Feeding the little mouth

Just like any other working mother out there, I want to give my baby home-cooked food. It is cheaper and I get to control what goes into my baby's diet. But then, there was a problem. I can't be making the food everyday.

I leave to work at 6am everyday. And it wasn't 12 hours later that I step my foot back home. In this case, how do I prepare food daily? I was giving pureed sweet potato, pumpkin and carrots which were frozen into small baby cube containers. My mother-in-law would heat them up before serving it to my baby. But as she grew, pureed food wasn't enough. As I moved to feed protein (chicken, fish), the idea of feeding frozen porridge with fish or chicken wasn't really appealing.

So, I devised a solution. After much researching, I invested in two kitchen gadgets. I now thank myself for making this decision earlier and not wait for the immense need for it to arrive. What tools?

A slow cooker and a hand blender.

Honestly, this is by far the best investment I have made to prepare my baby food. I did buy a mini food steamer but it was only useful when my baby was into pureed food. As she went into more coarse type of food, the steamer lost its usefulness though I still use it to steam fruits to be pureed which can be added into breakfast cereal for my baby,

I bought the 1.5L Morgan slow cooker from Lazada. Every night, I will place washed brown rice, some vegetables and some pieces of protein into the slow cooker,.After filling it up with enough water, I'll set the cooker to "Low" settings. 

The next morning, the porridge will be ready. All I have to do is stick my Philips hand blender in, and mash up the contents. My hand blender has 16 different speed settings, plus a turbo option. I usually will set it to level 1 settings, which will blend the porridge in a coarse consistency. 

And because it is a stainless steel hand blender, I don't have to cool the porridge down or transfer it to different container. A quick stir, and I'm done. The slow cooker will keep the porridge warm until it's needed.

This allowed me to cook porridge for my baby girl everyday, with different flavours and ingredients. The amount is usually half pot, which is enough for 2 feedings, or 3 at most. But what I like about these tools?

I don't necessarily use it for making baby food alone :) Cleaning up is just SO easy. Because of the ceramic pot, the slow cooker is just so easy to clean, without even much effort. The hand blender just needs a quick rinse under tap water, and it's done! Phew! Who invents these things?!

Medela Calma - a review

The idea seemed cool - a teat that was designed for breastfeeding babies so that they can use bottle and still doesn't end up with nipple confusion.

I got my Calma teat along with the Freestyle my husband bought for me last year. I only introduced bottle after one month of exclusive breastfeeding. I feel it is important not to introduce bottle within the first 4 weeks of birth, if you have no medical reasons to do so. This is mainly because, the first few weeks of breastfeeding is the most crucial part of breast milk supply establishment. 

Yes, it's challenging. But persevere. :)

So, I started my bottle feeding experience with Medela Calma - which costs RM85 in the market today.

At first, I was definitely attracted by the fact it is recommended by lactation consultants for breastfed children. I read reviews on Amazon (and even thought of getting a second set) before starting to use it. Some people reviewed that their babies choked on this teat. Some claim it was the only thing that worked for them. 

For me, my baby accepted the teat just fine. She had problems with it first - like choking on the gush of milk. The teat works by the means of vacuum - the baby has to suck to create vacuum to get the milk flowing. But that's where it stops in comparison to breast feeding. When the baby stops sucking, the milk kept flowing until the vacuum runs out. So babies are forced to drink when all they wanted to do was pause.

Since my baby was only 1 month old when I gave her this teat, she had trouble swallowing the heavy gush of milk. In the end, a lot of breast milk just went down her neck instead of her throat. Also, the amount of work she has to put in the get the milk is far more difficult and tiring than getting the milk from the breast itself. In no way I see this teat can be compared to breastfeeding.

Often, it is also a challenge to get the bottle to be completely empty as possible. This is because you have to keep repositioning the flow hole so that the last few millilitres of milk could flow to the baby's mouth. But then, it is almost always difficult to see the hole. If you're planning to send the baby to daycare, then it requires a lot of training for the caregiver to properly use this teat, else you risk losing A LOT of breast milk just because the flow hole wasn't positioned properly and the milk doesn't get to the baby. This was my #1 concern and frustration - anything that makes my breast milk to go to waste raises a loud alarm bell in my head.

Also, my baby takes just 5 minutes to finish 3 ounces of milk with this teat. At one month, she used to breastfeed for at least 40 minutes. So 5 minutes on the bottle is REALLY fast. She was literally gulping the milk. This is not a good thing.

The bottle is not anti-colic. Period.

Finally, disassembling, washing and assembling it again was another chore to add to your list. The teat has a silicone nipple (which was long and hard), and some other "layers" of parts to clean and assemble each time. It was just a hassle.

I stopped using Calma at 2 months old mainly because I couldn't see my baby choke on the milk each time anymore. She struggles and when she's really hungry she gets frustrated for not being able to get the milk out. It was much easier to get milk letdown on my breast than using Calma. I'm glad I did not make the decision to purchase a second set. It's just too pricey and the so-called technology that went into it is just marketing gimmick.

I finally bought Pigeon bottle with Peristaltic Plus nipple at M size which has Y-cut nipple. It works much simpler that Calma, cheaper, easier to clean and my baby doesn't choke on it. The milk flow pauses when my baby pauses and the breast milk leftover is just so little.

If you're looking to purchase Calma to replace some other bottle you have been using, then skip this product. Give the teat a try if you got it free - who knows you might like it. I wouldn't really recommend the teat if you need to pay money for it.

The little freedom with Boba 4G

Almost always having a small being with us means lack of mobility. Babies are definitely fragile and just because of that bringing them out and about is a tough decision for mommies like me.

I love spending the weekends out with Anand. Whether it's shopping or out for a brunch or coffee, I look forward spending time with him. But, with the baby at hand, it was quite difficult for us to go out. 

We looked for a solution. Stroller does seem appealing but at times, it is not practical. For example, manouvering in and out of the weekend Midvalley crowd is unthinkable. And there are places where bringing a stroller may not be apt. I am not saying strollers are bad choice, it's just may not be the prefect solution for me now.

So we decided on a baby carrier. But there was another bigger problem - which one? I was very disturbed by the fact baby carrier could lead to hip dysplasia. Choosing the right baby carrier is really important. Our final choice was Boba 4G baby carrier.

I was attracted to this carrier because of 2 things - nice design and it was comfortable to use for us and the baby! FabulousMom was having promotion for baby carriers so I got this for a good price. My other option was Ergo Baby Carrier and I did try both the carriers before purchasing it. I think that was the most important factor in choosing a baby carrier. Bring your baby, and try it on. We did find it awkward asking the sales girls to allow us to try, but we're glad we asked! They were more than happy to help us. I especially loved the sales girl I met at Fabulous Mom boutique store in Cheras.

My baby screamed in Ergo, but slept off in Boba - so Boba it is! Not only that, the 4G model comes with infant seat insert which is detachable once the baby is big enough. Ergo does have an infant insert but it's thick and you have to purchase separately. Personally, I felt more comfortable wearing my baby in the Boba compared to Ergo (we tried Sport and Original).

After the breastfeeding pillow, this was probably the next best thing we have invested in. The little freedom of bringing our little one around, while keeping our hands free! The carrier complies with ergonomic of baby carrying and baby feels snug and safe with us.

Boba 4G can be worn in 3 different ways and can be used for babies up to 25kg. The material is soft, but it's best not to use it under hot weather because it can get really stuffy! We took Baby ma up to the Batu Caves temple using this carrier. As it was drizzling, the head cover that came with the carrier was of great use! It was a life saver for us. Baby ma slept all the way up and down!

Baby products are not cheap, so finding the one that is useful and doesn't hurt your pocket much is challenging. I'm glad I decided to try on the carrier before buying. It took me a week to research and narrow down on the brand. It was a hassle, but I am happy with the purchase. :)

Anand and I are off for weekend outing tomorrow, with Baby ma :)

Updated Mar 28th:
After using our Boba, we would normally store it in the box that it came with. It's a little hassle that was easily solved by purchasing the Boba stuff sack. I bought it online from Aboo family for RM55. Quite pricey but it came with the same design as my Boba and makes more fashion sense to carry the Boba around with this than the box itself. :) Here's a picture of my sack stuffed with my Boba 4G

The coffee and me

And they actually asked me whether I want the cold Frappuccino.

Never knew there's the hot version of Frappuccino. :P

Fashion is an expensive word

I have never been bothered about fashion. I just feel I'm bad at it. I don't know what's in and what's out. I don't know what cool and what's hot. Well, at least, I used to be like that.

Until I learned the importance of presentation. That too through food photography - almost always you choose a food that has a picture on a menu and we often go for the one that looks most pleasing to the eye. Presentation is important. Translated to our human clothing terms, it's called fashion.

Indeed, fashion comes with a price. As I was walking along the mall last Friday (decided not get caught with the balik kampung jam), I stepped into GAP store obviously being attracted by the signboard "New Collection."

Skimmed through the stuff they had and I got the shock of my life when I saw the pair of jeans that I bought just a month back suddenly costs 50 bucks more than what I paid last time! It was just the same thing! And almost all their pants (short or long) cost just the same and obviously it were so darned expensive.

I continued walking and stepped into MANGO store. They certainly have brought in some new collections. But I don't understand how a shirt that is as thin as a paper could cost RM99? Fashion - yes that's right. It's the fashion. Wait till the end of season and the same shirt would only set you back RM39. Even that is still expensive for a product that probably won't last through 10 cycles of machine wash.

So most of the time when we buy clothes, a big chunk of money is actually being paid for the fashion and the brand - not the quality of material. However, there are some brands that do charge their products in accordance to the quality of the material being used. You will see this apparent in products such as luxury handbags, shoes and writing instruments. When you see these products, you will also see how beautifully the design, the quality and the brand blend together to create an exclusive feel which makes you, the buyer, feel elated to actually own one. 

That is why, I do not mind spending my hard earned money on products that really stand up for their price. I do hear people commenting my purchases as "she is rich, of course she can spend." Although the fact I am rich is not true, but I do see my purchases on good quality products as a form of investment. If I spent RM500 for a genuine leather bag and it serves me for at least two years, I have received my ROI (return on investment). Generally, these bags lasts longer than that - if it is well taken care of. I don't have to be rich to invest in a bag - I just need to manage my finances well in order to save enough money to buy something that actually doesn't require a repair or replace! In the long run, I am putting my money in something that is worth it.

Which means, that nice shirt I saw in Mango - it's not the time to buy yet. :P