Info: Babywearing

When I was pregnant, I envisioned a baby who lies quietly in his crib, watching the world go by. He would be cooing and smiling at the cute mobile dangling from the crib, entertaining himself while I go about my household chores, run on the treadmill to get rid of the baby fat, cook, eat or watch TV. From time to time I’d look to see how he’s doing, if he’d fallen asleep or if his diapers need changing. He’d only need to be picked up during bathing and feeding time, or when I feel like playing with him. This wasn’t just wishful thinking – this was exactly how my nephew spent his first few months of his life. He’d literally protested when picked up from his bed and preferred to be left alone. When he was bigger, my brother and his wife just put Baby Einstein DVDs on in front of him and left him in the room – he ended up learning his letters as well as hand signals all on his own when he was about two years old.

Unfortunately, the baby I gave birth to had an entirely different idea.

Info – baby swimming (part 1)

We have started to take Jojo swimming since he was around three months old. Once his neck is strong enough to support his head, we took him for a swim using a neck ring. A lot of people seem baffled by the neck ring, and so was I when I first saw it. It’s an inflatable swim ring that is worn around the neck to support baby’s head above water while the rest of his body  move freely in the water. It made sense to me, baby’s head is steady and his arms and legs can do whatever they want while swimming. We tried the arm rings, but only Jojo’s arms floated while the head swayed dangerously to every which way. We also tried the swim ring with seat and leg holes, but Jojo got cold quicker because the upper part of his body is exposed above water,only hips down were immersed. So the neck ring really suited him.
The very first swim session was in Experienced Mom’s swimming pool at her house. We chose to swim at around 3PM when the water’s quite warm after being heated by the sun all morning. Jojo was calm and happy after he took his nap and got fed. We had very little worry as he’s always happy when taking his bath, and true enough he took to water calmly and confidently. He floated happily and was smiling a lot, he wasn’t nervous at all. We made splashes around him and talked to him the whole time. Still, only fifteen minutes later he was already shivering. So we ended the swim, dried him off and had him feed again.

A lot of other new parents I know, particularly Asian ones, were a lot more apprehensive about introducing their infants to the water. They feared the baby would: a) drown, b) get a cold and c) develop infection from the water. In my opinion, these parents were underestimating a baby’s ability and stamina. A baby practically spent 9 months surrounded by water, and at a few months of age a relatively healthy baby still has quite a strong immune system passed on from the mother. As long as we keep a close eye and watch the signs of cold, tiredness and mood, there’s no reason why babies shouldn’t learn to enjoy water as early as possible. In some advanced countries there are even “swim” classes for newborns, where the babies can even dive! But we chose to be cautious and kept Jojo’s head above water at all times during the first swim session, just to keep him in a good mood.

The Fourth Month – the Mommy Cow

As Jojo entered his fourth month, he was morphing into a chubby smiley baby. Babies are supposed to double their birth weight by the fourth month, which means Jojo should reach 7kg. But this month he already weighed a whooping 8kg, above average but still fell within WHO standards. Jojo’s body was compact and firm, his eyes shone brightly, he had high energy and laughed a lot. I really believe that the Lotusbirth method we have chosen, combined with exclusive breastfeeding, are responsible for his robustness and health.

The breastfeeding routine has been established – every time he made the gaspy “agh-agh” sound, which was about every 60-90 minutes, I offered my breast. Seemed like he was always hungry, and he could nurse with the strength of a hoover. I’ve read that a  normal breastfeeding session should be around twenty minutes at each breast, but with Jojo it only took less than ten minutes to completely deflate one breast and often he refused when I offered the other breast because he was already very full. So I became a nursing mom with one breast almost always larger than the other.