your baby's equipment in a place far away from germs, dust, and other dirty objects.
- Make sure if you regularly cut your baby's fingernails. Especially if your baby has the habit of inserting a finger into his mouth.
- If your baby has undergone food, you should make sure if the food equipment is clean and the way you cook the food is a good method.
- Get used to maintain cleanliness after urinating by cleaning the genitals and / or rectum properly. Don't forget, change the diaper regularly.
- As a further prevention measure, routinely consult a doctor so that your baby gets worm medicine that suits his needs.