Caring for a baby is very crucial because during the initial first year the baby’s immune system is quite weak. Due to this, there are amplified chances for him or her to develop several common diseases in babies or sickness in infant. But with the right care, you can treat common diseases in babies easily.

However, new parents and caregivers may have several questions related to their infants’ healthcare. So this guide will help you to know how to care for your baby and prevent the common diseases in babies and sickness in infant. Now let’s have a look at the common diseases in babies worth one year or less and how to care for them, or how to prevent them earlier only.

•  Bowel movements

  Keeping track of the bowel movement of your infant is crucial because this can help you to know if your infant is likely to develop any disease. So the different factors you need to consider regarding the bowel movement of your baby are as follows.

• Consistency.

  Initially, the consistency of your kid’s stool will range from loose, runny or soft. However, infant or formula-fed may have stools with a tan yellow shade and firmer as compared to the infants who are breastfed. All you need to consider while checking the consistency of your infants’ stool is that it should not be hard or very dry because this can be a sign of dehydration.

• Colour.

  The  Initial bowel movement of a newborn is generally a dark green or black coloured substance known as meconium. However, once the meconium has passed, you can see that the colour of the stools will turn yellowish-green.

• Frequency.

  When your baby has reached the duration of three to six weeks, he or she should have one bowel movement per week in case you breastfeed the infant. However, if you formula feed your infant, then the baby will have fewer bowel movements than this. If you find hard stools, you should immediately check with your healthcare provider as this could be a symptom of a sickness in infant known as Constipation

• Colics

  In case your baby is continuously crying in the evening and it gets worse through the night, then this could be a symptom of another sickness in infant known as colic. According to the research conducted by the American Association of Paediatrics, approximately 1/5^th of the babies between the age of two to four weeks have an amplified risk of developing colic. Being one of the common diseases in babies, the symptoms can include excessive crying or screaming by the babies, passing gas or pulling up their legs. In some cases, the baby might even enlarge their stomachs.

  Once your baby enters the duration of three to four months, the colic is likely to improve. Though there is no definite reason for developing colic, sometimes a change of diet for the breastfeeding mother or changing the bottle-fed formula of the infants can help. You can even truncate the adverse effects of colic by a pacifier or snugly wrapping your baby in a blanket.

• Jaundice

  Due to the buildup of bilirubin, a substance produced by the body during the breakdown of the old red blood cells, your baby might get one of the most common diseases in babies known as jaundice. Jaundice causes a yellowish tinge in your baby’s mouth, eyes and skin.

  In case the liver of the baby is unable to remove bilirubin from the body in the first few days after birth, the infant may get jaundice.  This sickness in infant should be immediately treated by contacting your healthcare provider. Generally, the infants need no treatment during jaundice but your healthcare provider may sometimes prescribe phototherapy for the infant.

*Information shared here is for general purpose. Please take doctors’ advice before making any decision.