Hetal, your suggestions have been very helpful to me.i hv'bn reading your replies and they are very easy to understand & are clear.thank you very much for your support and guidance.

i have some queries. in one of your mails, you said that ask your ped for the growth charts. i followed that and it was very helpful. but i see differences in milestones at a particular month in charts given by my ped and in various baby sites.
i observed that sometimes my baby reaches the milestones mentioned on babysites and other times he follows the chart that my ped gave.
so now i am really confused and i don't know which one to follow ?
can you please clear my confusion.
i have one more question regardng potty training. my son is 6months now and he is not able to sit with support. do you think it's good idea to start potty training ? i read in some forums that potty training with cloth diapers in winter gives cold to baby, is it true ?
does it really work ?
my wife is working and my mother takes care of my son. it will be tedious job for my wife and mother to manage cloth diapers.
so now i want to ask you what do you suggest me ?

Hetal, my family wishes you a very healthy pregnancy.g'day.
pi replied. chill rajiv
these ladies are out of reach

;-) simran replied. thanks pooja

i also hv work hrs like his wife but i hd taken a days leave adjacent to weekend+public holiday to start potty trng the kid.
Thanksgiving and xmas holidays are arriving, his wife can use that time if possible.
waise why wife, why cant rajiv himself do that ;-)
juz kidding

neki kar, dariya mein daal pooja replied. i think what simran means to say abt temperature is that even if u hv minus temp in US still the temp is controlled inside the house (unless rajiv has it otherwise) but its not the case in delhi. so all in all, staying inside such house in -ve temp outside in US is better thn being in 2-3 degrees in delhi with the child and potty trng it!

and not to forget, in india they also depend on nature for clothes to dry, dont hv dryers. and in delhi for 2-3 mons there is no sun all foggy. simran replied. Hetal's reply must be on the way, let me share my experiences meanwhile.

milestones : Yes, milestones chart are different at diff places. Infact, there cannot be a hard line drawn for the milestones, we can only give an apprx period.
What we can do as parents is - look for milestones in apprx +/- 1 month period and consult doc if anything seems not normal.

My second baby showed first milestone before any chart listed it. But rolled over to tummy later than any chart said!

Potty training: I think its good time for u to start potty training the baby. I started at 4m for my first kid and by the time she was crawling well, she wd go to the potty for pee and poo and scream holding it! I started training like this : baby generally makes faces or moans or makes strange noises when it is abt to poo. At that time, pick the baby and hold over the potty. Dnt worry if anytime the baby has already done it/does it on the way ... still hold the baby there. Or make the baby sit on potty for some time (as u hold the baby). Start like this and take to proper training gradually. Make it a fun time, esp in begining. If baby starts hating it, it ll be trbl for u to train. Never force the baby.
U can refer to other potty trng messages too.

Abt catching cold: are u in India/abroad? I m assuming u r in Ind as u r talking of cloth diapers. Well, i hv always used cloth diapers for my 2 kids and potty trained them. I m in delhi so u can imagine the winters. I took basic care - covered the baby's top if i hv removed diaper, used a room-heater when it was too cold, used lukewarm water to wash, made sure the baby doesnt stay nude and cold after the 'programme'. (assuming a normal healthy baby). If the next cloth diaper .. infact .. pyjama .. was too cold, i wd run it in microwave for few seconds and then put it on the baby!

O yes ... and i m a working person too :)

hope this helps
simran