Relieving stress

My children have started day care for 2 days a week, they seems to settle well there, the other days I take them to different playgroups as I want to see how they interact with other children and how they learn, so I won't miss much. Also teaching them (one on one) instead of 1 to 10 in daycare.

I enjoy using the 2 days for myself, just watched sex and the city II the other day and I can totally relate to Charlotte, it's hard sometimes, especially with no support. A mother need a lot of support for everyday things (housework, cooking, changing nappies..etc) and also emotionally from family as well.

Many times, I just felt like I couldn't stand it anymore and want to escape. And at this time, I found a program that can calm me down, I remember that day I had a big argument with my husband and my family doesn't support me, tears were running down my face as I listened to the demo. Slowly I started to be calm and peaceful, and I seem to be looking at the conflict outside of myself, and see ways to resolve them. In my 2 days 'personal time', I spent 1 hour listening to holosync and I hadn't had any argument with my husband since I started listening and our relationship seems to be getting better.

The magic behind holosync is to get our brains (left and right) to synchronize, making me think of a technique for calming unsettle children as well. I read it in a book called Why Won't My Child Listen?, it talked about why children become unsettled and how just a few exercises that stimulate the left & right brain can help with concentration and better learning. There's more information on the Brain Gym website. Let's not think about whether those exercise will really induce learning, but one thing for sure, I think children are like adults, if we're stress or ill, we'll be frustrated or angry or depressed easier, not to say to learn, to be friendly or to solve problems.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at ipbxint@gmail.com.

At http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ does not use cookies.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
Commission Junction
Clickbank
Amazon


These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://newmuminfo.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.

Baby shower diaper cake

Today is my toddler's 2 year-old birthday, we didn't host her a big party, just the family get together and enjoy a nice chocolate gateau, yum! She loves it, especially the icing flower! We thought well, only once a year, we'll let her have a bit of sugar delight. Her finger was on the chocolate cream before we finished singing her the happy birthday song! :-)

Talking about cake, I received a very special gift for my premature baby that I think it's quite creative, it's both a practical and nice looking gift. It was in a 3 tier cake shape, and when I opened each layer, there were different gifts and the outer layer was wrapped in diapers (nappies)! It's a perfect gift for baby shower as the parents could keep the diaper cake until the baby's born. I'll save this page for my future gifts to newborns. :-)

Baby sleep training

Finally everything starts to go on track, I'm not a routine person, but I found that once I get a routine started, I get more prediction on what my day will be like and hence more time to rest and more free time for me to write blogs! There was a time I felt very stressful, as I felt like I was non-stop for the whole day, either changing nappies, cleaning, cooking or feeding.

Just was reading an article on sleep-training, it's quite interesting to find out that there are many methods to train our baby to sleep through the night. The article recommends training babies from 5 months, which is now for my baby. My first baby was sleeping through the night since she was around 3 months, but my second baby wakes up 4 hourly for feed until now.

The Sears Method seems to be more humane, it's called the no-cry method, it's about being flexible to change approaches (eg. cuddling, pacifier, nursing..etc), and being consistent to try one method for a while before changing approach. This method is created by Dr. William Sears who's an advocate of attachment parenting, his book is called The Baby Sleep Book: How to Help Your Baby to Sleep and Have a Restful Night. Other similar method include Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby.

Another method is the Cry It Out, also called the Ferber method which leaves the baby cry for a set period of time, and check to calm after the set period. Highlight is to put babies in the cot awake, and basically leave the baby cry until he/she sleeps on his/her own. His book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems has strategies to teach babies to have a good night sleep (and most importantly parents won't be overtired with sleep deprivation)

I heard parents from the hospital that says the Cry It Out method really work, and a day care centre manger also said, "Sometimes you'll need to be cruel to be kind." meaning letting the baby cry so they can learn to sleep on their own, which is good for both the baby and the parents. I've tried this at the beginning for my baby, sometimes she cried for about half an hour before falling asleep, which I think she's just too tired and dropped off. But every time when I went to her, she'd give me that sad look on her face whenever she awoke. So I try with the pacifier, and sometimes cuddling her for a while before putting her to the cot. I found that when I bath her before going to bed at night, she'd sleep for longer period. Now I'm getting smiles on her face whenever she sees me when she wakes up! :-)


As for my toddler, she loves watching DVDs, especially the Brainy Baby series, she now can recognise and count from 1-10. I think a reasonable TV time is good for children, those DVDs do the repetition, which is essential in toddler's learning, for us. iQ Toys has the DVDs at a good price. It's funny to see her said 'wee' and nodding her head to me once, she picked it up on the French preview!

My premature baby arrived!

My baby arrived early at 28 weeks and weight only 1.13 kg, the labour happened so fast and before I know it, baby was born. I didn't feel much of contractions, I thought it was abnormal pain from my heavy tummy. People actually commended during my pregnancy that my tummy is big, a bit low and baby might come soon! After delivery, the hospital took a whole lot of examination to find out what trigger this early birth. They also advised me that 95% of premature babies survive, and they might develop other disablilty if not taken care of carefully. They found out there was a bug in baby's blood, and that's probably why she was born prematurely. Thinking back, I guess during this pregnancy, I got flu often, and one time diaherra for about five days, it lasted that long because the doctor wouldn't give me any medication as I was pregnant, and the same with the flu and cold. So I guess there're constantly bugs in my blood around month 5-6.

For my 1st baby who was born healthy, it was thinking more about how to educate her, and this time, I am thinking about survival, and wants to learn more about how to raise a healthy premature baby. As long as she's growing up healthy and normal, this is all that matters. More info about the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the ADHB website.


Other support:

Parent Care - 9th Floor Auckland Hospital (outside NICU)
Ph: 307 4949 wxtn: 25469
Email: prems@ihug.co.nz

They also host playgroup for NICU and SCBU babies, and Mums and Dads Evenings.

Internet Forum
www.everybody.co.nz
--> Communities -->Parenting --> Premature Babies.

TABS (Trauma and Birth Stress)
Email: sue@tabs.org.nz

Books to read with young children

Here's some recommendations from storylines, a Children Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand:






















A Book of Pacific Lullabies

My Maori Colours

How much sleep does your child need?

Good resources to share:

How much sleep does your child need?