Ah, they’re mine!

Tuesday last week, a couple of the baby care apps I refer to talked about the development of baby’s sense of touch.

Babycenter:

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Kidfolio:

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And true enough, late the other week, Yui seems to have finally realised that those flailing things she see beside her are hers. She started grabbing things and (yikes!) even tasting how those flailing things are – which prompts me to make sure her hands are always clean.

And then last Monday, I was able to capture a first – her hands finally are together for the first time!

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November 5 had been pretty eventful because it was also the first time she slept for 7 hours straight at night! Mommy wasn’t able to sleep well though because I kept checking in on her – wondering how she is haha.

I’ve read that from when they’re 6 weeks to 6 months, babies start to sleep longer at night. And we’re so thankful that Yui belongs in the 6 weeks category.

November 5 found us with visitors from the ward office as well – a midwife and her interpreter for a routine check on Yui. Everything is fine thankfully. And something beautiful happened for the first time: Yui directly fed from me for five minutes. While in the hospital, Yui wasn’t able to learn to latch properly hence I’ve been pumping breast milk since then and that since then my milk has dwindled. But the midwife taught us how to do it. And Yui did suck despite the fact that she’s already used to feeding from the bottle. That night, Yui again fed directly on me for almost ten minutes. But not again after that. I wish I could say that Yui directly breastfed since then. But after those two miraculous and beautiful occasions, Yui wouldn’t do it again. Nevertheless, at least I had those beautiful fifteen minutes to remember. Thankful still.

For the lucky moms who can breastfeed their babies, enjoy your beautiful moments.

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November 13 update: Yui breastfed on me again for 15 minutes!! A beautiful experience. Happy and thankful.

on baby sleeping habits: best advise so far

Best advise so far from my references re: sleeping habits of your baby:

– Help your baby learn the difference between night and day. During the day, keep the normal household noise as usual e.g. radio, tv (we still didn’t purchase one), vacuum cleaner etc. Talk to/play with your baby as much as you can while she’s awake. Keep the blinds/curtains open. At night, keep the bedroom light low. Minimise talking to your baby and if needed, talk in hushed tones.

– Help your baby to have the ability to put herself to sleep. Put her in bed while she’s already drowsy but still awake. Try not to dance her to sleep. Try not to nurse her to sleep. Most babies need to sleep after two hours of being awake so try to put her to sleep before the two hours is up otherwise she’d be cranky and would cry that sleepy cry for hours.

Such golden advise. The first one helped us have better sleep at night. Hope we keep this up! 🙂

crib bumpers

As I’ve mentioned before, Kidfolio is one of the apps I refer to on a daily basis to help me get more knowledge on how to take care of my baby Yui.

Today’s topic as highlighted below is about crib bumpers.

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(photo credits: Amazon US)

This doesn’t come as a surprise for me though as I’ve read a lot already about the dangers of and how unnecessary crib bumpers are.

Just this morning (and a number of times before that) I woke up with Yui’s face jammed right into the slats of her crib. I shiver at the thought what could have happened had I been vain enough to put a crib bumper on Yui’s crib.

Maybe they’re safe if you can be sure that your baby will be rooted on the same place you’ve laid her on in her crib. But of course you couldn’t be sure. So yes, crib bumpers are definitely no-nos on a baby’s crib.

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4 Weeks, Day 5
When you were pregnant, you probably imagined a coordinated nursery complete with crib bumpers that matched the curtains. But crib bumpers can be dangerous. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a reminder for parents to place babies on their backs in a crib without stuffed animals, pillows, and cushioned bumpers. There have been many documented cases where newborns were smothered by bumpers, and older babies can use them to try to climb out of their cribs. Small babies can become trapped between the bumper and the crib rails. So, for the sake of your baby’s safety, return bumpers to the baby store in exchange for something more useful, and embrace the crib’s sleek, clean look.

Check out Kidfolio!

Click here to get it from the iTunes App Store.

Kidfolio is also available for Android and on the web at kidfol.io.

Want more info? Click here to find out more about Kidfolio from Alt12 Apps, the makers of BabyBump.