Raspberry Love

Today, I introduced little Iggy to raspberries. He loved it and I am so glad that I started his diet with fruits and vegetables first, rather than rice. Here's a bowl of fresh raspberries.

Here, it is pureed and mixed with healthy four grain organic cereals.

 

It is an overall, very healthy and great tasting naturally. 

Try it and see your baby grow healthy and love food in its most natural form.

Blueberries For Little Bub

Berries are a good choice to feed your little ones with. They are bursting with nourishment. It's berry day for little Iggy today. Mama bought blueberries for him to enjoy, although she doesn't fancy them too much.

Wonderful balls of antioxidants.

 

Puréed to perfection for little Iggy to have for lunch.

Now I mix in a little bit of organic cereal that has the blueberry flavor in them.
Feeling nostalgic, as it looks like my favourite childhood dessert - Pulut Hitam.

What does Iggy think of it?

I little sour I guess. But it's alright.

 Happy eating!

Snippets - Fever

"For fevers over 101 degrees Fahrenheit, treat with a tepid bath or dye free ibuprofen. Fevers, while nerve wracking for new parents, are the response of a healthy immune system reacting to kill off an invading virus through heat."

- "Avoiding Autism" by Anju Usman, MD and Beth C. Hynes, JD, MBA,

The Autism File, Issue 31, 2009.

I chose to share this snippet, since my little Iggy has been under the weather, as he is teething. I used to rush to the doctors when my elder two were babies, but now, I choose to be a little patient and try to turn to the medications, only when I should.

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Beautiful Berries

Berries have wonderful nutritional value, they have "high levels of phytochemicals — those naturally occurring nutrients that help protect cells from damage". Here are just some of the reasons why you should have berries in your diet.

• Berries keep you mentally sharp
• Berries help manage diabetes
• Berries might prevent Parkinson's
• Berries could boost heart health
• Berries for weight control
• Berries for low blood pressure
• Fight Cancer with berries
• Berries to help prevent Alzheimer's
• Berries help with urinary tract infections  

To read more on these, check out the link below.

Today, I introduced little Iggy to the world of berries. I pureed a batch of frozen blueberries for him. Nervous about the outcome, I fed him his first mouthful of pureed blueberries and watched.... he loved it, yeah! Do note that berries should not be introduced to babies too early. Iggy is now eight months and is ready for new types of food and fruits. 

Mamas, berries are great for you too. They have a high fiber and liquid content and helps us feel full for a while. This means you can stay slim by adding berries into your diet. Parfaits are a great way to add berries and nuts into your diet, as you start your day with a healthy breakfast.

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Resources:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition-pictures/amazing-health-benefits-of-berries.aspx#/slide-1

Origins Of Speech

A picture paints a thousand words. I am sure that upon looking at this picture, you will be smiling already. It is adorable?

You baby starts communicating with you from the time he is born. There is no languages involved, but you can still comprehend his basic needs. As his needs get more complex, the use of grunts, gestures and then language, helps it along. You may find that your child will grunt at a certain time in the early stages. They are interesting, each grunts stands for a different need. One may indicate hunger, while another type indicates tiredness. 

But what if your child faces a delay in speech? A speech disorder? What are they? After the two blog articles I have shared, I decided that I should do more research. And when I did, I realized that there was so much more to cover. So I will be sharing it with all of you, weekly. (keeping my fingers crossed)

Until then, let me leave you to think about this...

"Learning adult speech is an extremely complex procedure involving the coordination of no fewer than 70 different muscles, and babies have to be patient while slowly gaining full control of these muscles." - Now that's tough!

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Book: Baby by Desmond Morris

Baby and Gas...

I am a breastfeeding mum and this is the first time I am able to do it exclusively. It wasn't planned for it, but it fell in place. So, like every other first newly nursing mums, I read a lot to get to know what I should be doing, for little Iggy. As I was reading this particular book, I found that this information is rather helpful and wish to share it with you.

It may sound odd that I want to talk about gas, but bare with me and you will see why. Everyone of us has gas, yes, sometimes it can remind us in an embarrassing way.

"Generally, most gas created in the intestines is absorbed into the bloodstream; then part of it is filtered out by the liver, and part is expelled through the lungs. Excess gas that is not absorbed will be passed. Prior to solid food, the breastfed infant who is not reacting to any foods in his mother's diet should pass very little gas. More gas is produced when a child is fed when not hungry, when the child is fed harder-to-digest infant formulas on early solid foods, when digestion and adsorption are reduced by food sensitivity reactions, and when undirected milk lactose is passed into the large intestine in the much older children whose lactose enzymes are no longer sufficient."

With my first two boys, I fed them, like clockwork, as advice by my mum. That was how they did things, in their time. The fatter the baby, the better. But now with Iggy, and the abundance of resources, I choose to make alternative decisions in certain matters, like feeding.

Iggy used to feed every hour, when we came home from she hospital. It was crazy difficult for me. I had to keep eating, feed, rest, eat, feed and rest. It was not the ideal picture I had in mind. All the books I read made nursing sounds like a mothers dream. But after a rough start, things started to work out fine. And I am glad I stuck it out. I guess what I wish to share is that, if its workable for you, be patient and breastfed your baby, for both your benefits. 

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Book: The Baby Bond by Dr. Golden Palmer

Utter or Boobs

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I was having tea today with my sis and nephew, when we started exchanging tips on feeding our boys. After talking to her, I felt that I should upload this article. I was going to keep it for another day, but felt that its important should it help someone today.

As parents we all want the best for our little ones. But sometimes when it comes to food and nutrition, we may need to know, that it goes beyond the eating and excreting. Food is our health too. We have to be diligent in what we feed out kids. Where we buy our food from and how we prepare them. Going organic is huge today. But it can break the bank too. We all can agree that choosing natural ingredient is the best way to go for our health.

With this article I wish to share a little on cow's milk. I wish to say that my first two boys grew up on cow's milk, as I only had two months of maternity leave and stopped when I returned to work.

I know that here in Singapore, we have the kiasu mentality to push our children in all aspects. My first two boys were given cereal in their milk when they were merely four months old. My mum and many older people would keep saying that the baby needed it to grow or he would be skinny, thus, according to them, malnourished. Back in the day, I didn't know better and I followed as I was told. But now with information at our fingertips and the loads of books in the library, we have options to know more. Both Peter and I decided that we would do what we felt we needed to do and change what we needed to change for Iggy. After all it is a new generation, a new breed of babies that we have these days.

The first thing we agreed upon was that Iggy would be breastfed. I had not planned to make it exclusive, but I got lazy and found it to be more convenient for me (lazy mum, I know). Later, I was glad I did so, because as I read I found out that although the baby has his digestive system kick started at birth, maturation of numerous digestive processes still carry on for a couple of years.

"Hunger starts the digestive process going, and enzymes are released in the stomach and small intestine. If one ways or is fed when not hungry, these enzymes are not present, and indigestion can occur. Therefore, when infants are fed on a schedule rather than when hunger is expressed, poor digestion and painful indigestion might be the result."

"The digestive system of the newborn infant is not at all equipped to handle solid foods or digest anything but mother's milk. Human infants, like all other mammals, are designed to survive on nutrition made by the mammary glands of the mother, just as they were previously supported by her placenta. This arrangement provides many survival advantages because it ensures parental protection, loving social contact, and controlled, optimal nutrition."

It's easy to understand that a baby's little body only produces a very small amount of digestive enzymes as compares to a mature system. So take this information with a pinch of salt and decide for yourself.

Book: The Baby Bond by Dr. Linda Folden Palmer

Why Is My Child Different?

When one looks back to reconsider the possible causes for a child having special needs, one may consider many theories. You may have your lists of concerns, as I have mine. Amongst the "theories galore: vaccines; environmental toxins; genetics; age of parents at conception of the child (especially the father); hormonal factors, especially testosterone levels; jaundice at birth; strep and use of antibiotics as a child; physical trauma in either mother and child; diet; medications- the lists goes on. All the theories could be correct, or none, but one thing on which many researchers and experts agree is that the child needs to be predisposed to this type of disorder. So, while a vaccine might not affect one child negatively, it might affect another completely differently."

When my third baby, Iggy, was born, he had jaundice. I panicked upon hearing the news. Friends and family, comforted me saying that it was very common and that I had nothing to worry about. Even though, he was my third born, I still freaked. I guess the protectiveness of a mother will always be there.

After doing lots of research for Ivan, I came to realized that a couple of them stated jaundice as a possible trigger. But nothing has been carved in stone. 

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Book: Alphabet Kids: From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome by Robbie Woliver  

Stressful Pregnancy and Baby

I have spent many years, wondering where I went wrong with Ivan. How in the world did autism get it's hands on him? Was it the pregnancy? My health? The childbirth? His nutrition? I could go on and on.

Each time I read an article in line with a possibility of him being exposed to autism, I do get grief stricken. In this case, it's more threatening to his immune system. I don't spend much time pondering in the "what if's". But I do go there sometimes.

Here's a portion of an article I read, that may help you.

"When a mom is under stress during pregnancy, her stress hormone levels become elevated even though pregnancy hormones are designed to have a calming effect on the mother-to-be. Stress hormones disrupt some of the protection induction by the hormonal state of maternity. Increased levels of these stress hormones increase the chances of a preterm delivery. The stress regulation systems of fetus subjected to this hormonal environment are disrupted as well, just as the hormonal balance is altered in infants living in stressful home environments. Exposure to loud noise during uterine life, such as a mother working in noisy surroundings, had been shown to reduce the newborn's protective immune system, possibly due to stress."

Living in Singapore stress is inevitable to a certain extend. I worked in a noisy environment with kids all throughout my pregnancy with Ivan. I hope you don't freak out and quit your job, but the lesson to take with you, is to take it slow. Try not to exert yourself during your pregnancy.

True or not, why risk it, right?

Book: The Baby Bond by Dr. Linda Folden Palmer