Day 19 Of Lockdown #COVID- 19

12th April 2020

Diary of a new mother 

My entire series of these 21 days will be based on my experience of being in this lockdown and staying home as a first-time mother of a 5-month-old baby, Anvay. 

Dear Diary,

We introduced solids for Anvay today as advised by our pediatrician. Since I would be resuming work in another 10 days, I needed to be sure that the baby was comfortable with solids. We mixed a little bit of Nestum rice powder in milk and gave it to him to see if he would take solids well. For the seating arrangement we did not have an upright chair and couldn’t buy one due to the lockdown, so had to make do with the bouncer/rocker cum reclining chair we had brought for him earlier. We just changed the settings to a mode where he could be a little more upright and strapped him well so that he doesn’t move. He took a few spoons of the rice slurry but made grunting sounds after taking some spoons. It was a virtual Annaprasana function we had at home with my parents on a Whatsapp video call when he took the first spoon of rice and he had the privilege of being fed by his dad and also grandparents. It was a very happy moment for me as this would introduce him to the world of solids and slowly transition into family food. Our personality is linked so much with the kind of food choices we have. From today onwards we have to slowly introduce new items for him to eat and check what taste he appreciates the most and what he dislikes. My baby was slowly growing up and seeing him grin at me, smile at me with those rice granules stuck around his mouth made me feel very overwhelmed. I was just praying that he develops a liking towards different food items that we offer over time. 

Anvay is becoming more curious day by day and his activities are also increasing. We were waiting for this lockdown to end so that we could buy some toys for him and also buy a soft silicone spoon as he was trying to bite the steel spoon when I gave him food. I was worried that the steel spoon would hurt his jaws if he tried to bite on it. I had also changed his bath routine so that I could tune his body to having a bath early before I would leave for work. Bath time and post-bath feed cycle was linked to my going to work on time.