Bummis SWIMMI Reusable Swim Nappies

I have been looking high and low for swim nappies for my water Baby O ever since we depleted our sole pack of disposable swim nappies lugged back all the way from the UK. I am quite shocked, and disappointed to find it so difficult to:
1. source for disposable swim nappies here in Malaysia
2. reusable swim nappies here cost as much as a membership to a sports club (obviously exaggerating but let's just say I can feed many mouths with that hideous amount of money they charge for a nappy!)

During our recent swim sessions, we have resorted to:
1. keep the day-to-day disposable nappy on and finish the session with Baby O's bum seemingly ballooned up to the size of a pomelo
2. take a risk, a very huge risk...

So I was over the moon when:
1. a friend has kindly offered to look out for more affordable swim nappies in the UK and send it over to us
2. I found out through Mummy's Reviews that Tiny Pants sells Bummis SWIMMI swim nappies at an affordable RM58! (Not sure if it includes postage though.) On top of that, I get a chance at winning a pair for my little bum as they are giving away two free swim nappies! OOoohh.. sure hope to win this one!

Bye-bye BF!

Gasp! Today is officially the first day I have not breastfed Baby O! I have been unwell the whole of this week. Dear hubby has kindly taken over the whole babysitting works and given me an MC over the weekend so that I can rest and recover. I guess Baby O was distracted by her 'new' attention giver as I was spending most of my time in bed while they went about their activities around the house. Since I was out of sight, nen-nen was also out of mind! Instead, she asked for milk throughout the day. Is this the end of my breastfeeding journey then? All these while I was wondering when will we wean her off and how are we going to do it since Baby O is 'addicted' to it. I would have never thought that it would end just like that over a weekend!

I still remember a year, four months and four days ago when it all began. The dilemma of how much to feed, is baby getting enough, am I doing it right.. they all seem like just yesterday! I am so glad that I had great support from the team of midwives, breastfeeding friends from all over the world and most importantly dear hubby. Without them, I wouldn't have managed to breastfeed Baby O till now. What I love most about breastfeeding other than all the health benefits is the bonding time between mother and child. I will surely miss the time spent cuddled together as this baby stage comes to an end.

Potty Training

Now that we have a potty, are we ready for potty training?? Somehow, my relatives (including) mom makes it sound really easy to potty train a child. Just put her on the potty every half hour or so and she will get the idea sooner or later. You mean I have to get her nappy off, put her on the potty for about five minutes or so, do up her nappy again and repeat the procedure in about 20 minutes' time? I don't know but I am already tired just thinking of it.

I think potty training needs some PEE, literally. Which is why I am spending some time Planing & preparing, getting the right Equipment & education and Evaluate.


PLANNING AND PREPARING
Most books from the West says that the best starting age to potty train a child is from 18 months. Some children still have accidents until they are four years of age. Amazingly, the Eastern part of the world start potty training as young as from birth! Anyway, there is probably no right age for potty training. Different ages present different pros and cons. Just do it when you and baby are ready. If you are interested, you can read more on researched-based potty training.

Anyway, the plan has been to stop buying more disposable nappies soonest possible since she was about a year old. We are now 4 months over due! It is also best to potty train a child during a time where there are minimal disturbances in her routine eg. teething, weaning, travelling, new environment, etc. Hmm... her lower molars are erupting anytime and we are thinking of weaning off the breast... However, we are not planing any travelling these coming few weeks so we can maybe start with some pre-potty training!

EQUIPMENT AND EDUCATE

A potty, some pull-up nappies and/or a dozen undies should suffice. I also bought this book at a second hand store previously in the UK but to be honest, I wonder if it will help. Every time I read this book with Baby O, she just goes pointing at all the familiar objects and naming them instead of focusing on the subject.

Reading up on the subject doesn't hurt too. I know now that most toddlers urinate averagely every two hours, about four to eight times a day. This means I need not put Baby O at the potty every half hour!

A friend gave me the Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day book by Teri Crane (the acclaimed Potty Pro). Sounds good eh? Read a few pages and found that this book is more suited for training older toddlers two years and beyond. It also involves having a Potty Party and having lots of rewards. I might come back to this if I still cannot manage to get Baby O to pee-pee in her potty when she hits 2 years of age!

Other sites I relied on are Babycenter, What To Expect, and Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry Potty Training Solution.

EVALUATE
I did the Potty Training Readiness Quiz by Elizabeth Pantley (author of The No-Cry Potty Training Solution and other No-Cry books) and feel that we are probably at the pre-potty training stage. I can tell when Baby O does a pee or a poo but I will need her to start telling me when she wants to go. I often ask Baby O if she had done a poo-poo right after and to my dismay, she shakes her head and says 'No'!! I also need to introduce her to her potty and let her feel comfortable sitting on it. She currently probably views it as a toy and refuses to sit on it. This probably means that I will have to continue my groundwork and keep evaluating for a sign of readiness.

I can't believe that potty training is like a course on its own! Hopefully in a few month's time, both Baby O and I will be able to receive our full PT cert passed with flying colours!

We Found Our Potty!

After a tip off from a friend, Baby O and I ventured into the city on our own. We drove ourselves to Lebuh Kimberley, Penang. Our friend mentioned this shop sells all things plastic and baby/ toddler related and we wouldn't miss it. That is absolutely true! As we drove past Syarikat Teik Seng looking for a parking lot, we saw lots of tricycles hanging around the double shop lot entrance, plastic chairs stacked up high, baby bouncers and so on.

I was hoping to get a potty similar to my friend's son's. The lady owner showed me a number of potties. Basic round potties, one shaped like a giraffe with handles, one with music which kept Baby O fascinated while I continued evaluating the others. I ended up with what they call a closestool potty. This potty has a cover and a removable container for the discharge. The colour and design weren't fantastic but I chose it because it is not too bad looking, affordable at RM40 (after some bargaining. Saw the same one selling online for RM49.90 excluding delivery.), looks sturdy so the contents will hopefully not spill easily, and most importantly, Baby O looks like she is able to sit comfortably on it to do what she is meant to do on it.

Well, the manufacturer of the potty claims that this closestool is comfortable, beautiful, coMvenient and safe. On the side panel, you are warned to clean the ordure with a soft wiping cloth after washing it. I had to check what 'ordure' meant and the result was 'excrement, dung'. Hmm... I don't intend to keep any ordure around...
2. Don't place the potty on the surface of hot objects or use it near the stove... (Sounds like people might mistakenly do some cooking with the contents??? Wonder who puts a potty near a stove...???)
3. Avoid strong collision. *chuckle*


Ok, we have our potty. Now what??????

This Mama Needs....

... her laptop to work faster
... to free space on her laptop for it to work faster
... more time to free space on her laptop
... a 5-hour long massage
... an instant baby sitter with on/off switch
... a bath! (preferably one that is all set with lotsa bubbles, soothing music and fragrant candles!!)
... to get some exercises done!
... to go to bed soon!!! argh....

MOMMade: Homemade Play Dough

Lots to do but can't help taking a break and put a post up!! ;-)

This is so easy to make and made of 100% edible ingredient though I wouldn't eat it due to the high sodium content! I can only imagine how it tastes like!

What you need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
Food colouring

Method:
Mix flour, salt and oil in a bowl. Slowly add in water. The play dough will look sludgy at this point.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn off heat and leave the play dough to cool. When cooled, knead the play dough with your hands until they come together and form play dough! You can use it as it is. I have divided the play dough into four separate balls and added food colouring into each ball. You can also use vegetable juices like dragon fruit, spinach and carrot to make pink, green, and orange coloured play dough. Put the coloured play dough in separate containers to avoid the colours mixing - let the toddlers do that bit for you! I have been keeping the play dough in the refrigerator when not in use. The play dough are exactly two weeks old now and they still feel soft and look like how they were two weeks ago even though they have been messed with. Let's see how long it will last!

On hind sight, I should have used cooled, boiled water instead of tap water. Reason being the play dough will probably last longer. Second reason being should Baby O decide to put any play dough into her mouth, it is a tad safer and hopefully won't cause her any tummy ache(??). I doubt this makes any sense as the other contents of the play dough will probably be the culprit and not just the water alone. Regardless, please supervise your child(ren) at all times during this activity.

Another tip would be not to cook the play dough in a non-stick pot. I did that and the undissolved salt scratched the surface of my pot. :(

Happy play-ing dough!

So Much To Blog, So Little Time!

What a week and a half! It was grandma's 86th birthday celebration two weekends ago and everyone is back. So it was non-stop eating, laughing and catching up for us all. Some good friends from Singapore are also back at the same time and we managed to get together as well though I would have loved to have spent more time with them as it is so hard to meet up! Hmm... *puts in list - plan trip to Singapore*

Last week, I manage to learn the art of wrapping rice dumplings. Mine is the one on the right. A wee bit smaller than the one done by my professional rice dumpling wrapper grandaunt. What do you think?? Not too bad?

I also managed to finally introduce Baby O to her great, great grandmother in a little town in Perak called Temoh. We found her working in the farm when we arrived! Cool!

Baby O's routine was basically off - napping at 6pm, sleeping at midnight, eating anything and everything that is available and easy.... She seems like a different toddler as well - talking more, making her own decisions as to where to go, what to eat....

Our visitors have just left and we have two days to 'recuperate' and rest (and pay bills, and do the mountain load of laundry, and write emails, and reply Facebook messages, and yada-yada-yada) before another family gathering this weekend. Most importantly, I need to organise the files in my harddrive as there are absolutely not a single byte left anywhere. Gasp!!!! Guess blogging will take a backseat for a little while now...