fresh milk or formula milk?

The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child.." * The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend that babies be breastfed for at least two years.

******************

Considerations

Sometimes exclusive breastfeeding is not possible. Infant formula can provide a practical and safe alternative to breast milk for an infant in the first year. Whole cow's milk can be introduced after the first year. Whole milk is appropriate for toddlers from age 1 to 2 because they need fat for the development of the brain at this stage. Offer low fat milk after age 2.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/198354-why-do-you-have-to-wait-a-year-to-start-a-baby-on-milk/#ixzz18Z5yKGXQ

i did some reading and ive now learned that the westerners feed formula milk to babies BELOW ONE YEAR OLD. after 1 yr old, they give FRESH MILK. fresh milk means the cold fresh milk that we get from the supermarket, or the UHT milk, is considered fresh too. these are better than formula, according to a lecturer doctor from PMC, who is also a lactation consultant.

she said never ever give formula to our children. imagine how bad could it be?

the debate is usually FRESH MILK vs FORMULA MILK

to give fresh milk to your kid or formula milk? google this and u can find quite a lot of information.

i never knew formula is preferred for babies under 1 yrs old. u either feed breastmilk or give formula at that stage. after that, u can supplement with fresh milk if u are still breastfeeding.

they said that children who takes fresh milk are healthier, less sick as compared to formula. fresh milk goes through less processing phase so it retains more nutrients? wherereas formula goes through many processes and the DHA and what nots which are added in are not natural. what is the bioavailability? our children should get the DHA for example from fresh food, from their meals, such as from fish?

u can find more variety of fresh milk in the supermarket in the west but it is the total opposite here. u see more variants of formula milk here. there are not that many types of formula milk in the west.

think about this - the angmohs are healthier, bigger in size?

this is new to us i believe. imagine your MIL or the nannies in bewilderment when u pass them cartons of fresh milk instead or giving them TINS of formula milk?

everyone is saying how great and mighty formula milk is! this is a pretty hot topic! dont believe me? u can test the water by bringing this issue up to the older generation! they claimed that kids now are so smart and it is due to the milk, loaded with lots of nutrients and DHA, EPA etc.

they are not even very keen with breastfeeding hence i would like to promote breastfeeding as well as giving fresh milk instead of formula! the latter could be quite difficult!

milk companies are penetrating the asian market and like the china case? where they added melamine powder into formula milk? that is so scary, no?

my doubts are settled. hubby said i need to sell my points to him on why do i want to supplement kayjay with fresh milk instead of formula milk.

hb is now convinced.

if i do not have enough breast milk after kayjay hits his first birthday, we would supplement him with fresh milk.

i'd go for DESA FULL CREAM MILK! :)

oh, another point that i should share is that, please give full cream milk to your little ones as they need the fats for growth.

you can only give low fat milk to children over 2 years of age.

guidelines recommend feeding formula/breastmilk to babies from birth to 1 years old, then u can switch to fresh milk after that.

few links for extra reading

When can i switch my baby from formula to milk?

When can i start feeding my baby wholemilk?

breastfeeding journal

immunity breakdown

kayjay's first high fever, at 10+ months old.

tues night (21 dec 2010)

38.3 - 39.6 --- 39.3 29.1

wed

38.8 - 39.1 - 38.5 - 39.1

thu

38.6 )am) noon 37.3 night 37.9 after pcm 4mls qid and one dose of sy.ees 5mls

sy pcm: 15mg/kg. 5mls =120mg of pcm

hb gave 100mg/kg, means 4 mls of sy pcm

it is the third night now and we decided to give him antibiotic, Sy EES.

have been giving him sy pcm from tues till now

there are a few reasons if a baby has high fever.

1. teething. temperature wouldnt be more than 39 celcius

2. viral fever. fever for 2-3 days

3. bacterial fever. fever more than 3 days

so since it is third night tonight and he still had fever in the evening when we brought him home, daddy decided to give the EES, gambling that it could be bacterial fever.

all is well now i hope

will post photos of kayjay taking med.

initially he loved the pcm! but starting last night, he began to reject it so we had to dilute it in some water and tricked him. he loves it. he loves drinking water.

daddy also bought suppository pcm for emergency purposes.

MO in KKIA (klinik kesihatan ibu dan anak) suggested to give supp if temp > 39. supp from hosp is 250mg hence hb bought from private pharmacy because we want 125mg supp. 5 biji for rm3 and he is complaining that it is expensive! :D i think we are used to getting free medicines!

will be back for more

selfconflict

caught in between. dilemma

this happens to everyone.

like now, hb is out with friends while im home, spreading both my feets, each touching one corner of the bed, with a roll of tissue beside and astro-on-demand playing in the background. KJ is with babysis despite today being a public holiday.

part of me wants to go shopping, another part of me needs the rest.

it is ME-time!! a long awaited luxury! i kid u not!

im down with flu.

ive just realized that i havent gotten a long-uninterrupted peaceful sleep, for a very very long time.

i almost thought of giving up breastfeeding last night.

it was difficult, with blocked nose and throbbing head. i wanted to stay home after sending kayjay over to babysis's house so that i could replace irreplaceable-sleep. but it is hub's birthday! i couldnt be a spoiler as we have dated to have breakie with ah kong and william at Gunters. the buffet breakfast was BAD. yuck! rm8 per person, what do i expect? ehee. the staff- ah gua- was smitten by hub. which was really funny! he threw many lines at hub and when hub waved goodbye at the end, he even mouthed LOVE U! lols!

anyway,
i need to talk about breastfeeding.
bf-ing is really not easy.
u need to give up on many things.

on social life
cant take part in medical camp
cant do sports
say bye bye to vanity?
wear breastfeeding-friendly attire

hence i always dont understand how the working moms do it. they can be so well-groomed while managing their house well, together with having well behaved, cleanly groomed kids [sometimes u see well-worn parents lugging around dirty children. what an eye-sore]

well, these parents have my utmost respect

if i stop bf-ing, i could do sports -> better body? haha
i could read novels, read magazines, i could study and score better (prp), less stress. go for facials. wear dresses. u cant wear dress when breastfeeding. how to? pull up the dress, all the way up to the chest? lols! unless if u can pull down the shoulder strap.
i would also have more time to do household chores, wouldnt i? i should stop feeling guilty, giving directions to hub to clean the house. i hope he wont hangat hangat tahi ayam and would continuously have the omph to do the cleaning EVERY WEEK! =)

but kayjay would have less antibodies, weaker health *touch wood* less bonding. perhaps dont want to come to me as often as compared to babysitter? he would lunged towards babysis each time she extends her palms or calls out to KJ


anyway, happy birthday hub. ive surprised u with ipad, so wont be doing anything today. furthermore, im sick! u should serve me :p

KAYJAY's NEW HAIR CUT
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popo cut

mohawk -ah beng wannabe!

conflict
he is so cute
irresistible
but yet becoming cranky
repels me a little
bad mommy!!

kayjay has changed

just got back from peninsular. balik kampung for about 10 days. it was tiring, travelling from KL up north to ipoh and penang and kedah. we flew from a/star back to KK.

now that we are back in KK, kj seems different. crying/whimpering every now and then.

im maidless and im so so thankful that hub did the entire house yesterday [saturday]. i wanted to help out. it was the other way round. hub is suppose to help me out but instead he did everything. from bedroom to the kitchen, to the living room and the laundry area, as well as the bathroom. my. i did not expect kayjay to be this difficult. i wanted to put him to sleep so that i can quickly get the housework done BUT he was actually nursing for comfort! good lord! so the moment i un-latched, he whimpered. sigh.

it made me think, if it is time for me to give up? to stop nursing? there are many reasons that i can give.

i'll write again.

makan makan

i feel sooooo lucky to be able to eat the very-sought-after-famous-food this morning, without having to QUEUE at all!!! mygawd!!!

first, we went to xin quan fang for curry mee! curry mee was so so. i didnt like the smell. i could smell santan, although the curry wasnt very santan-y

then we drove to curry puff/kaya kok shop. dont know the name of the shop cause i didnt see any nameboard!

kaya kok
DELICIOUS!!
not too sweet and kaya tasted very original!

i saw THEAN CHUN , which was opposite the pastry shop. so after hb got up to the car, i asked him to try to go over and check if they still have the caramel custard ("tan-tan")

if u dont know or havent heard of this caramel custard, it is a very 'ba bai' food! U have to queue for it very early in the morning. so imagine the many times ive been to ipoh, we didnt get try this. hb didnt know that thean chun has this custard so he hasnt tried before as well.

so of all the many times that i was in ipoh, nope, we didnt MAKE it to sample the custard. hb is not an early person. so im no doubt unhappy about this.

anyway! i was elated when i see him carrying a bag when he walked out of thean chun! hooray!!
finally!
everything was a breeze!
hb said that was because today is a friday.
but KL was packed everywhere we went before we came back to ipoh. it is the school holiday period so i think many are making a trip to KL.

THEAN CHUN

cold caramel custard

he has 26 seconds to eat this, while waiting for the green light

we have about 3 full days in ipoh and i told hb, please sell me ipoh. he always try to promote how good it is to live in ipoh , assuming i wont take up the offer.
anyway, so i told him, this is the time to promote ipoh to me. make me miss ipoh. make me wanna come back to ipoh. come! show me what ipoh has! bring me makan!
:)

but u know, when u are away, u would miss what u dont have. what u cant have. but when u are back here, u wouldnt know where to go makan.
this happens when we were in KL.

but atleast ive managed satisfy my mouth with TGI, godiva, o' briens' , carls junior, madam kwan, yut kee, ikea's meatball.

o brien's triple deck

yut kee's butter cake + kaya swiss roll
hainan chicken chop
roti babi

we didnt plan to go to yut kee but the thought sprang to mind when jarrod & rawlins wasnt opened yet

didnt get to eat jap food and italliannies. SIEN!

was also very pissed that i didnt get to try the peppersoup and black mee which hb raved about in tg malim! brh!

as we progress

kayjay has his milestone. so do we, the two of us :)

1 year has passed.

i know this will be interesting, cause it is more relevant to most of my dear friends who are not married yet. too much of kayjay bores them.

okay okay

1. im pleased that he helps to do the dishes now.

before : i'd walked into the kitchen with used utensils lying around the sink

after: CLEAR! no un-used utensils! never underestimate these little gestures. u could cook cheerfully when u walk into the kitchen and u can jump straight to the preparation of food. rather than needing to wash and clean up the work area first!

im no doubt SATISFIED! after ngam ngam ngam for so long! the day has arrived! :)

when i was anticipating to wash the dishes when i come home from work, that was when i started to notice that the dishes were all washed.

i told him that he should wash the dishes after using. dont wait for me to do it. if i am already there at the sink washing, then if he has finished eaten, i could wash.

irks me when he came home for lunch alone, eat and just leave the utensils beside the sink. why want to wait for me?

firstly, i would appreciate if u could help me to soak the utensils.

secondly, i am also working, as hard as u (him). same time, same job.

thirdly, we dont have a maid.

you love me? do it. please help out.

wife = maid
?

dont overlooked all these chores, never underestimate what they can DO to a relationship :p *laughs*

all of us are spoilt. most of us are i believe, so all these menial jobs are done by our dearest mother or honoured maid. but now your wife is the one doing it. so please help out if can, everyone is capable. we are living in a new generation.


next!

wanna piss me off? darn easy

WAKE UP LATE and there you go!

getting up at 7.15am will put me in distress!

try getting up at 7.20am, please expect a volcano!

7.10am is the latest that i can take!

work starts at 8am, for god's sake!

i need him to wake up early is because it would affect me. ive already tried to get up EARLIER so that i can manage everything on my own, but, well, it works sometimes, but sometimes cant. BECAUSE? it depends on kayjay. he needs to be nursed once he gets up.

there was one period where i wake up at 5.30am. then now i dont have much to do, so i get up at 6am or latest 6.30am.

i would sometimes cook in the morning. most of the time fried rice.

dont know how to say. there are just many things to be taken care of.

so like today, we were late and he didnt bring up my workbag into the car. punchcard is in my bag. grh!
and i forgot to put on my sunblock! add on to the anger! bah!

also! i cant stand it when he doesnt COVER the dishes /marinades when he puts them in the fridge! ewwww!!

do u need to TEACH such things?

only guys do that!

it is EWW because u do not know what is brewing in air of the fridge!

k, that should be all.

it is just great that ive taken time off, 3 hours today to come home to blog!

cool?

haha!

went to the market for 1 hour and prepare food for 1 and the remaining 1 here. 'i have nothing to say'

:D

cheers!

cooking for big leong and small leong

its difficult to catch up with penning down kayjay's development, work and household chores simultaneously!

first of all,

kayjay is 9 months now!

these are what he has achieved!

1. he can prop up himself. meaning to say, he can sit up on his own. previously, u have to sit him up! :)

2. his pincher grasp is improving. the thumb is more agile! :D

3. he can move while standing up. eg, he can move in his babycot from one corner to another corner when standing

4. he is more demanding. he cant lie down without whimpering. he wants to sit up or stand. he will crawl towards u, jump on you. cant even sit still in his car seat! if you dont strap him, dont be surprised to find him OFF the car seat. this happened once! :S he was in the legroom

5. he can clap hands! pai pai shou!

6. im starting sign language! they said only SAHM (stay at home mom) can succeed because they spend more time with the child as compared to WFTM (working full time mom). they suggest to involve the caretaker as well in baby signing but im a tad lazy, to explain to aunty the reason i want to practise signing. oh well, i'll just do my part and pray for the best! :)

6. his menu has expanded evidently. im trying to give him a variety. it is not easy doing this especially when you son is being under the care of a BABYSITTER!

anyway, i AM THRILLED ! that i can blend food for him now because i borrowed a proper blender last night! what i have is a chopper. pftt

so i tried blending steamed broccoli and they came out perfect, just the way i wished they would be! YAHOOOO!!


FINALLY! my cube containers, brought all the way here from Exeter, are put in great use! they are gifts from kayjay's godmom. i have about 20 of them!

they are not cheap in msia mind you.

BABY CUBES RM41 for 8 small pieces!
i WISH to see this in my fridge! so i need to work hard

i could sit down and 'mengkaji' recipe. think of what i have, plan what to buy and what to cook and what i can cook. many of the recipes require blending so i was limited by that.

im really excited over APPLE CHICKEN!

guys! u can google this recipe! although it is for babies, adults would love it too i think?

i bought 2books from Times in Suria, one is about baby's development, the other one is the very popular ANNABEL KARMEL cook book for babies-toddler!

last night ive bookmarked the recipes that i could prepare for kayjay and i thought why not prepare this for tomorrow's lunch? for the adults i mean.

hb loves it! u can say it is simple, but also not that simple. im just plain lazy i suppose. simple when u have all the ingredients ready, but the process of preparing such as boil the tuna and crumble them. sounds easy, it actually is, but its just that i need to boil the tuna, so while boiling? i cant do many things. someone has to look after kayjay and i cant sit down and online or study. if i do that, confirm the tuna will be on fire. happened many times *sheepish*
anyway, i prepared cold tuna pasta. (didnt take pic of the end product)

u need : flaky tuna, elbow pasta, chopped celery, chopped onion, apple cider vinegar (or any other vinegar), few blobs of ketchup, black pepper, salt


i didnt want to mix in mayonnaise. was thinking of something light.

if you are wondering how come i boil my own tuna, yeap, u hear me right. we've never bought canned tuna. the tuna here is SO CHEAP! one big fat tuna, bigger than my foot! twice its size! for about rm12? that is huge okay! remember how big my foot is?

hb claimed the tuna here are yellow-finned.

kayjay has tried dragon fruit! the white one though. the seeds were visible in his poo! :)

ive also bought ORGANIC TOFU in an organic shop last friday. :p

cheese is one that is still pending. sigh. cant get a suitable cottage cheese.

he still cant take coarse food. will UEEK but i'll keep trying.

bought QUINOA, they are not cheap. organic ones of course *shy* one small packet for rm16! about 500g i think.

1kg of bario white rice for RM12.organic.


im running out of ideas on what to cook for US! sigh. stress. anyone has any easy and quick recipes to share?

running short of money as well, so gotta try to eat in as much as we can.

9 months

babywearing and baby's meal

i love this photo

baby-wearing dad

glad hb loves the angelpack (brand name)

this is called babywearing by the way

they dont come cheap

u can google the many benefits of babywearing your child

dont simply buy one off the shelf from your neighbourhood supermarket, some of them are bad for the spine

do some homework before purchasing

sigh, as usual, the good ones come with "a" price tag

it gets on my nerves if kj goes out un-shed

umbrella is mandatory

~KAYJAY"S MENU this weekend~

sat breakfast

white potato + carrot + garlic

this is the first time im adding spices to his meal

he ate them! phew!

oatmeal. organic.

sat dinner

oat + eggyolk

sorry darling, mommy cant afford to buy u peaches

tonghing sells 3 for RM20?

too dear my dear

i lamented on why the avocados were out of stock last week?

so i jumped on them the moment i saw them on saturday

my eyeballs bulged after weighing them

2 biji for RM15?

gracious me!

sunday breakfast

purple/japanese sweet potato + avocado

i didnt sieve them

trying to feed coarser food

i began with thicker food last week and also on saturday

then i decided not to sieve today

he seems to be doing 'okay'

gave him honeydew when we went out for teatime today

he loves it

but aunty said he didnt like honeydew

i still havent gotten around to make yogurt so havent let him try that

mango is too ex. 2 biji for dont-know-how-much-already. was it rm8? so i decided not to go for it

the man said there are no local mangoes hence the mangoes are imported

tofu is also on the waiting list

bought ANNABEL KARMEL cooking book for babies to toddler yday!

not cheap! but hope they'll be in good use

nites!

facts about baby teeth

Notes on Baby Teeth & Teething:

• It is not uncommon for a baby to have a delay in the appearance of teeth

until 12 months of age.

• The first dental appointment should be scheduled when baby is between

2-3 years of age.

• Wash your baby’s gums after each meal with a damp cloth or “baby”

toothbrush.

• Remember; never let your baby sleep with a bottle of formula, breast milk

or juice! This can cause serious harm to baby’s forming teeth and

permanent teeth too!

KJ has his upper tooth this week! means the upper and lower central insicor is out!

not bad, the emergence of his teeth tallies with the suggested age.

k, this photo above is merely for my future reference :) and also perhaps for other mommies

kayjay's meal

A few signs that your baby may be ready for table food:

Doesn't want to be spoon fed

Turns his head or even spits out those thin purees at mealtimes

Grabs at the spoon and tries to feed himself

Mashes lumps and texture without incidence

Pincher grasp is well utilized

8 months of age or older

a little sad that i still cant do all these to KJ.

other babies at his age now can feed himself and mommies could begin cooking all the yummy food for their babies. they could be adventurous and even bake cakes, muffins, feed pancakes, omelette, pasta and etc. the recommended age is 8 mths and above but KJ is going to be 9 mths soon but i dont think he is ready.

oh well, i shouldnt be that impatient. his time will come.

oh yeah, sadness, finally, the day has arrived. no more avocados! they dont sell avocado anymore! argh! no more aussie ones!

the only hope is that the flipino market has them? remind me to ask hb to fetch me to the market tonight! shall try the local acovado, which is also known as buah susu.

those who hasnt been to kota kinabalu, please try their avocado juice! avocado + condense milk and blend them. they taste great! me love!

local avocado/ buah susu

can eat it just like that

this taste different as compared to the greenish imported avos

this is sweet and creamy

some called it buah mentega

due to its buttery flavour i suppose

i tried giving BRINJAL/EGGPLANT to kayjay today! yay! i mixed it into oats and tried to give it to him without sieving but unfortunately, he wasnt ready. he still needs pureed food. hence i quickly sieved the lot but didnt add any water, wanna make it into a thick paste.

that is how u should do it. gradually move on from thin puree to thicker puree and then into chunky food.

this week is my first time giving him egg yolk as well.

u should introduce egg yolk first, without egg white as egg yolk is less allergenic.

i gave him broccoli last week but because i do not have a proper blender :( i couldnt blend the vege hence i cant give him that frequent. i can only give it to him if i boil the broccoli long enough till they are soften and then i have to mash it against the siever. that is a lot of work. so i will keep all these vege, peas and broccoli when i go back to peninsular.

i am also looking forward to give him peaches and nectarines when we are back home!

kayjay is 8.5 months now, hence i am excited and am preparing, reading up all the new foods that i can expose him too!

he has now stepped into a new category : 8-10 mths.

there is honeydew in my fridge as well! they are taking turns to be savour by him!

next on the list would be yogurt! ive been meaning to give him yogurt but i was plain lazy to prepare it. u heard me right, i am making my own yogurt, by using the yogurt maker given to me by my chummies.

and also red dragon fruit

last week i gave aunty the food feeder and hand over pear, papaya and apple to her so that she can give it to kayjay as snacks.

apparently, kayjay doesnt like pears.

another issue that i need to tackle is high chair.

during meal times, u need to train them (kids) to sit on the dining table instead of running around or eat while watching TV or whatnot. besides, u also need to inculcate good eating habits, and table manners which is of great importance to me. :p

i havent gotten a highchair yet. sigh. we (the parents) dont eat in the dining room here in KK. it is too stuffy and lack of lighting so we usually dined in the living room (on a coffee table) or in the bedroom. bad, i know

*for my own reference, the words in purple are those that ive given him*