Tobacco companies are riled by the legislation and promised to take the government to court. Claiming damages in millions, or even billions of dollars. Make all the noises they want, but these tobacco companies won’t get any sympathy at all from me.

My nephew also has eczema and it started around the same age as Edward. My sister tried many ways to suppress his eczema and finally found several effective solutions. Probiotics and toxic cleansing fruit juices were very effective in controlling his eczema attacks. I have started to introduce probiotics and immune system boosting vitamin supplements to baby Edward’s diet. I will give him fruit juices when he’s older.

From what I heard, taking probiotics supplement for the first time is known to cause an initial outbreak of eczema rashes. Within the first few days, baby Edward experience fairly severe eczema rashes all over
his body – neck, tummy, buttocks, legs and hands. I was expecting it so it didn’t alarm me. A lot of people is unaware probiotics would cause eczema rashes when first taken. Many people assume probiotics is responsible for making their eczema worst and would stop taking it immediately.

The eczema rashes on baby Edward’s body, caused by introducing probiotics to his diet I presume, has yet to disappear. I hope what I heard is right. And pray probiotics would help relieve baby Edward’s eczema as time goes by.

What are cigarettes made of?

Tobacco in a cigarette is blended from two types of tobacco leaves. Nicotine is found in tobacco leaves and the amount of nicotine is usually 2.5% to 4%. A smoker enjoys a steady dose of nicotine as the cigarette is designed to deliver nicotine in such manner.

Other parts of a tobacca plant is used to make fillers in a cigarette. Fillers are mixed with additives and flavours. Additives are added in a cigarette to make it more addictive and flavors such as mint makes it more appealing to smokers. Although individual ingredients are usually harmless, but when combined to make up a cigarette, these substances may be harmful to your health.

The cigarette filter is made from cellulose and its main purpose is to filter tar from inhaled smoke. Despite claims that filtered cigarettes deliver less nicotine to the smoker and is therefore safer to smoke, it is advisable to read these claims with reservations. Especially reports published by tobacco companies which more often than not are poorly substantiated. It is best to refer to independent studies and research to verify such claims. Regardless, a safer cigarette is an oxymoron.

Smoking cigarettes lower fertility

One of the main causes of infertility, or decreased fertility, is cigarette smoking. If you and your partner, or either one of you smokes, there is a likelihood of lower fertility.

For the male counterpart, cigarette smoking is linked to lower sperm quality and sperm count. Sperm from a male smoker is at a risk of abnormalities and lower mobility. The risk of erectile disfunction is higher for male smokers which in turn affects normal conception.

For female smokers, studies indicate smoking lowers female fertility by affecting the ovaries, the fallopian tube and the eggs produced. Exposure to the harmful toxins from cigarette smoke affects the female sex hormone estrogen production which is responsible for regulating reproductive functions in a female’s body. Smoking also distrupts the function of fallopian tube cells. When an egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube, it is transported to the uterus by fallopian tube cells where the egg continues to grow normally. Failure to place the egg in the uterus cause miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies (an occurance where the egg grows outside of the uterus).

Dangers to your baby if you smoke during pregnancy

Smoking is the main cause of illness and death in mothers and babies. It is also the single most preventable cause but obviously not the easiest habit to quit due to the very nature of nicotine which makes smoking cigarettes so addictive. That is why I commend you in what could be your first step to quit smoking for the sake of you and your baby’s health.

So what are the risks of smoking pose to you and your baby when you’re pregnant? Generally, studies have shown that women who smoke are prone to miscarriage, placenta complications, low birth weight, stillbirth and neonatal death (where newborn dies in the first month of life).

The placenta is responsible for delivering nutrients and oxygen to the foetus. Nutrients and oxygen gets contaminated with cigarette smoke toxins when pregnant women smoke. Carbon monoxide level in the foetal blood increases while oxygen level drops. The foetus’ heart beats faster and is stressed to compensate for the lower than normal oxygen level. Tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy may lead to abnormal low placenta placement or placenta abruption. All of which add up to the risk of premature labor, low birth weight and in severe cases, still born babies.

Premature babies due to exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy have birth weight lower than 2.5kg and internal organs that are smaller and less fully developed than full term healthy babies. Therefore, they are likely to have weaker lungs, prone to middle ear infections and asthmatic bronchitis during infancy stage. The risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or cot death increases up to 3 fold compared to newborns of non-smoker mothers.

Never too late to quit smoking

It is not fair to expose an unborn baby to the hazards of tobacco smoke. Secondhand smokers can move out of the way when a smoker lights up but your foetus has no choice. Do not place your baby’s health at risk and it is never too late to quit. Your baby’s health will benefit even if you quit in the middle of pregnancy.

There are nurses and nursing specialists in the hospital ready to assist, advise and guide you on how to breastfeed your newborn. You will likely need their guidance because most new mothers will find breastfeeding for the first time difficult and challenging.

Experienced mothers make breast feeding look effortless and easy. Do not let that fool you into thinking breast feeding for the first time comes easily and naturally. Remember both your baby and yourself are new at this so do not expect your first attempt at breastfeeding to be successful. Instead, give yourself and your baby some time to learn breastfeeding. Soon with enough patience and practise, you will find breast feeding a natural, easy and effortless process.

With that in mind, try to remain calm, relax, be patient and do not let frustration build up as tension tends to make breast feeding more difficult. It prevents milk let-down even if your breast is full.

Your baby too will struggle as much as you do during the first few tries at breast feeding. He or she will have to learn how to latch on to your nipple properly. Your newborn may show cry or fuss being unable to suck your milk during the first few attempts. You’ll find your patience and persistence tested. Again, you should remain calm and relax despite all the fuss.

Some mothers have inverted nipples and wonder if it complicates breastfeeding. Inverted nipples require preparation before breastfeeding sessions to make them protude. Your doctor or nursing specialist will advice you to try severals methods which may include the use of breast pump, breast shield and manually massaging your nipple area with Hoffman technique to help your nipple protude fully.

Any concerns about your newborn baby not getting enough milk in those first few breastfeeding sessions is unnecessary. Newborn babies do not need much milk. In fact, babies aren’t born hungry at least not until third or fourth day of life. The seemingly tiny amount of colostrum your breast is producing for your newborn’s initial feedings is nourishing and satisfying enough. In fact, colostrum is extremely nourishing for your newborn and provides needed antibodies not yet produced by your newborn baby.

Breastfeeding mothers should maintain a healthy and adequate intake of fluids daily. Drinking more water is not shown to increase milk production. Just make sure you drink water when you’re thirsty to avoid dehydration.

Get yourself positioned comfortably before you start breastfeeding your baby. A pillow may be necessary to provide support because you’re likely to cradle your baby for a long period of time while nursing.

It is more comfortable to bring your baby closer to your breast than you leaning towards him especially when you’re breastfeeding in a sitting position. That way your back is well supported and you won’t get tired easily. Place a pillow on your lap and rest your cradling arm on it to raise your baby towards your breast.

Hold the part of your breast near the areola using your thumb and forefinger. Guide the tip of your breast towards your baby and tease her lips with it. Your baby’s natural instinct will guide her to the direction of the tickling sensation so rubbing your nipple gently up and down your baby’s lips encourage her to open her mouth and start nursing.

When your baby opens her mouth, place your nipple into her mouth to latch on. Newborns nursing for the first time needs time to practise latching onto your nipple, especially the areola securely. The areola is the area behind your nipple and it needs to be stimulated for your breast to excrete milk. If your baby fails to latch on to the areola, the milk glands under the areola may not receive enough pressure to release breast milk. You could end up with sore nipples if your baby sucks only the nipple area. Break your baby’s suction and try inserting the tip of your breast again until your baby can latch on as close to the areola as possible.

Observe your baby’s nose at all times, making sure your breast is not blocking her nose. Using your fingers, press the part of your breast that is blocking your baby’s nose to give her adequate breathing space.

Here are signs to look for to know if your baby is suckling properly. Your baby’s cheeks is showing constant movements of suckling breast milk. You may even be able to hear sounds of her swallowing.

Some mothers may find that the amount of breast milk excreted during feeding is so plentiful that their baby is choking. If and when that happens, stop breastfeeding and express some of your milk by using a pump or your hands.

Another situation where you should consider expressing your breast milk is when your baby is lazy at nursing. Some babies would latch on, nurse for less than a few minutes and doze off. You can consider pumping out remaining breast milk into a plastic container and refridgerate it up to 48 hours ready for supplementary feeds later.. When stored in the freezer, expressed breast milk can be stored much longer up to two weeks.

PKU is a autosomal recessive genetic disorder in which the affected person is unable to produce an enzyme necessary to metabolise protein phenylalanine(phe) into tyrosine. Hence, phenylalanine protein builds up in the body of the person’s blood stream increasing toxicity. If no treatment is given, it can cause brain damage and retardation. Phe buildup can also cause restlessness, irritability and behavioral problems.

Newborns are tested for PKU when they are born. If a newborn is tested positive for PKU, he will be treated with medication to control the level of Phe in his body. Parents are advised to carefully follow a special diet that is low in Phe.

Newborns with PKU can still be breastfed but it is important for parents to find the right lactation specialist or dietician who is helpful and experienced when it comes to PKU infants nurtrition needs. Breastfeeding PKU baby involves alternating between breastmilk and special infant formula. Depending on your baby’s phe tolerance level, the portion and ratio of special infant formula and breastmilk combination will be worked out by your lactation specialist.

As your baby grows, his body’s phe level will be supplemented by special infant formulas, pills and a controlled diet. Phenylalanine, and Tyrosine which has to be supplemented as well, are essential proteins for normal growth.

It is recommended that the controlled low-Phenylalanine diet be continued until the child reaches the age of twelve to fully develop the brain without affected by PKU induced problems. Some are adviced to strictly follow the special diet throughout puberty to ensure proper reproductive organs growth.

Pregnant women with PKU are instructed to resume the special low-Phenylalanine diet as soon as they conceive. Phenylalanine in your blood level must be screened throughout your pregnancy.

With a proper diet and treatment, most PKU newborns grow up to be perfectly healthy individuals. Pregnant women will be monitored closely and treated throughout the entire pregnancy to ensure foetus is growing healthily.

First thing in the morning, we took baby Edward to have his jaundice checked at the government clinic. Good thing the clinic is barely 5 mins drive from our house. Baby Edward jaundice level was 9.9 and the nurse said he need not be admitted.

By noon, my husband felt like vomitting and so did Clarisse. She was rudely woken up from her afternoon nap by the urge to throw up and she vomitted on her bed. Two hours later, she threw up again. This is the first time she experienced nausea and vomitting. The feeling of discomfort made her really uncomfortable as I’ve never seen her cried so terribly.

Later in the evening, Clarisse developed fever and by night time her temperature was quite high. We gave her Voltaren suppository before she sleep as the dose of ibuprofen given an hour earlier wasn’t enough to bring down her fever.

After a night’s sleep, my husband was feeling way better and pretty much recovered. But we can’t say the same for Clarisse.

This morning we brought her to a paediatrician as her fever is still lingering. The paediatrician also did a rapid test to check for the likelihood of influenza A(H1N1). She called 30 minutes later to inform us it’s not influenza A type so that rules out H1N1. I was so relieved to hear that.

We’re now praying baby Edward doesn’t get the flu bug. In fact, I’m hoping I myself doesn’t get it as I’m breastfeeding him. I’m suppose to get as much rest possible during my confinement month but things just won’t let me have it my way.

How does one get infected with chicken pox?

Chicken pox is caused by a highly contagious virus known as varicella-zoster. It spread easily through droplets from an infected individual when he or she sneezes. You may not realise you have caught the chicken pox virus until two to three weeks later. Chicken pox virus requires 10 to 21 days incubation period after exposure.

Even before the rashes start to appear, an infected individual can spread the virus to surrounding people two days before chicken pox rashes are seen developing.

An infected invidual who appears to have recovered from chickenpox recently may still be infectious until all the scabs resulting from dried up fluid filled vesicles are completely dried.

Symptoms

A person who is infected by Chickenpox develops fever, cough and runny nose. Followed closely by rashes that turns into vesicles filled with fluid in a couple of days. The fluid filled vesicles spread throughout the entire body including the scalp and mouth.

Complications

Rarely does chicken pox takes a turn for the worst. In such cases, complications due to chicken pox usually starts with infection of the lesions which causes it to produce pus. A recurring fever may be triggered.

Haemorrhagic varicella is a condition when bleeding into the lesions occur. The virus compromises the body’s immune system of an individual. It makes him/her more susceptible to bacteria which causes infections. There is a risk where bacteria enters the bloodstream and infects other organs in their body. This in turn gives rise to a condition where the individual experiences widespread bleeding. Fatality resulting from widespread bleeding may occur.

The lungs, for instance, when exposed to the virus might risk developing pneumonia. In some cases, “empyema” occurs when the lung cavity may be infected to the extend of producing pus.

The virus may affect the brain by the widespread infection resulting in encephalitis or cebellar ataxia. Encephalitis symptoms include fever, headache and photophobia with weakness and seizures. Cebellar ataxia causes the individual to have problems balancing in an upright position.

Treatment

Barring any complications, most children requires only calamine lotion to relieve the itch. Fever medication will also be administered to bring temperature under control.

For individuals who belongs to the high risk category, they are advised to consult their doctor immediately. They will be prescribed acyclovir, an oral drug to contain possible infection during the course of chickenpox rashes. In some severe cases, chickenpox patients may be admitted to the hospital for observation where intravenous acyclovir, administered by injection, is needed.

These days, fast food is a big part of modern life. It might seem to be a losing battle as fast food joints come up with all sorts of gimmicks and marketing ploys to attract our kid’s attention. Even baby Clarisse, now twenty months old, recognises the golden arches and associate McDonalds as a fun place. She’d make a fuss while pointing her finger whenever we drive by a McDonald outlet. If you let your child the alternative between healthy food and junk food, you usually will not like the answer. As parents we have to stick to guns and hopefully our kids adopt a healthy eating lifestyle.

Although it is not possible to make a child to like all healthy foods, there are many methods to make your child taste them and hopefully like some of them. Try to be as creative as you can.

• Sneak the healthy food in. Even though it would be good if your kid realised the importance of fruits and vegetables, this isn’t always workable. If you can not make them to consume good food willingly, there are methods to sneak them in, such as making muffins out of pears or bananas, or pizza with spinach on it.
• Give fruits and vegetables a funny names. For example you can refer cauliflower as “little flower”, make your child having more fun to eat. You can use many different funny names on fruits and vegetables. In this way, most kids choose to eat
  foods that sound amusing.
• Cook foods with better taste. Ranch dressing is great for broccoli, while peanut butter is a great topping for celery. There are various combinations for vegetables that can get them taste better. Try let your child pick a topping for a vegetable, even if it’s something you would not usually like yourself.
• Make the vegetable look nice with some decoration. Just as much as calling them names help kids eat healthy foods, making them look funny also helps. You can do this by creating humorous designs on the plate, or marking them up to look like people. Although some parents do not like their kids playing with their food, but sometimes it work to get them to eat healthier.

There are few methods to make your kids eat more healthy, but the key to effectiveness is for it to be fun so that they will enjoy it. This definately is not an easy task, I grant you, because kids usually do not like healthy food but it can be done with a bit of creativity. Good luck!

It may simply be her sudden discovery of a new physical sensation by grinding her teeth. I have even asked the paeditrician why Clarisse is doing it and would it be advisable to bring her to a dentist. According to her experience, dentists have yet to determine what cause toddlers to grind their teeth. At least the mental and emotional side of it. But I was also told that teeth grinding, as horrible as it can sound, would never be severe enough to cause much worry. Baby teeth are only meant to last for a span of few years so long lasting problems are negligible. Even so, it would take much more severe grinding to wear out their teeth.

What to do

Dehydration may be linked to teeth grinding. Make sure your toddler drinks lots of water to prevent dehydration.

Massage and stretching exercises tend to relax their muscles. Stress in children of school going age may cause teeth grinding.

With the case of preschool toddlers, bear with the annoying sound of teeth grinding no matter how horrible it can sound. I am lucky Clarisse is barely 15 months old and with her tiny set of teeth, doesn’t make such an unbearable scratching noise. It was the thought of her teeth exposed to the damage of grinding that worries and annoys me more than the sound.

Does your child’s teeth gnashing indicates tension or anxiety? Rarely because of their young age. What you should be worried about is evidence of significant jaw discrepancy that is the cause of toddler’s teeth grinding. In this case, a dentist’s help and monitoring is required. A dentist’s intervention is usually required for school going age children if teeth grinding becomes a pro longed occurance.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. I have yet to been to a dinner where someone doesn’t poke their utensils into the dish. As a result, I always strive to be the first off the block when the dishes arrive on the table. I would dash forward to grab a portion before everyone else stick their chopsticks into the dish. It’s ugly I know but far less disgusting than eating from a dish where there’s bits of their saliva from everyone at the table.