Hello Hetal and all,
qn. for 8 mo. old baby. So far I' ve tried all gerber 1st, 2nd foods and mixed grain cereal, kichidi for the baby. Cereal for breakfast, gerber for lunch and kichide for dinner and 24oz. of milk other times.
1. My qn. is on what to try next or stick with repeating these.
2. Also am planning on India trip in a month so pls. advise on that. Dr. says to give gerber only in India so should I try all gerber 3rd foods now and take them with me to feed for all 3 times in a day there in India? Also is nursery water available in Chennai? Any tips on this would be appreciated.
3. My baby has a dry patch in the centre of the scalp and keeps scratching there and gets flakes. Is this cradle cap? what can I do to cure? she already has very less hair. will this harm hair growth.

Thank you
Hetal replied. what ST has suggestd is quite true !

as far as you are practicng proper hygne its not at all required that babiies needs to have gerber foods when in india or newhere else !!!

even though staying in US, my baby never had gerber foodss ! she was on homecooked food ttly.not to mention when i went for vacation my cereals stock was over, all i did was fresh homecooked cereals for her for almost 1month.
whatever you offer, start homecooked meals from now itself so that she gets used to the taste,,because as to what i know many kids were quite stubborn to directly accept homecooked meals esp if they were gerber babies ! so transition them by mixing the gerber puree and home cooked puree n keep lowerng the % of gerber food in the total meal,,,and give them smooth introduction,,and take your baby newhere,,buying fresh vegetable, getng fresh fruit and havng a pressure cooker is far better thn stockng up gerber foods(that you dont know whats in there,,do you ? ) and your baby will never remain hungry !

3. are you talking about the soft spot that is dry n flaky ? or centre of the scalp that is on the top of the head where the hair groves meet ? if its dry n flaky, and the flakes are just like danrufffff,,thn your child scalp needs some lubircatn,,just a touch.but it will depend on exact location n the type of dryness or patch you mentioned.

this being a vitual media,,the amt of flakes, n actual place of dry patch , and as to how it looks like,,its difficult to explain and its difficult to judge...hope i was next door to see it.there are somethings about cradle cap,,see if it seems the same description or same thing that you are seeing it on your child scalp !
1. if your baby scalp has flaky, dry skin that looks like dandruff, or even thicker, sometimes oily or yellowish or brown scales drop off or sometimes patches are seen that are crusty when you touch them,,,thn its most likely to be cradle cap. most likely doesnt mean it has to be cradle cap...there are other types of skin rashes that are quite normal for babies from 6-12months just that some requires treatment and some like cradle cap doesnt require actual antibiotic or ne such medicnl treatment.
it doesnt look good to have one, but its harmless.and it happens to go away by the time your child is 1year..in many cases,,it was carried on until 3years.
if your child seems to feel itchy there, like putting his hand there more often,,jus remove his hand and divert him..when left untouched, it will heal faster.
if it bothers you that it might harm your baby hair, shampoo your child scalp more frequently, and while doing so, gently massage your baby scalp with fingr tips in circular direction,,nowadays some good brushes have also come,,get one if you are ready to spend.
use gentle baby shampoo that is made for sensitive skin,,and after washing, give the same kind of gentle massage with a soft cotton towel(avoid using the fur towel)...and dry hair n scalp with most gentle moves.dont over do,,constant rubbng will make the skin more dry...
since oil helps to loose dry flakes(make sure the flakes are dry and after all i wrote, make sure its cradle cap ! ), thn and only thn, rub a very lil namesake pure oil(any, almond or olive,olive oil is the best though ! or ne edible oil is fine), on your baby scalp n leave it for a while. after a while, just comb the area where flakes are there with fine comb or the one that has soft brush(baby brush, thin ones),,in some cases it helps..it dpends on severity n also on baby own scalp as to how it reacts..
try this only if its cradle cap...

if this dry patch is newhere outside your baby scalp, this is not cradle cap and your baby needs to be seen by your dr !! also, if this patch becomes red or is of pinkish colour, your child needs to be seen by your dr.
also, if this dryness starts producing bigger flakes that are more like skin and they fall off as if skin is falling off, thn your child needs immediate attn..the bigger flakes will be thicker thn normal sized ones and wont be transprnt.
so before trying ne remedy that even i told(unless you are sure that its cradle cap),,let your dr examine it physically so that things dont go worst...

thats all i can recall as of now about cradle cap,,see if ne of the above helps you.

good luck ! ST replied. Dear Chitra,
Your question was directed to Hetal but hope you don' t mind my comment.
I think it is not necessary to give only Gerber foods in India. I' ve taken my 2 kids at the similar age to Chennai and I gave only fresh home cooked food. You can use Gerber during the travel time in India. In US, they told me in the hospital that nursery water was not necessary, just use tap water. In Chennai I boiled the Aquagard water, Or I got the large cans of mineral water and boiled that. Some of the doctors in US are not aware that Chennai is a metropolitan and big city. You can ask elders what they normally give and follow that. USe clean utensils.

There are several posts in this feeding board about advice during India trip. You can go through them. All the best for yout trip.
ST