(2008/04) April 2008

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">diva, we too been well

thanx

hehee my hubby loves kids so stopping at 2 dun tink is possible haha.. but fer the 3rd one gotta wait perhaps 2 - 3 yrs time ba oso gotta c finaces

..

rantingbaby, true true.. u wrking frm home so more time fer ur gal too.. but fer me im wrkking mum.. so looking into all options to c wich is the best..of cuz best is to teach by ur own..

</font>

 

[newparentsurvey]

USA Grad Student Research with Singapore Parents - Quick Survey

I am a graduate student at the University of St. Thomas in the United States (Minnesota), currently participating in a study abroad course in Singapore at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technical University.

For my doctorate program I am conducting a research study in which I am requesting your assistance. The study is to learn more about couple's relationship as they take on the role of parenthood. Since this website is designed for parents, I thought you and/or someone you knew may be interested in helping me with this project. I am hoping to compare my data from USA parents to Sinagpore parents.

This may or may not apply to you. If you doesn't, please forward this to people you know so it can reach other first-time parents who may want to participate. Thanks for your help!

Do you meet the following criteria? Do you know someone who does?

* Have you had your first (and only) child in the past six months to two years?
* Do you live with the co-parent?
* Is it the first child for both partners?
* Do you want to share information that could help other couples transition into parenthood?

If you answered YES to these questions, and are 18 years of age or older, you are eligible to participate in this parenting research study. This survey is being conducted through an online questionnaire and is estimated to only take 5-10 minutes to complete.

To start the survey, please click the link below or copy and paste it into your Internet browser.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=odvEJo1BPt_2bCF3hlE7BK7g_3d_3d

If you have questions about this study, e-mail [email protected] or contact Dr. Kurt Gehlert at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Professional Psychology at (651) 962-4656 or the University of St. Thomas Institutional Review Board at (651) 962-5341.

Participation in this survey is completely voluntary. All information will be kept confidential. Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,
Robyn Maley

 

[cloudme]

Diva,
how are u?
glad u pop over this thread...

me so busy wif work and 2 kiddos....that i can't even have spare time to surf my emails at home...

 

[scubababe]

hey mummies, FYI yday Mind Your Body has pretty good articles on kids stressing over first day in school, think its a pretty good read.

re: CC
I agree with ranting baby, i think me or my mum can teach my son at home too, so why pay others. But hubby has been thinking otherwise, says it may be good for him to socialise and maybe prepare him for nursery/kindergarden... so i am quite torn

Hi diva, haven's seen you for a while, i wanted to get the step 2 chairs from you in the WTS thread ha, but saw you sold it

We are like you too, will cheer and praise Byron like there's no tomorrow if he says something or follow my instruction to do something. So far he is having fun repeating after us so we try to teach him new words in both english and chinese

 

[small_one]

scubababe

Socialisation comes in all forms, and is not limited to just school setting. Like weekly gatherings with extended families or going out on outings to zoo, etc are part of socialisation.

Then where's the socialisation with same age peers? For me, that issue is resolved as I attend church, so they do have children grouped by age and doing age-appropriate activities.

 

[huggiez]

scubababe i will be sending my boy to playgroup those 2h kind. hee mainly to socialise oso cos he doesnt have anyone ard his age to play wif.

 

[poupinette]

Hi Scubababe,

I sell good stuff! Hehe.. maybe you'll find use for something else of mine in the future

Some ask why we praise and cheer when Ethan clearly doesn't say the word right, 'bah' instead of 'ball' for instance. But I think the point is to encourage him to speak, however the word comes out. It's the effort that counts. Don't want to kill the fun of trying for him now.

I've got Korean flashcards which I'm trying to learn so I can teach Ethan more words too. Since I'm the primary caregiver, I don't want to leave it entirely to hubs. I hope I'll be comfortably conversational soon and not just only be able to say my favorite Korean dishes!

 

[poupinette]

Hi Cloudme,

How is your little boy? What is his name?
Is En En happy to be a big sister?

I'm really happy for you, your little family is growing!

 

[regg]

deleted by administrator

 

[newparentsurvey]

USA Grad Student Research with Singapore Parents - Quick Survey

Thank you to those who have completed my survey - I have already received 12 responses!! I am hoping to get 18 more in the next week so I can do my comparison study. Can you share this with other parents you know? I really appreciate the help and am so excited about studying in your country! Here are the details...

I am a graduate student at the University of St. Thomas in the United States (Minnesota), currently participating in a study abroad course in Singapore at the National Institute of Education.

* Have you had your first (and only) child in the past six months to 24 months?
* Do you live with the co-parent?
* Is it the first child for both partners?
* Do you want to share information that could help other couples transition into parenthood?

If you answered YES to these questions, and are 18 years of age or older, you are eligible to participate in this parenting research study. It only takes 5-10 minutes to complete. To start the survey, please click the link below or copy and paste it into your Internet browser.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=odvEJo1BPt_2bCF3hlE7BK7g_3d_3d

Participation in this survey is completely voluntary, anonymous, and confidential.

Regards,
Robyn Maley

 

[calamari]

Hi all, wow, the thread has become active again hahahaha...

I have also joined Strawberries and Mushloom in the Dec 09 club. My 2nd bundle of joy was born on 12 Dec 09. More mummies, pls join us in having #2 or #3!!

 

[small_one]

Congrats calamari!

 

[cloudme]

congrats calamari

 

[jaspire]

Hi hi our April mummies! Happy 2010!

I haven pop into this thread for so long and its nice to read about the updates for all our april mummies &amp; babies and their development! So happy our april babies are getting siblings! Hee...

I am now in my 33weeks, waiting for the big "D" day next month... Likely to be a CNY baby though i am secretly hoping i can drag to 20th Feb so that baby no.2 share the same date as Kayla... on 20th April.

Mushloom, please do not be worried about Ivan's speech. I read and was told boys and girls develop differently. Kayla is a chatterbox. She is able to speak alot and in sentences now. But her motor development skills is much slower. She just picked up running. Haha... and till now, when she walks, she is still walking like "liang po po" LOL! So unless if he is 3y.o. and still not speaking then u might really want to consider bringing him to see a therapist.

 

[small_one]

Hi jaspire

long time no see! good to hear that you are ok...

 

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">calamari, yup yup the dec 09 mummies club hahaa.. so u planning fer #3? hehehe

jaspire, so u pack ya hospital bag le mahz??</font>

 

[jaspire]

adeline, not yet wor... hahaa... think i shld start to pack?

 

[huggiez]

hee jaspire ok... congrats ya... eh ur hospital bag better pack early. mine lucky i packed early. popped at 36wks.

wahhh strawberries u oso planning for #3?

aiyo now wif 2 i really planning to stop at 2 liao. so bz... me also no courage to try #3. if still boy then i will faintz....

 

[small_one]

aiyoh... blur me, I forgot who strawberries is... paiseh... bestie of my d's godma!

talking about packing hospital bag, been thinking of packing mine, since I am only 24 weeks now... but hor, more interested in loitering in SMH than packing my hospital bag... I must also pack a kit for emergency birth in the car on the way to hospital. *tsktsk* I watch too much Discovery Home &amp; health liao.

mushloom
boy is good mah... if you dun expend their energy, then expend yours, so you have good reason to sleep early.

 

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">hehehe rantingbaby yeah yeah hehehe..

mushloom.. fer now u ask me whether i wanna #3 not.. i will sae no.. but then im not planning to stop juz at 2 lahz. . hehe..

jaspire.. better pack early.. i pop at week 38 .. before tat due to come reasons.. went to kkh whereby the dr check tat im 3-4cm dilated, wanna admit me to induce.. but i told him i dun wan cuz my gynae is on leave.. oso i had not pack my hospital bag at all haha.. so yup.. </font>

 

[erynntai]

Just to share! There will be a Fun in the Sun Bazaar this weekend Jan 16 - 17, 2010 at East Coast Park Big Splash area. There will be over 70 stalls ranging from baby/ kid items to face paintinng. Come drop by and pick something up! There will be new and preloved items for sale. The bazaar starts at 10 am on both days !

 

[poupinette]

Calamari,
Congrats

Jaspire and Rantingbaby,
Congrats on expecting #2!

Rantingbaby,
My first labor only lasted about 4 hours. My gynae tells me to get to the hospital fast as soon as water breaks because the 2nd delivery could be even quicker. And I sure don't want to give birth in the car!

I love watching DH&amp;H too, good on you for preparing the emergency birth kit, better to be safe. What goes inside?

 

[huggiez]

lol towels towels and plenty of towels diva

 

[huggiez]

ranting ah... i oredi got 3 boys at home. really looking forward to a princess leh...

 

[small_one]

Mushloom

paiseh leh... cos you were talking about strawberries having #3, so I just assumed.

Diva
I am also worried that #2 will pop very soon. My stage 1 labour for #1 was longer about 8hours. Stage 2 labour was about 5 hours.

The emergency birth kit has a shoelace, a nasal cleaner, a thick towel. Shoelace is tied 6inches from baby to stop the bloodflow from the umbilical cord. But cannot tie too tightly, or it will cut through the umbilical cord.

Nasal cleaner is the thing we buy to suck mucus from the newborns nose and mouth, so after birth they can breathe. And thick towel is to keep baby warm.

I intend to prepare 2 sets of the emergency birthkit. One throw into my own car, the other into the hospital bag in case my hubby not around and I need to travel in someone else's car to hospital. Hopefully I don't need to do so.

 

[poupinette]

Hahaha 'kit' sounds so varied..

 

[poupinette]

Rantingbaby,

You're so prepared, that's really great! DH&amp;H is a really good teacher eh?

For us with the likelihood of another fast labor, it'll be good to have an emergency birth kit. I'll write this down and do what you're doing when it's my turn to have #2.

I reckon one of the worst things is if you're stuck in a jam. My water broke at 5am so the roads were super clear when we sped to the hospital. Hope the same for you and me next round

 

[small_one]

Diva

DH&amp;H is good teacher, but watch too much will increase anxiety.

I certainly hope that my hubby is around to drive me to the hospital. If not, other drivers freak out how? Oh, I also hope to break water at 4.30am again. Hahahaha.

 

[huggiez]

ranting hee no prob... my three boys are my 2 sons n 1 hubby keke...

 

[small_one]

mushloom

my household is totally opposite from yours. I have 3 female tenants, 1 domestic helper (female), my #1 (girl) and myself. Gynae says #2 is also girl. Total count of females in the household is 7.

My hubby stands alone with our dog (male).

 

[poupinette]

Rantingbaby,

Actually my mom was the one speeding to the hospital, while hubs was sitting at the back with me, holding my hand as I tried to remember the proper breathing technique and fight off the contractions

 

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">so frustrating .. wanna latch my gal, but then she simply refuse to.. i tok no milk but cannot be wat.. i squeeze there is ahz.. she juz so impatient.. like tat how to bring in milk ss!?

&amp; my #1 he so choosy fer his food.. refuse to eat rice *faintz*</font>

 

[cloudme]

Diva,
hihi..
enen is glad to have her little bro...
his name is weiwei...

now teaching her to bid little bro goodbye when she leave for school...
she's been doing that with her ah ma...
think she's wanting to wait for little bro to grow quickly to play with her...kekeke

 

[poupinette]

Hi Cloudme!

I'm sure EnEn is a very doting big sister! They usually say that about girls

How is WeiWei? Is #2 easier than #1?
I remember a long time ago, you asked me how it is looking after boys. In your experience, how do you find it now?

 

[cloudme]

Diva,
hmmm, both equally difficult to handle...

 

[poupinette]

Cloudme,

Maybe you'll see more obvious differences when Wei Wei is a bit older

 

[huggiez]

anyone started potty training for ur ds/dd? mine still using diaper and i have not started him on potty. any advise on how to go abt doing it?

 

[small_one]

mushloom

if you are SAHM, it might work out better by bringing your little one to the potty every hour and just let them sit then for 5 mins. Until they are used to the notion of sitting there. When time comes, they will be telling you that they need to go.

My girl is also still in diapers. Still working out the details with her.

 

[huggiez]

ranting... now me on maternity so i got lots of time to train hee. oh ok. if he don wanna sit shld i insist? so they juz sit there nt necessary must have output huh?

 

[poupinette]

Mushloom,

From the potty training books I've read, the consensus is usually to take a very calm and easygoing approach. Meaning if Ivan refuses to sit on the potty, don't force him to. Chances are, it might make him even more reluctant to try.

Some sources even suggest making it a fun game of exploring the potty. Make your kid curious about it first. What we do is to leave the potty in a very accessible area. Ethan will sometimes go to it and pretend it's a chair and sit on it. We've never had to prompt him to do that. We then praise him for taking an interest in it and tell him what it's for and that he can give it a try anytime he feels like it.

You can also try reading potty books to him. Ethan has an Elmo potty book which is rather likes because it's cute, seems fun and doesn't get too serious.

It may take some time before uses the potty successfully anyway but I guess it's more important to get him acquainted with the idea of it first.

Some kids take longer than others but it'll happen eventually. My friend's son 'trained' himself at about 3 years old when he decided he no longer wanted to wear diapers.
By 3, he was also able to speak which makes it suitably easier I reckon

 

[huggiez]

ic... juz now i let him see his potty. lol he was having fun pushing it ard n sitting on it. diva wats the title of the book?

 

[poupinette]

Mushloom,

The book is called "Too Big For Diapers".
I like the title!

 

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">i oso tried to potty train my boy.. but he will cry when attempted.. oso at my wits end.. i ever tot of getting him cute potty but hubby sae dun wanna waste tat kind of money..

diva, this book can get anywhere?? </font>

 

[poupinette]

Strawberries,

I bought the book from www.acmamall.com
It's very reasonably priced there.
They've got good prices and occasionally, special promotions too.

I've never seen it at Borders but then again, most books there are in such a poor state anyway.

 

[piggy_mummy]

potty train..

i found that when they are ready , they will use the potty..for my case, at first i read book abt potty train, thinking wat type of potty shd i buy s that lucas will use it ...(think here think that). But at the end b4 i buy the potty, one day Lucas told me "shi shi". initially he use the toilet bowl to pee (I carried him). after that he pee on the toilet floor. now he will pee into potty.

 

[huggiez]

piggy he pee standing or sitting huh?

 

[piggy_mummy]

standing..for boy, may b can ask papa to "demo" then they will follow de.haha

 

[strawberries_aka_adele]

<font color="0077aa">piggy_mummy, how to ask papa to demo?? bring the tod together to pee??</font>

 

[poupinette]

Many boys are potty trained to sit down and pee. The standing up to pee can come later.
One obvious reason for this is depending on the age of the boy when starting potty training, he may not know how to or be able to aim yet.
Hence to make things as easy and stress free as possible, just have him sit down. That's what the pee guard that some potties are equipped with are for.
And if there's no pee guard, you can always help to aim his penis downwards to prevent spraying.

Some men still sit to pee and they say it's because it's cleaner. Whatever works

 

[huggiez]

ok ok will try hee