Food For A Healthy, Happy Baby (Part 2)

The last update on Baby Food and Health was when my daughter was barely 8 months old.
Am feeling so guilty for not being to update more often on this topic.

As a full time working mother, I am not able to prepare dishes for my daughter who is now 21 months old. I have to rely on my own mother to do. It is only during the weekends that I am able to whip up something for her, but nothing fanciful. Really.

Usually, instead of the common staples such as rice or porridge, I do try to engage my daughter to try out Soup Macaroni and Pasta with ready-made Tomato sauce. Any kind of dishes that I prepare for my child, I would definitely include her favourites - Broccoli, Wolfberries, Pumpkin, Fish, and occasionally Carrots. Yes, perhaps what comes across your mind would be 'wouldn't it be boring and not nutritious enough to be having the same ingredients daily?'

Well, honestly speaking, it can be BORING. I admit. At the moment, my daughter hasn't yet has many teeth, but is still sprouting, I cannot stuff her with all the harder foods that older toddlers can chew at ease. I need more time.

Taking a closer look at Soup Macaroni, I would mix in all the favourite ingredients, with Ikan Bilis stock as soup base. Quick, easy and nutritious. Firstly, this would give the dish a savoury taste, and secondly a high calcium and protein. Broccoli, needless to say, contains Vit A, C and K, Fiber, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium. This powerful vegetable would help kids in their vision, skin health, and boost immunity, keeping infections at bay. It also helps prevent bone loss, maintain good nervous system, and overall well-being. Other ingredients are also good for maintaining good vision, strengthening bone mass and overall health.

As for Pasta with Tomato sauce, kids may love to see some sliced or diced mushrooms, and some of their favourite toppings. Sweet and filling, they would sure love it. Preparing this dish is also quick and easy, depending on the soup base to be used. For me, Ikan Bilis is the simplest and tastiest. 

So, why not try them today. It would also be great if you can share some of your recipes with me. 

Signing off,
Fairy Angel Shop
www.fairyangelshop.com

Embracing Lives - Saving Neira

Embracing Lives

As I was browsing through the FaceBook this morning, an article for help caught my attention. It was about a 3.5 months old baby girl, whose name is 'Neira Ng', suffering from  tumors in the brain. She is undergoing another surgery today (23th Sep) to remove the remaining tumor in the center of the brain.

As a mother myself, I could not bear to see such sufferings in any children. Children is meant to be a gift from God, and they are the key to happiness and future. Regardless of the materialistic extensiveness given to a child, nothing matters more than a healthy body and mind.

I could not relate more than to have you read the article yourself.

http://saveneira.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/your-help-is-appreciated/comment-page-5/#comments

I hope and I wish gratefully and thankfully, that, after reading it, some compassionate emotions would tingle in your heart to lend a helping hand.

For I have taken the step to render my little help, why don't you too?

Signing off,

Fairy Angel Shop

www.fairyangelshop.com

Ways To Ease Colic

An extract from http://www.mummysg.com/forums/content/20-ways-ease-colic.html 

Published on 20-11-2010 08:31 PM

Parents may wonder what colic is all about. It can be described as the uncontrollable crying of a baby for hours with no known reason.

You may suspect your baby has it if the crying continues for several days. Colic tends to peak around 6 weeks then improves significantly between 3 and 4 months.

It is quite frustrating for both mommy and baby. Sad thing if mommy cannot bond well with baby because of this reason. Hopefully these tips will help to ease colic discomfort and bring back sanity to you.

1. Get anti colic remedy.
There are several brands in the market that offers relief of colic. It can be diluted in the milk or given directly to the baby. Whichever you choose, it all really depends on your luck to ease colicky baby. Seek a pediatrician for advice on this would be wise.

2. Offer the slowest flow of teat to avoid gulping milk.
For new moms, you may be surprised by the number of brands offer different shapes and sizes of teat. dont’t get distracted by the model it brings, but make sure your baby won’t gulp milk every feeding. You may need to try a few types before settle down to one.

3. Offer the milk in smaller amount frequently.
dont’t worry if your baby keeps asking for more milk. Give some time for the little tummy to digest the milk.

4. Change soiled diaper or cloth before feeding.
If you change diaper after feeding, you have to lift baby’s leg above her stomach that may encourage reflux that is something can cause colic.

5. Feed the baby in an upright position.
This is to encourage milk to begin exiting the stomach during the feed which helps to minimize colic.

6. Always try to burp the baby in the middle and after feeding.
By doing this, you can help baby burp the air up before they are collected too much that causes gas in the stomach.

7. Hold the baby in an upright position for about half an hour after feeding.
Well, you may be too tired to wait for that long after feed. But try as long as you can to avoid baby spitting up the milk.

Food For A Healthy, Happy Baby

An extract from http://www.mummysg.com/forums/content/211-food-healthy-happy-baby.html 

Published on 15-11-2012 03:00 PM

It is vital for a baby to have an assorted diet once he can eat solid food. At an early age, the baby will learn how to eat food with different textures and flavors as well as gain the essential nutrients that are crucial for the his growth and development.



Here are some ideas on what you can serve your baby during its first year:

4-6 Months:
Pureed food is ideal for your baby’s digestion. It is important that your baby has fruits and vegetables. Ripe bananas, avocados, and papayas are some fruits you can start with. Pureed cooked pears, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and carrots are also good choices. Green vegetables like peas, zucchini, green beans, and cauliflowers are rich in vital nutrients. The simple tastes are enough so you need not add spices or seasonings.



6-7 Months:
By the time the baby reaches six months, it starts to eat three meals a day. It is also the time you can feed your baby different kinds of food for as long as its texture is smooth and silky. The important minerals that a baby needs at this age are calcium and iron.

For breakfast, cereals with low salt and sugar are fine. It is okay to serve baby cereal as well as kids’ cereal and instant oats. Just serve it with milk.

Lunch and dinner should contain 25g of meat or protein. Minced or pureed meat is an excellent way to start. Add chopped vegetables to complete its requirement of certain nutrients. A good substitute for red meat is red lentils. Be sure that the skin of the potatoes and sweet potatoes are peeled to make it easier for the baby to chew and digest them.

7-9 Months:
By this time, the baby’s food can just be mashed or semi-pureed since the tongue and muscles in its mouth are stronger.

Cereals with low sugar and salt as well as cooked semi-pureed food are still ideal meals for breakfast. Once your baby turns eight months, you may prepare buttered whole meal toast.

For lunch and dinner, you can feed your baby mashed instead of pureed vegetables. Grains like rice, quinoa, and couscous are a good addition to the meal. To add more texture, minced meat may be added as well as grated fruits like pears and apples. Dessert may be yogurt, custard, cooked fruit, or rice pudding.

9-12 Months:
You can feed your baby finger food by now. Chopped foods with lots of color are a good way to make it look attractive. By now your baby might be used to eating the kinds of food that the rest of the family eats.

For breakfast, you can serve muesli or porridge with milk. You may also add fresh fruits to yogurt. Cream cheese goes well with toasted whole meal toast.

For lunch and dinner, you may now serve your baby as much as 50g of meat that is chopped into small pieces. Just mix them with vegetables. Pasta, so long as it can be easily chewed, is a good alternative to rice.


If you would like to offer your baby snacks, freshly cut fruits and vegetables, cheese cubes, and muffins with fruit filling are good choices.

You can come up with different meals for your baby that taste delicious and are healthy. Just look around your kitchen and be creative.

Post Natal Massage - Goodness in a Touch

Postnatal massage has become increasingly important to mother, especially when woman is encourage to deliver more babies. After some seemingly long hours of delivery process, much exhaustion and effort, a quality postnatal massage is something to reward the mothers.

Be it a wonderful natural birth or a unexpected Caesarean, mothers should still go for postnatal massage. If the lingering post-delivery discomfort or pain is still there, wait for a while before engaging in the massage. For mothers that went through natural birth, it is advisable to start massaging sessions on the 4th Day after hospital discharge. For caesarean, it would be dependent on the recovery process and condition of the wound.

Benefits of Postnatal Massage:

Restores your body

Massages helps in getting your body ready to go back in shape, just like before pregnancy. The pelvic structure during the massage would also gradually be re-structured and to facilitate healing. Abdominal massages help to tone and flatten the muscles and skin.

Relieving aches and pains

Especially for back pain, joint pain, stiffness, swollen feet.

Caesarean Recovery

Helps to heal the incision, abdominal muscles recovery and scar tissues reduction.

Relaxation

A great time to rejuvenate and pamper yourself, boost your energy level and away from stress and anxiety.

After a good massage, mothers would be able to focus back on your little one with lovingly, tender care.

For Singapore mothers, I have one very good recommendation and have personally tried this masseur before. Her massage techniques really got me back to my pre-pregnancy state.

Details as follow:

No. of sessions: 7 sessions at $400  (please call to confirm the charges) - standard package
Venue: At your home
Duration per session: 1.5 hours

How to book your sessions:
- SMS or call Ms. Zie (details below) and let her know your expected due date.
- when do you intend to start your sessions (start and end date, how many sessions you need, consecutive days or alternate days, etc)
- wait for Ms. Zie's confirmation of her slots, then you can let her know your residential address.

What would be provided:
- wrapping cloth (white bandage cloth and outer Batik cloth), both needs to be returned to the masseur.
- massage oil
- herbal application

What do you need to prepare?
- mattress
- mattress cover or waterproof mat to protect mattress.
- bedroom slippers (foot and sole would be massage with oil too)

Masseur Name: Zie (Ms.)
Mobile: 9008 9114

Hope the above recommendation helps for those who are contemplating which one to engage. Through recommendation is always the preferred. ^_^

Signing off,

Fairy Angel Shop

Visit our store at www.fairyangelshop.com

'LIKE' us on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/simplyluvbb

We are also listed on Qoo10 (Gmarket)

Natural Glow Booster During Pregnancy

Lustrous hair, rosy and radiant facial complexion and glowing skin are some of the plus things that every expectant mothers enjoy and wish to have them last forever.

Though these are gifts of pregnancy, we should also give our skin a natural boost of vitamins and minerals. Make it better and last longer, even post pregnancy.

Working mothers on the go face stress, UV-rays of the scorching hot sun outdoors, freezing cold air-con in the office and absorbing the harmful computer radiation. Over time, the skin turns dry, more oil generated, clogging pores, giving rise to acne and all related issues. Hence, it is important to keep the skin's moisture level balance.

A mist in the handbag or at the office is always a good choice. Small and convenient to use, a mist helps to prevent the surface layer of skin moist and dewy.

Personally, I highly recommend the HadaLabo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moist Mist. It is a small sleek bottle of 45ML, easy to carry along everywhere for use at any time of the day.

It is sold at all leading pharmacies such as Watsons and Guardians.

If you are putting on make-up, spray the mist onto the face too. Hold the bottle 15 cm away from your face and spray 2-3 times. Using your fingers, pat gently on your face till the mist is fully absorbed. This helps to hold the make-up in place, as well as to prevent the skin from drying up or irritated.

Give it a try, mothers. ^_^

Signing off,
Fairy Angel Shop

Store: www.fairyangelshop.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/simplyluvbb
We are also listed on Qoo10 (Gmarket)

Broccoli, Pumpkin and Fish Porridge

Preparing a delicious and nutritious meal for a baby 8 months old and above is never difficult.
Simple ingredients, yet big nutrients!

Broccoli, Pumpkin and Fish Porridge

Age: 8 months and above

Nutritional Facts:

Broccoli

This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

Pumpkin
This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Threadfin Fish Fillet
Protein, Iron, Calcium, Potassium, Vitamin A, C

Ingredients (serving of 1):
Ikan Bilis (dried Anchovies) - a small handful to give taste
Threadfin Fish Fillet - 1/4 of the slice
Broccoli Florets
Pumpkin - 1 small thin wedge
Rice
Water

How to Cook:
1. Wash rice in a pot and add water.
2. Add ikan bilies to the pot and bring together to boil.

3. Drain and remove the ikan bilis from pot and discard.
4. Leave to boil till rice takes form into porridge for 5-10 minutes.
5. Dice pumpkin into small cubes and chop broccoli florets finely.

6. Steam pumpkin and broccoli florets for 10 minutes.
7. Remove skin of the fish and slice it thinly.

8. Remove steamed pumpkin and broccoli florets from stove and mash lightly. Do not mash them fully. Aim to retain a little crunchiness and texture.
9. Add fish and mashed pumpkin and broccoli florets to porridge. Give a little stir to mix everything together.
10. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
11. Turn off the fire.
12. Ready to serve.