ParentsWorld February 2023

Pregnancy tracking & baby apps

There’s no shortage of apps offering advice starting from coping with pregnancy, practical tips on childbirth and breastfeeding to expert guidance on child development. PW recommends the three best

Mylo
With over 1 million downloads, constant updates, and five-star ratings, Mylo top scores as the lion king of parenting apps. It offers free child diet charts […]

Tarotscopes: Forecast for July 15-August 15

TAROTSCOPES Forecast for February 15th-March 15th

Chandana Chavan is a Bangalore-based tarot card reader with over 15 years of experience and special interest in parenting. Instagram:@mystic.muse.tarot

Forecast for February 15- March 15

Aries: The Empress
Your child is goal oriented when preparing for class/board exams. Continue to provide her full support and dispel any self-doubt she has over her capability. She will top […]

Leisure & Travel

The other side of Dubai

Contemporary UAE is one the world’s fastest growing tourist destinations. It offers visitors sun, sand, sea, sports, unbeatable shopping, top-class hotels and restaurants, intriguing traditional culture, and a safe and welcoming environment

Contrary to popular opinion, Dubai (pop. 3.55 million), a shopaholic’s delight, is not a country but a constituent state of the United Arab Emirates […]

Egg-citing meals

Rich in several vitamins, minerals and proteins, eggs are easy to cook. Here are three egg recipes that your family will enjoy writes Ramiya Sakthivel

Egg Biriyani (4 servings)

Ingredients
• 2 cups soaked basmati rice
• 6 large eggs
• 1 onion
• 10 green chillies
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• ½ tsp […]

Cli’mate’ Corner

Nishant Saxena

Hey kids! It’s me your mate, cli’mate’!
You seem surprised. Don’t you know me? Well, if you don’t, let me introduce myself. I am climate. But, I’m pretty sad these days. I’m losing friends and that’s what’s making me sad.
I think I mustn’t leave you wondering what I am and what’s changing me. […]

“Iʼm tired of birthday parties…”

“We spend a bundle year after year on birthday celebrations with school friends which seem so meaningless, as children have become accustomed to such birthday celebrations. I want to break out of this routine but it’s hard to do, as it is socially expected.” M.R, Kolkata

Yes, birthdays parties can become repetitive with the type of […]

Bonding over craft: Rainbow chimes

Anitha Bennett

Rainbow colours streaming in through your window, tinkling chimes. Sounds good? Get your children excited about it, and work on making it happen. Moreover, working on a craft project for your home is great for family bonding.

Materials needed
• Cardboard —1 sheet
• Cellophane/metallic paper — 5 sheets in different colours
• Black chart […]

Nurturing friendships that last

Cynthia John

Remember the close friends who stood by you through thick and thin? Your children need such friends too!
In times when children are separated from family, they will need precious friends who can give them good advice and moral support.

While such friendships grow over the years, you can do your bit to develop them. […]

Heart to Heart

Cynthia John

Dear Parent,
The recent earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria highlight the precarious preciousness of life. But the natural instinct is to shield children from such tragedies.

Yet while it’s prudent not to expose them to gory images in the media, it’s not necessary to over-protect children from learning about the realities of life.

In a world […]

Keep it real with VERISIMILITUDE

Roopa Banerjee

When we watch a realistic film, we laud it as a ‘slice of life’ movie while recommending it to friends. The same is true for books that faithfully portray life as it is. Writers use verisimilitude to create the real-life effect.

Verisimilitude is defined as being real or near to truth. It is used in […]

Exciting opportunities in medical tourism

India’s post-liberalisation state-of-the-art hospitals, well-qualified doctors and low medical charges are attracting a rising number of patients from developed countries with ageing populations

With the costs of medical care particularly surgical procedures, having soared beyond middle class affordability, and waiting lists in public hospitals in developed OECD countries becoming longer, medical tourism has emerged as a […]

Replace digital screen focus with other activities

Parents need to make efforts to wean children off digital devices by engaging them in non-tech activities writes Mini P

The time children expend staring at digital devices such as smartphones, desktop computers and laptops has increased dramatically after the Covid pandemic. According to a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics, children’s on screen time spiked […]

early detection of communication disorders in babies

Speech & language development milestones

The first three years of a child’s life are the most important and intensive period for developing speech and language skills. These inherent skills are best learned in an environment rich with sounds, sights, and exposure to speech and language capabilities of adults.

While the majority of children cross early childhood speech development milestones smoothly, some […]

News Bytes

Parenting more stressful than expected
Parenting is a far harder job than expected, say parents surveyed by the US-based Pew Research Center. The study, released in January for which 3,757 parents were interviewed, reports that while eight of ten parents believe parenting is enjoyable most of the time, 62 percent said it was far harder […]

Mailbox

Good advice
Your recipes section (PW January) inspired me to rediscover apples, a crunchy powerhouse of nutrients.
In India, we are used to eating raw apples and rarely cook or bake them. But your apple recipes were far too tempting not to try out. I tried the apple pie and crumble and both have become […]

Helping children resist negative peer pressure

PW invited parents of Gurukul The School, Ghaziabad to share how they are helping their children cope with negative peer pressure

“We attentively listen to the concerns of our son Avni (class IV) and nurture a strong sense of self-worth within him to support him in resisting negative peer pressure. By providing positive role models and […]

Helping children cope with school bullies

PW invited parents of Delhi Public School, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad to share insights on how they help their children to manage school bullies

“Our first lesson to our daughter Shreem (class XI) has been to act smart, brave and firmly tell the bully to stop and walk away. We help her practice ways to ignore a […]

Yogasanas to boost children’s immunity

There are several yogasanas which improve children’s bodily immunity, writes Smriti Sivakumar

Practising yoga enhances body strength and builds immunity of people in all age groups. Several yogasanas improve blood circulation and functioning of the nervous and lymphatic systems leading to greater immunity. Here are some yoga exercises to strengthen children’s immune systems (NB. guidance of […]

Summer’s here! Dehydration & sunstroke prevention

My children love playing outdoor games but I’m worried about them playing in the hot summer sun. How great is the danger of dehydration and sunstroke?
— Priyanshi Dutta, Mumbai

Prolonged exposure to sun/heat can strike children down with dehydration and sunstroke. The best ways to prevent them are to encourage children to wear light coloured […]

Autism signs and symptoms

My six-year old son is distracted and unfocused. I suspect he could be suffering from autism. What are the signs of autism disorder?
— Krithika Reddy, Bengaluru

You need to closely monitor your child’s development milestones such as speech, inter-personal and emotional skills. Some signs to look out for:
 He doesn’t gesticulate or uses fewer […]

Kids and money: 5 ways to start the conversation

Children feel empowered to learn about money and financial independence when they understand basic concepts, writes Bomikai Zeka and Abdul Lateef Alhassan

When it comes to teaching young children about the world, parents may feel that some topics — like politics and religion — are too tough to broach. Money is another. Parents may not feel […]

Why children need a good night’s rest every night

With World Sleep Day coming up on March 17, we highlight the importance of children getting sufficient, good quality sleep; common sleep disorders and ways and means to improve children’s nocturnal rest and rejuvenation writes Ramiya Sakthivel, Mini P. & Cynthia John

“Sleep, the main course in life’s feast, and the most nourishing” — William Shakespeare, […]

Letter from managing editor

Post-Covid, sleep deprivation is emerging as the new pandemic. A rapidly multiplying number of millennial parents, Gen Z, the young and old are all to a greater or lesser extent suffering this 21st century lifestyle malady. Compulsion to work hard and play hard in the age of the smartphone, social media, and OTT revolutions, has […]