When can my baby drink water?

Another interesting but contradicting article from the same source.

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When can my baby drink water?
By the BabyCenter editorial staff

Starting at about 6 months

Hold off on giving your baby water until he's about 6 months old, and limit it to about an ounce or two at a time -- ideally after meals. You don't want your baby to feel so full that he refuses to nurse or take his bottle. If your baby seems interested in taking occasional sips of water before 6 months of age, it's not going to hurt him. In fact, a little bit of water can help keep your baby hydrated in hot weather. But talk to his doctor if you're offering it before 6 months. Giving a baby younger than 6 months old too much water can interfere with his body's ability to absorb the nutrients in breast milk or formula. (....blink blink.....) In rare cases, babies who drink too much water can develop a condition known as "water intoxication," which can cause seizures (I HOPE THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SUSPECTED FITS THAT ETHAN HAD) and even coma.

"Babies don't really need water, or any liquid other than breast milk or formula, until after their first birthday," says Rachel Brandeis, a registered dietitian in Atlanta. After age 1, water and milk are Brandeis's baby beverages of choice. "You want to be sure juices don't displace milk in a baby's diet," she says. Once your baby celebrates his first birthday, you can let him drink as much water as he wants.

Tip: When you introduce water to your baby, offer it lukewarm, especially if you breastfeed or usually give your baby formula that's warmed up.

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When can my baby start sleeping through the night?

Read this article from www.babycenter.com:

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Age: 3 months (??????????)

When babies are able to sleep through the night and when they actually do are often very different things. Some infants as young as 3 months old can snooze for six to eight hours at a stretch. (NOT ETHAN) Others won't sleep this long until they're 12 months. (OK, 5 MORE MONTHS TO GO...sob sob) But most babies (70 percent) do sleep through the night by the time they hit 9 months (HOPE ETHAN IS ONE OF THEM), according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Not that "sleeping through the night" means a full night of uninterrupted sleep for you. ''Through the night' is defined as from midnight until five o'clock in the morning," (HUH?????) says Judith Owens, a pediatrician and director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Clinic at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island..

You may have heard that bigger babies and babies who eat solids are better sleepers -- it's not true. Your baby's ability to sleep through the night is related to age, not size or diet. (NOW ONLY THAT I KNOW) There's no research to prove that adding rice cereal to the evening bottle, for instance, will help your baby sleep better or longer. (I CAN TELL YOU THIS METHOD DOESN'T WORK) In fact, this practice is a choking hazard (1 SCOOP ONLY MAR FOR 5 OZ MILK), and offering solids too early can deprive your baby of the necessary nutrients in breast milk or formula. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first four to six months.

You play a big part in your baby's sleep habits. "Put her to bed drowsy but awake by the time she's 4 months old," says Owens. "This will help her avoid developing a dependence on you to fall asleep, and make it easier for her to fall back to sleep on her own when she wakes at night."

Tip: Experts don't always agree on the best techniques to encourage your child to sleep through the night. But they all believe a crucial first step is creating a soothing bedtime routine and sticking to it.
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So, the conclusion???: Just wait lar, eventually they will sleep through the night...sigh....

Fits

I received a call from the nursery owner (lets call her M) last Thursday morning telling me that Ethan just had an episode of fits. She said his hands and legs were cold and shivering, eyes rolled up, mouth opened and looked very pale. He was playing in the playpen at that time. All the other staff were scared and M picked Ethan up and tried to wake him up because he looked like almost wanted to pass out. I think she patted him on the back and he smiled at them. The episode lasted for around 15 seconds.

Oh man, my heart was pounding like mad. Immediately, after putting down the phone, I rushed to the nursery to pick Ethan up and brought him to see his paed. When I told the paed that he had fits but no fever, he was shocked. He did not fall either (that's what I was told). So I told him what happened at the nursery and he called M to get a better picture of what happened there. After that, he said it's very unlikely that Ethan had fits. Firstly because it lasted only for 15 seconds whereas fits will last for a few minutes. Secondly, he was not jerking but shaking. The paed also said if Ethan really had fits, he would need to go for a thorough check which includes brain scanning and will given anaesthetic or something like that. It will be traumatic for Ethan and for us as well. Gosh, I cannot imagine my son going through that kind of thing at his tender age. During the whole consultation, the little guy was his usual self and I'm a bit relieved to see that he was active and playful. So, the paed asked me to observe his condition.

Then I sent Ethan back to the nursery. I told M and the rest of the girls there what the paed said. You know what? They did not believed the paed. I was just trying to calm myself down and they started to make me get worried again. I stayed there for a while and chatted with M. She's a nurse, so is another lady, L, who is employed by M to take care of the young babies. M advised me to get second opinion and gave me the contact details of another paed.

I tried to call the no. given but nobody pick up the phone. So we decided to go to another paed, whom Ethan visited before, on Friday night. This paed was also recommended by M and he is a very experienced doctor. The discussion was so long I think people waiting outside must be swearing already. The conclusion was the same. Very unlikely to be fits. What a RELIEF! Other important points are:
1. If someone is having fits, you will not be able to wake him up.
2. After having fits, a person will go to sleep for a while and NOT SMILE at you.
3. He will be biting his teeth not opening his mouth.
4. His hands will jerk (with rhythm) not shake.

Anyway, the paed gave us a medicine to keep just in case the real thing happen. He also recommended a neurologist (is the spelling correct ar?) if we really really want to sent Ethan for a thorough check-up. Both hubby and me discussed and decided not to put our little boy through the horrible thing.

M called on Monday morning and I told her what the paed said. She was also relieved. The strange thing was when I told L what the second paed said, she asked me to get third opinion!!! Crazy mer!!! I don't know what was in her mind lar but I just said no.



(What? Another doctor???)

Yay! Ethan is in the Magazine

No lar, not cover page. His photo was selected in a small contest. Prizes? Don't know coz nobody call also to inform that he won. I only got to know when I checked the magazine. So I bought the magazine lor. The photos were sent in early November but result came out in January issue. If any mummies or daddies want to give it a try, here is the costing (round up figure for easy calculation):
Photo (4R): RM0.50
Postage (use Poslaju, snail mail takut tak sampai): RM2.00
Magazine (if win, must buy mar): RM7.50
Prizes: NIL (still waiting)
Sharing the news with your loved ones: Priceless

My Two Front Teeth

Although I have three now, mummy only managed to take photos of me with two front teeth. You can't see my teeth clearly in the first photo, that's why mummy had to open my mouth with one hand and snap photo using another hand. If daddy was there to hold the camera then mummy can open my mouth with both hands so that you all can see all my three teeth lor.....

Haiya...Sick Again

Ya, it's my little darling. This time, the mucous is green and very sticky and he cough quite badly. He just recovered from cough and cold a couple of weeks ago and was sick again since Sunday night. His nose was blocked and couldn't sleep well last night and the night before. He kept waking up and turning around looking for a comfortable position. I woke up everytime he changed his position...that was at least twice in one hour. Poor baby, so I carried him to sleep a few times and he slept better...walau er very tiring lar....so have to put him back on the mattress after 30 minutes or so. What was the man doing when all this happened? ZZZZZZZZZZ and only opened his eyes when Ethan made noise...only loud noise..aaarrrrrrrgggghhhhhh....was upset but want to nag also tak sempat caused very tired..will do it tonight.

Guess the medicine was not working well. Gave him 'hao chou sarn' also but not very effective. Must buy the one from 'eu yan sang' mer, very expensive wor...one little bottle for one day dosage cost RM100+. Better bring him back to the paed lar tonight...

Back to Normal

Phhewww, no fever and no tantrum this morning. Looks like my little blue ranger is his old self again. When I said good morning to him, he smiled back at me, like he always do. With his daddy still sleeping by his side, he started roaming around on the queen size mattress. So I went to shower and get myself ready for the day. While in the shower, I peeked at him a few times, afraid that he might fall off the mattress again. The first time he fell off the mattress, which was last week, his daddy was sleeping next to him also. Apalagi, scolded by me lar after that...

He had fever since Tuesday due to teething and was very clingy. I think the fourth one is errupting soon cause I can feel that the gum is swollen, while the third one is halfway out. Both are on the (upper) side. The first two are on the (lower) front. When the third one came out, I saw something white and asked hubby is that a tooth? We were not sure cause we expected it to be in front and not on the side. The paed was not sure either. He said wait and see. My sister said he will look like goofie....hahaha...will post a photo here if I manage to get one with him showing off his teeth...Mission Impossible

Why The Blue Ranger?

To be exact, it should be The Blue Dino Ranger. Does it ring any bell? No? Guess you do not watch the Power Rangers. Neither do I. Last week, my son's carer told me that her son had a good laugh when she told him that my son's name is Ethan James. When she asked why, he said that it's the name of the Blue Dino Ranger. Not satisfied with what he said, I did a quick search on the web this morning and heck, it's true. I never like Power Rangers. In fact, both me and my husband always laugh at the tv programme. I have yet to tell him this news. It was him who picked the name, though I insisted from the very beginning to put James as the second name. I hope people will not misunderstand that we like the Power Rangers so much that we name our son after the character. Hmmmm... maybe we should start watching it so that we have a very good reason when people ask why we pick this name.


(Oh yeah, I'm in a battle with the monster!)