updating on the miracle of life 2

feel free to browse through...click on the link below...

week 11- going downhill + 2nd antenatal check up

Baby-led weaning...

i'd really love to share with you my limited knowledge of baby-led weaning (BLW)...weaning is another important aspect of child's nutrition apart from breastfeeding...as we know, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months and complementary foods are introduced along with continuing breastfeeding up to 2 years and beyond...

BLW is relatively new in Malaysia...traditionally, we spoon feed our baby her first food and this continues until she is big enough to hold and handle her food by herself, but then we are scared of her choking and tend to be overprotective of her act...i used traditional way to wean my children to solid food and often got frustrated when they didn't finish the stipulated amount of food in the bowl...i encountered problem with Imtiaz when he is too used to spoon feed , when one day i put a piece of bread that was relatively easy for him to grab and put into his mouth but he didn't do it... what he did was, he brought his mouth to the plate on the table and try to bite the bread from the plate, like a bird picking his food..! it took him sometime to be able to feed simple food by himself and i shouldn't i feel worry..?

i first heard about BLW a couple months ago when i virtually attended the Australian Breastfeeding Association Online Seminar and was very impressed with Gill Rapley's talk on BLW...after having a minor setback with Imtiaz's feeding experience, i found that BLW is the ideal way of introducing solid to our babies, it's about being in control and balancing the intake of food and fluid by choosing how long each feed should last...

what is baby-led weaning (BLW)?

baby-led weaning is a way of introducing solid foods that allows babies to feed themselves - there’s no spoon feeding and no purées..the baby sits with the family at mealtimes and joins in when she is ready, feeding herself first with her fingers and later with cutlery..

in another words BLW allows babies to explore taste, colour, texture and smell, at the same time encourages independence and confidence, helps to develop their hand-eye coordination and chewing skill and makes picky eating and mealtime battles less likely...and all healthy should be given the opportunity to feed themselves from about 6 month of age...


why 6 months, not 4 months or earlier..?

BLW is based on the way babies develop in their first year...in term of motor development , comparing a 4 month old child and a 6 month old child, i'm sure you can see how steady and stable a 6 month old child is if seated on a chair and how developed his gross motor movement is, including trying to reach out for food on the table.....while the 4 month old would still have wobbly head and shaky body, trying to balance himself, not appear to reach out for food with uncoordinated palmar grasp...

in term of babies' immune and digestive system, they are not ready for other foods until they are about 6 months old- breastmilk [or formula] is all healthy babies need until then...at 6 months, a baby is able to sit upright, pick up pieces of food, take them to her mouth and chew them - she can feed herself!

in the past, when babies were started on solid foods at 3 or 4 months, they had to be given purees because they were too young to feed themselves...so if you've waited until your baby is 6 months to introduce solid foods, there's no need to puree the food for them and you can enjoy family food with the rest of the family members...


won't she choke...?

many parents worry about babies choking..however, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon feed...this is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have developed the ability to chew...and they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things..the ability to pick up very small things develops later still..thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get small pieces of food into his mouth...spoon feeding, by contrast, encourages the baby to suck the food straight to the back of his mouth, potentially making choking more likely...

tipping a baby backwards or lying him down to feed him solid foods or even milk all by himself is dangerous...i am sure that was what actually happened in the deadly incidents involving babies and toddlers in day-care centres/nurseries recently, where they were left unattended while feeding with their bottles were nicely secured onto the chest and the babies were helplessly fed and got suffocated with their feeding because the fast flow milk were forced into their mouth and lungs and they can't take it at their own pace and such small babies didn't know how to throw the bottles away if they decided they had enough...a baby who is handling food should always be supported in an upright position..this ensures that food he is not yet able to swallow, or does not wish to swallow, will fall forward out of his mouth...


what food to offer my baby...?

the good thing about BLW, you don't have to cook separate food for your baby..you can share most healthy family foods with your baby (avoiding salt and sugar) , for example fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, well-cooked eggs, bread, rice, pasta and most fish are suitable..choose foods that are easy to cut into sticks or large strips when your baby is starting...

offering your baby a variety of foods will give her the chance to discover different tastes and textures and ensure she gets all the nutrients she needs...


what about breastfeeding...?

continuing to breastfeed on demand during weaning period will have added advantage of allowing the baby to decide how and when to cut down his milk intake...as she eats more at shared mealtimes, so he will 'forget' to ask for some of his milk feeds, or will take less at each feed..there is no need for her mother to make these decisions for him...

the need of follow-on formula for babies who have weaned to solid food and stop breastfeeding is not always necessary as the babies will get most of the nutrients from variety of nutritious and balanced food, not milk anymore...


remember..!

don't expect your baby to eat much in the beginning..many babies eat only small amounts for the first few months of baby-led weaning and still breastfeeding a lot on demand as they take this transition at their own pace...

also, do expect some mess...they thought mealtimes as playtimes in the beginning...however, this approach utilizes his desire to explore and experiment, and to mimic the activities of others..allowing the baby to set the pace of each meal, and maintaining an emphasis on play and exploration rather than on eating, enables the transition to solid foods to take place as naturally as possible...

lastly, keep it enjoyable..that way your baby will be keen to try new foods and looking forward to mealtimes...

Source: Rapley Weaning.com


in her presentation, Gill Rapley showed a few videos of different ages of babies and toddlers doing BLW and they have good hands and eyes coordination and very good at using cutleries during mealtimes at an early age, together with their family members...

after knowing this fantastic approach, i really hope to use it on my future children and i love to share this bit of information with all of you...and i'm currently hunting for Gill Rapley's Baby Led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food book and DVD at affordable prices {they are not in Malaysia :( }

for those who'd like to watch the video of BLW, try this link and this link or find some other interesting clips at youtube.com

cloth diapering

ya i know i already missed the boat long time ago...! parents had started cloth diapering their babies and toddlers many years ago to save money and protecting the environment but i only started trying just recently...

i have been using disposable diapers since Jihan was born...not really interested in cloth diapering because i thought it was quite expensive for a piece of cloth diaper, but actually in long term run, you will actually save a lot on costs...another aspect that made me a bit reluctant to try it at first was the hassle and fussiness (and laziness) to wash the cloth diapers..although at that time i had maid to do it for me...

anyhow, i really adore the way it looks on baby's bum...they look colourful, cute and nicely snugged the baby's bum...

so, why did i start using cloth diapers recently on Imtiaz..? firstly, out of sudden, Imtiaz had itchiness of his bum...not really sure of what it is...it didn't look like a nappy rash or fungal infection but he kept scratching his bum especially after we took of his disposable diapers to change or for bath...he kept on scratching until it left scratching marks on his bum...we applied all sorts of cream and ointment and it didn't work...

so i discussed the matter with Mr Hubby and a few of my friends who had experiences with cloth diapers and decided to try...so i bought 7 pieces of bamboo type of cloth diapers for a start and started using it on Imtiaz...we roughly know when Imtiaz poo-poos everyday, so at that time we put him on disposable diapers (we still have 3 jumbo packs of disposable diapers)... but accidents happened, a few times he poo-ed in his cloth diapers and now i'm an expert at washing soiled diapers ; )

so, my review after 2 weeks of trial, i'm happy with it and it saves my pocket too...in the mean time we are still trying to finish the stacks of disposable diapers...Imtiaz's bum is already back to normal..no more scratching...plus he looks adorable in his cloth diapers...

we are still going to use disposable diapers especially travelling outstation...so far we are well to do with only 7 pieces of cloth diapers as he only uses 3-4 pieces per day...probably i'm going to buy a few more pieces (make it 10-12 pieces - what do you think..?)...

14 months old Little Dino!

yeay, my little dinosaur is currently 14 months + and glad to say that he is more stable at walking...! he started to walk soon after his first birthday in his wobbly gait, but with practice he is a Pro now...he even dare to climb up the sofa or table, but all these episodes were not without any accidents...

1 major accident that he had was about 2 weeks ago...he was already very sleepy but wanted to play and walk about in the room...suddenly he tripped and hi mouth hit hard on the floor....there went his very loud cry and along with it, blood was drooling from his lower lips...2 pieces of tissue were drenched with blood, and we used towel after that to soak the flowing blood...his cry was so loud and i was quite panic ( i hate blood ; { )

we didn't put ice as he was struggling not to let us wipe his mouth...and his face was smudge with blood...to calm him down, i started to nurse him and his cry subsided...he slept well and woke up the next morning with a swollen lip...

he is still fully breastfeeding, active and healthy and also very naughty and cheeky...he is due for his 3rd dose of pnuemococcal vaccine and varicella vaccine soon...

happy 1st birthday Imtiaz

finally, Imtiaz turns 1....he's such a handsome, macho boy now....we had a wonderful birthday party inviting family and friends at our lovely home...Imtiaz was dressed in a casual way - a shirt and pair of jeans...he was so excited playing with the balloons, eating all the delicacies that were spread on the table and was so amazed looking at his homemade Winnie the Pooh birthday cake...!!

the day before that, my cousin celebrated her4x birthday...so we had a double birthday party...i made her a chocolate mud cake with a letter R as her initial on her cake...

Imtiaz now has 4 teeth - 2 upper incisors and 2 lower incisors....he is about to stand on his own without holding onto furnitures and is more creative and intelligent from day to day... i still fully breastfeeding him, alhamdulillah and he is stronger and smarter each day...

he got wonderful birthday presents, thanking our relatives and friends for them....

he was so tired by the end of the day and retired early to bed...Jihan too was enjoying herself and was so excited opening Imtiaz's presents....she said, "imtiaz, let's share the presents ya..!"

11 months old Imtiaz

yeay! it's less than a month to a BIG 1!!!...how time flies...my little boy is now a BIG, macho boy! we are planing to throw him a birthday party soon...Jihan is so excited to have a birthday party...she's the one who is busy deciding what cake should i make for his little brother....

so, let's see Imtiaz's milestones at 11 months:

• the upper incisor is coming into picture...looks like it's gonna be a big one...
• he loves to crawl like a Spiderman, sparing his knee on the floor....
• he understands the word "ball", "kakak", "atok", "wan"...
• he'll say "mama" when he wants to breastfeed...
• he likes waking up kakak early morning by biting on kakak's hands or feet and by giving a hard pat on kakak's tummy...
• cruising onto furniture very well...
• wave bye- bye and clap his hands very well...
• he is able to eat his biscuits on his own (before tossing it again and again on the floor)

i still fully breastfeeding him (bravo!) and he loves food very much....

so far, he is in good health and we always pray he will always be...

Imtiaz- 10 months old...

imtiaz was upset and angry when Jihan took away his toys

how time flies....my little boy is already 10 months old...he is still an avid breastfeeder and on top of that, he eats almost everything that is given to him... he still drinks 4.5oz x 2 bottles everyday when i'm at work and nurses avidly throughout the night...he weighs slightly more than 8kg and most of the time is wearing a 1 year old clothings, though at times we put on his old tight-fitting clothings on him and he looked like The Higglytown Heroes....

he's a master in commando crawling...lifted his chest and straightened his both arms occasionally but put it back down and proceed with commando crawling....steadily sits on his own and able to pull to stand on his own too....he is very stable nowadays and started cruising onto the furnitures...and each day, he becomes very good at climbing stairs too..now in the process of getting down from the stairs....

his favourite toys..? ball...he loves playing football with his papa....will chase the ball, catch it and throw it away....cannot resist water...he'll jump into the swimming pool or his small bath tub or even the bathroom if the door is left opened...

he loves climbing up my body when i lie down...and put his head on my chest...he is very upset when Jihan takes away his toys and loves to pull the sister's hair....

it's less than 2 month till his first birthday...can't wait for it and we are going to have a birthday party...! yeay!

imtiaz @ 9 months old +

it's a little too late to write about it but it's better than never...

went for a routine check up and 2nd dose of Prevenar....he weighed almost 8kg....not that much despite good appetite and excellent food intake and breastmilk intake...it's probably due to his active lifestyle that keeps him in shape...

a very good commando crawler and sits steadily with a little help (right now able to do it on his own)...very good at articulating "papa", "boo-ahh", "teh-teh"....he can pull himself to stand onto the furniture and stuffs, and loves to do "head-first" stunt from the bed or couch, like a superman...

not to forget a little bit hot-tempered too, especially at feeding time....sometimes, he just love screaming at the top of his voice!....

and now, he can climb the stairs right to the top, not once but repeatedly not feeling tired at all!! and it is so tiring for us who escorted him to the top repeatedly...

2 lower incisors in good shape....lucky me he doesn't bite when he breastfeeds...

a healthy little boy that always make my day....

Imtiaz's gastronomic experience...

my little boy simply loves food so much....i would say he's addicted to food....! he can't hear the sound of cutleries or plastics or people munching, he'd scream and try to get hold of it, thinking that it'd be his food and it's feeding time....

since he started weaning at 6 months, he had rice porridge with carrots, potato, cauliflower, broccoli, fish or chicken, all mixed together....i tried feeding him with pasta with chicken, carrots and potatoes, he loves it so much....my mum made him pancakes for breakfast and he finished it...he also loves breads and buns of any kinds....i gave him cheese slices and he took that well too....i made him pasta with cauliflower, spinach and potato with cheese and he licked the whole bowl up...not forgetting homemade banana smoothies, he swallowed 2 bowls of it for prebreakfast and subsequently had a slice of french toast....!

a few days ago, while i was having my dinner at the table and he was crawling on the floor (he alredy had his dinner) and while everybody else was busy doing their stuffs, my little Imti cried wanting to sit on my lap with his lips smacking all over...i was eating rice with chicken in soy sauce and fish in yellow river (masak lemas cili padi), and he reached for my plate....i gave him the inner meat of the chicken and i possibly had a trace of chilli and he gobbled that too....oh my...!

so far, he has no problem with food- no allergies, no diarrhea or constipation...he is still breastfeeding actively despite all the foods he is eating...he is such and active baby and his weight gains satisfactorily...

i tried to give him variety fo food for him to taste and experience them naturally...i have not introduce salt and sugar into his food and avoiding sauces and artificial sweetener and flavour, he is taking everything in natural flavours and aromas....

all his food is roughly chopped and mashed, not smoothly pureed anymore as he has 2 lower incisor teeth and he is actually good at chewing using his gum...

Bravo little boy...!

5th month vaccination and update

last week we went for Imtiaz's 5th month vaccination of triple antigen and Hepatitis B...he weighs 7.4kg....and he still feed solely on mama's milk....

Imtiaz can now turn from supine to prone to supine, eagerly reach out his hands to grab whatever is given to him, laugh out loud especially when Jihan make some funny movement in front of him and put everything in his hand inside his mouth (to show that he is ready to eat)...

Prof B was very satisfied with Imtiaz's development...during the jab, Imtiaz let his loud voice out....! so painful...!

and good thing, he did not have fever after the jab...good boy!

he is due for the meninggococcal vaccination next month....and ready for his first food next month, yeay!

Imti sits in the bumbo seat...

that's the jumbo thigh!!!

i tried to sit Imti in Jihan's bumbo seat yesterday...(arghh, the seat looks very much worn out and the bright yellow colour has blackish smudge on it...)..that didn't matter, that's for being number 2 in the family, Imti..you'll get hand-over stuffs....whatever..!

Imti was very delighted seeing the yellow seat...when i put him inside, oh my gosh!!!...his thighs won't fit in the legs compartment..!!! i had to push them in and then he sat comfortably in it...

he laughed and played in the seat for a while then i took him out of it...goshhh!!! another problem...his thighs got stuck in the legs compartment...! someone, please pull the chair off Imti...!! hahahah...!!!

oh, my..! Imti..you better start on your leg exercise...make your thigh slimmer please....

a new milestones....

little Imti is 4 months old now and he weighs 7kg+... phew, ain't that heavy..? he's a cheeky boy with a charming smile that'll melt everyone's heart...

so now, he can turn to prone position, lift up his head for a while and that's it...!!! isn't that great...? bravo my little boy...that's quite an achievement for you....he has strong legs and likes to kick and kick in the bathtub....

and he's out of reverse cycling...he started to feed normally during the day and more at night and on weekends with mama....!