Electric Toothbrush for Kids

I was initially quite hesitant about getting an electric toothbrush for the kiddo because I was worried the vibrations might be too strong and damage his teeth growth. We came across the Marcus & Marcus Kids 2-Min Timer Sonic Silicone Electric Toothbrush ($29.90) and it proved to be a good addition. 

There was a point our toddler was resisting toothbrushing. I am not sure why but somehow when they lose momentum (We gave him some slack when he fell down and hurt his lip, thinking there might be a hurting blister.), they just lose interest in teeth brushing. And I would have to come up with something snazzy all over again. 

1. Just like Mummy. I personally use an electric toothbrush myself. So I guess kiddo was really excited, probably thinking this is an adult moment that he is sharing the same sort of toothbrush as me. We would clink our toothbrushes (as though we are drinking), every time we brush our teeth. 


2. The vibrations are really gentle. And so, I am very approving of this. And it set at 2 minutes per use which prevents him from playing / brushing too long. 


3. The bristles are soft. In fact, they look more like gum cleaning pads. Kiddo seems to like it more than the bristled brushes and would allow me to clean his back teeth too!





4. It is battery operated (1 AAA battery). I love battery operated brushes because I am so absent minded that I will misplace my charging wires. Especially when you are travelling overseas, batteries are easily replaceable. 


5. The brush heads are replaceable. ($7.90) . For hygiene purpose, it is important to replace them and I don't want to keep buying the complete set!


6. Kiddo really enjoy teeth brushing! And I think that's the most important reason. In fact I bought a rather cute looking (non-electric one) for use at our other home, but nope he is not interested in them at all. :'(

Bath Toys from iTOTS!

It is quite cool that now baby is older, he interacts more with his toys. Having said that, he has also grown fearful of water, especially when they splashes all over his head. Showering him has definitely grown a lot tougher. One of things which I always wondered if there were any true value (apart from being fun) was bath toys. 

There are a lot of bath toys in the market and the price range can differ greatly. I have a few from different sources/ price range (some of them being gifts) and I am starting to see the difference between a cheap-ass toy and one from a reputable source. Here's some tips on what to get:

1. Toys that promote sensory learning: Rain showers, squirt toys are great for showering too. We got silicone bath toys from iTOTS - Submarine (S$13.90) and Seaplane (S$16.90). We use them to shower his head and introduce him to the sensation of trickling water on his head. Because it is "fun", he lets us get away with it. He is now very curious about how the water squirts out. I think soon we will be having water fights. 


2. Toys that are made of softer material: We have those that are made of hard plastics as well. Maybe it is just my kid that behaves badly. Sometimes when he is frustrated, he would whack himself with the toys. Hence, anything silicone/ soft plastic is much preferred. 


3. Toys that are easier to clean: One thing about bath toys is that they can be a breeding ground for bacteria. So always get toys that don't trap water. Go for things that can be opened to clean. Especially for squirt toys it can be quite hard to find. Glad we got our handy submarine and seaplane!





4. Get quality toys: I got a few cheapos from shopee that was pretty much blessed out immediately because they are (i) rough at the edges or (ii) don't look true to its pictures. Some were pretty good buys but most were bleh. As my kid gets older, I also find that the toys from established brands seems be more thoughtfully designed (apart from the details they put in the aesthetics) to engage kids such that they would play with them in different manners. I don't know whether it stimulates their brains more. Maybe it does. But, if you ask me, I think there is no harm giving a variety to see what works!

For Mummies who are sitting on the fence on thinking whether to get a set of nice bath toys for your kids, please go for it. I think there are just too many times we forget that this is just a one-off expense and the child actually plays with it so many times. (I am very guilty of this too!) Mine bathes twice a day and plays with his toys every single time. By now, each play are probably in cents/ play HAHAHA!

Baby's First Teeth

Baby first teeth appeared when it was around 7 months old. It was quite a torturing yet exciting milestone. His first set were twinnies and I found out cos he really likes taking a sip out of my porcelain mug. And that fateful day, I heard a distinct clank. Me being me, stuck my finger into his mouth and baby gave me a good nip to confirm my suspicion. Ouch!

After going through this painful process, we did notice some behavioural change in baby before they sprouted and thought some parents might want to know more:

• Baby didn't sleep very well (and so did us). He could wake up to 4 times in the night.
• Baby was always scratching his ears or knocking the sides of his head. And cos I saw a documentary of an autistic boy becoming blind because he kept banging the sides of his head, we were so worried, we actually saw a doctor because of this. The doctor even checked his ears and found some ear-wax HAHA
• Some babies have feeding problems, ours actually ate more during this period, maybe to sooth his gums. He expanded quite a bit during this period. 
• Iced teethers/ cloths are recommended soothers, but to be honest ours were not particularly keen on them. 

Basically, the process repeats itself when his new teeth sprouts. On the bright side, life gets a bit more interesting because he can eats food that are not completely pureed. He even managed to chomp down a few strawberries with his 4 teeth. Haha. 

Now that his teeth are out, oral hygiene also becomes more important. Our baby isn't sleep-trained so he still drinks at night. Since I have weaning off, I avoid giving him breastmilk at night cos I think it is sweeter and may cause more cavities (not sure whether it is true, is just my own thoughts). I am trying to shift him to water, but sometimes this dude is smart and realise it. Bleh!

Here's a no big deal fact about myself, I actually have no cavities. I am quite proud of this actually and I always receive praises for my dentist. I did see a colleague's child who had 2 rotten front teeth that just scared the shit out of me. And so I really wanted to instil good oral habits to my child.

 I have been doing this so far and since I experience success I thought I will share it too. Every morning, baby will join me and observe me brush my teeth. (Carrying him and brushing my teeth is training my arms to be real thick, bleh!) He is very curious and so we also introduced the Marcus & Marcus Baby Teething Toothbrush ($13.90) to baby every evening.

Baby has been responding very well to the toothbrush. My guess is that the silicone bristles also act as a gum soother. He has no problems gripping it so far. The whole point for now is really to get him used to the feeling and habit of teeth brushing so that he won't resist it when he is older. There is baby toothpaste available in the market, but after some thoughts I decided water will do for now as my preference is still chemical-free. 

The Baby Teething Toothbrush is steam-friendly so it is quite easy to wash. After a quick cleanse I will throw it to the steamer. As it rather small, it can fit in our snack box ($13.90) quite easily (which we sometimes use as a storage to transport his spoon ($8.90)  as well). Hope this post helps you fellow parents out there!

Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!

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).

Tools for Tummy-time!

My little one has no problem with flipping. But I do know of mums who are very worried when their little one is a little behind schedule. So here's some tips and tricks I use to help my baby flip faster (and safely). 

As a first-time, I was initially very hesitant in flipping him over to do tummy-time. When my baby was a newborn, he was so soft and it was very scary to do so. We started his tummy-time on my chest. We would hug-carry him while I slowly lower my body down. Initially, he couldn't really lift his head very long. 

After his 2nd month developmental check, the PD advised to start him on his tummy-time. That was when I started to flip him over. Initially, we only used a tummy-pillow and did tummy-time on the mattress as it was softer. For mummies who are not familiar with a tummy pillow, it is a U-shaped cushion that helps to soften the blow when baby slams its head down (when their neck isn't strong enough yet). We used Taf Toys 2-in-1 Tummy Time Pillow ($35.90) which had 2 different heights. (Note: My baby was quite advanced by then so we placed him on the bigger pillow.)

First-time mummies would pretty much agree that the first lift of the head is pretty much an exciting milestone. One trick I learnt to take nice photos of it is to use a Tummy Time book ($33.90). To take a frontal view photo, I would place the book in front of him so that my baby would stare at it. I will quickly position my phone in between them to take "that shot" :P

Don't worry that this will be a white elephant. We use the Tummy Time book even for his bedtime story. We definitely flip it more than once every week, quite a good mileage if you ask me. The pages make a crinkly sound and by 4-5months, our baby adored such sounds. I would pass him the book to distract him while he is on his bouncer so that I can do my other chores when it is only just me and him. The different pages also have textures and flips so you can also use it to train your child's motor skills. 

As he became better with his neck control, we also started the use of a playmat. We are using Marcus & Marcus reversible playmat - ABC ($49.90) and it is huge! It can definitely fit snuggly into a playpen. For now, we are folding it so that it is twice as thick. Our little one is starting to dry-crawl, once he can really crawl, we will open the mat fully. 

On one side, the design is ABC and the other side is 123. Sometimes, we do use the mat to expose him his ABCs and 123s. The design of the neutral ABCs fit our scandenavian house theme better. The colourful 123s capture our baby's eyes more. To balance it out, we flip it as and when to balance Mummy's love for aesthetics and baby's love for development. :P

Here's a photo of our complete gear! I have to say I am rather enjoying motherhood and preparing for my child's each developmental stage. Hope my tips and tricks works for you too!

Cleaning infant's gums (feat. Marcus & Marcus Finger Toothbrush & Gum Massager Set )

 Do you know that babies, even though they don't have teeth have to clean their mouths/ tongues too? I am quite sure many parents actually don't know about this. Babies unlike us don't produce as much saliva, so after drinking milk you will observe that they have a build-up of white residue in their mouth. The excess milk can lead to bacteria growth. 

By right, you should clean every feed. My Mum helps to clean his tongue/ gums once a week ever since our child passed 4 weeks and so far he seems fine. (I can do it myself but my Mum really enjoy this exclusive bonding moment so the honour is all hers.) The tool we use is Marcus & Marcus Finger Toothbrush & Gum Massager Set ($8.90).

From what I heard from other mothers, there are other different options in the market. However, this comes in a set of 2 and is reusable. I intend to use it to clean baby's tooth too! Ever since baby's mouth got bigger, my mum changed to the bristles. She dips the brush in a cup of water and give baby's mouth a good scrub. The silicon is very gentle and baby doesn't fuss at all when his mouth is being cleaned. 

The only grouse I have with it is that it doesn't fit all fingers. My husband has insisted that his finger (even his pinky) can't fit in snuggly. My Mum and I have no problem at all, so I can safely say that it works for females. By the time he starts toothing, he will probably be used to this routine and hopefully he doesn't bite and hurt my mum >_<