April 26th, 2008 | Babies, Children, Parenting, Personal | 2 Comments
Due to my baby Clarisse’s constant demand for breastmilk, I have never left her to be cared by someone else throughout her first 10 months. Even during the day, baby Clarisse needs to be nursed to sleep. I bring her along wherever I go.
Now that she’ll be turning one next month, I’m glad to be able to devote all my time and energy to care for her throughout her entire first year but this has to stop somehow. I have decided it’s time for me to get a job and return to the workforce.
Before seriously looking for jobs, there are a few things I need to take care of. First, I have to wean baby Clarisse from breastfeeding. Secondly, my mother has agreed to take care of baby Clarisse and we have to make sure baby Clarisse get used to spending long hours at her grandma’s house gradually.
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April 15th, 2008 | Children, Parenting | 1 Comment
The consensus among experts confirm that one of the reasons for violence in society is agression towards children in their early years. More so when children are physically abused. Luckily, most parents are not towards such extremism but many do not realise that harmless spanking is a silent catalyst that teaches children the use of aggression and violence to solve problems in life.
A child’s irrational temper and tantrum, especially when it’s accompanied by loud crying and wailing, drive parents up the wall. I should know better because I’ve been guilty of spanking her twice before. I remember I first smacked her, although so very softly, at around 7 months. It was way past bedtime that night but baby Clarisse was in a really cranky mood and refuses to sleep. Frustration came over me. My gentle-approach mom came into the bedroom, gave me a piece of her mind and cared for baby Clarrisse while I took some time off. Some really needed time off I’d say. The second incident was more or less the same.
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April 11th, 2008 | Babies, Children, Health, Parenting | No comments
Travelling with a baby tagging along is always a challenge. More so when it’s the first trip for you and your baby.
With a little careful planning, even air travel can be organised into a manageable logistical mess. The word is manageable at the very best because frankly, you’d never know what to expect.
Before embarking on your overseas trip, have your baby checked for vaccinations that might be needed in the country you’re visiting, particularly third world and developing countries. A visit to the doctor a few weeks beforehand is advised as some vaccinations require separate doses over several weeks.
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January 18th, 2008 | Babies, Children, Parenting, Personal | 1 Comment
I get annoyed when sales people come up to me out of no where and start babbling non-stop about products or services I have absolutely no interest in. Majority of them are credit card promoters. These days, my frustration with sales people hit a new high.
It is so annoying to have inconsiderate sales people approach when my baby Clarisse had just dozed off. I don’t know about your baby, but Clarisse is an extremely distractable baby. It’s a chore to get her to nap when my husband and I are out shopping.
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January 16th, 2008 | Children, Computing, Parenting | 2 Comments
My sister called me today. She wanted to know if there’s an easy and effective way to make Internet surfing safer for kids. That means blocking websites with adult content, violence, unsafe chatrooms and virtually any stuff that’s deemed unsuitable for kids. Her children, aged 7 and 4, are very computer savvy. Browsing the web is literally child’s play these days. It’s very important to keep unsafe content out of their reach.
I thought I’d share with you a simple way to prevent your kids, and everyone else in the house, from accessing malicious websites. For adults, weeding out pornography sites is easy but phishing websites are much harder to detect. Phishing refers to dummy websites setup by pranksters to steal your private data like usernames, passwords, credit card details and such.
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January 11th, 2008 | Babies, Children, Diet, Health, Parenting | 24 Comments
G6PD deficiency and jaundice
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, one of the most common metabolic disorders afflicting newborns, requires special dietary care for both babies and their nursing mothers. Babies born with G6PD deficiency means their body lacks a specific enzyme, G6PD. Without G6PD enzyme, red blood cells have a shorter life spans when exposed to certain chemicals, usually found in food and drugs. Hence when red blood cells are destroyed (anaemic hemolysis) it will cause anaemia, resulting in dizziness, pale-skin, persistent tiredness, headache, tea-colored urine, abdominal or back pain.
Newborns are by nature born with excess amount of red blood cells. Their bodies will break down excess red blood cells and this process creates bilirubin, a waste product which their liver needs to dispose of. Often, their immature liver are taxed when excess bilirubin are required to be disposed from the body. This causes jaundice which is very normal in newborns. However, newborns with G6PD deficiency, with more than normal excess of bilirubin needed to be extracted from the body, taxes the already overloaded liver even more. As a result, they often experience higher and prolonged levels of jaundice than normal newborns.
How do you care for babies with G6PD deficiency?
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January 7th, 2008 | Children, Health, Parenting | 3 Comments
Respiratory infections such as flu or a common cold are known to affect toddlers younger than five years old an average of 10 times per year. Those who are sent to day care, nursery or pre-school have a much higher chance of developing colds. On the bright side though, the common cold or flu is their body’s way to ward off viruses and they recover, your toddler’s immune system would’ve developed antibodies againsts these familiar viruses.
Barring complications like severe sore throats, ear infections, high fever or pneumonia, toddler’s common cold or flu usually doesn’t require a consultation with the paedatrician. Viral infections can’t be cured medically. Parents will have to let their toddler’s cold run it’s course and bear with the symptoms. Your child’s body will heal itself. What you can do is to relieve your kids from the discomfort and here are some home care ideas to provide such relief:
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