We’ve made some changes to her diet. She’s eating a lot more solids these days. There’s three servings of a variety of porridge – lunchtime at 12pm, dinner at 6pm and finally a very small portion at 8pm just before bedtime. You might say she’s eating a lot of porridge but do bear in mind she is very reluctant to drink milk.

Babies her age should consume daily twice as much milk than what she’s drinking right now. It is a very difficult task to bottle feed her. Baby Clarisse wants to be entertained to such an extent its driving us bonkers, especially at 4-5am at dawn when we could barely keep our eyes open. I have to keep at it no matter how difficult it may be and hope someday she’d develop a liking for milk. She is fed a mix of cereals and milk very early in the morning when she wakes up hungry. Baby Clarisse ritually wakes up between 5am to 7am, so my husband and I wakes up extra early these days to feed a struggling baby every morning. Nerve-wrecking at times. Her next feeding of milk will be at 3pm, kinda like teatime between lunch and dinner.

Unlike the past one year where baby Clarisse is nursed whenever she demands for breastmilk, I’ve fixed a fairly rigid feeding schedule now to keep her tummy filled.

Kind of unfair to single out sushi as the main cuisine to have raw meat and fish I admit. Sickness contracted from uncooked food can be especially harmful to pregnant women. Food poisoning can cause diarrhoea which reduces your body’s ability to absorb nutrient. On the other end, it can cause severe complications and lead to foetal abnormalities.

Cold cuts

Make sure to put pre-packed lunch meat in the microwave before eating them. Pre-packed lunch meat usually sold at supermarket deli counter are known to carry the risk of containing listeria. Listeria can survive despite being heated before you buy them.

Cured Meat

Sausages and bacon are full of nirates and preservatives. Something pregnant women should try to avoid as these substances may be linked to foetal abnormalities. Like pre-packed meat, they should be consumed when steaming hot to ensure no risks of possible listeria contamination.

Soft cheeses

Brie and soft cheese such as blanco, queso and Camembert are considered high-risk food group for listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne bacteria which is known to cause serious health problems for pregnant women.

Energy bars

Energy bars are great as they are powerhouse when it comes to multivitamin contents. So much so that it could be detrimental and potentially toxic to pregnant women who are on regular prescription of pre-natal vitamins. Pregnant women already consuming pre-natal vitamins are adviced against taking extra supplements to prevent overdosage.

FOLIC ACID

Also referred to as folate, folic acid is one of the very first and widely prescribed supplement to pregnant woman. It is also given to women who intend to conceive and should be taken one month before conception until the end of first trimester of pregnancy. In fact, I was adviced to start taking folic acid when I wanted to start conceiving. A whole six months before I managed to conceive baby Clarisse.

Why the need for folic acid? Sufficient folic acid supplementation is crucial to protect against neural tube defects. The lack of folate could cause neural tube defects in an embryo during early part of pregnancy. It can cause birth defects severe enough to result in foetus fatality. That is why doctors strictly prescribe folic acid to ensure pregnant women get sufficient levels of folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. No less than 400mcg every day.

Apart from taking folic acid supplement as prescribed by your doctor, you can also get your daily dietary folate intake from five servings of fruits and vegetables and fortified food every day.

VITAMIN A

Vitamin A can be derived from two sources: plant-based foods and animal products. Plant-based Vitamin A is known as beta-carotene whereas those derived from animal products are retinyl esters.

Vitamin A found in most supplements are derived from animal products which can cause birth defects in the children of pregnant women if consumed in excess, over 10000 IU to be exact. Pregnant women should only consume pre-natal multi-vitamin supplement prescribed by their OB. The daily recommended intake of vitamin A in prenatal vitamins should not exceed 5000IU as many foods contain preformed vitamin A.

Beta-carotene on the other hand, found in fruits and vegetables, is a safe source of vitamin A for pregnant women. There is currently no tolerable upper intake level for beta-carotene because of it’s non-toxicity nature.

Carrots and spinach contains an abundant amount of Vitamin A. Pregnant women should consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruit. In fact, an average carrot provides 15,000 IU of safe beta-carotene form of vitamin A.

CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS

As the foetus grows, calcium plays an important role in fetal bone formation and structure. Phosphorus is needed to form the structure of both DNA and RNA.

Calcium supplements are prescribed by your obstetrician to prevent insufficient calcium level. For pregnant women, if there is not enough calcium in your body, calcium and lead are extracted from the mother’s bones and enters the blood stream. This would pose a risk of damaging the nervous system of the growing foetus. At a later stage of your life, you might experience higher risk of osteoporosis.

Although your pre-natal multi-vitamin supplement may contain calcium, your obstetrician would likely prescribe separate calcium pills for you during your entire pregnancy.

MINERALS: IRON, ZINC AND IODINE

Iron

Pregnant women are prone to iron deficiency. It is a common occurence especially during the last six weeks of pregnancy when you are unlikely to get sufficient iron from even the best iron-clad diet. If you experience severe morning sickness during the earlier stage of pregnancy, carrying twins, conceived again shortly after giving birth and experience heavy menstrual flow before pregnancy, you are at a higher risk of iron deficiency.

Why is your iron requirement considerably higher when you’re pregnant? Simply because iron is crucial in making blood for you, your baby and placenta. When you’re pregnant your body’s blood requirement goes up considerably.

Take adequate vitamin C too as it is needed for absorption of iron into your body. supplementation, however, can interfere with your body’s ability to absorb zinc from food. Therefore, it is common for zinc supplements to be given alongside iron supplements.

Zinc

Pregnant women needs adequate level of zinc to prevent preterm births and to a lesser extent, ensure healthy babies and smoother deliveries. Your pre-natal vitamins will contain sufficient zinc supplementation

It is common for zinc supplements to be given alongside iron supplements because extra iron interferes with your body’s ability to absorb zinc from food.

Iodine

As for the role of iodine during pregnancy, according to the WHO, the lack of iodine is the single greatest cause of mental retardation in babies. Growing foetus uses their mother’s iodine to develop thyroid hormones and allows the brain to grow normally. Your pregnancy iodine intake requirement is available in pre-natal supplement.

Recent studies show that giving your colicky infant Probiotics might help relieve colic symptoms as well as several related conditions such as lactose intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis, and gastric inflammation.

I should let you know I have not given my baby Probiotics during her colic period. We talked it over with the paeditrician and to my understanding, my baby is already consuming a healthy dose of probiotics as I’m fully breastfeeding her. He also suggested that I could take Probiotics supplement meant for adults and it will benefit my baby through breast milk.

Trouble is, what if you’re bottle feeding your baby? I’m sure the first question that pops into our mind is how safe it is for babies to consume probiotics. A clinical study was done a few years ago on infant formulas containing live probiotic bacteria: Long-term consumption of infant formulas containing live probiotic bacteria: tolerance and safety. However, the safest approach is definitely to consult your doctor before giving your baby probiotics.

Judging from the feedback from friends, family and mothers I’ve personally talked to, none of them are able to tell if probiotics made a noticeable difference. That’s probably because they’ve also relied on other ways to calm a colicky infant. I know first hand how straining it is to raise a baby suffering from colic. The constant inconsolable crying could cause sleep deprivation, depression, stress and feeling of helplessness especially for new parents. And trust me, you’ll go out on a limb and exhaust all available options to ease colic symptoms. If anything just to keep you sane. Give probiotics a try if nothing else seems to work.

If you are going to, or had given your baby Probiotics to help with her colic, let me know if it helps. I will really appreciate your feedback on this.

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?

Parents should take proper precautions when caring for a child with G6PD deficiency. The main thing is keep your child from being exposed to triggers of G6PD deficiency symptoms.

Newborns with G6PD deficiency may suffer from prolonged and more severe levels of jaundice. Often, if the levels are too high, mothers are advised to stop breast feeding their infants for a short period of time by paediatricians as breast milk might interfere with the liver’s ability to conjugate bilirubin.

After being discharged from hospitals, breast-feeding mothers should avoid consuming certain types of food and medications which might induce anaemic hemolysis in G6PD deficient babies. The list of food and drugs to avoid is fairly similar to the ones a G6PD deficient person should avoid. Analgesics, anti-malarials, sulphonamide drugs should be strictly avoided.

Know which types of drugs and medication to avoid: http://www.g6pd.org/favism/english/index.mv?pgid=avoid

On the other hands, there are types of drugs that are safe to take at prescribed doses: http://www.g6pd.org/favism/english/index.mv?pgid=safe

As you can see from the lists above, the number of drugs that should be avoided is fairly comprehensive. To be on the safe side, make sure every medication for your child is acquired via doctor’s prescription.

Both breast-feeding mother and child must avoid fava beans (broad beans). Fava bean remains the most common food to avoid for G6PD deficient individuals.

Keep your child away from mothballs. Do not let them touch or get close enough to inhale the scent of mothballs. If your newborn inherits some hand-me-down clothes, make sure to wash the clothes clean before your baby wears them. You’d never know the clothes may have been stored in close vicinity to mothballs.

Choose milk formulaes which have no traces of soya or soybeans.

Observe your child’s diet by carefully introducing legumes such as peas, beans, lentil or various types of beans. Some people with G6PD deficiency avoid legumes, but not all. Most people shows no symptoms.

Soy products, blueberries and red wine are also trigger symptoms of G6PD deficiency but again, does not necessary affect all people.

Peppermint oil should not be used around your child’s face. In fact, breastfeeding mothers themselves should refrain from using peppermint oil too.

Consumption of brown rice seems to be on the increase among my friends and family. Yesterday I read an article and some forum discussions that brown rice is highly nutritious as it is not processed and stripped of it’s natural goodness.

I’ve been eager to introduce brown rice to baby Clarisse’s diet so yesterday, I bought a packet of organic brown rice under the brand of Radiant Whole Food for her. According to the label, this organic brown rice is not polished and most nutrients are intact. It also very digestable and good source of protein, vitamins and minerals. I don’t know how true is it, but I will try it out for a week.

In the forum, some people said brown rice might cause a bit of constipation but as long as you give more water and barley water to the baby, she will be alright.

I have also gathered a couple of methods to prepare brown rice for babies:

Method 1 :

Wash the brown rice and then sun it to dry. After that, bake the rice for a short while to make sure that it’s very dry, so that you are sure to keep the rice longer. Use the electric grinder to make it into very fine powder. It’s easier to make more at one time, and store it in a container in the refrigerator. Usually one teaspoon of the brown rice makes one meal.

Some people might think it’s a trouble to grind the brown rice in to very fine powder, here is another way to boil brown rice.

Method 2 :

After you had wash the brown rice, soak in the water for few hours before you boil with slow cooker. Pour the brown rice together with the water into slow cooker and leave it boil for over night in low temperature. This is because nutrients will seep into water when brown rice is soaked. You can sieve the porridge in order to make it puree-like.

Currently I’m following the second method.

I start off by boiling a mix of white rice and brown rice, in equal portions. I’m avoiding using solely brown rice as I’m afraid it might cause constipation problems for my baby Clarisse, if what I read from a forum is true. Also, I’m concerned introducing too much fibre in my baby’s diet since I’m feeding her Organic Oat Cereal in the evenings too.

I would be glad if anyone could advise me whether baby Clarisse is having too much fibre. Anyone out there is feeding your baby with brown rice? Please share your thoughts on brown rice for babies’ diet. Much appreciated!

My mother whipped up some pureed rice out of the blue one particular afternoon and tried to feed it to baby Clarisse. Surprisingly, baby Clarisse really enjoyed the meal and ate all of it. Albeit it was only a tiny serving of rice puree but I was pleased she did not spit it out. Babies who aren’t ready for solids tend to push them out with their tougue.

My mom said that I should have introduce solids earlier since baby Clarisse likes it so much. Some people start introducing solids to their babies as early as 4 months while some, on the other hand, wait until their babies are at least 6 months of age. There’s no fixed rule as far as I know when you can start giving your baby solid food.

Safe to say, babies knows best when they are ready to eat solid food. Look for the following clues to see if your baby is prepared to eat solids:

• Ever noticed that when you put something into a young infant’s mouth, their tougue would push it out as if it’s some kind of reflex action? That is called tougue thrust reflex which is meant to help infants push out foreign matter out of their mouth. When my mom fed baby Clarisse her first tiny bit of rice puree, Clarisse did not push it out with her tougue, a sign that her tougue thrust reflex has gone. If not, the food comes right back out again and again.
• By the time most babies have reached 4 – 5 months old, they should be able to hold their head up well without swaying. It is not advisable to feed your baby solid food if there’s any hint of straining to hold his/her head up when propped to sit.
• Take note of your baby’s tougue. This time see if your baby can move her tougue up and down and back and forth. If he/she does, chances are she’s ready for solid food.
• Whenever I eat, Clarisse would watch intently. She gets excited with every bite I take. This is a significant sign telling you that your baby is looking forward to eating solid food.

When it comes to giving her rice porridge for the first time, make sure it is mashed or pureed fine enough for your baby to swallow. Here’s how I do it. After I boiled the rice porridge, I push the rice porridge through a sieve and you can see the porridge is so fine that your baby can just swallow it.

If the rice puree is a bit dry, I add a teespoon of warm water to make it easier to swallow.

Some concerns introducing solid food too early for babies

I have read an article in the newspapers saying that it’s not advisable to introduce solid food too early as it may trigger allergies in babies. The safest food to introduce are rice porridge, cereal and barley. Do not introduce any other food. I’ve only introduced rice porridge to Clarisse when she was 4 1/2 months. Now that she’s 6 months old, I’m starting to give her cereals too. I will also mix some vegetables into the rice puree. Remember to introduce one food at one time for at least a week, to make sure the food will not cause allergy to your baby.

Personally, I would choose to go with the fact that what you feed your baby is more important than when you start them on solid food.

3 weeks later, I recognise the same sort of cry again when Clarisse was around 6 weeks old. She started to cry hysterically around midnight and however I tried to soothe her, she just won’t stop crying. I was beginning to worry and contemplated taking her to the hospital thinking she might be in some sort of pain. I called my mom and told her about Clarisse’s crying. She suggested I rub some oil on Clarisse’s tummy and wrapped her with a towel. Then hold her in my arms in an upright position. That managed to stop her crying. And after several bouts walking around the room holding her tightly in my arms, wrapped warmly in a towel, her head leaning on my shoulder, Clarisse fell asleep. I was absolutely exhausted after her crying spell.

Sensing there’s clearly something wrong with Clarisse, I took her to see a paediatrician the very next day. She told me Clarisse is suffering from colic. The formula milk that Clarisse was drinking at that time might be aggravating it. Coincidentally, Clarisse started to refuse drinking formula milk a few days ago which is good that she made the right choice now that she has colic.

According to my paediatrician, symptoms of colicky babies usually start to show around three weeks of age and it gets worse at around six weeks of age. It disappears around four months or at most six months of age. Clarisse was prescribed Dentinox, to be taken 4 hourly apart, to relieve stomach discomfort. It is to help reduce the amount of wind trapped in her gut and relieve abdominal pain. I was also adviced to watch my diet eliminating dairy and other foods such as cabbage, cauliflower, spicy food, caffeine, onions or others gas producing food.Everyone was telling me that breastfed babies are usually not prone to colic. I was wondering the same thing as well and did some searching for answers. There are three known situations in the breastfed baby that may cause fussiness or colic and this website in particular, offers a very informative read about it.

It’s not easy to cope with Clarisse when she has colic attacks. During her colic period, I tried to feed Clarisse every 2 hours and to avoid overfeeding, I stopped breastfeeding her when she empties one breast. Overfeeding makes colic worst. Here are some of the ways I tried to calm down my baby throughout her colic period, not too scientific, but it worked.

• I applied oil (Franch Oil or Yue Yi Oil) on Clarisse ‘s tummy when colic attacks. The way I do it is to rub some oil on the palm of my hands until a warm sensation is felt. Then put one hand on her tummy and the other hand on her back. Sometimes, Clarisse would let out a burp of wind which makes her feel more comfortable.
• Having just applied oil on her tummy and back, I’d use a towel to wrap her up before carrying her in an upright position with your hand stroking her back. Walking slowly all around my room.
• When Clarisse cries during the day, I would put Clarisse in an infant seat in the back of the car and go for a ride to take her mind off her tummy discomfort. It usually calms her down.
• Most colicky babies are soothed by the pressure applied to their abdomen when they are carried upside down on our arm. Such position is known as “colic carry”. Althought much touted to work wonders for colicky babies, it didn’t work very well on Clarisse unfortunately.
• Sometimes I’d put Clarisse near a continuous noise or vibration from household appliances like the dishwasher, vacuum cleaner or hair-dryer. Surprisingly those sounds could calm her down sometimes.

People say having a colicky baby can be very stressful, frustrating and challenging for any parent. A much harrowing experience for first time parents. It feels like being thrown into a crash course on how to deal with a colicky baby. A colic baby cry is akin to being inflicted with excruciating pain and the on and off crying could lasts up to two to four hours. However, in spite of their extreme crying, there isn’t much to be worried about as colic babies would grow out it perfectly healthy and fine.

No matter how stressful or tense you are when your baby is crying, try not to exhibit your anxiety around them. Babies may pick up on anxiety around them, and this could make colic worse. Therefore make sure you calm yourself down when your baby is having a colic attack. I recall when Clarisse cried due to a colic for the first time, my husband and I were so worried and frustrated. Clarisse must’ve sensed it as she was crying ever more.

Related posts: Video on colic

We had worries about me lacking in breast milk production. My intention from the start was to fully breast feed Clarisse but she would cry after every breastfeeding session. My mother and I worried that I might not produce enough breast milk to satisfy her hunger so we supplemented formula after breastfeeding her. She would sleep soundly after a bottle of formula.

Many people say it is usual for babies to reject breast milk after being bottle fed for some time. In my case, Clarisse had no problem with being breastfed and bottlefed at the same time. Maybe NUK Latex Teat that I use helped to minimise the difference in sensation between a bottle teat and a real nipple. The shape of an NUK Latex Teat is made to closely resemble that of a mother’s nipple.

So for the first one and a half months, I fed Clarisse both breast milk and roughly 2 ounces of supplementary formula milk. I was always concerned not being able to produce enough breast milk for Clarisse during that period. My mother would boil raw papaya with pork soup for me to drink regularly. It’s an old Chinese recipe believed to increase a breastfeeding mother’s milk supply. Besides that, I drank plenty of water in order to replenish fluids loss during breast feeding. Ate a variety of nutritious foods to maintain the quality of breast milk. It’s a known fact that not only food and beverage would affect the milk supply but stress can negatively affect milk production.

It should be obvious by now I suffered skin ailments throughout my pregnancy. Chinese physicians and medicine practitioners recommended bird’s nest to improve my skin condition and overall health. I’m delighted to hear that not only is it good for the mother, my baby’s general well-being and complexion would also benefit from bird’s nest I consume. Well, I have always been wary of what I eat when pregnant but I’ve heared enough good things about bird’s nest to go out to get some and try it for myself.

Bird’s nest has always been up there in the exotic and expensive food category. It cost me hundreds of dollars for a handful of quality bird’s nest but if it is good for the baby, it’s worth paying for I guess.

It took me almost an hour to carefully clean the raw bird’s nest to ensure no feathers remain because it might cause allergies in babies. After the time and effort in preparation, I was so looking forward to savour my first bowl of bird’s nest as an expecting mother …

Guess what! I vomitted it all out after 3 hours. Having just had my supper 5 mins earlier, I thought my meal could’ve been contaminated which made me threw up. It couldn’t have been the bird’s nest, I hoped.

My second bowl of bird’s nest came 2 weeks later. I vomitted again. In fact, I threw up 5 times. Rashes appeared on my face almost immediately. I was shocked when I saw my face in such a terrible condition.

This time, I did not eat anything after the bowl of bird’s nest. So I am absolutely certain it was bird’s nest that made me vomit.

I felt so weak and uncomfortable after the vomitting spell. Luckily it did not affect my baby.

The rashes on my face took 3 days to subside. My mother jokingly said that my baby might not like the taste of bird’s nest and made me vomit .