Mama’s Essentials – Feeding utensils and accessories for your baby and toddler

Posted on August 29, 2011 · 2 Comments

If you’re a young mother like me, you’ve probably been overwhelmed by the huge variety of feeding utensils and accessories for your little one. There are so many choices and brands, it’s not an easy task to decide what’s suitable for your bub. We often get carried away by the packaging of the product vs its usability. As eating is our kiddo’s daily activity, I have compiled some reviews of feeding utensils that would help you decide what’s suitable for you and your little one!

Spoons

Today’s feeding spoons comes in all shapes, sizes, colours and materials. Always keep in mind to get spoons which are BPA free. Most manufacturers will state if the materials used are free of this harmful chemical. Common materials for baby spoons are plastic and rubber (or a combination) as it is gentle on their gums. Metal spoons are popular too, but more for toddlers once they have familiarised themselves with not chewing or biting into the spoon.

Long spoons are great for feeding out of jars and food pots. Munchkin, The First Years and Nuby have a good variety of long spoons with soft tips.

Munchkin 6 Soft-Tip Infant Spoons, RM 29.90 from Baby Jaya

Heat sensor spoons change colour if the food is too hot. My favourite is from Tommee Tippee, but The First Years’ Take and Toss is a cheaper alternative.

Tommee Tippee: Heat Sensor Soft Tip Weaning Spoons, RM 12.90 from MyBBstore

Short spoons with a big easy grasp handles are perfect for self-feeding. I love Baby Bjorn, altho Taiwanese brand Puku and local brand My Dear makes a pretty good knock off of the Swedish maker’s signature spoon. MAM and Combi have ergonomically designed self-feeding spoons too!

 

Baby Bjorn 2-pc spoon, RM 58.00 from MyBBStore

Bowls

When Zack was on a pureed food diet, I fed him directly from the Avent food pots (also can be used as breastmilk containers). They are quite handy, just pop them into the bottle warmer and voila, ready to serve.

When he moved to stage 2 and 3 solids which had more texture (stuff like chunky porridge), I graduated him to those really colourful IKEA KALAS bowls. I could pick up bits and pieces of vegetables and meat and roughly “grind” them with my spoon before feeding it to Zack. If you have a really active kid who loves to swing his arms around during mealtime, you might wanna invest in some good-grip feeding bowls.  I had in a few occasions lost grip of my IKEA bowls and had to clean up a BIG mess after.

Nuby and Tommee Tippee have some easy grip bowls perfect for adult hands. Japanese brand Pigeon has a sectioned bowl with a rough surface, perfect for grinding food.

Like spoons, bowls are made of a variety of materials. Thinkbaby have very awesome metal bowls (BPA free for sure!) but plastic and rubber are still the most commonly available. I won’t suggest melamine only because they crack, chip and scratch easily. In short: nice too look at but not durable. Silicone is more popular now—it’s great for travel (squashable), is non-slip, and tough. Munchkin has an ingenius collapsible silicone bowl which is perfect for traveling (I havent seen them in KL, but can be purchased in Singapore) . American brand Kinderville has a range of colourful silicone feeding utensils and storage options too!

Munchkin Collapsible Feeding Bowl, SGD12.90 from Bebe Essential

Kinderville: Bigger Bites Silicone Divided Plates (Set of 2), RM 129.00 from MyBBstore

Other features to look out for are bowls with suction or a non-slip base to limit accidents (esp when a toddler is still learning to self-feed). I love the MAM baby bowl with suction base; its 2 level cavity allows your kiddo to scoop food up easily. The First Years also has a sturdy grip suction base feeding bowl too.

MAM Baby Bowl, RM25.50 from Little Whiz

Keeping food warm/cold

If you go out a lot with your bub, keeping food warm/cold has never been easier with insulated bags and Thermos. For breastfeeding working moms, you would have been familiar with cooler bags and icepacks. Recently on a road trip to Singapore, I packed 4 days worth of frozen food pots in my insulated bag with those reusable icepacks. 5 hours later, it was still frozen! Awesome or what? You can get a variety of insulated bags from MyBBStore or Little Whiz.

I also find having an insulated food jar very useful. I use a Thermos lunch jar which has 3 stackable containers (comes with a bonus chopstick and bag). Keeps food warm up to 6 hours! You can also choose from the other range of food jars (plastic or stainless steel) from Thermos such as their Foogo and Funtainers range.

Juice box holder

This is every parent’s best friend. This helps to prevent accidental squirting when your kiddo squeezes the soft packet! You can find them at Daiso and 100 Yen shop. A steal at RM 5 don’t you think?

Photo credit to Eva and her mummy from Eva After

Tiny Tapir also carries Dwinks, which is a fancier, more colourful (and more expensive alternative) juice box holder.

Sippy cups

I LOVE the Tilty Cup. I don’t know how to express my gratefulness for the genius who designed the Tilty Cup. The sheer genius-ness of the function and application of this sippy cup will blow you away. I have used Avent, and even got Zack to drink water from a straw in a cup…but the Tilty brings self-drinking to the next level. I can’t find them anymore from Baby Meadows (where I got the 1st pair from the only known distributor in Singapore, none in Malaysia unfortunately) and we’ve resorted to buying them from Amazon.

Tilty Cup, USD 19.99 from Amazon

Bibs

Once your kiddo begins self-feeding, you need to embrace yourself for the mess that’s to come. Look for bibs which have a pocket to “catch” the food that doesn’t get into the mouth. Really makes it less messy when you have to clean up later (note the key word is “less”)

I like the flexibility of Sally Huss bibs, I got these at Brands Outlet in Ikano. You can find tons of Sally Huss knockoffs too—serving the same function. Easy to fold and stuff into your baby bag.

Other bib’s with a “catchment pocket” are Baby Bjorn, Bumble Bee and Tommee Tippee. These silicone bibs are easy to clean, they roll up easily for storage and are very durable.

So to all mommas, happy feeding at every meal time!

 

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Mama’s essentials – How to prepare porridge for baby

Posted on May 26, 2011 · 22 Comments

When it was time to introduce Zack to rice porridge, I was researching for ways to prepare this typical Asian baby staple for my little one. I tried out a few of the recipes found on the web, and after some tweaking and perfecting; I’m happy to share with all moms (and grandmoms) my fail proof method of cooking yummy porridge for your baby or toddler.

Preparing porridge in small quantities

When Zack familiarised himself with eating instant rice cereal, it was about time he was introduced to the real deal. At 7 months old he still couldn’t eat much, hence the real challenge here was to cook small portions of porridge without it getting burnt.

I first tried a method I picked up from another mom blogger, which was to wash the rice grains, dry it in a slow oven, ground it to powder form, and then cook it for 15-20 minutes stirring over low heat with a small amount of water. Although this may seem like the fastest way to make porridge, it didn’t give the sort of texture I was looking for. It looked and felt like really thick glue!

I continued to look for alternative means of preparing porridge in small quantities, and my mom suggested that I use a ceramic mug that’s meant for double boiling. With the help of this website, I used the recommended ratio of 1 portion of rice to 8 portions of water to get a pretty good consistency.

My mom also shared with me an important step when double boiling – I needed to ensure that I used hot, boiled water in both the crock pot and the ceramic mug. This step is essential in order to start the cooking process immediately as a slow cooker tends to take a longer time to come to a boil.  The water should cover the ceramic mug up to 80% of the way. This makes sure there is even distribution of heat (and cooking power) inside the mug.

Now, I’m using a slow cooker instead of a pot over a gas stove for 2 reasons. With the slow cooker, the heat is more even and constant, and because it does not come to a continuous boil, the ceramic mug does not need to be held in place with a towel / wire rack. Secondly, the slow cooker can be hooked up to a timer, making it an easy and safe way to prepare porridge. When cooking over the gas stove I noticed that when set at the lowest heat, the water still comes to a ferocious boil, making my ceramic mug “dance” around. I also very often have to replenish the water it is immersed in as it evaporates quite a lot.

Tip:

  • Try to keep water level at 70% if cooking over gas. You never know when water may seep into your ceramic mug, esp if it is bubbling constantly. If you have to you may use aluminium foil to cover the mug before closing the lid.
  • Cooking time with slow cooker – approx 3.5 to 4 hours
  • Cooking time over the gas stove at the lowest heat – approx 2 – 2.5 hours

Preparation is key

I am always looking for quick ways to get things done. When it comes to preparing bub’s porridge, I found that preparation is essential to making this mommy duty less of a chore (not that it’s a chore but there are days where I wish there’s some automated porridge maker, lol!). I am an advocate of freezing food—I love to prepare everything in large batches, and keep them stored and frozen in single servings.

For cooking small quantities of porridge, I use ice cube trays and food pots to store soup stocks and pureed vegetables. I use a milk powder scoop to measure the ingredients as I find that it’s a good size, and a pretty handy measuring tool (this is very important when you need to “level” the ingredients to get an accurate quantity). Here are my tried and tested measurements:

1 “milk powder scoop” of rice + 8 “milk powder scoops” of stock + 1 ice cube of pureed vegetable

Alternatively, to save space, you can also use ice cube trays to freeze measured stock (the ones pictured were purchased from Daiso, comes with a lid). I then keep these cubes in Ziploc bags to free up space in the fridge. Here’s the measurement if using stock in cubes:

1 “milk powder scoop” of rice + 3 ice cubes of stock (approx.  8 “milk powder scoops” of stock) + 1 ice cube of pureed vegetable

You can also use ikan bilis powder as an alternative to preparing stock. Simply soak cleaned ikan bilis to get rid of most of the saltiness, bake in the oven until crisp, and then grind into powder form. Add a pinch of this ikan bilis powder to your 8 “milk powder scoops” of plain water. A little goes a long way.

Preparing porridge in larger quantities

As Zack grew older, his appetite (and stomach) also grew bigger. I could now prepare his porridge directly in the slow cooker. All I had to do was simply measure out the ingredients, and put everything into the crock pot before I go to bed. I left it to the timer to switch the power on and off.

Just remember to keep to the tried and tested measurement which is the ratios of 1 portion of grain to 8 portions of water. For Zack, I prepare 2 servings of porridge for his lunch and dinner using the below measurements:

3 “milk powder scoops” of millet + 3 “milk powder scoops” of rice + 2 cubes of vegetables and 1 cube of meat (fish/chicken/pork) + 2 cups of water (approx. 500ml)

This measurement can yield exactly 2 cups of porridge (about 2 regular Chinese rice bowls).

Tip: As I leave all ingredients in the crockpot for 6 hours at room temperature, it is not neccesary to use hot, boiled water as the cooking process will not commence till later. I just use room temperature water. There are some concerns about whether the meat/vege will spoil while immersed in this room temperature water for 6 hours. I can safely say no as the ingredients start off as frozen blocks, plus it does take some time before fully defrosting. The kitchen is also relatively cool at night, hence the crockpot in itself remains cool and insulated until it is time to cook.

Timing is everything

I used my trusty timer (purchased from Ikea) which allowed me to leave my porridge making in auto-cruise.

I set it to start at point “1” every night at about the same time, combine all my ingredients, and let it sit (and soak) until the cooking process begins 6 hours later. I allow the porridge to cook for 4 hours before it switches off automatically.

Choice of ingredients suitable for porridge

You can be creative with the choice of ingredients you put into your bub’s porridge. Just remember the ratio of grains to water is always 1:8 (omg i sound like a broken record already)

Some grains I’ve experimented with are millet, lentils, split pea (dhall), oats and even alphabet pasta. You can substitute white rice with brown rice, and even add grains like quinoa. The combinations are endless!

The quantity of vegetables is also entirely up to you. I personally like to put in a ratio of 2:1 vegetables to meat.

Some vegetables which cook well in porridge include broccoli, pumpkin, carrot, peas, spinach, siew pak choy, cauliflower, potato and sweet potato. For younger babies, remember to pre-cook all vegetables and puree before storing. For older babies who can handle chunks, just chop the vegetables into small pieces and give it a quick mash before serving.

Tip: You can store chopped vegetables in a big Ziploc bags or in ice cube trays. If making into cubes, remember to pour a little water into the ice cube trays to help the vegetables “solidify” or else you’ll be handling a giant mess of vegetable crumbs when trying to remove them from the ice cube tray.

When using pork or chicken, make sure it’s finely minced. My mom helps with chopping it using her trusty cleaver. It has a better texture than working it through a food processor. As for fish, I just keep it sliced, as it’ll flake anyway when cooked. I freeze meat portions in a container, by separating it with cling wrap. You can also portion it out with an ice cube tray. Do whatever that floats your boat.

I hope you have found these tips useful (and helpful!) when preparing porridge for your baby! Happy Cooking!

 

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Mama’s Essentials – Food Pots

Posted on December 16, 2010 · 5 Comments

IMG_0796Yum! (Zack at almost 6 months with his 1st taste of solids – plain rice cereal)

Whether you’re a working mom or a SAHM, we all have one thing in common–preparing and storing food for our bubs. Every mom has their own time saving methods; be it using ice cube trays to freeze purees into food cubes OR storing purees into food pots. For this post let’s focus on food pots! [Read more...]

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Mama’s essentials – Sitting Assistants / High Chairs

Posted on October 14, 2010 · 3 Comments

Zack is growing up real quick. What I mean by growing up quick is that he’s refusing to lie down all the time, wants to be carried so he can see the world go by, wants to sit on my lap and play with his toys, and wants to grab and hold anything he can lay his little hands on.

It wasn’t long before we knew we needed help in the form of sitting assistants.

IMG_0278

We got the Bumbo seat as a gift from our dear friends Niz and Victor (thank you, muaks!!). I know a few moms who have this, some love it, and some hate it. I won’t say it’s the best soft baby seat in the market, but it surely is very useful around our house. Now that Zack is on solids, we put him in the Bumbo to feed him. One of the best features the Bumbo seat has is that it’s not hard like plastic and, most importantly–easy to clean!

Zack is somewhat of a logistical nightmare (story of our recent Singapore trip with him will be reserved for another blogpost later!). As we move between the grandparents’ everyday, we also needed high chairs for Zack at both grandparents’ houses. We’d feed him when he’s seated, in a way conditioning him to relate sitting at the dining table equals mealtime. The kid has gotten so accustomed to it that once he’s done eating, he’ll demand to get out of the chair by grunting and smacking the table!!

Sigh, no hope of having him sit in his chair for playtime.

So where do you begin? With so many baby seats and high chairs in the market, how do you know which to buy? I hope the following criteria can help you when deciding on what type of chair suits you and your bub:

  • Storage space – do you have storage space for the chair you’re buying?
  • Safety – is it hardy or topple proof? What kind of safety mechanism does it have?
  • Portability – do you want to carry it around? Is it light and travel-friendly?
  • Purpose – what purpose will it serve? Mainly for mealtime or playtime too?
  • Comfort – would you like some padding or cushioning for the bub?

In our situation, we had sort of decided on portable ones at the grandparents’ which you attach and strap to dining chairs – we needed it to be easily stored/kept, relatively safe to use (no matter how safe you think the chairs are, you should always supervise your child in his/her seat) and mainly it was just for mealtimes. We got 2 booster seats from The First Years; they are portable and light, easy to keep, quite hardy and can safely strap in the kiddo. The only thing is, it’s plasticky—although we don’t think it bothers Zack considering he’s always just strapped in for a maximum time of 15 minutes for his meals.

Recently our friend Fiona gave us a Totseat, which we must say is TOTALLY AWESOME (Thanks Fifi we love Purple!). It’s useful especially when we’re out and about—particularly when we’re at restaurants that don’t have baby chairs, or if their baby chair is still too big for Zack. The Totseat is so awesome, you can strap it onto any chair of different shapes and sizes.

I don’t think we can live without our baby chairs. Check out these popular sitting assistants and high chairs and pick one that fits your requirements and suits your budget:

Priced between RM 50 – RM 150

Ikea ANTILOP High Chair

The First Years Swing Tray Booster Seat

Karibu Soft Chair with Play Tray

MyDear Booster Seat

TotSeat

Priced between RM 150 – RM 300

Bumbo Seat with Play Tray

Safety First Comfy Cushy Baby Seat

Safety First Deluxe Sit, Snack & Go Booster Seat

MyDear High Chair

Priced from RM 300 and up

Graco Tea Time High Chair

mOmma Easy High Chair

Safety First Recline & Grow 5 Stage Feeding Seat

Little Bean Multifunctional High Chair

Some other interesting finds

Kaboost Portable Chair Booster – add instant height to your regular dining chair

Kiddopotamus Chair Cover and Cart Cover – for the hygiene freak mom

LIMA Travel High Chair – luxury high chair on the go

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Mama’s essentials – Baby sling / baby carrier

Posted on August 13, 2010 · Leave a Comment

As Zachary continues to grow in size (and weight), it’s getting quite challenging to carry him and keep him still. Poor David had an achey shoulder a couple of weeks ago from carrying the boy, and I’m also getting my fair share of sore arms too. This is where a baby sling / baby carrier comes in handy!

There are SO MANY choices to choose from in the market, you’ll be spoilt! From the ones that look like a backpack with shoulder straps, to huge X-shaped carriers to simple ring slings and cloth pouches—they all serve the same purpose—to help you ease the burden of carrying your little one around.

I was given a baby ring sling from my friend & make up artist extraordinaire (thanks Lee Kuen!) but I haven’t really figured out how to use it. It looked kinda big for Zack’s current size, so to start off my “baby wearing” journey I bought over Grace’s Pupsik pouch (thanks Grace!) which looked more fitted and to my surprise t’was really easy to use! *Hmm…I should also kick my butt and learn how to use the ring sling*

All baby carriers have their own unique features, so try them on (with your baby of course!) and see which one fits best! The baby sling was a great buy and is truly my arm’s lifesaver!

Some of the more popular baby slings and baby carriers are:

Baby Bjorn – A Swedish outfit producing baby carriers with lotsa designs and functionality. It’s available at most baby and mom specialty boutiques. I see a lot of manly men carrying this and it doesn’t make them look gay at all! LOL

Pupsik Studio – They make lovely pouches for the modern mom. Available in most Mothercare outlets in the Klang Valley

HANAMUGURI – This is the “X” shaped one. Available online from Ellymamashop & Mamayayazone. I’ve also seen it in Brands Outlet in Ikano Power Centre. Kinda too over-the-top in terms of design but it is one of the cheapest carriers in town. Not suitable for dads cos it’s kinda girly, IMHO.

SNUGGBaby – Proudly made in Ipoh, Malaysia, this baby carrier is super colourful and stylish. They make cloth pouches and ring slings too!

JumpSac – Awesome and funky ring slings, not for the faint hearted. I love the designs!

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Mama’s essentials – Mosquito net

Posted on August 6, 2010 · 3 Comments

Protected from all insects and mozzies!

Zachary “protected” from all nasty insects!

Mosquitoes. Inevitably we have to live with them as much as we hate them. Even if you take all the precautions to put up mesh screens at all your windows/doors, they somehow find a way to get into your house. Regardless if you live in an apartment or a bungalow, these annoying insects just love to be around us.

When we brought Zachary home from the hospital, I didn’t think a mosquito net was necessary, hence I didn’t have one. My confinement nanny immediately asked us to get one—it sounded like an emergency to be honest! Thing is, it never came to mind that although us adults can swing and bat any insect in close proximity (cockroaches included!), helpless 2 day old babies just lie on the bed with an open invitation for them bloodsuckers to come have a feast.

My oh my these food cover (or tudung saji) inspired mosquito nets were a life saver! Even though there is only an occasional 2 or 3 mosquitoes hanging out in our house, it’s never too much to take precautions. These nets are so versatile; I even use it when Zachary’s sleeping in his cot. The metal frame is flexible and bends to the size of our crib.

Possibly the most utilized item in our household, you can buy these mosquito nets from hypermarkets, departmental stores and specialty baby boutiques. The price ranges from RM 20 and up and available from popular brands such as Babylove and Pureen. Truly a lifesaver!

P/S: Now that Zachary has started to roll over, I’m not too sure about the safety of using these during nap time. He has mischievously rolled over as soon as he wakes up, and loves grabbing anything in sight. Considering the net to be relatively light and easily picked up even with his small hands, I would recommend this to be used only for newborn – 4 months.

Double P/S: I may also have to start considering kid-safe mosquito repellents. Moms, any recommended product to use?

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Mama’s essentials – Bag organizer

Posted on July 8, 2010 · 10 Comments

Ever cringe at the sight of fugly diaper bags that looked like they belonged in the 80s? You know – those mimicking Chanel’s quilt culture but imagine it on white and blue PVC materials that have bunny designs on them? Ever wished that you could transform your favourite large bag into a diaper bag? YES YOU CAN! Gone are the days when moms were confined to unfashionable diaper bags; thanks to the ingenious baby bag organizer!

There are many bag organizer manufacturers in the market but one which caught my eye is our locally bred bag label Gin & Jacqie. I purchased their bag organizer simply named Organize Jo to go with my fairly large duffle bag that has lil cute popsicles and ice cream cones on it (yes, cuteness is a factor I considered when buying this bag). The bag organizer is fantabulous only because it helps to keep things in place where you want it to be. The Organize Jo holds A LOT of items, in fact up to 6 bottles if you needed to (but that means the pockets can’t house other baby stuff lah).

1st outing with my parents

Me with my baby bag and my…baby?

Organize Jo has helped me store neatly 3 bottles, baby wipes / mouth & hand wipes / pacifier wipes, diapers, creams / lotions / hand sanitizer / antiseptic spray, pacifier, milk powder dispenser, changing mat, extra clothes for baby, hankies, blanket AND even his favourite toy! Made of durable canvas fabric, you can easily switch diaper bags if you wanted to—just simply remove the bag organizer and place it into the other bag. I thank God for the genius who thought of this ‘cos I can now transform virtually any large bag into a diaper bag whoopee-doo! Now if only I had other large bags to begin with …. dot dot dot …

There are also handbag organizers in the market, regardless if you’re a mom or not. I for one swear by my handbag organizer. Most women would have I have a couple of bags to rotate for work and leisure, and being really anal about keeping things in order, I cannot ever live with messed up contents in a bag. The best part is, changing bags is a breeze—no more forgotten pocket mirrors in one bag, lip balm in another, hair clips in the other (you get the drift…)

Both bag organizers are truly a lifesaver if you’re as anal as I am!

Where to buy?

Organize Jo can be purchased online from Gin & Jacqie for RM 59

I bought my bag organizer at the Curve flea market 2 years ago for RM 30; however, I found a few blogshops which are selling them online, with a variety of designs/materials/shape/sizes/function too. Check them out here:

Gin & Jacqie (from RM 44)

Cosway (from RM 19.90)

Lugmax (from RM 23)

Mum & Daughter (from RM 29)

Tidy & Neat (no price listed, email to enquire)

Shopaholic (from RM 30)

Get yourself organized today will ya?

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Mama’s essentials – Digital thermometer

Posted on June 21, 2010 · 2 Comments

Even before baby arrived, my family has had a digital thermometer for the longest time. We’d use it to check our temperature when we’re having a bout of fever, and very often use the readings to decide if it is finally time to go see the doctor. The last time we had an old skool glass thermometer was probably yonks ago when Boyzone was still popular. As I was doing my shopping list for Zachary, I insisted that we got another digital ear thermometer meant for infants and children.

With the number of immunizations and vaccinations a baby has to go through in his first year, there are chances of a fever brewing after the jabs—that’s when the thermometer comes into good use! You’ll know when to feed him some meds, and you’ll also be able to monitor if the fever has receded. Being a worrier (I worry when he has booger stuck in his nose too ok!!) this is certainly a lifesaver!

There are many brands of child ear thermometers out there. We weren’t brand specific as we got our Omron Ear Thermometer “free” via credit card points’ redemption. I only know of two banks offering this in their redemption catalogue:

Maybank – requiring 33,000 points

EON Bank – requiring 29,500 points

Certainly a great buy! (In this case a great gift redemption!)

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Mama’s essentials – Childcare Reference Book

Posted on June 6, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Having a baby is life changing. It is also overwhelming and scary at times. And very often, every little change in baby (be it a rash, his growth, feeding/sleeping/poop times, behaviour, etc) may make us first time parents a little bit more sensitive to whether the baby’s doing okay.

Being someone who loves structure, guidance and reference, during my pregnancy my friend Grace loaned me her “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” book. I loved how the content was presented, taking me step by step through every week of baby’s development in the womb, and packed full with answers to typical questions every anxious mother to be has. Having had a good experience with that book, I decided to purchase another book in the What to Expect range simply titled “What to Expect The First Year”.

This book aims to help new parents who are transitioning into this new role; wondering how to cope, if the baby’s growth is normal; why he’s crying; what if baby’s sick; why he won’t sleep; etc etc etc. With this book I found the structure well laid, taking me step by step through the 1st month until he turns 1. It covers a great range of issues and provides information including immunisation, safety, childhood illnesses and tracking milestones.

I know not every new mom would be crazy about reading a book amidst the chaos of taking care of a newborn. However, what I found most useful in this book is that its information is compact and thorough at the same time; and being a worry wart myself this book has helped answer a lot of questions, without having me to ask the pediatrician in between his check-up visits. I’ve also realised that a lot of the times I worry for no reason when I come to know that what Zack is having (whether its acne on his face or white bumps on his gums) is perfectly normal in the development and growth of a baby.

I’d definitely suggest every new mom to purchase a childcare reference book, not neccesarily this one that I’m reading…ONLY because you’ll save yourself from worrying all the time! It is also good to know why baby’s do what they do and have something to benchmark against. IMHO definitely a lifesaver!

This book that I bought is 2nd hand and also purchased from Baby Barn Items (where I bought my changing table). Most major bookstores should have this in stock!

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Mama’s essentials – Baby changing table

Posted on May 27, 2010 · 4 Comments

I hope this isn’t the beginning of me becoming a mom-zilla but I thought this would be a great series to help new moms prepare for their first child. As I move along my journey as a new mother, I would like to document and share some best buys on what new parents could consider including in their shopping list before the stork arrives. This guide is by no means to be taken as a “must-buy” check list; rather use the information here (be it reviews & experience sharing) on why these items made my essentials list (and potentially yours!)

First on my list is something that I never considered buying until the very last minute before I delivered my baby. In fact, it was another new mom who hadn’t thought of buying it and decided during confinement that she needed it, stat! When she told me about why I would need a changing table, I was sold just on that one reason – backache!

Instead of buying a brand new one, I looked up my favourite bargain blogshop to see if they had some in stock. I was in luck and I purchased a used MyDear changing table for only RM 120! Great value considering a brand new one is selling at RM 299.90! It was missing a bathtub (which I didn’t need, anyway) but everything else was in good condition. Just needed a good wipe down with wet wipes and my trusty Dettol.

Indeed this was a good buy because when I tried changing him on our bed, wahlau-eh, serious backache after! Even David was feeling achey, it wasn’t just me! A real lifesaver!

Check out Baby Barn Items (where I got my changing table from) for great bargains on 2nd hand stuff, OR you may buy this brand new changing table from MyDear. More Lifesaver tips next time!

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