Baby signing

Years before I become a parent, I have seen a good friend of mine teaching her daughter doing sign. I was so impressed that the little one year old was able to "communicate" with her little hands.

So when I finally have my own children, I know that I want to teach them baby sign language. I started teaching both of my kids to sign when they are around 4 months old. I will show them the "milking" sign every time I begin to breast feed them. At around 6 months, they will get excited and smiling every time I do the "milking" sign. Even though it took them a few more months before doing the "milk" sign, the joy and satisfaction are well worth it !

Most babies will start speaking their mind with words around 18-24 months old. Before they get there, the ability to sign will greatly reduce the frustration for the child and the parents. We find signing was especially useful with my son, he wasn't able to say as many words as our daughter when they are the same age. However, by 12 months, he can show us "milk", "more", "all done", "eat". The common needs for a 1 year old.

Don't worry if your baby doesn't get it straight away, consistency and repetition is the key. Be sure to talk and sign at the same time. Find a few common word that the family use daily. Try it and have fun with it.

Happy signing !

'Tis the season

The day after Thanksgiving, my little girl fell sick with high fever and bad cough. 'Tis the season of cold and flu ! It took us 3 days to break her fever, and after one week, she is still coughing, but less.

Many people think that exposure to cold weather will make you sick. Cold/flu are caused by virus not the weather. Children get sick more during winter season because we tend to stay indoor more and hence more contact with other sick children. Dry cold air can dry up our nasal mucosa allowing the viral droplet to stay longer and disperse further in the air.

Since attending day care, my daughter has been sick almost every few month, I think a lot of parents can relate to that. Younger children have a developing immune system, and they are at the age that they are busy exploring their environment, and constantly rubbing their eyes, picking their nose and putting fingers in their mouth. There are around 200 cold viruses out there, including influenza (flu) virus.

Cold or as we call it upper respiratory tract infection can be managed with hydration, rest, nasal saline drop suctions, cool mist vaporizer/humidifier will ease the inflamed nasal mucosa. Fever reducers can relief the fever, last but not least, lots of TLC.

Few things you can do to prevent this, teach your child to have a hand washing habit, ensure good balance diet and hydration. Yearly flu vaccine will protect your child from getting the influenza (flu).

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-flu.pdf

Happy Holidays !

Food fight

At the time I am writing this, I have 2 toddlers age kids at home. I can completely relate and understand every time parents at the clinic told me that meal time for them is a constant battle. Their child goes into food strike almost every day. And they are desperate to win this fight.

I have a friend telling me that she has pretty much given up putting on these fights with her kids. She has resolute to feeding her kids in front of the television screen every night during dinner. Surely, we have better way to tackle those little one than give up!

Few times a week, my kids will challenge me on the dinner table. My son will pick out all the mushroom and only eat the beef;  my daughter will refuse to sit on the high chair. Or worse, both of them will throw a tantrum at the same time, crying and kicking !

Toddlers and young children often choose mealtimes to put on a show of independence. They learn that parents often easily give in at the end of a tiring day. For them, refusing dinner is an extremely good way to gain our attention.


We need to take charge, be very patience with ourselves and the kids. Be sure to have everyone eats together at the dinner table. Let the kids to be in charge of feeding themselves; it's ok to be messy. Make sure they are not full before dinner time from milk, juice or snacks. Be creative, make the food more appetizing and fun. Last but not least, keep the TV off !


When all failed, take a deep breath, and tomorrow will be a better day !

Bon Appetit !

One of my kids favorite book is  "The very hungry caterpillar". The Caterpillar started very good by eating fruits from Monday to Friday. But on saturday, the caterpillar ate his heart out and had all the goodies in one day, that night, he has a stomachache .....

Whenever friends or families told me how lucky I am that my kids are good eaters. I will smile calmly and agree with them. The truth is my kids are not naturally good eaters, we did go through some ups and downs like every other families. Not to despair, there are several mantras that I tend to follow.

To nurture a good eating behavior, you will have to start young. Very young, as in during pregnancy.
Research has shown that what mom eats will shape baby's food preference later in life. This is because both amniotic fluid and breast milk flavored by food that mother eats.

When the baby starts eating solid food, introduce vegetables before fruits. Fruits are sweeter in general, most babies will like it easily. Consider different ethnic-based food to widen their taste horizon. Be pesistent, try any new food for more than 10 times before you label that food inedible ! The odds are they will eventually learn to like it.


Happy savoring !

Pink eye cocktail

When my first child started day care/preschool, he also started to get sick more often. The run down lists include: multiple URI (upper respiratory tract infection), otitis Media (middle ear infection), Reactive airway disease (wheezing), pneumonia (lung infection), roseola and acute conjunctivitis (pink eye).

The one that I dreaded most was pink eye. You see, he loves taking oral medicine, so there is no usual fighting (which I have had a lot of parents complain to me about their kids!) to take his antibiotics or fever reducer. I think he doesn't mind the bitter aftertaste. He probably acquired that taste when I continue taking my daily dose of cuppa while breast feeding !

Having to give him eye drops is a whole other scene. He will kick and scream as if we were butchering a pig. We (well, my non-doctor husband came up with this one !) finally came up with the best way. It nevertheless required some team effort, we will place him lying on the changing table, daddy will hold up his iPhone playing sesame street video; while he is focusing on Elmo; mommy will sneak in the eye drop from the other side, starting from his blind spot, slowly move inward and drop in the healing drops. Voila ! For us, that works every single time.

With little baby, you can distract them with a shaking rattle. Remember also to wipe away the crusted eyes with warm clothes, avoid sharing of towel among the family members.

Pink eye (conjunctivitis) is the inflammation of the mucus membrane of the inner side of the eyelids. The hallmark symptoms include pink/red eye with green-yellowish pus discharge, eye irritation and photosensitivity. Bacterial and Viruses commonly cause acute conjunctivitis in children. Topical eye drops or ointments are usually prescribed to eradicate the pathogen and shorten the duration of symptoms. This will allow the children to be back in school and parents back to work sooner. It also reduce the transmission of illness. Kid can usually go back to school 24 hour after antibiotics eye drops.

Hand washing is the single most important step to prevent acute conjunctivitis. Teach your kids to wash their hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds, thats how long singing the ABC song takes!

Ciao diaper !

My friends and families like to talk poop/pee with me ! "My 3-year-old can pee in the potty, but still refuses to poop in the potty, is this normal?"; "My 5-year-old still pee in bed at night, Help !"

Before I had kid, I am always very uncomfortable giving any advice about toilet training. Reading hundreds of literatures can't beat the experience of training my own kid.

That is why I have been very eager to train my son. I want to apply my theoretical knowledge practically. But I want to do it at the right moment, not too early, not too late. The expert feels that between 18-24 months are generally good time. When my son turns 21 month last year, he started to show some interest in the new potty we bought him. Leading up to it, I have included a few potty books in our bedtime reading. At the back of my mind, this is a good time because we will be traveling overseas in the next few months, it will be great not to carry all those diapers with us.

I decide to try out the "one-day method" just to test the water. Prior to this, he has sat on the potty for few second each time, but has not successfully peed in the potty. At 21 months he wants to do everything by himself, he can do a few signs, including patting his back after he has pooped. He follows instruction when he wants to. Most importantly, he likes to imitate.

For the next few weeks, I started gathering "tools" for my experiment. I read the book a few times, making mental notes. One sunday, just me and him, in our living room where there is only hardwood floor. I showed him how the potty doll pee in the potty. I gave him lots of liquid to drink and salty snacks to get him drink more. I tells him how great he is to sit on the potty. To my surprise, he was able to sit on the potty for a longer time, up to 20-30 mins. But he was still unable to release his sphincter at the right moment. Needless to say, there was plenty of accidents.

Three-and-a-half hour into the training.When I started to feel mentally and physically exhausted, as if I was at my first Birkram yoga class all over again! He magically peed in the potty ! He seems more excited than I was. Our eyes lock, and he gave me the biggest grin, I have some happy tears down my cheeks. He was so proud of his own achievement.

Throughout the next few months, we have plenty of miss and hit. Slowly but surely, he was completely diaper free. I have to say, I have a relatively painless experience toilet training my son. This fall, when my daughter turns 21 month, I will have another chance to work on my skills. Who knows, she may just follow her brother's footsteps and be out of diaper in no time.

There is no one perfect way to toilet train a child; no- one-size-fits-all method. Every child is different. The child ability to recognize his own need to use the potty depends on his cognitive, physiological and emotional developments.

Never rush or push your child. Offer constant praise and encouragement when he succeeds, don't criticize or punish if he fails. Show him that he can set a goal and achieve it through overcoming challenges, like everything else in life.

Little Jet setter !

I have always enjoy traveling. Penguin parade at Phillip Island, Australia; Tango at La Boca, Buenos Aires; Opera at Palais Garnier, Paris; Food heaven at Singapore hawker centers ....
So having a baby isn't going to change my life style. I was determine to bring along my baby with me, wherever that is.

When my son was 4 month old, I decided to bring him back to my home country, Malaysia to visit my family. It is 7674 miles away from where we live. The planning started few weeks before the trip, to begin, getting ready with the appropriate travel documents.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html

When travel internationally, it is advisable to have an up-to-date vaccination for the child. Moreover, check to see whether additional vaccines are required. I will recommend visiting to a travel health clinic. CDC website provide a comprehensive health information base on destination.
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list.htm

Here are my lists of things that I pack in my luggage whenever I travel with my kids:

Appropriate clothing for local weather
Baby formula (of course you can skip this if you are breast feeding!)
Baby food/ snacks
Sunscreen lotion (for baby older than 6 months old. Avoid direct sun exposure, cover with hat/clothing)
Diapers/Wipes (10/day for Newborn; 8/day for baby; 6/day for toddler)
Favorite blanket/books/toys (new toys to keep child interested on the long flights)
Thermometer, Baby nail clipper
Medications (fever reducer, benadryl, hydrocortisone cream, neosporin antibiotic ointment, Regular prescribed medication)
Insect repellent (especially for Malaria & Dengue epidermic regions)

Offer your baby breast/bottle/pacifier during takeoff and initial descent to reduce ear pain causes by changing air cabin pressure.
Expect that your baby will cry on the plane, most people will understand that baby cries. But bring along a few ear plugs and give it to those who don't !

Last but not least, don't forget to take lots of pictures for those precious moments.
Happy traveling !