Mothering Corner

BIL called last night asking his mother about the tiny spots on his newborn baby. I think they should be milia as most newborn babies have them in the first few weeks. He was asking for some ailment or cream to clear of the spots. Actually, these white bumps are harmless and they will go away eventually without any treatment. A newborn baby’s skin is very delicate and milia occur because the dead skin cell were trapped in the small pockets near the surface of the skin. Nonetheless, when the surface of the bumps wear away, the dead skin will wear off and same goes to the bumps.

I didn’t apply anything on my babies but just wipe their faces with warm water in a gentle gesture a few times a day. It’s best to leave the milia alone without squeezing them to avoid scarring. If the milia do not go off after 3 months, then you can consult the doctor for a solution if you are concerned.

Before I forgot, I better write that a list of things to get when we go to Bangkok next month. Once we got the house, I want to make sure that we get a good water filter system installed. I am very particular about water not only for drinking, but for daily uses like brushing the teeth or washing the fruits and vegetables as well. I used to stay in an apartment in KL where the water was “muddy”, you dare not take a sip of it!

We bought drinking waters all the time when we were there, and it’s quite costly. Nonetheless, o premium waters is one of the high quality drinking water that you can get worldwide, so maybe you can get the Esio Beverage System installed if you are interested. But I think MIL will ask us to get another unit from the same brand that we are using now. It’s good enough for us.

I guess I have wrote about this a few times in a few blogs of mine, but for the purpose of charity, more is better than less. I believe in doing the best in helping the less fortunate. Not all of us have a lot of money for donation, but if you have a boat, you can donate boat to raise money in making videos for the children.

As long as we do our best in helping others, it’s a good deed indeed.

My boy has settled down at his new school but since we are moving, he will have to change to another school again. I have been searching high and low for suitable schools but I haven’t visited any of them. It’s going to take time selecting the school that works best for my kids and me, and I try not to rush for it since both of them are still very young.

I found that I wrote down a few points some time ago on how will I evaluate a school and I’m going to share the keypoints here.

To me, here’s how I’ll evaluate a kindergarten:
1. Caring teachers who pay attention to ALL children.
2. Safe and clean environment, which means the tables and chairs, teaching aids, staircase, toilets, and etc are suitable and safe for children.
3. Easy to leave and pick up children, where the kindergarten has a good “Come and Go” system for vehicles.
4. Easy to access or talk to the teachers about our children, if necessary.
5. Besides academic or homework, there should be some activities which emphasize on a child’s well-being, like teaching them how to dress up, pretend play, sports or outdoor activities, songs and dances, and MORAL too.
6. Not too many children in a class. I think 10 children to 1 teacher ratio is good enough. If the number of children exceed 10, then there should be an assistant in the class to help out.
7. Please don’t force children under 3 years old to write, they’re not ready.
8. Homework is given occasionally and reasonably, not to scare children or kill their interest in learning by piling them with lots of writing. spelling test or exams.
9. No labelling of children and arranging their class by academic performance (this is very common)
10. No enforcement of children should stay back at school for tuition class, as most kindergarten teachers would “force” the parents to leave their children for tuition class, if not the kids won’t be able to catch up.

But things might be different now as my kids will be going to international schools. I guess they won’t have much pressure in academic as comparing to studying here in our local schools. Once they have settled down, I will start planning for myself. I can’t just sit there doing nothing when my kids are at school. A friend of mine suggested that I should set up a webstore since it’s not not to find wholesale fashion jewelry and clothes in Bangkok. So, I will think about this thoroughly.

An old aunt of mine has been complaining about pain in some part of her body and she’s been experiencing some stiffness on her elbows and knees. She feels exhausted quite easily even if she’s been sleeping a lot, that’s why she looks older when I last saw her. I surfed the net for more information and I suspected she might be suffering from fibromyalgia.

Here’s what I found from MayoClinic.com.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain. Fibromyalgia is more common in women than in men. Previously, fibromyalgia was known by other names such as fibrositis, chronic muscle pain syndrome, psychogenic rheumatism and tension myalgias.

I think I will talk to her about this when I see her again in a few weeks. She really needs to seek medical help if her symptoms are getting worse. Besides medication, she can help herself feeling comfortable by getting enough rest and exercising regularly. Leading a stress free lifestyle might help as well and she better takes things easily.

*Sigh* I think I better don’t take my health for granted.

I have been busy preparing for Chinese New Year and no matter how much I shop, there are still lots of things to buy! But most importantly, I would like to make sure that my kids have enough new year clothes and shoes for themselves. As for us, I have knitted a few tops for the past few weeks.

Some of the mothers I know will even withdraw their gold jewelry from the safe deposit and put them on during Chinese New Year. I won’t do that, and I will certainly not allow my kids to put on any gold accessories. I know it’s good to look “rich and prosperous” but I don’t want to take any risk of having my kids hurt by snatch thieves in public. Snatch lifting is so common these days, and in some cases, the victims are badly injured.

Seriously, why should kids wear all these jewelries? It’s more like a parent’s ego to me.

I wonder if I’m still fit to go back to work. What I mean is I have stopped working for so long, I might not get used to working out for 8 hours a day like I used to. Frankly, I worked more than 8 hours a day previously and my job was very stressful. It might not be what I want since I have a family now.

I wonder if those risk management jobs are as stressful as my previous job in engineering field? If it’s not, I might want to think about getting one when my kids are older. I might feel boring once my kids start school and getting a job will not only keep me busy, but ensuring a secure income as well.

Let’s see if I can get a job some years later. It’s not going to be easy.

I try my best not to write about this topic sooner as I was watching my boy. He’s 3 years old and he’s a smart and loving little boy who’s quite independent for his age. Nonetheless, he changed a lot for the past 2 months and getting more babyish like his little sister. I know that siblings competition might lead to regression sometimes, and I have been talking to him about being himself, but he’s still pretending to be like his sister sometimes.

I was frustrated when he keeps showing the babyish behaviors and at some point, I had crazy thoughts that maybe some testosterone boosters might help to make him more “man”. It’s just a silly thought ok?

I found that it’s me who’s been overreacting about it. I found this article and I would like to share it with other mothers who might have kids with signs of regression.

I recommend that you indulge, rather than criticise your child’s needs. She is not being babyish, she is just being two. Allow her to use a bottle if she wants to and even play at being a baby for 10 or 15 minutes each day. Hold her in your lap, rock her and make it into a game she can choose to play if she wants.

All of us love to be cared for, and your daughter is no different. If you give her the opportunity to pretend to be a baby, she will let go when she is ready. You may be amazed at how much a three-year-old can enjoy this game, because you are making room for all of her conflicting feelings.

See? My boy will let go of it one day as long as I’m not being pushy. I think I owe my boy an apologize and a kiss on his cheek. I’m going to kiss my baby boy goodnight now.

I wrote about breastfed baby’s poo poo some time ago, but I can’t seem to find that post. LOL! I came across a mother who wondered if her baby has constipation, but for a 2 months old baby who’s being breastfed exclusively, it’s very unlikely that she’s having a constipation.

Most exclusive breastfed babies wet or dirty the diapers 5 - 12 times ago during the first few weeks. The frequency will drop gradually, and some babies will not pass stools for days, even if they still wet their diapers. My boy had the highest record of not having a bowel movement for 11 days when he’s 3 months old, while my gal didn’t poo for about 7 days at about the same age. But for formula fed babies, it’s still best to have bowel movement once a day. If your baby is supplemented, she will have bowel movement like formula fed babies, so it’s unlikely for her to without passing stools for days.

Nonetheless, it’s depending on individual baby. Some babies will have bowel movement like once a day, just like formula fed babies. But most of the breastfed babies I know have watery poo poo, which is quite yellowish in color. Believe it or not, breastfed babies’ stool are sweet-smelling. I have 2 exclusively breastfed babies, so I know well about this! But for formula fed babies, the stools will be bulkier and more formed since not all the formula is completely digested as comparing to breastmilk. It doesn’t smell nice either, just like adult’s stool. Once a breastfed baby is supplemented or starts taking solid food, you will see the difference in her stool which is thicker and smellier by now.

If you have any doubt about the stool of your baby, talk to the paediatrician. I brought my first baby to the doctor when his stool looked greenish. It turned out that he’s feeding more on foremilk but didn’t get enough of hindmilk when he was nursing for comfort but not hunger. It’s best to make sure that a baby clears out the first breast before offering the second one so that he’s taking the hindmilk which is more creamy and filling. You will be able to see the different in breastmilk if you empty your breast one side at each time.

Frankly, I miss the sweet smell of breastfed baby’s stool. My kids are much older now and cleaning their smelly poo poo doesn’t look like a nice task to me anymore. LOL!

I consider myself very lucky to be blessed with 2 wonderful children. Some of my friends said that I can stop producing babies since I have a girl and a boy. For the time being, I don’t have plans for 3rd baby until my kids are much older. It’s not hard to get pregnant and go for labor, but the idea of handling 3 young children with 2 years of gap may not be what I am capable of.

Nonetheless, I might not be able to get pregnant easily when I’m in my late 30s. But with all these Treatments for infertility, I think there is still hope. Some couples try so hard but they can’t have babies. In these cases, the couples are advised to go for check up to rule out hyperplasia or ovarian cysts for the mothers or semen abnormalities for the fathers. If the couple is both healthy without any fertility problem, the mother can think about getting the drug treatments such as Clomiphene to help to release follicle-stimulating hormone that stimulate the ripening of a follicle and ovulation.

A ovulation calendar might be useful when it comes to monitoring the menstrual cycle. Nonetheless, if you have been trying for more than 6 months but to no avail, it’s time to talk to your doctor.