A baby who is born very small with a weight lesser than 2 1/2 kilos or 5 pounds would need special care. Since such babies are born in situation, they would surely need intensive attentions from both their parents and their doctors. Such children might be as a result of Premature birth or some kind of situations which aren’t very natural to a person.
If such a child was given birth to in a rural environment, there are ways by which the mother can take care of the child but it would advisable in many cases to get such kid to a hospital for a regular check ups.
The hospital thus becomes a place that shields them from cold based in the way they are being treated. Some are usually placed in controlled conditions of an incubator.
However, for a baby who us basically healthy, a mother can often provide similar warmth and protection by “Kangarooing” the baby.
As usual, we all know the influence of mother’s to babies. If a child sits closer Skin to Skin to the child, then there might be a greater possibilities for the child to survive such a harsh conditions he/she is into because of the lesser weight.
For the home remedies of healthy babies, it would be nice to at least attempt a medical help first and get a better glimpse of what the doctor says. This gives confidence in home treatments based on recommendations from the physician. Better still, try the following to keep your underweight baby healthy from harsh conditions.

#1. Place the baby naked, with or without a diaper or nappy, upright inside your clothing against your skin, between your breast. (This helps to wear a loose blouse, sweater or wraps tied around the waste) This keeps the baby closer to a natural condition with guarantee of bounding with the baby in a natural form and this helps a lot .

#2. Let the baby suck the breast of the mother as often as he wishes to. But at least it should be rescheduled every 2 hours. As the powerful as the breast milk goes, this help even the normal infants to grow far rapidly. Since they take the natural food which is filled with 100% nutrients made for their age, they tend to grow both physically and mentally. The same with the underweight babies. Each should be well fed with the breast milk to ensure their healthiness.

#3. While sleeping, sleep propped up so that the baby would stay upright. That way, natural breeze would cool down the hotter conditions of the baby if necessary and if necessary, it gets him or her warmer. All this natural changes of temperature happens by the body’s natural means. So such a situation would save the day. But in situations where mother gets tired of a sleeping position and tries changing the position, it might be far better to no to sleep on top of the baby since he/she is small and can’t withstand any heavy condition. Better still, mothers could change positions by either adding mor pillows but remaining in the upright positions.

#4. Wash the baby’s face and button each day. This is a personal hygiene to keep the baby off germs and infections. If in a situation where you think your baby might have “Pooed” (excrete) on you, you can just clean everything up but with a warm water. Babies naturally hates cold water. So make sure the baby stays healthy by keeping him/her hygienic as regular as you can. That way, he/she grows to his normal weight in time.

#5. Make sure the baby stays warm all the time. If it is cold, dress the bay with extra clothing and cover his head with a head warmer and not a cloth so he can breath out easily. Cover his ear and his hands and feet. Make sure he is as okay as you feel he should be. Remember that human beings are warm blooded animals.

#6. Ask for help from others. If that isn’t clear, what it means is that when the mother is trying to rest from the “Kangarooing” method or tries to change or take her bath or whatever makes her to change the position of the baby from his warmth, it might be very nice to seek the help of his father or any relative to do the same “Kangarooing” pending the arrival of the mother. That way, the child stays healthy and the temperature wouldn’t drop low.

#7. Always take the baby to a hospital as usual. This is a normal way of getting better attention from the medical personnel. He or she sees the improvement and or remeasure the baby. Their is need to perform tests for infections and other known issues that might endanger the well being of the poor baby. He has to take all his vaccinations. That way, he would stay healthy and his immune system would continue to get build up and be able to fight off infections.

#8. From the ages of 2 weeks, the baby would be in a vital need of Vitamin supplements and Irons. The daily dosage should be: Iron (Ferrous Sulfate) 25 mg; Folic Acid 1.25 mg (1/4 tablet); and multivitamin preparation to provide vitamin A 2,599 units, Vitamin D 400 units and Vitamin C 25 mg.

Note:

Seek your medical personnel for a better prescription. Don’t take this prescriptions as a substitute to the doctor’s advise instead, seek a better medical care to know his the case is. The doctor knows better.

In Conclusion:

The baby should be kept clean, warm and healthy. The baby should be well fed often to help build his/her weight back to its normal state and regular visitation to the hospital and clean and clear conversation between the mother/ parents and the physician would help improve the well being of the child. So therefore helping to keep the baby strong and alive demands the hard work of the parents.