Pneumonia and Bronchitis in babies

Courtesy of www.earaymundo.com

I’ve had a number of sleepless nights for almost two weeks now. It’s because my daughter has been coughing vigorously in her sleep and vomits out milk that she just drank hours ago. (A few days ago, it was rice with fish and some vegetables and bean sprouts. She must have swallowed them whole.) As I’m a rather light sleeper, I’d usually wake up when she starts to cough that kind of deep, belly cough filled with phlegm and mucus, just in case she vomits. Usually I get up from bed and out of the room to get a spare plastic basin for her to vomit in. Or just in the nick of time, like last night, I stopped in the middle of my prayers and put my hand in front of her mouth to catch her vomit, so minimal amount of vomit spills onto her cot. This has happened several times, in bed, in the car or pretty much anytime I noticed her coughing. Yesterday and this morning, I arrived at the office with my hand smelling of vomit.

When this kind coughing spells hit, I would of course, consequently sleep less smoothly. I noticed that my daughter is quite sensitive to certain kind of foods i.e. cold food like puddings cold drinks, oily food like fried fish crackers, even some types of tropical fruit. Her coughing would start that very night after she consumed such foods. Incidentally, she’s quite prone to catch colds and coughs infection, because she goes to a nursery where there are a lot of kids. (This is one very well-known disadvantage of sending your child to a children day-care centre.) It’s unlikely that a day-care centre with two or three caregivers to monitor very strict cleanliness of ten to fifteen toddlers at the same time. And it’s quite certain, that when one kid gets sick, others would get catch the virus pretty quickly.

The diagnosis

My daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia once, when she was around 10 months old and had to be hospitalized for three days. (The doctor asked to stay for another two days, but we politely declined. We promised to give her medicine and all that.) How the pediatrician diagnosed her was pretty much by the text book; he watched how she breathed and listened to her lungs with a stethoscope for her breathing patterns sounds and any abnormality. He mentioned that she breathed more rapidly to take in more oxygen because of the mucus in her lungs. And because babies do not know how to spit out the phlegm, she simply swallows them back into her lungs, causing an infection. After looking at my daughter’s chest x-rays, he confirmed it pneumonia and asked us to register her into the hospital ward.

The symptoms

It all started with the coughing and high fever, which are the main symptoms of pneumonia. She was certainly coughing hard until she usually vomits, and her temperature went up to 41 degree Celsius. Her breathing was quickened, she refuses to drink her milk, sometimes drinking only once a day and she was very weak, she keeps lying down and slept by herself. (If you knew how very hyperactive she is, then you’ll know that this is VERY rare.)

Difference between pneumonia and bronchitis

Bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial tubes. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. Bronchitis is a less severe form of pneumonia, but it will develop into pneumonia if left unchecked. Both illnesses have common symptoms and are caused by either these two reasons; bacteria or virus.

Courtesy of www.thingamababy.com

Treatment

If it is caused by virus, the main treatment would be lots of rest and consuming plenty of liquids, to fight dehydration from the rapid breathing and fever. You can try a cool mist humidifier in the room to combat the dryness in the air that’s causing her to cough. (FYI, air-conditioning is very drying, not only to the skin, but also to the throat.)

If it is caused by bacteria like what my daughter had, she was given antibiotics and other medications though a needle in her hand, which is more effective than consuming them orally. She was also give some nasal medication to dry up her runny nose and at times, fitted with an oxygen mask to help ease her breathing. And of course, lots of fluid and rest is essential to any sick child.

Prevention

Some ways of upping her chances to stay healthy are:

• Keep her vaccinations up to date as this helps to ward off many illnesses that can lead to pneumonia and bronchitis, such as measles. In Malaysia, taking up chicken pox and pneumococcal vaccines is not part of the normal routine vaccination schedules, but my daughter’s pediatrician did recommend it. It’s more expensive, by the way.
• Practicing good hygiene is important too. Frequent hand-washing prevent the spreading of germs and bacteria. But as you probably know, it’s impossible to keep watch on your child every second of the day. Sharing cups, plates and utensils spreads germs easily too, so that’s why kids at day care centres get sick more easily. My point is, try to be clean as humanely possible, but please not to the extent of contracting obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Try to maintain the home smoke-free. Ask any person or guests who smokes to do it outside. Studies have shown that children who live around cigarette smoke get sick more frequently and are more susceptible to pneumonia, upper respiratory infections and asthma. What better reason to quit smoking than to have healthy children?
• On a personal note, take notice on any factors that could make your child sick, e.g. how eating oily or cold food can start coughing bouts for my daughter. When family members offer such foods, politely decline. This could prove to be difficult too, as my daughter would want to try to eat anything she sees. So if we don’t her to want to eat, better to hide it in the first place.

Although prevention is better, I must say it’s rather impossible to totally keep pneumonia out the door. Babies and young toddlers are highly prone to bronchitis and pneumonia as their immune systems are weak and are still developing. And for me, it’s rather unrealistic to keep tabs on every single food that passes through her little hands. Kids are explorers, after all. So just do your best to protect your child.

Sources: www.babycenter.com, www.gurgle.co.uk, www.tenderbabycare.com

Food fights

Courtesy of www.veer.com

I sometimes dread weekends when I have stay home with my daughter, like the last one when my husband worked all weekend so I was stuck at home alone with her. It’s not like I don’t like spending time with her, I do, really. My only free time would be when she takes her naps in the morning, which is when I’ll cook the day’s lunch cum dinner, and the afternoon nap, which is when I’ll take a shower, perform my prayers, and finally, take a breather and take a nap myself, or watch a movie as I fold the laundry.

As my daughter just despises being alone, it’s quite difficult to do some housework with her tailing me around and wailing for something she wants to put in her mouth but I won’t let her i.e. talcum powder, my J.Lo sample body lotion, pens, wet wipes, pieces of biscuits she ate this morning, coins if we weren’t careful. The thing is, she knew we wouldn’t let her put stuff in her mouth. Sometimes I catch her in the act and quickly she hides behind the laundry basket, as if I couldn’t see her. And when I take it away from her, she’ll yell herself hoarse like I just tortured her, the baddest mom on the planet. Oooh… this daughter of mine is quite a handful, I tell you.

And that’s not even the main reason why I dread weekends alone with my precious little one. The number one reason is that I simply don’t know what to feed her! No, let me rephrase that. I don’t know WHAT she likes to eat. Every Saturday morning, I’ll flip through the pages of recipe books and magazines that feature food for toddlers and kids to find something that I think she’ll like, but then she’ll eat about three or four spoonfuls, and then pronouncing loudly with a affirmative headshake, “Nanak” which I think means “No thanks, mom, I think I’ve had enough now.” I think I’ve cooked up a pretty decent meal, which in the beginning, she wants to eat so enthusiastically, I would literally hold my breath to see how much she would eat. Not much, it turned out to be. It’s weird how she really likes some food for one day, and then totally hates it the next day. I mean, if you like chicken, you won’t mind eating it often, don’t you?

Then I start to wonder, is my cooking really THAT bad? My husband and brother find them eatable, so what’s the problem here? Her caregivers at her nursery keeps saying that she eats a lot, drinks a lot of milk, pooping twice, sometimes 3 times a day. Every time I pick her up from her nursery, I could really feel her weight from all that food she ate, her little round tummy protruding her t-shirts comfortably well. Then it hit me; she likes company. She always wants a bite of what we’re eating, be it curry, fish, spicy fried chicken or fruits, and she seems to eat more when we’re eating together. So now I try to feed her whatever we eat, as long as it’s not too spicy and not too oily. But her wacky eating behaviours still drive me crazy sometimes. Especially when she purposely drops her food onto the floor (after I just vacuumed the house) or she puts her tongue out and lets her food drip down her chin.

Then of course, I read up some info about toddler nutrition and fussy eaters from the Master of All Sources of Information, the Internet. To my relief, it seems my daughter’s eating habits are perfectly normal for toddlers around the world. The main thing to do for moms is, to stay calm and relax. Easier said than done. Okay, here’s a summary of main points to remember:

Courtesy of www.goodhousekeeping.com

• Refusing foods is actually an important sign of growing up, as it is the first ways of how toddlers assert their independence. So even though it may drive you up the wall, it’s a healthy developmental milestone for your child.
• If your child is old enough, try to involve him in food decisions. Provide him with a healthy range of options of foods. Chances are, he’ll be more likely to eat food that he chose for himself.
• Whenever possible, try to eat together as a family to encourage your child to eat, which is the case with my daughter. She loves company! This is why, I think, she eats more at her nursery. The more, the merrier.
• Prepare some finger foods so your child can eat some food by themselves, such as pieces of fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken or potatoes, crackers with cheese or little sausages. Mix them up in a variety of colours to make the meal interesting like, carrots, peas, fish, potatoes and pieces of papaya on a yellow plate. But be ready to brace yourself if your child flips it over to the floor.
• If they spit out their food or protest, don’t punish or yell, but try to smile and take away their food and wait for the next mealtime. This is a real challenge for me, especially when she purposely throws her food onto the floor. But I’ll try and paste a smile on my face next time.
• Try, try and try again. Just like my daughter’s whims, children’s likes and dislikes change all the time. She might not like it the first time, but she might like them the 15th time. So don’t lose heart too quickly.
• Just like us adults, there some things that children just do not want to eat. I don’t eat seafood, bean sprouts and tofu, despite my husband’s saying they are delicious, so who am I to complain? So give in gracefully, and nobody’s left in tears.

If all else fails, just take her plate and chow down the food yourself. At least it doesn’t go to waste.

Get toned with baby (It's possible okay!)

I came across this website during my first pregnancy, but I really didn't apply it too much with my own daughter, sad to say. So I am giving encouragement to you moms out there to work it out! So at least someone's getting the benefits of from my sharing this.

These exercises are really no brainers, but can be quite effective if you really stick at it. You don't even need dumbells, just hold your baby instead. I can personally guarantee toned arms from carrying your own baby for hours! So come on moms, lets work out a storm! (or least a little sweat, that's good enough too for starters.)

1. Baby Dancing

Holding your baby in your arms or in a front carrier, sway back and forth or dance the cha-cha. Keep your feet moving to gently raise your heart rate. Continue for 5 minutes, working up to 10.

Strengthens heart, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back and abdominals.

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

2. Cradle Plies

Holding your baby in your arms or in a front carrier, sway back and forth or dance the cha-cha. Keep your feet moving to gently raise your heart rate. Continue for 5 minutes, working up to 10.

Strengthens heart, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back and abdominals.

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

3. Mommy Squats

Holding your baby to your chest, stand a few inches in front of a couch with your feet hip-width apart and toes pointing straight ahead. With abs drawn in, bend your knees and lower into a semi-squat until your butt is just above the seat cushion [shown]. Return to starting position. Repeat 5 times, building up to 10.

Strengthens legs, hips, glutes, arms and core (abdominal and back muscles).

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

4. Baby Bridges

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, toes pointing straight ahead. Place your baby belly-down on your thighs and hold onto her hips or ankles. Keeping your abs tight, slowly lift your hips off the floor while squeezing your glutes [shown]. Lower your hips to the floor. Repeat 5 times, working up to 10.

Strengthenships, glutes, lower back and core.

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

5. Kiss the Baby Push-Ups

On your hands and knees, place your baby on her back, underneath your chest. With your wrists under your shoulders and your head in line with your spine, pull your abs in--your body should form a straight line from head to hips [shown]. Bend your elbows to lower your torso and give your baby a kiss. Push back up to starting position. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15.

Strengthens chest, arms, back and abdominals.

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

6a. Baby Elevators

Sit with your knees bent and ankles crossed. Place your baby on your ankles facing you. Maintaining a straight back, gently lift her toward the ceiling, keeping your elbows slightly bent

[A](shown). Slowly lower your baby toward your chest and give her a kiss

[B] (next slide). Push her back up into the air. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15.

Strengthens chest, back, arms and shoulders.

Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

6b. Baby Elevators

Sit with your knees bent and ankles crossed. Place your baby on your ankles facing you. Maintaining a straight back, gently lift her toward the ceiling, keeping your elbows slightly bent [A](shown). Slowly lower your baby toward your chest and give her a kiss.

Push her back up into the air. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15.

Strengthens chest, back, arms and shoulders.Total time: 15 to 20 minutes

Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.

Go visit the website, there's tons of useful info for new and old (or should I say, seasoned, moms.) It's a lot of fun!

Source: www.fitpregnancy.com

How to cope with two

Courtesy of www.autonomoussource.com

I’m currently 5 and ½ months pregnant, and somewhat apprehensive about the soon-coming of our second baby. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for this gift; God must have known that I could handle this. But I’m not so sure! My last pregnancy was 15 months ago, but it couldn’t have felt more different than the first time around. I am much more tired than before, having to put up with Aliah, who’s pretty much still a baby herself. All the tantrums, the mess, the running here and there, I’m left breathless with an aching back most of the time.

My husband surprisingly asked me the other day “Are all babies really this messy? Or is it just our daughter?” after Aliah successfully got herself smeared in rice, fish and crackers. Not to mention the mess within a meter radius around her high chair. No, make that two meters. I was like come on, how can you expect a baby to be clean and tidy all the time, I mean at any time? To babies, mess equals fun! I tried to comfort my husband by saying that in the midst of all the mess, she’s actually learning something. “I don’t care what she’s learning, I just vacuumed the house!” Okay, time to shut up.

But really, we’re both up in our wits to the max, how in the world are we going to handle another bundle of mess-making, tantrum-yelling, poop-producing joy? I simply cannot imagine. Oh, I can imagine the state of the house then, but I can’t imagine how I’m going to keep myself from going insane when I’m already at the verge of insanity and tears.

Okay, okay, you might think that I’m exaggerating this a little. There are millions of people in the world who have more than one child. But it’s little hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes when you already feel like you’re at the end of your patience most of the time. I mean, parenting is hard work. Literally. I still go through some not-so-smooth-sleep nights now that Aliah’s 15 months old. So how’s it going to be when the baby arrives, won’t I be able to sleep a wink? (Like I’ve mentioned before, sleep is a luxury to tired and energy-starved moms.) Sometimes I can’t even go to the toilet in peace, with Aliah wailing outside the door. (She usually wails in despair whenever she sees me leaving her.) Again, the nervousness and anxiety pops in. Can I be a good mother to both of them? What if I turn out to favour one of them? I’ve already poured so much love into Aliah, will I be able to love them equally?

Then I accidentally came across this article on coping with two and helping siblings to bond in Babycentre UK. It talks about how to prepare your toddler for the baby, how to treat them as individuals and not to compare them, how to teach the older sister or brother to help care and love the younger sibling and of course, that sibling rivalry will happen, to a certain degree. It even mentioned that some experts say that sibling rivalry is an opportunity for our children to learn the skills they’ll need in their future relationships. Have a read, it might put some worries at ease for second-time parents.

As for me, some skepticism still remains. I’ve learned by experience that parenthood is nothing like what’s mentioned in books. But don’t worry too much, it’ll definitely be the greatest adventure you’ll ever have.

Creating the love of learning

Courtesy of www.brillbaby.com

Hi peeps!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I have been unwell for a few days now, with a runny nose, a bout of flu and watery eyes. My creative juices seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier. So today I thought I’d just share with you what my colleagues and I discussed about while we went out to buy lunch just now.

It all started with this one colleague with a 15-year old son, who said she was busy editing her son’s science project at work. I was surprised and said “Why didn’t you ask him to print it out, so you can check on paper, and then ask him to correct it himself?” She said she’d told him to print out days ago, to no avail. The project was due tomorrow, so there’s no time for her to double check again, so she just edited it herself. I told her to tell her son about how we survived in our days, where parents were too busy or uneducated enough to be able to help us with our homework. I remembered my mom helping me with painting, doing creative projects or sewing my table runner project, stuff like that. But no help in difficult subjects like maths and science. That was pretty much the only parent intervention in my school life. The rest of it, I had to figure out on my own.

My colleague told me that both her husband and herself had berated him countless of times. She also said that his latest report card was a lot of D’s, C’s and maybe a couple of B’s. Another colleague said that her 13-year old sister failed three subjects in school. She was more interested in singing and dancing projects, even getting frustrated when she failed to score a place in singing or dancing competitions. My own nephew scored some C’s and D’s in his SPM last year, not to mention his smoking in the house, his late nights out and sometimes not coming home at all. I read about a 13-year old boy having a baby with his 14-year old girlfriend a few months ago. I also read an article about teenage girls having more sex to get revenge for their parent’s neglect. (This is a little out of topic, but still, very shocking.) I was like, WHAT in the WORLD is happening here?

Gone are the days of the simple life of friends, school, playing at recess and family fun. It looks like the days of sex, drugs and rock and roll are back with a vengeance; destroy mankind. (Sounds like a Decepticon. Haha.) It’s scary. When I was dropping off my daughter at her nursery the other day, I saw of group of boys and girls in school uniforms cutting classes and idling around the shops. I told my husband, I could count with my fingers, the number of times that I’ve cut classes in school. I felt it was such a loss when I couldn’t go to school, when my classmates get to learn but I missed out. My husband said “Honey, that was 15 years ago. Things are different now.”

How did it get to be so different? I guess parents are the first to be blamed. The world today is so tough and expensive, both parents need to go and work outside the house, to earn sometimes just enough to provide for their family, with a little bit left over to spare. The recession has made it even more difficult; people lost their jobs and struggling hard to survive. Our country was not so badly hit with the recession, but my friends in the UK and US were laid off, some hanging on to their jobs for dear life. I read about families with close bonds would be less likely to have rebellious or difficult kids. But who would have time to spend with kids when they come back at 9 or 10 at night, only to put their kids to bed? (I experienced this too, so I know how it feels.)

My mother told me about how kids today are so pressured to excel in school. When I was in school, kindergarten was like play-school. Standard One students were just learning the alphabets and learning to count. Kids nowadays are expected to be able to read when they enter Standard One, they have private tuitions after school, come back at 7 p.m. and have homework to do. In Standard One, at 7 years old. When will they have time to be kids, to be able to play and have fun freely? But at the same time, we wouldn’t want our children to be the least smart in class, would we? So what can we do, as parents? Push them to strive in studies or let them play to their heart’s content without a care in the world? Is it even possible to achieve a balance? It isn’t as easy as you think it would be, you know.

I guess the best way to go about this matter is, to instill the love of learning in our children, which is not easy, considering our own education system here in Malaysia. Schools, learning and studying should be, first and foremost, FUN. When it’s fun, you don’t even have to force them to learn, I bet kids would be running out the door each morning to go to school! Wouldn’t that be marvelous? I think our education system is too rigid and inflexible, too focused on excelling in exams, too pressured to perform the best in class. There are a lot more other skills that are needed to survive in the real world, like communication skills, presentation skills, problem solving skills, time management skills, even teamwork skills.

Courtesy of www.brillbaby.com

I’ve read more and more of these articles, which seem to be springing before my eyes everyday – educate your child as soon as possible, i.e. from the day she was born. It may seem ridiculous to read or show flashcards to babies who don’t seem to be able to understand anything – except maybe milk and sleep – but in that tiny brain of theirs, miraculous wonders are taking place every second, every day. Have you ever heard the phrase “A baby is born a genius”? Well, it’s true. Children under the age of 5 have the effortless ability to learn and absorb knowledge , when the brain growth is most rapid, compared to school age children, teenagers and much less, adults. So what better time to teach your precious ones other than RIGHT NOW?

I didn’t intend to write so much about this, but I guess I get a little too enthusiastic sometimes. I have some ideas brewing n my head about teaching my daughter new things, but I’ll let you know when I actually have done it. Right now, I need to get my stuffy nose unstuffed first. I’m too drained to do anything but sleep right after dinner. Aliah is now dragging the bedtime book off the shelf (the book is almost as big as her) to get me to read to her. Poor thing.