The Chosen Bottles

We used Avent bottles during Arissa's time.

At that time, I never heard of BPA-free feeding bottles. But now, it's an in-thing to use BPA-free bottles. More for health reason actually why parents are switching to BPA-free bottles. Nevertheless, you will still see so many non BPA-free or the normal bottles in the market.
And I must say that not all parents outthere in general are aware about the downside of using BPA bottles.

I remember this pregnant lady that I talked to while queuing up to pay . With her was the normal Avent bottles. She was surprised when I told her that she may want to reconsider buying that Avent bottles as it is not BPA-free. I did explain to her briefly on the bad side of normal bottles. But she told me she would stick to her decision of buying that Avent bottles as she hate to line up again to pay..

Back to my original motive of this entry, I finally bought my BPA-free bottles. This is after doing some research on the design and cleaning methods of each bottle brands that I like.

Nuby SoftFlex Natural Nurser/Silicone Nurser. MAM bottles. Philips Avent bottles. All BPA-free bottles. And all are wide neck bottles. And all have similar-to-mother's-nipple and anti-colic.

Reading and looking at each pictures of the bottles in the internet is totally not the same as holding it in your hands. Thus, I used my long Friday lunch today to do some real life research on the listed brands. I just had to hold them in my hands & see it with my own two eyes to make the final verdict. On which is suitable and easier to use. More to maid-friendly-bottles!

Ye la... It will be the maid who will be using the bottles when I'm away working. Thus, I need a hassle free bottles to be used by my maid. One that is easy to assemble ie. just insert the teat into the nipple ring and screw it all to the bottle. Plus having too many parts of the bottle for washing will be troublesome and can also lead to poor cleaning. It's important to minimize all these unwanted issues as I don't want my baby to be sick because of the dirty bottles.

With MAM bottles, there are just to many things to be assembled. From the silicone valve at the bottom ring , to the bottle body and lastly to insert the teat into the bottle ring.

Same goes to Nuby SoftFlex too. One needs to properly insert the teat into the bottle ring. This is illustrated in the leaflet. Failing to do these will result in leaking. And u won't get that anti-colic function in place. The same things goes with MAM bottles too.

Furthermore, when u have so many parts to assemble, then contamination of virus/bacteria can happen also. Why? Too many parts to be touched by hands.

If it is me who will be feeding our baby, then i can confirm on the hygenic bottle handling and washing procedures. But since it will be my maid, thus, I need to eliminate or reduce this forseen issues.

So I chosed Avent BPA-free bottle. Actually I have fallen for Nuby Soft Flex. But for the above reasons, I'm choosing Avent. But Avent BPA-free bottles has an issue with leaking. These has been experieced by most Avent BPA-free bottle users out there.

But after reading so many reviews, some have been able to identify the cause of it and how to deal with it. Again, poor bottle assemble is the root of leaking. Anyhow, Avent bottle is still the easiest bottle to assemble with less parts to deal with.

My only worry now, is, will my baby love Avent bottles?

We shall see that when October comes.

Road to Cloth Diapers

Anyone who wanted to find out more on cloth diapers, free to swing by at the following blog...I know it's not easy to find a good review on cloth diapers when there are so many brands outhere in the market... Even I am , and still are ( a bit) confused on the best & suitable CDs for my 2nd child.



Nevertheless, I'm glad that I found diaperasia/forum to clear my curiousity and doubts on CDs.. In fact , these CDs addicted mommies were all so helpful to share what they know about CDs based on their experiences..



One piece of advice that I remember most about choosing the CDs is that to all CDs are good in its own function. But ones will only find the right CDs depending on their own children as each child is different from another child. No doubts I will have to buy a few brand 1st and see if it suits my baby.But I will try to minimize the wrong-brand/types-purchased by reading as much information I can .. Me no shopaholic CDs..



1. Jess's blog

2.Indi & Maya's mommy's shop

3. Farra's shop

4. Soho Mama

Cloth diaper: which one?

I'm soooo pening!!!! Confused with cloth diapers @ CD...

Ok. So I'm currently doing my research on cloth diapers..Read on the types of cloth diapers available here ie. sold online .. I even read the diaperasia.com forum to understand it more..

But I'm getting so pening and confused and arg!!!!!!

Confused that there are so many brands outthere and design too.. Pocket diapers, Fitted diapers,All-in-Ones (AIOs) ...

I hate the idea of buy-first-try-later concept.. From the forum, most of the CD addicts bought so many types of CD.. This meaning investing in hundreds of ringgit 1st until we find the right and comfortable and convenient CD which is just suitable for our baby...

And I'm not that kind of buyer. No matter how cute the CD designs on my baby's bottom, I'm not going to buy every CD there is on the market..

I just want to buy the right one.... Argh!!! I'm in the middle of closing the April's account...And I'm 25th weeks pregnant... And there are so many other things that I need to sort it out and get and buy before my 2nd baby pops out early August!!!!

Let there be light at the end of my CD tunnel!!! Amin...

BPA-free

All things about BPA products is very alarming. I guess that I wasn't that worried nor much affected by it, not since yesterday.

Of course it's easy to be ignorance about it as it's a choice for us to make. But somehow yesterday, I just had to do some research on it to satisfy my curiousity on what BPA is all about.

I did read from wikipedia . But I failed to understand it from that. The explanation on BPA was too high level for me..I need something written in a laymen terms.

Found it here from momslittleones's reading corner . There are two reading materials that focus on BPA which I found easy to understand. After done reading it, I just can't help not to feel so worried and trouble too by this BPA side effects especially for our unborn baby and baby too..

Hard for us to deny that BPA has been around us for 5o years. It is widely use in a making all consumer products ranging from children's toys, resusable drink container , all PVC made products, and very worrisome to parents is plastic baby bottles. Yikes!

And the negative side effects can be from breast cancer, impaired learning and memory, prostate disease & cancer, miscarriage, sperm defects, obesity , diabetics etc...

But among us, who is most at RISK? Our growing children. With that, I'm so busy planning on what to buy and get for my 2nd unborn baby. From the breastpumps, to the bottles, teats and storage milk bags, all will have to be BPA free. Of course these BPA-free products is expensive than the normal one , but we can always minimize the cost by making a good buying plans.

So currently there are so many things going inside my mind. Thank goodness that there are many BPA-free baby products outthere. But the bottom lines will be my baby's products preference. We all know that babies are not alike. What suits ones baby may not suits another baby. And I hate to be making fruitless and wasteless decisions once I make the purchases.. See how mind boggling this things is for expecting mommy like me!

Back to the research findings from the reading corner, they clearly stated brands that is BPA leaching in baby's bottles. Most of these wellknown brands has come up with it's own line of BPA-free baby products in the market thesedays.

But to see those wellknown brands definitely give a strong impact on the mindset of mothers outthere. This will effect the purchasing power that mothers have when buying baby products. Even I was affected by it!

Prior to reading those articles, I thought I could still use all the normal bottles , teats and milk bags. Why? Because the BPA leaching is due to simulated use—dishwashing,brushing, and boiling. And I thought I could simply follow the basic rules of changing bottles and teats ever 3 months. But then, the total cost of using these normal products is actually the same as buying the BPA-free products. And for the sake of our children future, I dare not to take risk.

One thing about being a parent is that we try so hard to give only the best for our children. No doubt that some of us are not financially strong . But that do not deter us from trying to give the best that we can do for our children. I've seen some parents who are just low paid workers. But their actions in being not stingy on food for the children is something that I salute them.. We all know that fish & seafood are expensives. But we can always get it cheap from the wet market expecially if u buy at the early wee hours in the morning.

Thus, BPA free or not, the choice is ours parents!

Oh yeah, do check it out ( the reading materials from momslittleones ) as they got tips on how to avoid this BPA things!

Spectra vs Ameda BP

Reason of today's entry was due to my visit to momslittleones shop at Sri Kembangan a few weeks ago.

It's is also because I know how dilemma and confusing it is to choose breast pump(BP) ..

Prior to my visit to momslittleones shop, I have chosen 2 BP that I favour most ie Spectra 3 and Ameda Lactaline. On the 1st ranking was Spectra 3 followed by Ameda . But before I can make the final purchase, I need something concrete or strong validation to back up my decision.

In fact, I hate feeling inferior when hubby asked me why I made that purchase.. My dearest husband doesn't like impulse purchases or semi-impulse purchase or whatever purchases that is done without fullest logical thinking. Simple to say, do enough Qs & As before making that final decision.. But then again, I am not a shopaholic too..

Back to my visit , I have to say that I gained alot of useful infos on both BP. And looking at the BP online is definetely not the same as looking at it in reality. When I say in reality, I mean by touching it , feeling it with your barehands and even testing it on my body.

I have to stressed these finer points that touching the BP with my own hands helped me alot in understanding the BPs. There at the shop, the BPs are display outside the box/packaging. Normally we will only see the BPs being displayed in the box. Thus, we only get to view it and read whatever is written on the box/packaging.

But at the shop, they let you touch and try the BPs. And the best part of it, not only that I learn how to assemble & disassemble all the BP parts, I found out which one is easier to use. Working mothers who have to express at office have less time to spare for expressing session.

So on Spectra I found out that it's open system pump is one bad point that I dont like.. An open systems pump means that there is no barrier in between the tubes and milk collection . So there is a chance that milk will leak into the pump tubing. With that, this means inconvenience and a hassle to working mothers as we have to then wash, sterilize and air dry the tubes before pumping again. And the tubes are not that big. In office, the most that we will pump is for 3 sessions. And how on earth are we going to airdry it in such a short time?

And I found out from the sales person there who was really helpful and knowledgable about BPs, these incidents is a common thing. Another common thing to happen is that milk/water gets into the motorpump via the tubes. And when this happen, you need to send your motor for a service. Each service cost about RM50-RM100 . Once u send your motor pump for service, the level of noice motor will be a bit louder than before.. But it is still quiter than Medela which most users said sounded like mesin potong rumput!!!!! Imagine the noise of the motor pump of a grasscutter.

And with milk leaking inside the tubes, then mold can be found too.. Mold is not good as this will infected your precious expressed milk.

Howeve, the manufaturer have recently come up with a special item that function as a barrier to prevent leaking milk. How effective this small part is unknown yet as momlittleone have only have it in their shop recently ( less than a month ) . Thus, need to wait for review from the users.

As for Ameda, it is a closed system pump that have a diaphragm which acts as a barrier to prevent milk from leaking into tubes. Thus, the expressed milk is never exposed to the tubes or the motor pump. The best part is that less parts to wash and sterilize! Yippe! And no mold too..


On a personal notes, I did have a good look at the Spectra & Ameda BP. I found out that the milk-leak-into-tubes can happen easily due to the design of the Spectra. So that is one key point that worries me.. You may think how on earth will the milk leak into the tubes and into the motor pump. Well, it can happen when we accidently dropped the bottles on the floor or have it tilted during expressing sessions.

Another bad points on Spectra is that u can't use batteries supply when there is no electricity. But with Ameda yes.

However, both have it's good points too. Both can be used with Avent wide neck bottles and Aventvia cups. Just use the Spectra Wide neck converter. This u can only find from fabulousmom online shop( for malaysia).

Both are good trusted BP brand that is recommend by certified lactations. The level of noise is way much better than Medela BPs. And it's not that heavy & bulky too..

On single pump and double pump, I only have to say this. If u are a working mother like me who wants more expressed milk in a short time ( less than 20 minutes from assembling the BP to washing it ) , then double pumps is the best choice. On brands, Medela or Spectra of Ameda are ok.. So long as it is approved and recommended by certified lactations.

Oh yeah, somehow Avent is not so on the prefered list at that shop...

I'm can't wait to receive my Ameda this week...

Cerebral palsy

Below is an article that I found very easy to read about cerebral palsy. I do know that most of the time , it is not easy to come by an article that able to explain certain things in laymen method. So , here's for sharing :

Definition:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is the name given to a collection of movement disorders. Movement disorders are conditions in which a person's muscles do not respond normally. CP is also known as static encephalopathy (pronounced in-seh-fuh-LAH-puh-thee). It is caused by brain damage that occurs before, during, or just after birth. A person with CP is often also affected by other conditions caused by brain damage.

Description:
If a person is affected by CP his or her muscles may become either rigid or very loose. Sometimes an individual may lose control of his or her muscles, resulting in problems with balance and coordination. The condition may affect the legs only, which is called paraplegia (pronounced par-uh-PLEE-jee-uh) or diplegia (pronounced die-PLEE-juh); the arm and leg on one side of the body, which is known as hemiplegia (pronounced hem-i-PLEE-juh); or all four limbs, called quadriplegia (pronounced kwod-ruh-PLEE-jee-uh).

Other problems experienced by someone with CP include visual or hearing problems, mental retardation (see mental retardation entry), learning disabilities (see learning disorders entry), and attention deficit disorder (ADD). Some CP patients experience no problems beyond their movement disorder.

CP affects about 500,000 children and adults in the United States. About 6,000 new cases are diagnosed in newborns and young children each year. CP is not a genetic disorder, and there is currently no way of predicting which children will develop it. CP is not a disease and is not communicable, which means it cannot be passed from one person to another.
CP is a nonprogressive disorder. That is, it does not become better or worse over time. However, some conditions may appear to become worse. For example, when muscles are rigid for a long period, arms and legs may become deformed. In such cases, additional treatments may be necessary.

Causes:

1. is caused by damage to brain cells that control the movement of muscles. When those cells die, signals can no longer be sent to muscle cells. This loss of muscle control results in the symptoms of CP.

Factors can cause brain cell damage:

1. lack of oxygen (asphyxia, pronounced az-FIK-see-uh),
2. infection example: rubella ,toxoplasmosis (a blood infection), toxoplasmosis (a blood infection)
3. trauma (shock),
4. malnutrition (poor diet),
5. drugs or other chemicals, or
6. hemorrhage (bursting of blood vessels).
7. In most cases, it is impossible to discover the exact cause for any one person's CP.
8. Premature birth is regarded as one important and common factor.

Most researchers now believe that brain cell damage occurs before birth. This damage is also responsible for other conditions that tend to occur along with CP.

Symptoms : usually not noticeable at birth. Instead, they begin to show up during the first eighteen months of a child's life.

Normal children pass through a series of developmental stages. At each stage, they learn how to perform one or more common tasks. Infants with CP have difficulty performing these tasks. Such difficulties may indicate that an infant has CP.

The tasks considered to be milestones in normal development include the following:

1. Babbles (6 to 8 months)
2. Sits well with support (8 to 10 months)
3. Crawls (9 to 12 months)
4. Walks alone (12 to 15 months)
5. Uses one or two words other than dada and mama (12 to 15 months)
6. Eats with fingers; holds bottle (12 to 18 months)
7. Turns pages in books; removes shoes and socks (24 to 30 months)
8. Walks up and down steps (24 to 36 months)

Because children develop at different rates, using these milestones to diagnose cerebral palsy (or any other disorder) must be used with great caution. The fact that an otherwise healthy child does not reach one of these milestones at the suggested age is not necessarily a sign that the child has CP. He or she may just be developing at a slower rate. In addition, problems with vision or hearing may cause such delays.

Five forms of cerebral palsy are recognized. They are defined according to the kind of muscle damage and the location of that damage:

1. Spastic: Muscles are rigid (tight), posture may be abnormal, and the ability to do delicate work is impaired.
2. Athetoid: Muscular movements are slow, twisting, and involuntary (beyond the person's control).
3. Hypotonic: Muscles are floppy, without firmness.
4. Ataxic: Balance and coordination are impaired.
5. Dystonic: Any combination of the above symptoms.
6. Cerebral palsy is also described according to the parts of the body affected:
7. Hemiplegia: One arm and one leg on the same side of the body are involved.
8. Diplegia: Both legs are involved; in addition, one or both arms may also be involved.
9. Quadriplegia: Both arms and both legs are involved.

Treatment:

Cerebral palsy cannot be cured. However, the physical and other problems it causes can usually be managed through planning and timely care. Treatment plans depend on the type of impairment as well as associated problems the child may have, such as learning disabilities. Many CP patients require the help of physical and occupational therapists only. These professionals help the child learn to deal with loss of muscle control. Other specialists, such as speech-language therapists, special education teachers, nutritionists, and neurosurgeons (nerve specialists) may be needed to help with problems related to CP.

The above article is taken from this site.

Motherly common sense tips

Some more tips are :

Bottle brushes: Hopefully no one will simply pick up any brushes without thinking will it scratch the inner wall of the plactic bottles. Ask around from anyone who may have bought brushes that leave a scratch inside the bottle. Once scratch, it will be easy for bacteria , germs to contiminate milk.

Bottles & tits liquid cleaner : Any baby bottle & tits cleaner will do.. Even soaking them in salt water too will kill the germs. However, pay more attention to the way we clean the bottles & washing bowls or sinks. Just make sure the surrounding is in clean condition. This will save you from having to rewash it again should you accidently drop or touch the clean bottles around that washing area.

Powdered Milk: For those who have stopped breastfeeding their babies ( best once baby is 2 years old), it is to our children benefits that they continue drinking milk until forever. There's more goodness to milk than any other drinks which is available out there. Strong teeth & bones & a good health too. So which one ? It depends on your baby actually. But try to give the best brand that have better quantity of additional ingredients. From my own research, Neslac 1 & 3& above which is under Nestle brand, is the best powdered milk. Why not Enfagrow? Its far more expensive than Neclac right? So it should be the best milk compared to Neslac. Unfortunately, it lacks in the quantity percentage of its ingredient. No doubt the contents are all the same. But the percentage is far more important than the milk brand.

Breastpads: For those who have no idea what it is, well, its one thing we breastmilk feeder can't live without. No more breastmilk stain on our shirt when our breasts( fulled of milk) suddenly leak milk occasionally. I've tried so many brands. From the expensive ones to the cheapest one. And I found one which is economicall in cost & high in value too. Bebe breastpads. This you can get from Jusco & Guardian pharmacy. However, be reminded that this is based on my own experience an. It may not suit others.

Baby clothings: This is only applicable to those who wants to buy the unexpensive brands that we can get from Jusco and any other shopping complexes. One thing for sure, Baby Kiko has the best fabrics quality. The clothes wont looked so worn out after hundredth of washing. Better than Anakku which I find it to be a bit low on the quality even it it highly priced.

Baby cots: I noticed that not many parents-to-be are aware that baby cots size does matter. Of course all cots look the same. But not the width especially. Most failed to see this. It's better to invest in bigger cots width as it will give your baby more space to toss & turn .

Bottles : If possible, try not to use the hand-me-down bottles that have scratched inner wall. No point in trying to save some money at the expense of our baby's health.


A gentle reminder that all these tips are merely from my own experience. Thus , please use our own common sense when making the final decision . Always put your baby's best interest above anything else. Insya Allah, everything will be fine.

When everything is 1st time experience. Young and old.

How to react & feel when not a single person in the wardroom ( except myself) know how to change dirty nappy of a newborn baby? A pity sight tight? That's what I feel on Wednesday nite .

Remember about my entry two days ago where I had to pick up my hubby from KL central? Well, my hubby texted me about his friend R'd who just dapat( sorry, I don't know the best word for this in English ) baby boy . Since we were not far from DSC Hospital, we decided to pay the newly parents a visit.

What a delighted news for me when R'd's wife told me of their plan to breastfeed their baby. U know how I'm into this one hundred percents! Thus, I shared with her my two years experience of breastfeeding my child. I even asked if she had a problem with latching on as this is common for 1st time mothers. Thank God, she had a good latch. With that I reassured her that she had passed the 1st hurdle of making a successfull breastfeeding. I tried to shared as much as I can with her during that short visit.

And yes, I remind her & her hubby to be strong when there will be people who will suggest giving powdered milk to their baby. The nearest attack will be from parents & family.

Soiled nappy? YEah, her MIL & her mother was there in the room. And the hubbies were outside the room. They called the nurse to help them change the dirty nappy. I can't blame them much as this is the 1st granchild for her MIL. As for her mother, maybe this was also her 1st expereince as R'd's wife is the only daughter in her family. Thus, it is expected neither all of them know how to handle a baby. In fact they were surprised when I told them the baby could be crying because of hunger. I put my cleaned & washed finger which I did before touching the baby into his mouth. Boy, was he hungry as he sucked my finger.

Before we left the hospital, me especially , advised R'd to be his wife number one supporter in breastfeeding. Actually I told him so many things also from what to do if his wife expereince engorgement, the benefits of breastmilk, the hiddened benefits of night feeding, milk production and so on.. When it's time to go, I told him to ring my hubby as he too knows most of these things and other things too about baby care & breastfeeding.

I hope things will go out smoothly for them.. Amin.