Yum in the Tum: Baby Weaning Journey

Honestly, I feel that weaning is as tough as breastfeeding. I feel quite ridiculous saying this, but there is a lot more to research and read up during this stage. At the start, it is pretty easy. You just feed the baby milk and he pretty much gets all the nutrients he need. But now, it gets a bit more complicated, what do you exactly even give him to make sure he has all the nutrients he needs?

Today, I am going to dive into this topic, featuing some of the tools we use and food we try for traditional weaning. I always think the right tools are pretty darn important. Use the right tools and everything gets done more effectively and you pretty much have more time to bond with your child!

Weaning

We started weaning baby off breastmilk from 6 months. His staple till now is still the organic oatmeal from Gerbers, just that the consistency has changed for a more watery form to a less watery form. (We skipped rice ceral because of the whole hoo-ha on arsenic.)  Some tips on the bib, get one with a catcher! Ours is from Marcus & Marcus ($19.90), it is really good to catch leaks and when baby is drinking water and helps to reduce the mess!

To wean him off, we use the Marcus & Marcus masher spoon and bowl set ($17.90). The spoon's masher side is really good if you are making your own puree. During meal times when baby joins us at the table (not eating), the set would also be a constant feature to let him feel like he is a part of the meal convos. We initially started with traditional weaning and this spoon was of a good length to feed him.

After a few meals, we noticed that baby seemed to want to snatch the food to feed himself. We changed to the Marcus & Marcus palm grasp self-feeding spoon ($8.90) for some of his meals. We would usually scoop and let him feed himself to reduce the mess. I wouldn't think it is a full-blw yet but it trains his motor skills. 

Cooking

In my opinion, a slow cooker is the best for cooking. Although there are other utensils, I find the food cooked from a slow cooker the tastiest. If you have a thermomix at home, you can use it to do a bit of steaming. mashing etc. (The Hubs uses it, but I am not very used to it, so it is not my preferred utensil.) For my parents, they would use a traditional pot to cook my baby's puree. On work days, we would use ready-made purees from Bellamy Organic . Usually, I would get more interesting flavours so that baby can be exposed to a greater variety of food.

Storage/ Transporting

I am not a full-time caregiver for my child so he does go a few places in the day. Hegen PCTO 2 Oz Breastmilk Storage ($52 for 6) is a new product and I use it as a storage cup. I do have the Philips Avent one which I use to store my excess breastmilk, but in comparison, I do feel Hegen products are more secure (on the flip side if you are not use to the mechanism, it can be quite hard to open.)

6 is quite a good number cos I split it around 3 households. Sometimes my parents would prepare puree for my child and pack them in this storage cup to bring them over. I only got this when baby was around 5 months, but if I were to have #2, this would be pretty excellent for storing colostrum.

Snack Box 

We use the Marcus & Marcus Suction Bowl ($13.90) as a snack box. This is particularly good because it is air-tight and keeps the puffs fresh. We would fill it up and let him practice his pincer grip. The first few attempts were pretty frustrating for him but now he can pretty much feed hinself and enjoys grabbing handfuls from the snack box. 

The suction at the bottom is strong enough to keep the bowl upright. Even when he knocks on it, it doesn't overturn. It also helps that he hasn't quite figure out how to open the cover. He is starting to recognise this box as a treasure box of food and would look at it and make sounds so that we would pass it to him (He adores the organic puffs from Gerber by the way).

Finechi: Story of my stroller bag

A while back, I received my stroller bag from Finechi. One thing for sure, even before the baby comes, the life turns upside-down. Before I could even find proper time to take photos to do justice to my classy diaper bag, it was converted into a hospital bag because my gynae told me our little one could come anytime already. At that time, our stroller/infant seat came too but it was quickly checked and put aside because priorities had change, baby was coming.

Don't be fooled by Finechi's appearance, this bag is incredibly light-weight even after I fixed the sling straps that had a beautiful golden clasp finish. It had a lot of compartment at the side of the bag and it allows me to keep my content organised. To customise your bag, you can either get a fur charm (which comes in a variety of colours) or the acrylic keychains. As the bag is now used a as hospital bag, I am using my spidey acrylic keychain as it will be easier to clean when I am back home.

And yes, all these had been stuffed into my Finechi bag with lots of excess space. we will be bringing a second bag with the less essential items haha (cos photo props are important to this mama, some moments when missed are lost forever!) From left to right:

1. 1 Jacket (cos I felt it was so cold already during the hospital tour)
2. 1 room slipper
3. 1 Milestone card from tinys.co
4. Baby's first toy from Pebble Child
5. 2 Bottles of Brands Essence (there was enough space of 2)
6. 3 disposible underwear
7. 1 Curel facewash sample pack (Cos toiletries are basically provided except facewash and this was the most convenient facewash I could find...lol)
8. Kotex night pads (Am not entirely sure if this would work but some mothers suggested prepping your own just in case you aint used to the ones the hospital provided)
9. Huggies wet wipes and 1 bottle of Acquassimo to keep the place sterile
10. 1 Powerbank (will be stuffing my wires too!)
11. 1 Silverette Nursing Cups (really more for prevention, cos I heard boys can be quite rough with their mother's nipples)
12. 1 Amulet (haha)
13. Underpads from Guardian (Heard you can save some money if you don't use the hospital's)
14. Personal Documents 

Here is the update on hospital bag 2, which we call Daddy's bag. Basically, it is still Mummy and my stuff for when we leave the hospital. Daddy requested for a bagpack so we gave him a free camo one. Mummy's nice bags are in girl shades which Daddy refuse to carry for her. Mummy packed:

1. 1 set of nursing dress and bra from 9 Months Maternity
2. 1 newborn set from Oeteo
3. 1 romper from Little BB Love cos this boy is on the fat side. Scared he can't fit in newborn
4. Hegen Breast Pump
5. Sitz Bath Tub
6. Fav soft tissues from Dewysoft Tissues
7. Pretty nursing Cover from Hush Hush Baby

** Will update the conversion of my  Finechi bag into a diaper bag after I am done with the pushing :D 

[Updated] Mummy Deals: Free Bump Box from Clearblue and more

For mummies with social media accounts and have used clearblue pregnancy kits, you are in luck! Most mummies probably have kept photos and even the pee stick anyway. Guess what, just share this photo on your social media and tag Clearblue, you will receive a bumpbox for them! Honestly, initially, it sounded a bit too good to be true. Because so far, all those "kind folks" that offer nice boxes for the baby are insurance agents. Lol.

I am glad to share that this is truly legit! Given that the Hubs spent a bit on the pregnancy kit, I guessed I have effectively recoup since the stuff in the bumpbox are pretty useful and premium too! We got:

1.  Swissper baby cotton balls
2. Swissper Breast Milk Storage Bags (Yes, I need that and I never knew Swissper sold them.)
3. Swissper Nursing Pads (This should come in handy!)
4. Swissper Contour Tips
5. Manicare Baby Nail Clippers (Great! Cos we haven't got one yet!)
6. Manicare Baby Scissors (Honestly, I didn't know manicare sold baby products)
7. A'kin Dry Shampoo (I did a whole post on dry shampoo here before, so yup this is going to be well used during confinement!)
8. A'kin Rose Hip Oil (Something for Mummy is always appreciated :D
9. 1 free class yoga class (The least useful in this climate)

And for first time mummies or mummies that need a refresher course on breastfeeding, Hegen is organising a Cherish Nature's Gift seminars with reowned medical experts to support us during this pandemic. One of my biggest grouses has been the lack of antenatal classes and I have been surviving on such online classes, slurping down globs of useful info in the comfort of  my bed...hehe. The hubs sometimes also join along and we will discuss how we intend to split certain roles. 

You don't have to use Hegen products to attend their classes, but if you are interested in their pumps, you can read up more here. Don't miss it! Register at https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/cherish-natures-gift-parenthood-seminar-registration-107797591498

On a separate note, it is quite good to attend courses etc. cos usually they come with door gifts and some of the provide quite nice sample packs/ discounts to their products. :D I ended up buying some products using the discounts at one of the classes and winning a giveaway! End up with so much duplicates OMG!

First Gift to Myself: Hegen PCTO Double Electric Breast Pump

During this period, I have to admit the most of the shopping or site-shopping given that we are all forced to stay in, has been mainly baby's. But, there are certain gifts that are really for the Mother more than the child. One of them is the breast pumps. The Breast pumps is going to be one of the bigger investments during the journey.

I am quite proud to say despite the constant tummy cramps, I managed to convince the baby in me to cooperate so that we can do some reading-up together. Whether you would even need breast pumps would depend on whether you are able to produce any breast milk. Some mothers would advise doing the necessary read-up first then purchasing what you need, so that you won't panic when you need it.

One key thing to consider when you decide to get a breast pump is whether you want a manual or electric one. An electric pump is a lot more convenient but will set you back in terms of finance a bit more. You can easily get a manual pump within a hundred dollars but an electric one would usually be around $300-$400 for a reputatable brand. 

The second question you need to ask yourself is whether if you need a single or double expressor. If are time-strapped, go for the double pumps. I am a working mum, so I wanted something that helps me save time and is easy to carry about. For me, Hegen is quite a good choice. 

First of all, the packaging is awesome. This actually makes a very good maternity gift for friends/ co-workers. I have been in quite a bit of pain lately and receiving a pink package nicely bowed up really makes me feel young, lovely and very feminine. I was very pleased to know that the pumping machine came charged so you could immediately use it (not that i need to) without charging. It is also very light weight and came with a manual pump. 

Before I received my set, I asked around my "mothers cult" on Hegen. Many people just told me that it was highly reputable but expensive. But I think a lot of people missed out the reason why there was a price premium to it. The pump machine didn't just act as a pump and could be used as a massager before or after birth. You can also customise the massage and suction to obtain more milk. For one gift set, you are actually receiving quite a bit. And I think many people miss out the point that if you have one portable pump, you don't need to invest in two. 

Although the advise I have received thus far is invest after you are you have breast milk, I don't quite agree with that. The pumps mechanisms are a bit more complexed than what I expected and I actually read the manual (first time ever). I think you also need to take into account the cleaning instructions for the specific parts. I actually even highlighted the important parts. Haha. 

The thing is if you are going to hurriedly buy a pump 4-6 weeks after birth, would you even be in the sane mind to process the manual? Cos the manual does provide very good information on the storage of milk etc. Also, I have to admit, I fumbled a bit with the bottles initially, but after a few practice I was quite smooth. I can totally imagine if a newborn was wailing away, I might have spilled precious milk and be so frustrated with the pump, myself and the baby.  

Here are some Hegen videos which I find quite helpful for the assembling of the breast pumps. On a side note, Hegen is running a campaign for a group of women doing extremely commendable work. For a year-long, Hegen will be giving 1000 sets of Hegen PCTOTM Express Store Feed Starter Kit (worth $175) to pregnant healthcare workers from the medical institutions in Singapore dealing directly with COVID-19 cases. 

To these mums-to-be, my heart goes out to you. Please redeem for youself the kit because you more than deserve it. It must be tough going through the days (with nausea, morning sickness, body aches) while saving lives. I can't imagine myself (with my crazy, paranoid mind) in the same situation as you. Please find the redemption information at Hegen's blog. Also, readers, do share this information with your friends whom you know are eligible for this campaign! Lots of love to all and please stay safe.