Ok.. so its silly...
We know that potty training should start later but we are ambitious ... want to try potty training her from as early as possible...
She has 2 potties, one at each household, both nice and EXPENSIVE... she has been refusing the potty previously but has slowly grown to allow us to sit her up when she poos.
Today, after a long nap and good sleep, I brought her downstairs where Nancy and Maria came around to entertain her. She started her pooing and Nancy immediately put her on the potty. She did not fuss even when the diaper was removed and subsequently went on to poo in the potty!
Obviously this is not easy to keep up....
Friday, June 27, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Stubborn girl part 2
Its been over a week... Madison still refuses the bottle...
We have tried every trick in the book...
We started with AVENT bottles and size 0 teats, which were refused all of a sudden just a day after she had been taking them..
So the initial plan was to try with me not around, which failed, then in different environments, which also failed...
Off we went to buy a size 1 teat.. and the process was repeated..
Then it was off to a size 2 teat.. as well as a special spout like teat that Avent makes for its cups and bottles.. all failed...
So after a days' rest, it was time to change the teat, and we tried the pigeon teat.. at this stage, she would not even let the teat touch her mouth before starting to protest!
She would rather starve than take the teat, which happened 2 days ago when I had to go off to work in the afternoon...
But I think this phenomenon is not isolated to Madison, sounds as if many breastfed babies develop this aversion to artificial teats and bottles after some time ....
We have tried every trick in the book...
We started with AVENT bottles and size 0 teats, which were refused all of a sudden just a day after she had been taking them..
So the initial plan was to try with me not around, which failed, then in different environments, which also failed...
Off we went to buy a size 1 teat.. and the process was repeated..
Then it was off to a size 2 teat.. as well as a special spout like teat that Avent makes for its cups and bottles.. all failed...
So after a days' rest, it was time to change the teat, and we tried the pigeon teat.. at this stage, she would not even let the teat touch her mouth before starting to protest!
She would rather starve than take the teat, which happened 2 days ago when I had to go off to work in the afternoon...
But I think this phenomenon is not isolated to Madison, sounds as if many breastfed babies develop this aversion to artificial teats and bottles after some time ....
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
STUBBORN GIRL!
Today was a terrible day for us all: Madison, Nancy and myself.
Why? For 2 consecutive days she has steadfastly refused the bottle of expressed breast milk! I have been trying to encourage her to take a regular bottle at noon which she used to take alright, albeit irregularly.
She now protests vehemently when the teat is introduced; we have tried to heat up the milk, give her freshly expressed milk and I even tried to hide while she was being given the bottle! All in vain! Our dear little stubborn girl cried furiously, pushed the teat away and promptly went to sleep HUNGRY! She would take the breast readily but persistently pushed the teat away!
This afternoon the same drama unfolded, and being worried that she would permanently refuse the bottle we tried again at the 3pm feed. The same thing happened! Finally Pa came home and she took the bottle from him! She refused the bottle from Ma as well! Really strange...
I can't even begin to imagine the drama when she starts to eat proper food! Its' really hard not to worry when children refuse to eat...
My main concern now is that if she chooses to starve during the day then she would wake at night just to feed and sleep during the day instead... SIGH... should I persist with the bottle or give up and give her the breast only!
Why? For 2 consecutive days she has steadfastly refused the bottle of expressed breast milk! I have been trying to encourage her to take a regular bottle at noon which she used to take alright, albeit irregularly.
She now protests vehemently when the teat is introduced; we have tried to heat up the milk, give her freshly expressed milk and I even tried to hide while she was being given the bottle! All in vain! Our dear little stubborn girl cried furiously, pushed the teat away and promptly went to sleep HUNGRY! She would take the breast readily but persistently pushed the teat away!
This afternoon the same drama unfolded, and being worried that she would permanently refuse the bottle we tried again at the 3pm feed. The same thing happened! Finally Pa came home and she took the bottle from him! She refused the bottle from Ma as well! Really strange...
I can't even begin to imagine the drama when she starts to eat proper food! Its' really hard not to worry when children refuse to eat...
My main concern now is that if she chooses to starve during the day then she would wake at night just to feed and sleep during the day instead... SIGH... should I persist with the bottle or give up and give her the breast only!
Driving me crazy in the middle of the night!
I can't believe how things can vary so much from night to night!
There I was, just enjoying the day with her and getting better nights and then a TERRIBLE night.
I am trying to identify the factors which give her a bad night: insufficient day feeds, over stimulation etc...
Tonight was TERRIBLE.
First of all she was tired at bed time. I made sure she had been adequately nourished the entire day but by the time 6 PM came she was cranky and wanted to sleep.
Then her DADDY was POST CALL and probably tired too, but wanted to spend time with her. He fell asleep in the afternoon until her bedtime so bath was the only time he had with her for the past 2 days.
FIRST MISTAKE: I don't know why men cannot MULTI TASK. He had to put her down SCREAMING while he prepared her bath. And he was SLOW.
SECOND MISTAKE: he took his time giving her a bath despite the fact that she was screaming through it...
THIRD MISTAKE: he took his time DRESSING HER! So she got cranky too...
She settled ok initially but within 30minutes she was fussing already and had to be rocked back to sleep after her dinner feed.
Then the nightmare started. She got up unusually early for the next night feed at midnight, then fussed again barely 3 hours later, then again another hour later and again 30minutes later! Finally even at 6 AM she stirred and needed to be rocked again! This all just 1 night after a fantastic night before!
Of course I got mad and felt really impatient, but I kept telling myself, she is only a kid and not doing this to annoy me... not her fault, its us stupid adults who cannot get it right@!!! And of course who suffers but the breastfeeding mummy and the kid@@@!!!ARGH!!!! If its not the grandparents trying to enforce their parenting habits on you its something else!! We are doomed not to sleep for A LONG TIME!!! SIGH.....
There I was, just enjoying the day with her and getting better nights and then a TERRIBLE night.
I am trying to identify the factors which give her a bad night: insufficient day feeds, over stimulation etc...
Tonight was TERRIBLE.
First of all she was tired at bed time. I made sure she had been adequately nourished the entire day but by the time 6 PM came she was cranky and wanted to sleep.
Then her DADDY was POST CALL and probably tired too, but wanted to spend time with her. He fell asleep in the afternoon until her bedtime so bath was the only time he had with her for the past 2 days.
FIRST MISTAKE: I don't know why men cannot MULTI TASK. He had to put her down SCREAMING while he prepared her bath. And he was SLOW.
SECOND MISTAKE: he took his time giving her a bath despite the fact that she was screaming through it...
THIRD MISTAKE: he took his time DRESSING HER! So she got cranky too...
She settled ok initially but within 30minutes she was fussing already and had to be rocked back to sleep after her dinner feed.
Then the nightmare started. She got up unusually early for the next night feed at midnight, then fussed again barely 3 hours later, then again another hour later and again 30minutes later! Finally even at 6 AM she stirred and needed to be rocked again! This all just 1 night after a fantastic night before!
Of course I got mad and felt really impatient, but I kept telling myself, she is only a kid and not doing this to annoy me... not her fault, its us stupid adults who cannot get it right@!!! And of course who suffers but the breastfeeding mummy and the kid@@@!!!ARGH!!!! If its not the grandparents trying to enforce their parenting habits on you its something else!! We are doomed not to sleep for A LONG TIME!!! SIGH.....
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our growing girl
Madison never fails to amuse us adults...
This morning she woke up in an unusually good mood, cooing and babbling non stop until I fed her breakfast...
Then when I passed her to Nancy while I dressed she started laughing repeatedly at Nancy.. the first time she has ever done that... she is such a different girl when she is happy, smiling or laughing...
Another thing we noticed: she really likes to watch the telly! A terrible habit but difficult to completely control because we adults usually watch it while feeding her/ sitting together!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Our First Father's Day!
Today is Chris' first Father's day!
WHAT WAS HIS GIFT? Besides the obvious (being MADISON of course!) ... he was given a day of GOLF at the COURSE!
SO off he went on Saturday to play at the Mandai golf course and he managed 9 holes with some other people he met at the course, an Australian trader and a Canadian teacher. I think he had alot of fun that afternoon!
Today was pretty routine, we went to PUMP class in the morning, then came home to pick Madison up to go to Suntec city for lunch and shopping. Unfortunately the PC show was on ( and the last day too!) so the queue to get in was horrendous and we changed plans to go to VIVOCITY instead.
Lunch was at Food Republic and we had Char Siew wonton mee and an assortment of dim sum. Nancy came along with us and had her Indonesian Fried chicken. I think she misses home food.. anyone would, after being away from home for 3 months!
We checked out the breastfeeding room at Vivocity afterwards, to give Madison HER lunch, and to our pleasant surprise the room was decent and clean with a nice sofa like seat for me to feed her on. Unlike Suntec which doesn't even have a decent diaper changing station at the Food gallery level!
Having fed, Madison was in an agreeable mood and we popped over to Giant supermarket for shopping ... the crowds had not arrived yet and we were able to shop in peace and the checkout line was short!
By the time we left for home, the queue to the carpark had just begun.. were we glad that we were on our WAY OUT!
The afternoon was spent at the grandparents' place where my parents had their fill of her.. Grandpa and ma time! She's got heaps of toys at the house now... the living room is slowly being converted to a complete childcare station! I think her stuff takes up just about 50% of the living room already!
WHAT WAS HIS GIFT? Besides the obvious (being MADISON of course!) ... he was given a day of GOLF at the COURSE!
SO off he went on Saturday to play at the Mandai golf course and he managed 9 holes with some other people he met at the course, an Australian trader and a Canadian teacher. I think he had alot of fun that afternoon!
Today was pretty routine, we went to PUMP class in the morning, then came home to pick Madison up to go to Suntec city for lunch and shopping. Unfortunately the PC show was on ( and the last day too!) so the queue to get in was horrendous and we changed plans to go to VIVOCITY instead.
Lunch was at Food Republic and we had Char Siew wonton mee and an assortment of dim sum. Nancy came along with us and had her Indonesian Fried chicken. I think she misses home food.. anyone would, after being away from home for 3 months!
We checked out the breastfeeding room at Vivocity afterwards, to give Madison HER lunch, and to our pleasant surprise the room was decent and clean with a nice sofa like seat for me to feed her on. Unlike Suntec which doesn't even have a decent diaper changing station at the Food gallery level!
Having fed, Madison was in an agreeable mood and we popped over to Giant supermarket for shopping ... the crowds had not arrived yet and we were able to shop in peace and the checkout line was short!
By the time we left for home, the queue to the carpark had just begun.. were we glad that we were on our WAY OUT!
The afternoon was spent at the grandparents' place where my parents had their fill of her.. Grandpa and ma time! She's got heaps of toys at the house now... the living room is slowly being converted to a complete childcare station! I think her stuff takes up just about 50% of the living room already!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Madison's official 3 month birthday!
Today is the 13th of June... Madison's official 3rd month!
She nearly turned this afternoon... which was quite amazing... but not quite yet...
Madison is rather chatty in the afternoons too.. complaining or just babbling away like a train...
Grandpa (my dad) bought her several toys these few days... a fisher price table with a chair that rotates around it, a train filled with toy animals... she seems to take some interest in it but starts to protest after awhile... so we give it a break and let her come back to it another day...
She's lasting longer at night now, which leaves me with the conundrum of engorgement and the fear that she would suddenly wake needing a feed just after I pump...
Some of her clothes are getting a little tight as well... sob... they are being relegated to the "for your sibling" section of her cabinet now...
I was quite amazed that someone else actually read my blog and gave me some kind advice regarding sleep sacks... I am happy to say that we actually usually use the swaddle me sacks that are specially designed but as she recently outgrew her 1st few ones and we were awaiting for the new shipment from the USA we used muslin cloths given by a friend's friend ( self made) for the time being with her blanket. Now I am fastidious about using only stuff that I am sure about..no more new blankets for her! BUT THE SWADDLES have ARRIVED via Singpost yesterday!!!
One more thing... she seems to have developed stranger anxiety already... she screams whenever strangers approach her or try to carry her! A little early isn't it??
Madison seems to be developing eating habits too... she eats less for some reason at the 12noon feed, but seems rather hungry later on, as if to make up for the lost feed...one thing I know is never to force a child to eat for fear of her developing poor feeding associations later on in life!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Expressed breast milk
Feeding a baby is an art in its own right!
We had made the choice to do exclusive breastfeeding from the time I became pregnant, but never did I really expect to be successful..
Well... I am glad to report that Madison is doing fine at the moment, so I am hoping to continue for as long as I possibly can... not having to work fulltime plays an important part in being able to breastfeed well at this stage though, I feel...
Today, I am giving away my first lot of expressed breastmilk that I had so painstakingly collected in April. We had met up with the lactation consultant Yen Ping at 6 weeks, only to be told that I should have started pumping regularly to get used to the idea of pumping in case I needed to go back to work. So we put the money down and purchased the Avent Isis Duo pump, which I then had to diligently use since it COST US SO MUCH!
Now the freezer is getting full so I decided to get rid of the first lot of milk... sob. sob... I think I should donate it to our pet dogs at the Novena house if they would have it!
We had made the choice to do exclusive breastfeeding from the time I became pregnant, but never did I really expect to be successful..
Well... I am glad to report that Madison is doing fine at the moment, so I am hoping to continue for as long as I possibly can... not having to work fulltime plays an important part in being able to breastfeed well at this stage though, I feel...
Today, I am giving away my first lot of expressed breastmilk that I had so painstakingly collected in April. We had met up with the lactation consultant Yen Ping at 6 weeks, only to be told that I should have started pumping regularly to get used to the idea of pumping in case I needed to go back to work. So we put the money down and purchased the Avent Isis Duo pump, which I then had to diligently use since it COST US SO MUCH!
Now the freezer is getting full so I decided to get rid of the first lot of milk... sob. sob... I think I should donate it to our pet dogs at the Novena house if they would have it!
Scares in the middle of the night
I am a bad mummy....
There are so many ways to endanger an infants' life! That is the conclusion I have come to, at 0230h in the morning... this is the first real scare of my life with regards to this issue...
We usually swaddle Madison and tuck her securely into bed for the night nowadays.. she sleeps well like this.
Tonight was no different, except that all her usual blankets were out in the wash. Chris was on call tonight so I was struggling a little with trying to get her crib ready and prepare her for a bath at the same time. Not being able to get her usual blankets, I scrounged around in the cupboard and found one of her unused new blanket/swaddle cloths to use as a blanket. It was a little stretchy with the lycra embedded cloth but I thought that was fine. I tucked one end in and secured it with the muslin cloth embedded into the cot side.
Then at 0140h I heard her fussing although the baby monitor had yet to pick up her noise. I immediately went into her room and found that she had somehow made her way sideways along the cot and had her face UNDER the blanket! Being a smart baby she was struggling and I hastily threw off the blanket and released her swaddle! I couldn't believe how she could have got under the blanket even though I had tucked her in so tightly! She didn't seem much harmed though and I fed her as if she had just woken for a feed. I thought she might have been gasping a little immediately after I freed her from under the blanket???
I couldn't believe my eyes .. that's how babies SUFFOCATE! And it almost happened to me... I held her just a little tighter during the feed, and swore I would never again ignore safety rules.... they are there for a reason and there is no need for me to test the rules...and the irony was just moments ago I was blissfully ignorant...sigh... how do I keep my little girl from all the harm in the world? So I got rid of the blanket, made and remade her swaddle after that until it was perfect and used only a non stretchable muslin cloth to tuck her feet in. And checked and rechecked the monitor. And repositioned the video camera until I could clearly see her head. And left her door ajar so that I can SEE and HEAR her directly. And of course promptly dropped the monitor with a clang afterwards trying to do everything. Then hoping she wouldn't wake because of my clumsiness!
HOPELESS MOMMY... being a mother is just super tough... how do we stop tripping up time and time again? Its a lucky thing babies are really tough souls!
There are so many ways to endanger an infants' life! That is the conclusion I have come to, at 0230h in the morning... this is the first real scare of my life with regards to this issue...
We usually swaddle Madison and tuck her securely into bed for the night nowadays.. she sleeps well like this.
Tonight was no different, except that all her usual blankets were out in the wash. Chris was on call tonight so I was struggling a little with trying to get her crib ready and prepare her for a bath at the same time. Not being able to get her usual blankets, I scrounged around in the cupboard and found one of her unused new blanket/swaddle cloths to use as a blanket. It was a little stretchy with the lycra embedded cloth but I thought that was fine. I tucked one end in and secured it with the muslin cloth embedded into the cot side.
Then at 0140h I heard her fussing although the baby monitor had yet to pick up her noise. I immediately went into her room and found that she had somehow made her way sideways along the cot and had her face UNDER the blanket! Being a smart baby she was struggling and I hastily threw off the blanket and released her swaddle! I couldn't believe how she could have got under the blanket even though I had tucked her in so tightly! She didn't seem much harmed though and I fed her as if she had just woken for a feed. I thought she might have been gasping a little immediately after I freed her from under the blanket???
I couldn't believe my eyes .. that's how babies SUFFOCATE! And it almost happened to me... I held her just a little tighter during the feed, and swore I would never again ignore safety rules.... they are there for a reason and there is no need for me to test the rules...and the irony was just moments ago I was blissfully ignorant...sigh... how do I keep my little girl from all the harm in the world? So I got rid of the blanket, made and remade her swaddle after that until it was perfect and used only a non stretchable muslin cloth to tuck her feet in. And checked and rechecked the monitor. And repositioned the video camera until I could clearly see her head. And left her door ajar so that I can SEE and HEAR her directly. And of course promptly dropped the monitor with a clang afterwards trying to do everything. Then hoping she wouldn't wake because of my clumsiness!
HOPELESS MOMMY... being a mother is just super tough... how do we stop tripping up time and time again? Its a lucky thing babies are really tough souls!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Lucky Madison
Madison has crossed 3 months!
Today I decided to bring her to the East Coast Park beach for a walk... so along came Nancy and Maria and the STROLLER...
For those who know our Madison, she DOES NOT sit in the stroller for any reason... we have tried previously, lugged the monstrosity along with us to Melbourne, only to use it to carry groceries and shopping...
Today.. MADISON SLEPT IN HER STROLLER.. for the very first time!
Then after the walk, at the carpark, we were approached by some kind souls who offered us 2 boxes of mineral water and 100plus! They had finished a corporate event and so had extra drinks left behind... MADISON is super lucky!
what other lucky things? well, the playmat that Pa bought at a surprise discount, free carpark coupons that people offered to us AFTER she was born...
One more new development, Madison now enjoys the fisher price playmat that plays music and has colourful mobiles hanging from it! She seems to be able to activate the device that triggers off the music too! Oh, and for the past 2 months she now seems to enjoy pushing the buttons in the lift!
Today I decided to bring her to the East Coast Park beach for a walk... so along came Nancy and Maria and the STROLLER...
For those who know our Madison, she DOES NOT sit in the stroller for any reason... we have tried previously, lugged the monstrosity along with us to Melbourne, only to use it to carry groceries and shopping...
Today.. MADISON SLEPT IN HER STROLLER.. for the very first time!
Then after the walk, at the carpark, we were approached by some kind souls who offered us 2 boxes of mineral water and 100plus! They had finished a corporate event and so had extra drinks left behind... MADISON is super lucky!
what other lucky things? well, the playmat that Pa bought at a surprise discount, free carpark coupons that people offered to us AFTER she was born...
One more new development, Madison now enjoys the fisher price playmat that plays music and has colourful mobiles hanging from it! She seems to be able to activate the device that triggers off the music too! Oh, and for the past 2 months she now seems to enjoy pushing the buttons in the lift!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)