2013 End of The Year Tips : Part One - Baby/Toddler

This is the second annual End of The Year Tips, and I hope that Lina<3 and Serena:) viewers enjoys it, and find it useful. It will be a part two series, so tune for the next couple days.

2013 is a great year.  Now it is time to take some time, and reflect on the year as it comes quickly to an end.  2013 came quickly, and ending faster.


Here are some tips regarding my baby Serena:) :

The first two to three weeks, babies used about 300-400 newborn diapers.  Serena:) used about 8-12 diapers a day for the first three weeks and then she outgrew the newborn diapers and moved onto size one diapers. We use Pampers diapers, and trust them.

Skin to skin to contact is one of the most precious moments.  I love doing skin to skin contact with my baby Serena:) and with Lina<3 when she was born two years ago, which increases our bonding time that will last a lifetime.

I believe that tummy time starts as soon as possible.  It could be done when skin to skin contact is done, when the baby is lying down on your chest.


With a second child, it is okay for the younger sibling to use her sister's clothes.  If you really want to buy some new outfits, buy some outfits for outings.

It is okay to let the baby cry sometimes... This happens to a little too often for my little Serena:) but it is either let Lina<3 cry a little or let Serena:) cry a little.  When the baby cries too much, it is okay to let her cry it out while you take a big breathe in, and relax a little.

Take a nap when the baby naps.  It was not always the easiest thing for me to do but it was always helpful when I did nap.

Breastfeeding is my motto.  Breastfeed the baby!  It is the best way for the baby to get nutrition and there are many benefits to breastfeeding. Breastfeed as much as possible, and for as long as possible.  I hope that my body produces enough breast milk for Serena:) for at least a year or more. I had breastfed Lina<3 up to 14 months.

Pacifier : to use or not to use. I had tried the pacifier with Lina<3 (my first born) but she never liked it.  Serena:) likes the pacifier.  I had decided to use it with Serena:) as it helps me manage the two of my girls better, and keeps me a little sane.

Get as much as one to one time with the baby as much as possible because with a toddler around, it is not always easy.

Here are some helpful websites that I love to use when I need to refer to something.
http://www.babycenter.com/baby
http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/landing-page.aspx#

Here are some tips regarding my toddler Lina<3 :

"terrible twos: I am going to take a few breathers, because it is just the beginning. It has been only one month since Lina<3 turned two and it has not been easy at all.  Patience is key! and sometimes, a little giving in into what Lina<3 wants kind of helps.

Potty time: I introduced the potty chair to Lina<3 even before she could walk. She did not started using it until after she turned one years old.  Let the child see you on the toilet, and watch the process - using it, wiping, flushing, washing hands.  If the child does not want to use the potty in the bathroom, try a different room, or try her play area. Have fun with the idea of potty by using her dolls/bears on the potty, before she uses the potty, or sing a special potty song (it worked for Lina<3 in the beginning, even when she did not pee pee in the potty, she was able to sit on the potty chair longer and longer) Show her a video about using the potty.  Here are some other tips that may work for you from Babycenter.


Reading time: I love to read to my little Lina<3, and she loves it too.  It is one of our night time routines.  In the beginning, it was hard to her to sit still for one short story. What we did was, just look at pictures and describes the pictures to Lina<3 in funny animations voices, exclamation remarks, funny faces and sounds effects.  Once she got used to it and was able to sit through a entire book, although a very short book, it was time to read.  Through the reading process, we also describe pictures for her, ask her to repeat simple words, or sound effects, point out different things. Now Lina<3 is able to pick out her own books to read at night time.  She is able to get a book when I ask her to get a specific book. She even "reads" to her dolls and stuff animals, to self, and to us. She is able to answer open-ended questions about the books we read.

Playtime is fun for all of us and it is always a learning time as well. I have been trying to get Lina<3 pick up her toys after she is finished playing but it has been hard, but I think that I need to be more consistent with it. I am trying to get her to share her toys with her baby sister by asking her permission before handing the toys to Serena:) and it usually works.  If Lina<3 thinks that all her toys are pretend food or a medicine to heal bruises, then let her. I usually let Lina<3 lead me when we are playing together, and she lets me know when she wants to let her know how to play. Try to have a variety of different toys so that it does not become boring.  It is okay to let girls play with cars/trucks/trains because Lina<3 loves her cars/trucks and those are the words that arepott used frequently.

When I was pregnant with Serena:) it was important for me to play with Lina<3 as much as possible because I knew that once the baby was born, I will not have as much with her.  It was important for me to let Lina<3 that there was a baby growing inside on me as my belly got bigger and bigger. I would get her to rub my belly, and talk to the baby. We taught her how to hold the baby with her dolls. We gave her dolls bottles and taught her how to feed the baby.  It was the cutest things as she imitates us.

If you speak another language besides English, teach it to the baby. Chinese has become Lina<3 most used language now, and English as well.  It is been proven that children at this age learned language the easiest, and fastest.


Okay, these are about as much tips as I can remember about baby Serena:) and little Lina<3

Please be Advised that all these tips are from my own experiences and if there are any concerns or questions regarding these tips, please refer them to a professional.

If you have any tips for me regarding babies and toddlers, please comment below. 

In The News : Breast-Feeding Services Lag the Law

"Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are required to pay for breast pumps and counseling for new mothers to address breast-feeding problems. The aim is to encourage more women to breast-feed so their infants can reap the health benefits, including reduced risks of asthma, leukemia and Type 2 diabetes."

I have never had a problem with my insurance, and having a lactation consultant at the hospital where I gave birth. Breast-feeding was always my number one priority for my little Lina<3, and will be for my baby Bunny (my unborn daughter). But I shake my head to this article. 

"New mothers face a number of obstacles in breast-feeding, including insufficient milk or a painful infection. Problems must be resolved quickly: when a baby is hungry, there is little time to wrangle with an insurer over payment for a breast pump or a lactation consultant. A delay can mean that mothers turn to formula, don’t establish an adequate supply, or quit."

In The News : Breastfeeding Boosts Smarts as Babies Grow, Study Finds

"The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests exclusive breastfeeding for six months after birth before adding food, and that mothers continue to nurse until their child is at least 1 year old." Easier said that done, but so worth it in the end. I breastfed my Lina until she was 15 months. I would like to think that she is better off because of this. However, this was a personal preference and in no way a slight towards those parents that chose not to breastfeed. 

Breastfeeding Boosts Smarts as Babies Grow, Study Finds

By Nicole Ostrow - Jul 30, 2013 12:00 AM ET

Breastfed kids are smarter, according to a Harvard University study that found the longer babies are nursed, the greater their intelligence.

The research, which followed more than 1,000 women and their babies, found that each additional month a child was breastfed resulted in better language skills at 3 years old and intelligence at age 7, compared with babies not breastfed. The findings are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Enlarge image

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests exclusive breastfeeding for six months after birth before adding food, and that mothers continue to nurse until their child is at least 1 year old. Photographer: Ebby May/Getty Images

The study is one of the largest to look at the role of breastfeeding on a child’s intelligence, the authors said. It also underscores the need to support mothers in the workplace and in public to enable them to breastfeed their babies during the first year of life, said Dimitri Christakis, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.
“With this we can close the book and decide there is a link between child breastfeeding and intelligence,” said Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, a pediatric medical research center, in a July 26 telephone interview. “The fact that breastfeeding really promotes cognition in our children is something we should all care about. It takes a village to breastfeed a child. We should take the actions necessary not to just initiate breastfeeding but to sustain it.”
Still, breastfeeding is not the only contributing factor to intelligence, said Mandy Belfort, the lead study author and a neonatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
“It’s important to point out that breastfeeding is just one factor that influences a child’s intelligence,” Belfort said in a July 26 interview. “Our results shouldn’t make parents feel bad for the choice they have made.”
Doctor Recommendations
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests exclusive breastfeeding for six months after birth before adding food, and that mothers continue to nurse until their child is at least 1 year old.
In the U.S., about 77 percent of women whose babies were born in 2009 started breastfeeding when their child was born, that number dropped to 47 percent at 6 months of age and 26 percent at 12 months, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s not known how breast milk benefits intelligence, Belfort said. It may be nutrients in the milk help the developing brain or the way mom and baby interact during breastfeeding, she said. More studies are needed to better understand the relationship.
‘Scientific Basis’
“I hope our findings provide a scientific basis for women to make choices about not only whether to breastfeed or not, but for how long to continue breastfeeding,” she said.
Belfort said parents also should speak to their babies, including newborns, and expose them to a lot of language to help promote language development.
Researchers in the study followed more than 1,000 pregnant women and their babies until the children were age 7. After controlling for maternal intelligence, they found that IQ scores for 7 year olds increased by about one-third of a point for every month of breastfeeding. That means a 7-year-old child who was breastfed as a baby for 12 months would score four points higher on intelligence tests than a child who was never breastfed, Belfort said.
There was no association between breastfeeding and visual motor skills or visual memory, the authors said.
The findings also hinted that children’s intelligence benefited when their moms ate more fish while breastfeeding then those who ate less fish, but the results weren’t statistically significant, Belfort said.
“Individual women should use this as one further incentive to breastfeed their children,” Christakis said.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

No More Breastmilk

I know  Lina<3, Mommy said that you will be breastfed for as long as you want it. It was becoming easier to breastfeed you less and less, as you are consuming more during the day, and does not need to be nursed constantly. Last month, we started to ween you off Mommy's breast. It started during the daytime. We went from three nursing to two nursing to one and then to none during the daytime. The process was gradual, you even stopped reaching inside Mommy's shirt for breast milk. Once the daytime nursing stopped, we gradually stopped the nighttime nursing as well. The nighttime nursing were the hardest. It came down to just one nighttime nursing that was always in the middle of the night. The nursing at night was the only thing that would calm you down from waking up screaming, and crying. It has been two weeks since I last nursed you at night, and so far so good. There were only two nights where Mommy gave you a bottle of milk when nothing worked to calmed you down. The thing that has helped within these last two weeks was that you were taking antihistamine (as prescribed by the doctor) at bedtime, and it has helped you sleep through the night, without waking up and nursing. Now you are no longer being breastfed. Sometimes at nighttime you would wake up and Mommy would rocked you on the rocking chair (where Mommy does the nighttime nursing), you would reach for Mommy's shirt for milk but a gentle removal of your hand, "no", and a song or two, you were fine.

I do miss breastfeeding you. There is a certain closeness that cannot be describe in words but only a mother would know. Mommy loves to breastfeed you. It was hard in the beginning, but it got better. Then you started to have teeth and bite, which made it harder to continue breastfeeding after you turned one years old. The end of breastfeeding means the start of something great for your palate with all the wonderful and delicious dishes that Daddy and I make for you. So my little baby Lina<3, do not miss Mommy's breast milk too much, as you will have many more things to look forward to.

Teething...

Lina<3, your eighth tooth had not come out completely yet. It feels like you are getting two more on top, when Mommy felt the inside of your mouth last night. I believe that was the reason you were up so often last night, at 11pm, then at 12am, and stayed up for 3-5am. You were unable to sleep soundly. Last night when you were up, all you did was cry very loudly, and screaming at times too. It was so hard to soothe you and Mommy felt terrible that there was not much to do. The only that helped to calm you was nursing you, three times in one night (I felt like you were a newborn again, with the constant feedings). Mommy knows that there is not much breast milk left but you still want to nurse, nurse, and nurse. The last month we were down to one feeding within a 24 hours cycle, as Mommy is trying to ween you off the breast.

And today, your teething is causing you to refuse your meals. All you wanted to eat was fruits, and snacks. You shook your head to your meals at lunch time and dinner time. You were also drooling yesterday and today. That little index finger were stuck on your mouth more than usually today.
Mommy is glad that you are getting more teeth, but the process of it must be harder on you and painful. My poor baby. Besides not eating lunch or dinner, you had a very good day. You were very playful-laughing a lot, wanted to be chase a lot, played peek-a-boo, scribbled, danced and story time.

Breastfeeding after the First Year

Breastfeeding all the way:  is Mommy's motto since you been born. Lina<3, you love it and can not get enough of it.

You are now one (the first year went  by so fast) and Mommy is still breastfeeding. During the day, it is one to two times. At nighttime, it is two times. Of course, it does changes with your mood and your teething process (which makes you even more needy and want to be nurse).

The thing that I had learn so far is not to put a time limit on how you would nurse when nursing because the milk supply is low and sometimes I am uncertain about how much milk you are actually getting. During the day, nursing you is funny because you get so distracted so easily, and would unlatch quickly if you hear a noise or notice something next to you to play with. And it also means that you are not hungry and just wanted to play with Mommy's boobs. 

Nursing you now is much easier and less demanding. When you were a newborn, nursing is essential and demanding. Although I loved every moment of it, it can be tiring, exhausting, and painful.

I will continue to breastfeed for as long as Lina<3 needs.


Please comment if any suggestions about breastfeeding after the age of one or when to ween...

Nursing...

It is almost a year of nursing my little Lina<3. The nursing has been less demanding and constant. You as a newborns were nursed two to three hours a day. Months passed, you were nursed three to four hours, then four to five hours. Now being breastfed is one to three times during the day and one to two times a night. It is also hard to nurse because you had learned to bite already. When you do bite, Mommy stop nursing and nurse again after a few minutes, telling you, "do not bite Mommy". I had read that it could be signs to start weening. Weening? Hmm, I do not know yet, will see if Lina<3 is up for it or not. If not, Mommy does not mind nursing pass one years old.
I love when I am nursing my baby, it is a certain closeness that I have with my daughter. Now you hold onto me when you do not want to stop nursing or thinks you are too far from my chest, it is so cute.

Breastfeeding All The Way...

Lina <3, Mommy had been breastfeeding you since the day you were born. The decision to breastfeed you was made before you were born. Breastfeeding is the best way I can be sure there is nothing harmful going into your tummy. At the hospital where you was born, it was your Daddy's job to made sure that the hospital did not feed you any formula or do anything without our permission. Mommy was so excited to breastfeed, but it took you a while to latch on properly. Breastfeeding is a wonderful experience. You love being breastfed, and can not get enough of it, and Mommy loves breastfeeding you. Mommy plans to breastfeed for as long as you want.

There was a wonderful event that Mommy would had love to participate in about supporting mother's rights to breast in public but did not know about it ahead of time. Breastfeeding in public had always been an issue and stigma. Yet, society tells you that breastfeeding is the best to feed your child and always encourage breastfeeding, especially between birth to 1years old or more (if mothers can). So mothers out there, it is legal to breastfeed in public, if choose to. Mothers, embrace breastfeeding in public! Breastfeeding is the most natural thing a mother can do for her child and no one should make any mother(s) feel ashamed or embarrassed about breastfeeding in public. I had breastfed Lina <3 in public, and I had never had a problem (and I better not have any in the future!).

This is a outrageous story about a mother and breastfeeding and it hits close to home. The NJ mother wanted to share her experience of breastfeeding in a video for educational purposes but the video ended up being popular in a porn site. There are some sick and crazy people; and I hope that it does not happen to anyone. Breastfeeding is such a wonderful thing to experience and should not be made a spectacle of. Hoping for the best for this NJ mother.

My motto is: breast-milk and breastfeeding all the way!!!