Steamed Chicken

Steamed Pork Patty

Steamed fish with Preserved Vegetables - one of my kid's favourite.

Get your maid trained as confinement nanny!

Mothers of newborns who do not want to shell out thousands of dollars to hire confinement nannies will soon have a more affordable option: their maids.

But first, the foreign domestic workers will need to be trained for the task, and that is where

we could help you.

 

 

New Recipe that I tried today! Suitable for everyone even for mummies during their confinement period.

Lemongrass Pandan Drink with Gula Melaka

Just made my family a refreshing Lemongrass Pandan Drink with Gula Melaka. Great to enjoy with ice in this super hot weather!
Everyone should try this as this drink has health benefits too.

Newborn Jaundice

I chanced upon this article & feel it is very useful for new parents as a guide. Hope you all find it useful
 

Home treatment for newborns with jaundice or icterus

By Dr. William Sears

Q. Our 6-day-old son has a slight case of jaundice. Is there anything we can do at home to get rid of it, besides exposure to sunlight? I have heard about using some kind of special lamp as treatment. What is the truth behind this?
A. Nearly all newborn babies get a touch of jaundice, or a yellow tinge to the skin. Some babies get more jaundice than others. Jaundice is caused by the buildup of yellow pigment, or bilirubin, in the skin. Normally, when worn-out blood cells are broken down by the body, the bilirubin is released and disposed of by the body's master filter  -- the liver. However, a newborn's immature liver can't dispose of all the extra bilirubin, so the excess settles in the skin, causing jaundice. As soon as your baby's liver becomes more mature, it will be able to dispose of the excess bilirubin, and the jaundice will disappear.
Jaundice is only a problem if there is an underlying medical reason for it, such as extreme prematurity or a blood grouping incompatibility. Premature infants usually have higher levels of bilirubin because their livers are even less mature than those of other infants. Also, if mothers and babies have different blood types, more blood cells are broken down, so the bilirubin is higher. In both these cases, the high bilirubin levels can lead to severe jaundice, which can interfere with the development of the brain. However, doctors normally monitor bilirubin levels to keep them from getting that high.
Since your baby has "a slight case of jaundice," he likely has the usual type of newborn jaundice, called physiologic jaundice, which is temporary and harmless. You don't need to worry that the bilirubin has gotten harmfully high. Here are some things to help bring the usual levels of bilirubin down:
Home phototherapy. What you've heard about at-home lamp therapy is correct: If your baby's bilirubin level is going up instead of down, your doctor may want to prescribe home phototherapy, an alternative to keeping newborns in the hospital for jaundice treatment. Home phototherapy requires you to put your baby under a special sun lamp and is only done when bilirubin levels are unusually high. Another, newer form of treatment is to wrap baby in a bili-blanket, a device that removes bilirubin. This is the easiest way to do home therapy in mild cases of jaundice that require treatment.
Expose your baby to sunlight. If the jaundice is slight, you may not have to institute any treatment at all. Your doctor may, however, advise you to put your skin-exposed baby next to a closed window and let the rays of sunlight shine on him for around fifteen minutes, four times a day. Sunlight dissolves the bilirubin in the skin so that it can be excreted in your baby's urine.
Feed your baby frequently. The more fluid  -- breastmilk or formula  -- you get into your baby, the easier it is for his body to flush out the excess bilirubin. Feed your baby at least every two to three hours during the day and when he awakens at night.
Be sure your doctor explains to you the concept of physiologic, or "non-worry," jaundice. Oftentimes, the worry level of new parents is higher than the bilirubin level of the baby. It's important to avoid needless worry, since it can interfere with your ability to make milk and to get to know your newborn.

Nutrition & Health Benefits Of Chrysanthemum Tea

• Chrysanthemum tea detoxifies the blood, helps with sinus congestion and regulates high blood pressure. It can also help to calm the nerves.
• Modern researches on the tea have established that it contains choline, vitamin A, vitamin B1, glycosides, adenine, amino acids, flavonoid, volatile oil, and other nutrients.
• Chrysanthemum tea restrains the growth of bacteria in the body, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus hemolyticus B, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, tubercle bacillus and dermatomycosis.
• The Chinese medicine prescribes this tea for relief against influenza and it is also used in treating heatstroke, due to its cooling effect.
• When chrysanthemum tea is drunk with meals, it facilitates digestion, more so of greasy and oily foods. The tea is also consumed to strengthen the lungs and relieve head congestion.
• The tea is also believed to improve vision and hearing. It can be safely recommended for obese people, as it contains zero calories, when consumed without adding sugar or honey. It also doesn’t contain any caffeine.

Haze Back - How to protect ourselves, try this!

Chrysanthemum tea is made form chrysanthemum flowers, belonging to the Chrysanthemum morifolium or Chrysanthemum indicum species, which is extremely popular in East Asia, specifically China. Chrysanthemum flowers are usually dried and boiled in hot water in a teapot, cup or glass, to prepare this tea. Rock sugar or honey is also added to chrysanthemum tea and occasionally, wolfberries are included. The tea that is prepared is transparent and can be bright yellow or pale in color, exuding a floral aroma. In China, after a pot of chrysanthemum tea is emptied, hot water is again added to the flowers. This produces a tea that is less strong than the previous one. The process is repeated several times, until the flowers lose their aroma completely. Traditional Chinese medicine practices still use chrysanthemum tisane for treating conditions such as sore throat and fever.

Do I need to take any supplements if I'm breastfeeding?

You should take a daily supplement for breastfeeding mums that contains 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D. Breastfed babies get vitamin D from breastmilk, so you need to have enough vitamin D in your diet. If you took a supplement containing vitamin D when you were pregnant, you can carry on taking it while you're breastfeeding.

If you took a vitamin D supplement throughout pregnancy, and continue to take it while you're breastfeeding, your baby will receive enough vitamin D in his first few months. However, if you didn't take a vitamin D supplement in pregnancy, and are breastfeeding, your baby may need to have daily vitamin D drops from when he's a month old.

Vitamin D is made by our bodies when our skin is exposed to sunlight. It's important because it helps bones and teeth to grow healthily. In the UK, it can be hard to make enough vitamin D all year round, especially if you don't spend much time outside, or have dark skin.

Can I drink alcohol if I'm breastfeeding?

The occasional drink is unlikely to harm you or your baby. However, it's safest not to have more than one or two units of alcohol, once or twice a week, if you are breastfeeding.

Alcohol passes through your breastmilk to your baby. Drinking more than two units a day while you are breastfeeding may reduce your milk supply, and even affect your baby's development.

As a rough guide:

• a small (125ml) glass of wine is two units
• a pint of strong lager is three units
• a bottle of alcopop is between one and two units

But this also depends on the strength of the drink, which will be detailed as a percentage on the label. The higher the percentage, the stronger the drink.

How fast alcohol enters your bloodstream, and then your breastmilk, depends on how much you weigh, and whether you have a full or empty stomach. The amount of alcohol in your blood usually peaks between 30 minutes and 90 minutes after you have the drink. You'll need to allow an hour or two for your body to be clear of one unit of alcohol.

So if you want to have an alcoholic drink when you are breastfeeding, feed your baby before having the drink. Two or three hours later, when it's time to feed your baby again, the level of alcohol in your blood should be low enough not to affect your baby.

However, if your baby is newborn, she may need feeding more often than every two hours or three hours. So you may want to stick to soft drinks for the moment.

Can I drink tea and coffee if I'm breastfeeding?

Avoid having lots of caffeinated drinks when you're breastfeeding. We don't have a UK guideline for a safe amount of caffeine for breastfeeding mums. In the US, women who are breastfeeding are recommended to have no more than about 200mg of caffeine a day. That's about two mugs of tea, or two mugs of instant coffee, or one mug of filter coffee, a day.

More than this amount of caffeine is unlikely to harm your baby. However, if your baby seems very unsettled or restless, or finds it difficult to sleep, try cutting back on caffeine, or not having any at all. This may make a difference to your baby.

Do I need extra calories when I am breastfeeding?

You don't need to have extra calories as a new mum, because your body is so efficient at producing milk. Be guided by your appetite, and eat when you're hungry. Your body may have laid down fat stores during pregnancy, and breastfeeding can help to use up these fat stores.

The amount you need to eat depends on your pre-pregnancy weight, and how much weight you gained during pregnancy, as well as how active you are.

Having said that, breastfeeding usually gives you a big appetite. So if you don't feel like eating, it could be a sign that you need extra emotional support. Women who have postnatal depression sometimes lose their appetite. If you're finding it a struggle to eat, talk to your doctor or health visitor.

My 1st try of Stir Fried Red Yeast Rice Fish Slices, very delicious !

Take a look through our reflexes milestone chart and find out what you can expect from your baby in the first year.