Dear Maham

Both Gayatri Devi and Guru Bandhu have suggested giving massage to
the baby. Guru Bandhu's discussing breast feed brings in another
point to authors mind.

Massage to the baby right from 7th day after birth is common indian
custom. Mother too receives massage for 40 days after child birth. If
the child birth has occured at in-laws house, ancient acharyas have
declared mothe a sort of 'untouchable' for 40 days, the real purpose
behind this may she gets adequate rest and VIP treatment of special
medicinal food such as Fenugreek Laddus and Gondh-ke-laddu. 40
days 'untouchable' period gives her adequate rest and other treatment
so that all the reproductive system returns to normal, baby gets
adequate breast feed.

Baby massage oil is a special oil, made from sesame oil and
Aswagandha, if baby is weak. This oil is readily available in Indian
phrmacies as well as on on-line sites (e.g. allayurveda.com).
Aswagandha is a muscle builder and brain tonic too. However, while
starting, equal mixture of aswgandha oil with other oil (sesame or
coconut) may be used so that body gradually knows the use of
aswagandha. Oil should be warmed a little before massage. Massage
done by mother herself produces best results. In case there is any
difficulty in obtaining oil where you are located, see an earlier
post on making hair oil by this author at message no 1210. Instead of herbal
powders suggested there, use aswgandha powder only and use equal mixture of
sesame and coconut oil for boiling aswgandha powder. Vata and pitta vitiation
does not allow weight gain, in general.

Aswagandha is a unique herb which can cause both weight gain as well as weight
loss. Taking juice of its fresh leaves is recommended often by Baba Ramdev. But
if one takes powder of its roots and makes aswgandha ksheer pak (procedure
available in file 'medicine_chest.doc' in folder 'articles' in group files) the
weight gain is certain, especially if the age is less than 20 years.
In ayurveda, the herbs and foods behave differently depending on how they are
used, in sharp contrast to modern medicines, which have only one uniform
behaviour, suppress one set of symptoms (disease) and produce another (side
effects).

Overemphasis in this group on contacting nearest ayurvedist rather than going
purely by suggestions on the list is due to this unique behaviour of herbal
medicines. Often the list suggestion are incomplete in exact dosage, method of
administration, source of meidine, food restrictions etc. They will be
incomplete since these are mere suggestions and not prescriptions.

Author would like to point out a special property of milk. for all who have any
allergy to milk, try the whey suggested by Gurubandhu. It contains all vitamins,
minerals but leaves out the proteins which are alergens for some. Whey is also
useful when loose motions occur.
Author devotes a separate post to whey next. Thanks Gurubandhu for beinging out
this topic.

Dr Bhate

--- In ayurvedaonline@yahoogroups.com, Guru Khalsa <greatyoga@...>
wrote:
>
> Maham,
>
> My teacher always recommended to breast feed for as long as
possible. He also recommended using the whey from split milk. Just
boil milk and add some lemon juice or vinegar and strain out the whey
from the curds. Use the curds to make saag panir for a healthy meal
for you. Give your baby a good full body massage at least once daily.
>
> GB Khalsa
>
> > hi my baby of 6 month is a bit weak what food should i give him
to make him strong.
>