Saturday, June 19, 2010

Mama's Little Toddler

It's been a while since I wrote anything on Aydein's health update. Alhamdulillah, it's been a year, and Aydein is as healthy as a bunny.


At a year old, except for the diarrhea that he got at 6 months, he has never fallen really sick, except for mild fever, flu and cough. Usually, when it comes to fever, a dose of Paracetamol (PCM) will do the trick, and as for flu, a puff of nasal spray into his nose will help. Hence, I never knew what "tepid sponging" is and a lot of other ways to bring down the temperature as I read at some of the other mummy blogs out there. This makes me nervous, because I feel like I have little experience in caring for a sickly infant!

Aydein had his 1-Year visit to the doctor last week. He was given the MMRV jab (Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Chickenpox) as well as the Flu and Influenza H1N1 shot. So now Aydein is protected against MMRV as well as H1N1, yeay!

At the doctor's visit, as usual, Aydein's height and weight was recorded, and although Aydein's height and weight was proportionate at that time, it seems that Aydein is actually slightly on the shorter side! I'm not surprised though. I mean, look at myself and Aien! We're both very petite people! And get this, Aien is actually the tallest in his family, so how la? :P My sister told me that since I've given him all the right healthy nutrition, then it must be the gene, but she also said I can help make him taller by giving him loads of protein (from white meat, red meat and dairy products) as well as calcium (from loads and loads of milk!).

Which reminds me. You see, ever since Aydein turned one, he is no longer an Enfalac baby. During the doctor's visit, the doctor asked what milk is he on now, and I said, Pediasure.

The doctor's concern with Pediasure is that it would make a baby chubby. And with Aydein's height, I can understand why she wouldn't want that happen to Aydein. Hehe. So she suggested Enfagrow A+ instead for Aydein's development and growth.
However, since we already have Pediasure stock at home, she told us to continue with it, and see how Aydein's growing in the next month. I personally love Pediasure. It smells really good of Vanilla, and I like the idea of Aydein putting on a little bit of flesh. He's lost a lot of weight from crawling actively everywhere!

So now I'm torn. Pediasure? Or Enfagrow?

Also, much to our surprise, Aydein is also affected by Carotenemia. Don't be alarmed though, the definition sounds scarier than it really is; it is not life threatening! Hehe. It is also not jaundice. It is actually a condition where a baby's skin turn yellowish due to large consumption of carotene in the baby's diet.

Orange foods, such as papaya, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and carrots, contain high levels of beta-carotene. It all makes sense because those are exactly Aydein's daily meal! In order to make Aydein's porridge taste good, I make sure that I add pumpkin or carrot or corn into Aydein's daily porridge. I guess he's got too much of Vitamin A in his system that it deposits to his skin! She suggested that we stop them food altogether for about a month, until his skin is back to its healthy normal color. :)

When I went back, I googled on carotenemia, and it seems that Vitamin A may be dangerous and even lethal when too much of it is taken in the form of Vitamin A supplement. However, natural Vitamin A, such as that which beta-carotene converts to, is harmless and is indeed very beneficial for promoting good vision and eye development as well as helping sustain healthy growth and development. No wonder Aydein rarely falls sick and can see something very very tiny as tiny as a rubber dust! Terlebih sehat sampai kulit jadik kuning! :P

For breastfeeding mums, did you know that a mother's breast milk may also become yellow or orange color? Mother's milk is full of carotene and if a Mom's diet is high in beta-carotene rich foods, her milk may take on a color change!

And finally, Aydein's gleaming white teeth. He's got 8 of them now, and another 2 poking out from his upper gum. Luckily, there were nothing wrong with his teeth. They're perfect, according to the doctor, in fact. And she said that there is no need to brush them until he's 18 months! I ni punyalah semangat nak brush his teeth that I got him a very cute & funky Jordan's Step 1 toothbrush, exactly like this.

But I guess there's no harm starting early anyway, and before Aydein's breath gets stinky like Anne's nephew, I'd better start brushing his teeth, especially when he's started sharing food with us!

When I asked the doctor what is the most recommended toothpaste that I should use (secretly hoping that it is not First Teeth as suggested by Anne since it's very costly!), the doctor immediately said, "First Teeth".

And she went on about how safe it is for children to swallow and that it is made of active milk enzyme with no fluoride and flavoured with apple and banana which makes brushing session even more fun! And since I am very obedient to each and every word that comes out from the doctor's mouth, the first thing I got from Guardian the next day, was baby First Teeth toothpaste that costs me a whopping RM25.90! Mahal gila kan! It's more expensive than adult's most expensive toothpaste!

The doctor also recommended the finger toothbrush because they're gentle to the gum.


However, since I have gotten the Jordan brush way earlier, I guess I'll just close one eye about this lah. :P Seriously, babies do not come in cheap!

Until the next entry from me! :)


XOXO.

22 comments:

RuZaNNa said...

Babe.. carotenemia ni mcm mana nak tahu? did aydein's skins turn orangish? risau pulak i sbb everyweek i'll ensure ada carrot in imran's meal sbb tak he follow his parents' rabunness..

Anyway.. just to assure you on the costly toothpaste.. kids do not need much of it.. so satu tube tuh for imran can last for 3 mths.. still balik modal lah thinking the safety of it kan..

And yesssssss.. brg babies mahal kat m'sia nih!

bintie said...

thara, aydein nyer rambut coklat erk?

semut-terbersin said...

huuuu patut laa aariz pon slalu kuning2..tapak tangan n tapak kaki die paling senang nak nampak..huu baruku tau..mmg pon..bubur aariz mmg tak pernah miss carrot/pumpkin/potato..corn tu dah kurang sekrang..
thanks for sharing the info thara!
aariz lepas seminggu amik MMRV sekarang baru die kene mild fever..tp so far ok laa die still cergas je i tgk..aydein camne? ok?

irradhil said...

wah....rupa2nyer vege ni ader yg xsesuai ngan baby kan...esya did love corn n potato.huhuhu.nmpk gaya kena kurangkan la pasni.

aydein...better start brush ur teeth ok.jgn jd mcm esya.dh rosak dh gg depan die.sedey umi tau...hukhukhuk.
esya pakai biotene...mhl jgk sei.isk2...apsal la mhl2 sgt bby stuff ni kan??

Nadine said...

Masa I mula2 bg Faaz solid dulu, I pernah la buat carrot puree. Then my MIL warn me about Carotenemia. Kalau tak kerana dia, I tak tau pun bout this. Since then I ensure Faaz's intake tak terlalu banyak.

Hihi, sama toothbrush & tooth paste Aydein wif Faaz. Tp Faaz punye blue and yellowish green :) Betul Anne ckp, Faaz pun pakai the tooth paste 3 bulan lebih la jugak skali beli. Value with money. Cuma toothbrush je la kena tukar slalu sbb kembang. Hihi...


Oh ya, I suggest u go ahead with the toothbrush instead. First, Aydein dh setahun n gigi pun dh banyak, so the gum is not that lembut compared to the time mula2 gigi dia tumbuh. And Jordan's toothbrush tu is design for baby since first tooth. Menang design award lagi! :) Secondly, you can train Aydein to brush on his own. Takla dia harapkan you to brush his teeth all the time. I trained Faaz since he was 8 months and by 1 year old, bila masuk bathroom automatic first thing he ask will be his toothbrush. :)

RieNa said...

nawal suka gosok gigi (pakai finger toothbrush tu) sengih2 je dia. tp mcm mana nak ajar dia kumur? dia telan lg adalah. mujur it's safe to swallow.:D

aydein yg hensemmm!!!

Thara said...

anne :
yes babe, aydein's skin turned yellowish. it was more yellow than what it should be. another way to see it is by pressing the palm of your baby. tekan sikit using ur finger, and tengok yellow sangat tak. kalau yellow sangat tu that means, he may experience carotenemia. apa apa pon, imran's paed should know best. next checkup nanti, u check lah with his paed ok? :) u know, at first i pon tak seda tau. ive always felt like aydein tu a bit yellowish by natural psl aien tu kan putih-kuning. tapi doctor ckp, skin kitorang lain. aien putih-kuning, i putih-merah, but aydein mcm, extra kuning. so, tengok2kan imran's diet tau! too much of anything is never good!

haa betol juge kan. now it all feels more worth it. :P


bintie :
hmm. rambut dia gelap. tapi kadang2 nampak brownish pasal rambut dia jarang2 kot.


semut-terbersin :
yes, tapak tangan & tapak kaki are the other ways to see it! aariz is definitely experiencing carotenemia mcm tu. not to worry though. just lay off the food for about a month, and see how it goes from there. aydein pon i dah stop kan semua unsur2 tu. just plain porridge dgn ayam je. kesian kan! he looks better now though. :)

aydein so far alhamdulillah, ok je. mmg dari haritu dok standby PCM psl doctor ckp mungkin kena demam in a week's time, tapi so far alhamdulillah, i tengok ok je dia. :)

Thara said...

irradhil :
ooh tak, ira. this is actually not about "food tolerance", but rather, about "food moderation". everything should be taken in moderation. pasal apa2 yang melebeh-lebeh kan tak elok. so ini thara dah terlebeh kasik makanan tu yang jadik mcm gitu skali tu. ure right, mmg nampak gaya kena kurangkan and kasik dengan secukupnya je ;)

tu lah, ira! so expensive! kering kontang dah purse ni sobs sobs! :( takpelah, anything for our baby kan! im sure it will all be worth it! :D

ps : biotene tu ok? pedas tak? how much is it?


nadine :
wow babe, ur MIL's very knowledgeable! i wish someone had warned me about it before! sighs.

ye ke u! it's very funky kan! i immediately fell in love with it the moment i set my eyes on it! haha. selalu mcm ni. mama je excited tak masal. baby nya relax je. :P ooh so everytime u beli a new jordan brush tu ke? isnt it also quite costly as compared to other baby brushes?

hey, thanks for the advice! it's really useful! masa i brushed aydein's teeth, i worried jugak. takape ke pakai brush tu. is it gentle enuff to aydein's gum ke? now that u said all that, it makes even more sense. thanks babe! :D and yes, i will start training him from now on wards!


k riena :
hehe ye ke! good girl, nawal! untuk aydein, tiqah tak kumurkan. so what i do is, lepas tiqah dah brush dia punya teeth, tiqah amik handkerchief yang basah, then gonyoh2 gigi dia sampai tiqah rasa bersih. :D aydein suka rasa ubat gigi tu, so tak banyak nak kena sental pon -- dia dah telan semua :P

Nadine said...

Hihi, in-laws I ade medical background. Mama ex-nurse, Papa plak ex-pharmacist, skang mengajar kat MAHSA. Diaorg la penasihat I sblum I pegi jumpa Dr. :)

A'ah, a bit costly. Tp mcm u ckpla kan. dh terjatuh chenta. beli je la..plus Faaz pun dh used to it, tunggu dia besar sket br tukar design lain.

Happy brushing your teeth, Aydein! :)

mommaholicSURI said...

Thara dear,

When i bought Oman's toiletries pack from Mothercare, one of the accessory is toothbrush. So i let Oman try to use that one first before trying any other toothbrush.

It seemed that my son penggeli orangnya. Masuk je mulut dia..he was so uncomfortable with the brush. Kan macam tajan-tajam kan. THough it lembut, but Oman still geli. So, he refused to use toothbrush. Huhu. I thought him how to use it, but he seems disappointing with kegelian yang melanda. haha.

But, if i use my finger to touch his teeth, he allows it. So, in Oman's case, i am now using the Finger Toothbrush still. Until he is use to tidak geli by the brush, i'll let him use the toothbrush.

There is a clinic at Bandar Puteri Puchong selling FIRST TEETH Baby Toothpaste, with Free Soft Infa-Dent at RM38 ringgit. If u want la. I get mine there. :)

http://www.easia2u.com/eAsia2u/english/template/template01/rfq/browse/item.jsp?itemid=11306&compid=398

yang penting, keselesaan baby kita kan. Gigi Oman baru Empat, larat lagila i nak tolong brush kan. Hahaha :)

worryfather said...

Hi Thara,

Is Pediasure cheaper than Enfagrow A+?

In SG, I think Pediasure is more expensive.

We also use FIRST TEETH. You might want to search internet. Some of the baby items can be found cheaper in the internet.
We got mine through ebay.

Thara said...

nadine :
now i see! my sister is from medical background too but dia tak bitau i about that pon? grrrr! lepas dah jadik and i told her about what the doctor told me, baru she explained what it was called and whatnots. :P

thanks auntie nadine!


nuurill :
ahh, yes. i pon dapat rasa kalau finger brush tu lagi senang kot. tapi i geram lah tengok jordan toothbrush tu. really funky! and alhamdulillah, aydein responded well to it so i have no complains for now :P

ooh oman ni penggeli eh! nanti auntie thara jumpa oman, auntie thara tau lah apa nak buat! :P

ooh thanks babe for the link! i think kalau mcm gitu (2 in 1) lagi cheaper kan! good finding! ;) btw, i noticed dia punya box packaging mcm slightly different kan! u perasan tak? ke mata i dah juling? :P

ps : aydein gigi banyak, lambat jalan. oman cepat jalan, gigi lambat sket. ok lah tu, boleh gang! :P


worryfather :
nah, Pediasure is more expensive than Enfagrow A+ by RM20! but i dont really mind the price bcoz it's the same price i paid when Aydein was still on Enfalac.

is your daughter on Enfagrow? how is she growing? does is show any significant changes? im glad u chipped in about this. im rather anxious to know reader's comment on the milk part!

ps : how should i refer you, Mr..?

mommaholicSURI said...

mata u x juling ok!! mata u sangat tajam..yesss... selepas i main cari benda yg tak sama macam buku masa kita sekolah rendah dulu, aahla.. tulisan first teeth tu x sama la.. hmm.. entahla.. takkan clinic nak tipo kot kan...
maybe nanti i leh tanya lebih lanjut kat clinic tu. :)

cherie said...

it's so endearing to see so many enthusiastic moms scrutinizing over every little detail of their little ones' progress and sharing it with each other :) i wish mine was 1 all over again!

worryfather said...

Hi,

Yes. My daughter still on Enfagrow. Stocked up too much.. haha.. She is growing ok, average tall and average weight.

What kind of change you referring to?

Some of my friends changed to other milk powder for their kids due to constipation after taking enfagrow.

My daughter so far so good, though not sure is she smarter with the high DHA!

I think can't really know for sure which milk is better. As long as the baby didn't show any sickness or didnt refuse to take, should be alright.

PS: you can call me Mr Lim. :)

Thara said...

nuurill :
glad to know my eyes are still intact! haha. tu la, i think takkan lah tipu. cuma maybe packaging dia je lain. ;)

cherie :
kan! but i wish mine is all grown up like nunu so i can do a lot more other fun things with him! :D

worryfather :
hey lim! good to finally know your name ;) it feels weird to address u as "worryfather" all the time :P

anyways. by "change" i meant, if she's grown much taller or much fatter just by consuming Enfagrow? there must be reason why Aydein's paed suggested Enfagrow, so im just wondering if Enfagrow really helps in making a baby grow taller? i dunno. but i do know that Pediasure memang does help to make a baby chubbier! it's a pretty well known fact. :)

btw, i cant leave a comment at your latest entry on "father's day". there is no comment button/link that i can click on to leave my message. or is there?

irradhil said...

eh...irra br perasan...toothpaste esya sm gakla ngn aydeain First Teeth...cumer kt atas tu die tulis biotene.sbb tu panggil biotene jer.sorrriiiiii.i ni mmg sah rabun la.

ermmm..telling about enfagrow.esya is a meadjohnson baby product.agak2nyer dh boleh jd model la kot.hehehehe.irra xsure la whether its makes a baby grow taller ker x cumer...esya's paed ckp susu yg ader words "lac" tu is more on DHA for brain la.yg selebihnyer xtau la plk.so far esya ok jer.boooolat jer dio.berat pn xturun2.duk 14kg jer.hehehehe
xtau nk komen aper lg...so far esya ok jer.lgpun irra xsuka tukar2 susu sbb die mmg kurang minum susu.4oz jer per session.she's oledi 2yrs9mths.so drp die merajuk baik teruskan jer ngn enfagrow ni.

Thara said...

irradhil :
ooh good info! i taktau pulak susu yang ada "lac" tu maksudnya for brain development! thanks babe! and thanks for the feedback too! in that case, i think i'll just stick with Pediasure dulu kot. asal aydein dah tembam sket, baru beralih ke Enfagrow lah :P so far, aydein ok je dgn Pediasure. hopefully bila sampai masa dia tuka ke Enfagrow, dia ok jugak lah nanti! :)

ps : ooh yang besa namanya esya eh. baby irra yang kecik sikit tu pulak namanya apa?

Nina @ BabyBoon said...

takpe, nanti aydein dah besar sikit it'll become less expensive. percayalah ;D coz nanti u can start giving him other fluoride-free toothpastes which come at a muchhh cheaper price. and when he's bigger and dah tak rely so much on milk, u can change to a muchhh cheaper milk too. hehehe.

good call on starting to brush early!

worryfather said...

Hi Thara,
yeah.. memang those enfa products has more DHA for brain.

but my daughter tak nampak pandai sangat.. hehe.. compare to her friends/cousins who can express quite well.
My daughter also not very tall, and a bit chubby also. As long as she is healthy, ok lah..

But heard Enfa babies will be more active.

Yes yes.. thanks for the informing me. I have corrected it. :)

Thara said...

babybooned :
hahaha! yeay, i sure hope so!

worryfather :
yeah, the only thing that matters is their healthiness. as long as they're healthy then thats the most important thing kan! ;)

no problem on the notification ;)

Micheal Alexander said...

Hello, an amazing Information dude. Thanks for sharing this nice information with us. PediaSure baby milk online