From the minute he was born, i knew that's the start of sleepless nights. I used to sleep for 10hrs when he's still in my tummy. Then, gotta wake up several times at night to check on him, feed him, change him... The most difficult times was the first three months. Heard that everything will falls in place when baby reaches 3rd month.

I gave him formula when we'll still at hospital. He can latch well but i got no colostrum yet. He wailed loudly so i ask for FM(Friso).

Back at home, i continue to give FM cuz there's still no milk. Not even colostrum. Tried pumping, also nothing comes out. Was devastating cuz i saw alot of mummies(Dec 09 SMH Forum) already starts to breastfeed well. Till day 5, when i went back to dr fong for checkup, i complained there's no milk. So he squeeze the nips and i saw colostrum!! Damn painful but i was relief to see milk! Finally i can produce food for my baby!!

I didn't latch him much from the start. I started with bottle feed. So i pump frequently. Till supply was more then demand. Starts to stock up in freezer. During first month, i can pump 1L per day. Mum was skeptical cuz she nv breastfeed all of us and keep making noises about the frozen EBM(expressed breastmilk). Plus bb keeps poo-ing after every feed. Makes me so stressed up cuz my mum keeps nagging as she nv encounter such with FM(formula milk)fed babies. Luckily SMH mummies were very encouraging. And all of us encounter almost same situations. So, one evening about a month ago, i tried to latch him(after bottle feeding for one month plus), surprisingly, he doesnt have any nipple confusion(like what other claims) and latches well! So i alternate bottle feed and latching. I gave him a mix of FM,EBM and FBM from a start to aviod him rejecting any milk in future(I've heard of bb rejecting FM after feeding solely on BM for too long). Slowly, i got tired of all the pumping(pumping, washing, sterilising). I resort to total latch. A week after i total latch, i intro FBM cuz i wanna clear the remaining in the freezer. And he starts to poo alot!! I panick cuz he already got a standard routine(Poo once every 1-2days).So, i stopped the FBM and threw it away(my mum kept some as mask). While i total latch, his feeding schedule keeps changing. As i feed on demand, he can latch every 2 hours in the day and 6 hourly in the night; which makes my supply decreases. Now, i alternate FM and latching. He can sleeps through the night now! Last latch at around 9+pm and wakes up at around 7+am. Perhaps he's able to tank up in the day with FM and latching, so he sleeps through the night. And he poos once a day now.

Breastfeeding was never a breeze. But im lucky i nv encounter bleeding nips, mastitis, blocked ducts.. The most i had was swollen nips and engorgement. The reason why i hope to BF long; to save money!

I introduce pacifier when he's just one day old! Cuz i wanna see his cute look with pacifier. Alot of people are discouraging about pacifiers. To me, i find its a good soothing tool for babies. Choose one with orthodontic design to prevent nipple confusion. Im using NUK. Keith loves to suck alot. While he's in my tummy, he's already sucking his fingers. When he's born, we gave him pacifier and he sucks tightly. So, this meant that he's enjoying it! Another reason, our family cant stand baby cries. We're afraid of colic from excessive crying. So if the pacifier and soothes him, why not?! Anyway, the elders says babies with pacifier are easier to take care. Well?

I placed him in yaolan when he's 3 weeks. To the modern mummies, this is like creating another bad habit cuz he'll get so used to it, very troublesome if brings him out. Indeed, Keith is very used to yao lan now. He never sleeps on bed anymore. Why I use it then? Im the one taking care of him. Mummy needs to work(Dont wish to tired her out). Mel sleeps like a log(he could help much as im BF). I find he can sleep longer with it. Initially when Keith sleeps on the cot or bouncer, he'll wakes up every 3 hours for feed every night. After i placed him in yaolan at night, he can sleep longer. Which means i can get more rest(I gotta do housework in the day as well). Since his 2nd month, he can sleep through the night. Its abit tideous when bringing him out but luckily he'll able to sleep in his pram; on the condition that the pram must always be on the move while he's trying to sleep. Anyway, the yaolan is like a mimic of mummy's womb. It wraps him up and gives him a secure feeling. Just like still inside mummy's tummy. The swinging creates a motion just like when im on the move when he's inside my tummy.

I didnt shave his head on his first month cuz we cant bear to do so! He's got so much hair! So we just snip abit and put inside ang bao.

He's chinese name was chosen by me! My uncle gave us afew characters to match. My mum saw this Zhe Rui and i immediately loves it. I tried calling this name to him and he reacts to it! So its confirmed!

My confinement was horrible! I truly feels that confinement is worst then labour. My Confinement Lady(CL) sucks to the max. Got her through an irresponsible agent. In short, the CL didnt gave me a proper confinement. We suspect she's out to cheat cuz she uses short cut methods to cook + unable to handle baby well(she nv even tends to baby when he cries). Lazy and sloppy too! The last straw; she lied, push blame when she makes mistakes. We chase her back during the third week. I was not very obedient tho.. I shower everyday. During the first and second week, i shampooed alternate days. From the third week, i shampooed daily. I nv on aircon but was with fan 24/7. At the end of third week, i self declare end of confinement. Went out for movies and gulped down 2 x 22oz coke. Mummy says she'll look out for proper CL when i'm gonna have my #2..

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