Sprouted ragi/Panjapul porridge for babies/infants/ 7-12 months old

Sprouted ragi/Panjapul porridge for babies/infants/ 7-12 months old

(Please continue exclusive breast feeding and you should never feed a single drop of water to the baby till 06 months of age)

Sprouted ragi/Panjapul porridge for babies/infants/ 7-12 months old

Preparation of articles

Articles needed are:

1. Cooking bowl-1
2. Cooking spoon-1
3. Feeding bowl-1 
4. Feeding spoon-1 
5. Big pan-1
6. Covering lids-3
7. Mixer grinder-1 (Only for baby)
8. Scrubber-1 

• Keep all articles separately for the baby and do not use for other purposes. (Rationale- To prevent bacterial contamination)

• Wash all articles with tap water and soap. Take drinking water in a big pan, put all the articles (except scrubber) and boil it for five minutes by covering with a lid. After 10 minutes, you can take it for cooking. Use this method at early morning and do not skip this method to prevent further infections for the baby.

• Mixer grinder is the best source of bacterial growth, so that mother should clean it well. Take the white paper, dish wash solution and 50 ml of water in the grinder, grind it for 1 minute and wash it very well (do it weekly) (Rationale- To remove food stain and dirt). Then, pour boiling water and cover it with lid for ten minutes (do it early morning every day) (Rationale- To kill bacteria completely). And keep it dry.

Preparation of ingredients

Ragi/Panjapul powder

Wash ragi/Panjapul very well and soak it in drinking water for six hours. Drain the water completely and allow it to dry in room temperature or keep under the fan for two hours. Take a towel, keep ragi in the center of the towel and, cover and tie it properly. Make sure that no water should be there. Keep this in a vessel and cover with a lid. Keep it for overnight. Next day morning, you can see sprouted ragi. If any foul smell is there, discard it and try another one.

Sprouted ragi

You have three methods to dry the sprouted ragi/Panjapul.
1. Keep it under sunlight till it becomes crispy. (Make sure that no dust, insects and animals come on contact)
2.  If it is not a sunny day, you can bake it in pre heated oven for 20 minutes at 180 Degree Celsius and allow it to cool.
3. You can roast in a pan on medium flame till it becomes crispy and dry, and allow it to cool.
Take the ragi/Panjapul in a mixer grinder, grind it as the fine powder and keep it in the fridge.

Jaggary solution

Take crushed palm sugar and add 1 glass of water and boil it until the palm sugar dissolves. Allow it to cool and strain it through a cleaned strainer. Pour it into a jar and keep it in the fridge (you can add this solution to boiling foods and give to baby otherwise, the baby may get diarrhea).

Preparation of sprouted ragi/Panjapul porridge

1. Sprouted ragi/Panjapul- 2 tsp
2. Jaggary solution-2 tsp
3. Drinking water-100 ml

Method:

Wash hands with soap and water.
In a bowl, take ragi/Panjapul powder and palm sugar solution and, mix it very well. Add water slowly and stir it well and make sure that it does not have lumps. Keep this mixture in room temperature for 10 minutes for soaking. Then, keep on low flame and cook it for 10 minutes. Stir it continuously and the solution gets thickened very well.  

How to cool the porridge (Double cooling method): (Rationale- To prevent bacterial growth)

Take water in a big bowl and keep the cooking bowl in water. Stir it continuously. This step is crucial for rapid cooling to prevent bacterial growth. Feed the baby immediately, when the porridge is lukewarm.

Preferred feeding time: 8-9 am

The position of the baby:
Wash hands with soap and water.
I have tried many positions including sitting positions, but I am not able to feed the full amount of food.

Best position is- Make mother sit on a floor with supported back and stretched legs. Keep the baby on your legs and head of the baby facing towards your legs. So that you can get a control on face and arms of the baby. Keep the head of the baby slightly elevated.

How to feed the baby: Give a spoon of food and allow ample time for the baby to swallow it. If the baby does not open the mouth, give a mild pressure on one side of the cheek and give food. You can feed the full amount of food by keeping the baby engaged with toys. Avoid the third person with you otherwise, you and baby might be distracted.
It is essential to expel the gas from the stomach to prevent vomiting for the baby. After a few spoons of feeding, make the baby to sit and gently pat on the back from bottom to top, till you hear the 'burp' sound. 

To be noted: While feeding the baby, make sure that food should not spill over the nose and eyes. If it is spilled on the nose, gently wipe the food with a towel. If it is spilled on eyes, immediately wash the eyes until the baby is comfortable.

Aftercare of the baby: Keep the baby in the same position for at least 10 minutes in order to prevent projectile vomiting. Wash the face with clean water and dry with a towel.

Aftercare of the articles: After feeding, immediately wash the articles with the soapy solution and rinse it very well and, keep it for dry till the next feeding to prevent bacterial growth.

To be noted: 

• Watch the stools of the baby for any color change and you can see the level of digestion of food. 
• Do not compromise on cleaning and hygiene of the food, otherwise, you have to see the little one is suffering from infections.
• Continue breast feeding along with solid foods.

Reliability of the information 

"We live in the midst of so many answers, suggestions, and options to one question itself. During my motherhood period, I found very difficult to opt the best do's for my baby, despite being a professional nurse. After a lot of readings, observations, brainstorming discussions with my colleagues who are nursing experts, health professionals, and experienced mothers, and I have opted the best things for my baby, implemented and succeeded to have a happy motherhood period without a single episode of fever, cold or diarrhea for the baby and sleepless night too. In spite of committing trials and errors during your parenting time, you can read, understand and implement it. If you have any queries or suggestions, a great welcome to my blog."

                                                                                  Mrs.Ponnambily Jobin