Kids and food allergies

Do you know that about 5% of children under five years of age and 4% of kids aged 5 to 17, have at least one food allergy.

Being allergic to certain food can be just mild or severe. Therefore parents should always pay great attention when introducing new foods to them. To make matters worse, children with food allergy also have higher rates of asthma as well as skin and respiratory allergies.

Two things must happen before a child has an allergic reaction to a food: She must have consumed the food at least once before or been exposed through breast milk, and her immune system must produce antibodies to proteins in that specific food. This immune response is what helps allergists differentiate a life-threatening food allergy from food intolerance. Food allergy remains an important problem and can be life threatening. Methods of testing for food allergies have their limits. Allergists can help determine whether the problem is occurring on an allergic basis or not.

Common Food Allergies in Children

The most common food allergies in children are caused by only a few foods, with peanuts, and cows milk leading the list. However do refer to the below diagram on the big eight foods that can cause allergies. The most severe food reactions are caused by peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish, allergies that tend to last a lifetime. The good news is kids often outgrow allergies to wheat, eggs, soy, and cows milk.

Signs and Symptoms of Food Allergy

An allergic reaction to a food usually occurs within minutes to an hour.These are the most common signs and symptoms of food allergy:

On the skin: hives, itching, rash, swelling of the lips, tongue, face

In the digestive tract: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain

In the respiratory system: wheezing, congestion, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing due to swelling of the throat

In the cardiovascular system: drop in blood pressure, causing dizziness, lightheadedness

Anaphylaxis, the most severe allergic response, is a medical emergency. Swelling of the throat prevents breathing and swallowing, the heart rate rises and blood pressure drops suddenly. If your child has been prescribed an epinephrine (adrenalin) auto injector, it should be with them at all times and used immediately at the first sign of an anaphylactic reaction and call the ambulance instantaneously. A second dose of epinephrine should always be on hand in case it is needed.

Diagnosis and Treatment

If a food allergy is suspected, your allergist will collect a complete medical history and perform a physical exam of your child. Be prepared with a complete list of foods the child consumed before the reaction as well as the signs, symptoms, severity and length of the reaction. Again, this can help diagnose actual food allergy from food intolerance.

An allergy skin test can help determine which foods caused a reaction in your child. A small amount of food extract is applied to the skin on the arm or back. The appearance of a red, itchy bump (or wheal) within 15 minutes may suggest an allergy. Blood tests may also help indicate an allergy exists. Any positive food allergy test can be wrong as much as 90 percent of the time. The most important part of the evaluation is talking to your allergist, who is skilled in making a correct diagnosis, before testing is done. Allergy testing only confirms the history.

An oral food challenge is the gold standard and only definitive test to diagnose food allergy. It is typically done in the allergists office, and only if the risk of anaphylaxis is low.

There is no cure for food allergies. The only treatment is avoiding foods that cause reactions in your child. Your allergist will prescribe an epinephrine auto-injector to be used immediately if your child has a severe allergic reaction.

Living with Food Allergy

Keeping a child with food allergies safe is challenging and stressful. Parents must search food labels for ingredients that can cause reactions in their child; notify family, friends, schools, and restaurants of their childs allergy; and always be prepared for an emergency.

An allergist can provide you with tips and tools to help your child stay safe and healthy.

Exercises suitable for Diastasis Recti aka Abdominal Separation

From our previous post on Diastasis Recti, also known as Abdominal Separation, we like to further look at the type of exercises that are suitable.

We heard a lot of examples that instead of having flatten their tummy after doing crunches and abdominal exercises, the stomach ballooned up. Yes, these are the exercises that are definitely not suitable for just delivered mothers and ladies who have diastasis recti.

Remember, to recap: Avoid exercises that exacerbate diastasis recti after the first trimester and immediately postpartum. This includes sit-ups, crunch movements, oblique twists, and plank-position exercises.

Focus on building the core muscles concentrating on pelvic tilts instead. 

Refer to our post - Do you have diastasis recti after child birth to understand what is diastasis recti.

Do you have diastasis recti after child birth?

Recently I saw this article on diastasis recti and set me wondering what is it and do I have it.

Have you experienced what we have? 

No matter what exercises I did, I still have a tummy that looks like 4-5 months pregnant. Hence, I set forth to seek some info on it after some chance upon this diastasis recti picture. And now I like to shed some light on this condition and let mothers know that finally, we have the answers to our preggy-lookalike tummy and with great effort we can get rid of it too.

I understand that it's depressing to know that we still look pregnant while others do not even have to go through any slimming regime.  We do not want to give up but it seems nothing can help unless we go for plastic surgery.

Different bodies need different treatment and hence, I am excited to start working on it, though I admitted that I was freak out and sad at the beginning to know that I had abdominal separation.

An extract from Wiki:

Diastasis recti (also known as ) defined as a separation of therectus abdominis muscle into right and left halves.

The distance between the right and left rectus abdominis muscles is created by the stretching of the linea alba which connects the two regions.

Diastasis of this muscle occurs principally in two populations: newborns and pregnant women. But anyone can has it too including men.

(However we like to focus on post delivery instead.) 

In pregnant or postpartum women, the condition is caused by the stretching of the rectus abdominis by the growing uterus. It is more common in multiparous women due to repeated episodes of stretching. 

When the defect occurs during pregnancy, the uterus can sometimes be seen bulging through the abdominal wall beneath the skin. Women are more susceptible to develop diastasis recti when over the age of 35, high birth weight of child, multiple birth pregnancy, and multiple pregnancies. Additional causes can be attributed to excessive abdominal exercises after the first trimester of pregnancy.

For a detailed read, click on link, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastasis_recti.

Before you even exit our page, I like to emphasised on a few pointers and just a little more info on it since it is not a simple issue and can lead to other conditions if left untreated.

How can I Reduce My Risk of Developing Diastasis Recti in Pregnancy or Repair it Afterwards?

1. Exercise regularly and appropriately! Several studies have shown that women with no or mild diastasis recti were more likely to be exercising regularly than women with moderate or severe diastasis. Do not do strenuous exercise while pregnant but moderately.

2. Avoid gaining excessive amounts of weight while pregnant.

3. Check your alignment. Alignment is a huge component in any pressure related body ailment, including diastasis recti. This is especially important when lifting heavy objects, such as older children or when strength training. A tilted pelvis will push your uterus against your abdominal wall, creating even more pressure.

4. The definite NO NOs! Avoid exercises that exacerbate diastasis recti after the first trimester and immediately postpartum. This includes sit-ups, crunch movements, oblique twists, and plank-position exercises.

5. Performing transverse abdominal (TVA) focused exercises while pregnant will reduce your risk of diastasis recti postpartum. Studies have shown a significant difference in diastasis recti incidence between pregnant women who are active in TVA engagement and pregnant women who are sedentary. TVA training postpartum will help to close or minimize a gap.

How do I Check for Diastasis Recti?

Click on this video to learn how to self check. In this video it also teaches pelvic tilts to help stitch back the gap of those abdominal muscles.
http://youtu.be/uzIrt82maws

How is Diastasis Recti Related to Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor muscles work together. What goes up must come down, what goes in must go out – so to speak. Diastasis recti affects the pelvic floor and vice-versa. In a study of women with diastasis recti, 66% also presented pelvic floor dysfunction symptom. This includes urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse symptoms.

Can I Close my Diastasis Recti Gap Years After Childbirth?

Yes!  No matter you have just given birth or it has been 3 years, you can still start on it. You can close or significantly reduce your abdominal muscle gap through rehab exercise. Severe diastasis recti that does not improve with physical therapy may need to be surgically repaired.

My Gap Isn’t Closing and what can I do?

If you’ve been trying to close your abdominal muscle gap on your own and are having no success, see a women’s health physiotherapist for further treatment.

More info:

Type of exercises suitable for closing the gap on Diastasis Recti aka Abdominal Separation or 'Mummy Tummy'

Does your child grind her teeth during sleeping?

Recently, we realised that our 5 year old child grinds her teeth while sleeping. Initially we though it is a common thing and we overlooked it. Until then, we started to worry and do some research on it.

Hence, we like to share with you what teeth grinding actually is. Why it happens and how can we help in the situation?

After reading, we realised much that our child might be unhappy about the fact that she needs to give in to her younger sister often. And the fact that she is growing her self-confidence; and yet she is also feeling that we as parents are always scolding her, well nagging actually. Well, at their age, it might be hard for them to differentiate this two. Hence, this set us rethink how we can turn around the situation, by using another method of parenting. Remember, all kids has a different personalities and not one standard parenting method always works. We need to remind ourselves sometimes and reflect if we are doing it wrong.

For more acticles on parenting, please check out the links.
Parenting a Strong-willed Child
Teaching your child what is Empathy and why it is important

Ok, let's start on knowing what is Teeth Grinding.

What is teeth grinding and why children grinds their teeth?

Many experts don't know for sure what causes teeth grinding but many point fingers at tension or anxiety, pain (from earaches or teething, ), and malocclusion (a dental term for when the teeth don't line up just right.) Dentist refer this condition as bruxism. Some studies also suggest that breathing problems – from a stuffy nose or allergies – may play a part in this teeth grinding role.

Teeth grinding isn't uncommon among babies who are getting their first teeth, beginning at around 5 or 6 months of age. It's also common among children who are starting to get their permanent teeth, at around 6 years of age.

About 38-40% of children grind their teeth. The average age for starting this habit is around 3 and a half years old, and the average age for stopping is 6 years old, of course, people of all ages grind their teeth.

Your child is a bit more likely to grind her teeth if you do. She's also more likely to grind her teeth if she drools or talks in her sleep. Almost all teeth grinding happens at night, though some kids do it during the day, too.


Is teeth grinding bad for my child?

In most cases, teeth grinding sounds worse than it is. It's very likely that your child isn't doing any damage to his teeth and he'll soon outgrow the habit. However prolong teeth grinding might wear off the enamel, causing sensitivities.


Helping Kids With Bruxism

Although the sound can be disconcerting, you'll probably just have to wait for your child to grow out of the habit. Whether the cause is physical or psychological, kids might be able to control bruxism by relaxing before bedtime — for example, by taking a warm bath or shower, listening to a few minutes of soothing music, or reading a book, and giving her a good relaxing massage.

For bruxism that's caused by stress, ask about what's upsetting your child and find a way to help.

If you think the grinding is due to your child is teething or has an ear infection, see a doctor.

If there's a problem with the way your child's teeth are lining up, the dentist may be able to polish them to fit together better. Older children who grind regularly are sometimes fitted with a night guard – a plastic device fitted to the mouth to prevent clenching and grinding of the teeth during sleep. But your child's dentist probably won't consider this until your child has at least some permanent teeth, around age 5 or so.

Parenting a strong-willed child

If you are having a strong-willed child, it does not means a bad thing after all? Strong willed children can be a challenge to parent when they’re young, but if sensitively parented, they become terrific teens and young adults. Self-motivated and inner-directed, they go after what they want and are almost impervious to peer pressure. As long as parents resist the impulse to "break their will," strong-willed kids often become leaders.

What exactly is a strong-willed, or spirited child?

Many define them as "difficult" and/or “stubborn,” but on the bright side, it also means strong-willed kids as people of integrity who aren’t easily swayed from their own viewpoints. Strong-willed kids want to learn things for themselves rather than accepting what others accept, so they test the limits over and over; simply do not give up that easily. They want desperately to be "in charge" of themselves, and will sometimes put their desire to "be right" above everything else. When their heart is set on something, their brains seem to have a hard time switching gears. Strong-willed kids have big, passionate feelings and live at full throttle.

Many a times, strong-willed kids are always in power-struggles with their parents. However, it takes two to have a power struggle. Remember, as parents, you don't have to attend to every argument to which you are invited to! If you can take a deep breath when your anger buttons get pushed, and remind yourself that you can let your child save face and still get what you want, you can learn to sidestep those power struggles.

Research shows that parents who pay attention can avoid power struggles, even with strong-willed kids, by empathizing as they set limits, giving choices, and clearly offering respect. Always look for win/win solutions rather than just laying down the law keeps strong-willed children from becoming explosive and teaches them essential skills of negotiation and compromise.


Strong-willed kids aren't just being difficult. Try understanding that they feel their integrity is compromised if they're forced to submit to another person's will. I believe if a parent was once a strong willed child, they can comprehend this thinking better. If you do not like being controlled by your parents when young, the more you should not do it to your own children. If children are allowed to choose, they love to cooperate. If this bothers you because you think obedience is an important quality, I'd ask you to reconsider. Of course you want to raise a responsible, considerate, cooperative child who does the right thing, even when it's hard. But that doesn't imply obedience. Morality is doing what's right, no matter what you're told. Obedience is doing what you're told, no matter what's right. Parents must get it right and know the great difference between morality and obedience.

Of course you want your child to do what you say. But not because he's obedient, meaning that he always does what someone bigger tells him to do. No, you want him to do what you say because he trusts YOU, because you are the parent and have his best interests at heart. You want to raise a child who has self-discipline, takes responsibility, and is considerate -- and most important, has the discernment to figure out when to trust and be influenced by someone else.

Breaking a child's will leaves him open to the influence of others who often will not serve him. What's more, it's a betrayal of the spiritual contract we make as parents to nurture our child's unique gifts.

That said, strong-willed kids can be a handful -- high energy, challenging, persistent. How do we protect those fabulous qualities and encourage their cooperation?

Here's 10 Tips for Positive Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child

1. Avoid power struggles by using routines and rules. That way, you aren't bossing them around. For example, The lights-out is at 9pm. If you hurry, we’ll have time for two books or a small game.

2. Your strong-willed child wants mastery more than anything. Let him/her take charge of as many of her own activities as possible. Don’t nag at her to brush her teeth; ask instead “What else do you need to do before we leave?” If she looks blank, tick off the short list: “Every morning we eat, brush teeth, use the toilet, and pack the bags. I saw you pack, that's terrific! Now, what do you still need to do before we leave?” Kids who feel more independent and in charge of themselves will have less need to be oppositional. Not to mention, they take responsibility early.

3. Give your strong-willed child choices. If you give orders, he will almost certainly bristle. If you offer a choice, he feels like the master of his own destiny. Of course, only offer choices you can live with and don’t let yourself get resentful by handing away your power.

4. Give her authority over her own body. For example, when she knows she is cold, she will want a jacket on. Don't force a jacket on her.

5. Don't push him into opposing you. Force always creates "push-back" -- with humans of all ages. If you take a hard and fast position, you can easily push your child into defying you, just to prove a point. You'll know when it's a power struggle and you're invested in winning. Just stop, take a breath, and remind yourself that winning a battle with your child always sets you up to lose what’s most important: the relationship. When in doubt say "Ok, you can decide this for yourself." If he can't, then say what part of it he can decide, or find another way for him to meet his need for autonomy without compromising his health or safety.

6. Side-step power struggles by letting your child save face. You don’t have to prove you’re right. You can, and should, set reasonable expectations and enforce them. But under no circumstances should you try to break your child’s will or force him to acquiesce to your views. He has to do what you want, but he's allowed to have his own opinions and feelings about it.

7. Listen to her. You, as the adult, might reasonably presume you know best. But your strong-willed child has a strong will partly as a result of her integrity. She has a viewpoint that is making her hold fast to her position, and she is trying to protect something that seems important to her. Only by listening calmly to her and reflecting her words will you come to understand what’s making her oppose you. It may not seem like a good reason to you, but she has a reason. And you won’t find it out if you get into a clash and order her into something

8. See it from his point of view. For instance, he may be angry because you promised to wash his favorite t-shirt and then forgot. To you, he is being stubborn. To him, he is justifiably upset, and you are being hypocritical, because he is not allowed to break his promises to you, but you broke yours to him. How do you clear this up and move on? You apologize profusely for breaking your promise, you reassure him that you try very hard to keep your promises, and you go, together, to wash the t-shirt. You might even teach him how to wash his own clothes! Just consider how would you want to be treated, and treat him accordingly.

9. Discipline through the relationship, never through punishment. Kids don’t learn when they’re in the middle of a fight. Like all of us, that’s when adrenaline is pumping and learning shuts off. Kids behave because they want to please us. The more you fight with and punish your child, the more you undermine her desire to please you. If she's upset, help her express her hurt, fear or disappointment, so they evaporate. Then she'll be ready to listen to you when you remind her that in your house, everyone speaks kindly to each other.

10. Offer him respect and empathy.Read more about empathy and how to teach kids empathy in our last post. Most strong-willed children are fighting for respect. If you offer it to them, they don’t need to fight to protect their position. And, like the rest of us, it helps a lot if they feel understood.

Teaching your child what is empathy and why is it important

Empathy, sometimes an adult have trouble with having this ability. And we can't expect young child to know what is it all about. However for 5 year olds, they are self-conscious enough to seek fairness and are feels good about being treated well. And it is a good age to start.

What is empathy actually?
Research suggests that empathy is a complex phenomenon involving several component skills:
• A sense of self-awareness and the ability to distinguish one’s own feelings from the feelings of others.
• Taking another person’s perspective (or, alternatively, “putting oneself in another person’s shoes”).
• Being able to regulate one’s own emotional responses.

Why is it important?
It’s a core skill for what psychologists call “pro-social” behaviour – the actions that are involved in building close relationships, maintaining friendships, and developing strong communities. It appears to be the central reality necessary for developing a conscience, as well.

And as emotional intelligence (EQ) has become an increasingly popular idea over the last twenty years. While “IQ” (intelligence quotient) attempts to describe our thinking and reasoning abilities, “EQ” (emotional intelligence quotient) attempts to describe our ability to work with our own and others’ emotions. The importance of these skills for personal, relationship and even work success has become increasingly recognized in the psychological community, and researchers and therapists alike are developing ways of helping folks learn and make use of these skills.

Technically, “emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively, the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge, the ability to use feelings to facilitate thought, and the ability to regulate emotions in oneself and in others”

One of the most important of the emotional intelligence skills is empathy. When we instinctively tell our kids to “think about how what you did made others feel,” we are training our kids in empathy and inviting them to recognize the importance of taking others’ feelings into account.

There are degrees of empathy, and, with practice and an understanding of psychology, we can probably develop stronger empathic skills.


How do you teach children empathy for others ?
1.Show them empathy. Openly empathize with others as an example.

2.Talk about feelings, a lot. Theirs, yours, anyone’s. Talk about fictional character’s feelings. Connect these feelings to your children.

3.Role play. We use this strategy all the time from preparing our kids for special events like holiday parties to going on the airplane and conflicts with friends.

4.Work to see their viewpoint as often if not more often than we try to force them to see ours. When your kid is acting up it’s hard sometimes to put yourself in their shoes. It might make you feel soft or like a pushover even. You can still have clear and solid boundaries and consequences while empathizing and it will encourage empathetic responses from your kids as well. Teach by example.

5.Don’t wait for your child to feel an emotion before you talk about that emotion. Have them practice putting themselves in others shoes. Tell stories true and fictional. There are a lot of experiences my kids haven’t had but I have and I use those as we explore feelings. It gives them a connection to the feelings without having to have had to experience it themselves, at least not yet.

Once kids can empathize with children in different situations than their own they can really understand why these acts of kindness and giving matter.

=)

8 unintentional signals that might put your child off reading

We all know the benefits of reading; and some parents when young hate reading. This is absolutely common and if you wishes for your child to pick up reading, you must first generate interest both in yourself and the child. However, most parents might unintentionally give the wrong set of cues that indirectly tells the child to stop reading. We do not want any of that. Actually all kids love reading because of the stories and the colours in children books which generate creativity. Remember when we used to buy toys in white, black and red for babies. Keep it up. Get them books either by buying or borrowing or even exchanging with fellow parents.

1. Don’t put down your child’s reading materials. Comics and books with crude humor often get dragged through the mud, as do character-driven books. Their choices may not be your favorite, but when you say no to a book, what your child may hear is no to reading. Instead of banning their beloved reading material , find a way to add in some more desirable books into the mix.

2. Don’t provide the wrong level material. No one likes reading something that makes them feel stupid. If the books are too hard they will frustrate your child. If the books are too easy, they will bore your little reader. You don’t need to know your child’s exact level; their interest will let you know. Go to the bookstore or library when you have a chunk of time and let them explore. Take out a bunch of books and try them out. Find favorite authors and read everything they’ve written, then start again with a new author.

3. Don’t use reading as a punishment. Saying things like “Go to your bedroom and read!” or “If you do that again, I will make you go read.” sets kids up to associate reading as a negative thing. Keep punishments and reading separate.

4. Don’t forget to give your child books as a gifts. Gifts are special, and starting at birth books make the best gifts – especially if you read them with the person who gave them to you. Book fairs at schools are a great place for kids to get excited about books, and we use them as treats!

5. Don’t explain to your child they aren’t really reading yet when they are only looking at the pictures. If we tell our children they aren’t readers, they will believe it, and to a child this isn’t as fluid as it is for adults. They don’t see that reading is developmental, and this blow to their confidence can really stick with them. If they aren’t decoding words yet, let them know that they can “read the pictures” and tell the story that way until they can read the words too.

6. Don’t forget to let your kids see you read for fun. Studies show that kids with parents who read often for pleasure are more likely to read for fun themselves. So if you want a kid who loves to read, let them see you reading too.

7. Don’t over-correct and over-practice. It’s exciting when your child starts to read independently, but forcing them to read and reread text until they have it perfect is not the most effective way to encourage or instruct. Read with your new reader and help when they ask for it. If they miss a word but the meaning is intact, don’t interrupt. If the meaning of the sentence is all screwy, wait for a natural pause and ask them, “Did that make sense?” You can revisit the word if it didn’t. Use the pictures and the rest of the text as clues if the word is too tough to decode. If you have to do this often, the text is too hard for your child. Choose something easier, or if they are insistent take turns reading so there is some fluency being modeled.

8. Don’t forget to read to your kids. Every day. Even those days when you just want them to go to sleep already!!

A list of things your child needs to know before Kindergarten

Some kids are faster and some kids slower. However, it does not really denotes the capability of an individual. Some are good in academics while some excel in other areas like fine arts and etc. The key to it is to discover what your children is good in and what they are not so good in; thus reinforce.

Children nowadays are now being stress out by all the requirements at a young age to be better than the other children, or even fair as well as older children. That is sad. Hence, we have researched a list of things a chid should at least accomplished before heading into kindergarten. And we hope that through this list, it can help both parents and kids when they goes to kindergarten, main idea is that they are able to cope with the educational load and proceed better at handling future expectations.

We like to emphasise that competition is good but overly doing it may cause more harm. Like in one childcare my daughter was in last time, it is only needed of them to know until number 20 at K1. We shifted and the present standard was 40. Our friend's childcare standard was 50. Oops! Hence, let's all sit back and rethink what is neccessary and what is just way too much. Food for Thought!

All right, here you go on this list. =)

Personal and Social Development
Approach to learning
•Shows eagerness and curiosity as a learner
•Persists in task and seeks help when encountering a problem
•Is generally pleasant and cooperative

Self-Control
•Follows rules and routines
•Manages transitions (going from one activity to the next)
•Demonstrates normal activity level

Interactions with Others
•Interacts easily with one or more children
•Interacts easily with familiar adults
•Participates in group activities
•Plays well with others
•Takes turns and shares
•Cleans up after play

Conflict Resolution
•Seeks adult help when needed to resolve conflicts
•Uses words to resolve conflicts

Language and LiteracyListening
•Listens with understanding to directions and conversations
•Follows one-step directions
•Follows two-step directions

Speaking
•Speaks clearly enough to be understood without contextual clues
•Relates experiences with some understanding of sequences of events

Literature and Reading
•Listens with interest to stories read aloud
•Shows interest in reading-related activities
•Retells information from a story
•Sequences three pictures to tell a logical story

Writing
•Uses pictures to communicate ideas
•Uses scribbles, shapes, and letter-like symbols to write words or ideas

Alphabet Knowledge
•Recites/sings alphabet
•Matches upper-case letters
•Matches lower-case letters
•Identifies upper-case letters
•Identifies lower-case letters

Mathematical Thinking

Patterns and Relationships
•Sorts by color, shape, and size
•Orders or seriates several objects on the basis of one attribute
•Recognizes simple patterns and duplicates them

Number concept and operations
•Rote counts to 20
•Counts objects with meaning to 10
•Matches numerals
•Identifies by naming, numerals 0-10

Geometry and spatial relations
•Identifies 4 shapes- circle, square, rectangle, triangle
•Demonstrates concepts of positional/directional concepts (up/down, over/under, in/out, behind/in front of, beside/between, top/bottom, inside/outside, above/below, high/low, right/left, off/on, first/last, far/near, go/stop).

Measurement
•Shows understanding of and uses comparative words (big/little, large/small, short/long, tall/short, slow/fast, few/many, empty/full, less/more.
Physical Development

Gross-Motor Skills

•Pedals and steers a tricycle
•Jumps in place, landing on two feet
•Jumps consecutively- 7 jumps
•Balances on one foot for 5 seconds
•Hops on one foot 2-3 hops
•Hops on one foot- 6 ft.
•Throws a ball with direction- 5 ft.
•Catches a thrown ball with arms and body
•Climbs a playground ladder
•Skips smoothly for 20 feet

Fine-Motor Skills

•Stacks 10, one-inch blocks
•Strings 4 1/2″ beads in two minutes
•Completes a seven piece interlocking puzzle
•Makes a pancake, snake, and ball from playdough
•Grasps pencil correctly
•Copies: vertical line, horizontal line, circle, cross, square, V, triangle
•Copies first name
•Prints first name without a model
•Grasps scissors correctly
•Cuts within 1/4″ of a 6″ straight line on construction paper
•Cuts out a 3″ square on construction paper
•Cuts out a 3″ triangle on construction paper
•Cuts out a 3″ circle on construction paper
•Uses a glue stick appropriately
•Uses appropriate amount of glue for tasks


The Arts

Creative Arts
•Identifies 10 colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, black, white, brown, pink
•Uses a variety of art materials for tactile experience and exploration

Music/Movement
•Participates in group music experiences
•Participates in creative movement/dance

Creative Dramatics
•Makes believe with objects
•Takes on pretend roles and situations

Induced labour Explained

In some countries, a lot of women focus on natural birth and that also means no induction birth, no pain relieve, no assisted birth and definitely no to epitomsy.

However, in Singapore, natural birth is defined otherwise. As long it is a vaginal birth, it is consider natural birth. Mostly all mothers give birth in a hospital than birthing centres; and most babies are delivered by professional doctors, gynaes rather than midwives.

In today's context, having a birth that is induced is very common. Why do we have induced birth? There are varied reasons for doing so and most of them are due to medical reasons.

For most induced birth, you are more likely to need instruments such as forceps or ventose to help deliver your baby. This may be due to the complications of the pregnancy that led to induction and/or it may be due to problems caused by the induction itself. Consider what pain relief you would like if the induction works and makes your contractions very strong and difficult to cope with.

Reasons for inducing:
- Your pregnancy has gone beyond 41 weeks and is considered overdue. You will usually be offered an induction sometime between week 41 and 42.
- Your water bag has broken but labour hasn't started. Most women go into labour within 24 hours of their waters breaking. If it does not happen, there is a risk that you or your baby could develop an infection, so you will probably be offered an induction.
- You have diabetes - provided your baby is growing normally, it is recommended that you induced after 38 weeks of pregnancy.
- You have a chronic or acute condition, such as pre-eslampia or kidney disease, that threatens your wellbeing or the health of the baby.
- Your water level is low.

There are a number of methods your doctor can use to try get your labour to start. Some may need to be repeated depending on individuals.

How to speed up labour
1. Membrane sweep
A membrane sweep often helps to stimulate labour and is now offered routinely to women who are overdue.

The membranes that surround your baby are gently separated from your cervix. The doctor can carry out this procedure during an internal examination.

2. Prostaglandin
Prostaglandin is a hormone-like substance, which help stimulate uterine contractions. Your doctor or nurse will insert a tablet, pessary or gel containing prostaglandin into your vagina to ripen your cervix.

Vaginal prostaglandin is most commonly recommended method to induce labour because it often works better and has fewer disadvantages than other methods.

3. Artificially rupturing the membranes (ARM)
ARM is sometimes called "breaking the waters". Breaking your waters is no longer recommended as a method of induction (unless vaginal prostaglandin cannot be used for some reason). However, doctors may use it to speed up labour.

This procedure can be done during an internal examination. The doctor will makes a small break in the membranes around the baby using an amniohook. This procedure often works when the cervix feels soft and ready for labour to start.

Artificial rupture of the membranes (ARM) does not always work and once your waters have been broken, your baby could be at risk of an infection if labour is too long. If there's an infection, you will be given antibiotics.

4. Syntocinon
Syntocinon is a synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin. You would be offered it if your labour hasn't start following a membrane sweep or prostaglandin or if your contractions are not very effective.

You will be given the Syntocin through an intravenous "drip", allowing the hormone to go straight into your bloodstream, through a tiny tube into a vein in your arm. Once contractions have begun, the rate of the drip can be adjusted so that contractions happen often enough to make your cervix dilate without becoming too powerful. As syntocin can cause strong contractors and put your baby under stress, so you will need to be monitored continuously.

For a detailed read, we found another website that is quite extensive that you can go take a look.

REST & NO WORK makes you a HAPPY Mom

Yes, we really mean it. After confinement, rest and no work really makes a mother a happy mom with a happy baby. Confinement in the first place means mother has to rest to get back her health back after months of pregnancy. By resting it also means getting enough breastmilk to feed baby. Therefore, please rest. =)

Do you understand what do the pregnancy scans means and why they are needed?

Pregnancy is beautiful. In this society, every mother-to-be is scheduled 3 important scans; Nuchal Scan (NT scan), Fetal Anomaly Scan (FA scan) and Growth scan.

These scans are important as it tells a lot of the baby inside you. Here, we repost one of our articles to explain in detail what these 3 scans means.

Generally, these scans are done at the 3 trimesters respectively.

1. NT scan around 11 weeks
2. FA scan around 15-27 weeks
3. Growth scan from 32 weeks

Like us on Facebook at www.fb.com/embassyofbabies.

Making your own playing clay

Sometimes it is bored staying at home and yet not every weekend means going out of the house. Why not plan a stay-in fun weekend concocting something together with your children. Play clay or commonly known as play dough.

Yes, it is very popular among kids and it is very messy after play. However, there are the benefits of allowing kids to play with play dough and the many learning opportunities that happen along the way!

It helps children build strength in their fingers, making them ready for pencil and scissor control later on. Fine motor development, that is. Moreover, it trains the mind on Imagination and Creativity.

Have your children make the these together and thereafter build something out of it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp vegetable oil
Edible colourings of your choice

Method:
Mix all ingredients except the colours. Mix in more flour if needed. When dough is completed, divided it into portions and put in colour to each piece.

Tips:
- Always pour the hot water yourself instead of letting the children take over to avoid scalding.
- Use a spoon to do the mixing.
- When using dyes like food colourings, use gloves as it will stain the fingers.
- Wrap the dough in cling to prevent them drying out.
- Add texture like sesame seeds, tiny pasta for a texture feel.
- Add scents like cinnamon, cocoa powder or essentials oil to induce a smell that makes it more intersting, engaging not only visual, feel but smell too.

And having these playing clay does not only mean creating items. You can make the playing session into something educational.

1. Teach you children on colours and sort them out into their respective bowls. Colour bowls can be bought at IKEA.
2. Mix 2 different colour clays to see what colour it will become. Eg. Blue and Red makes Purple.
3. Have a competition on who can make the most balls or any shapes, training their tiny fingers.
4. Teach them the concept of mathematics by counting the balls made in item 3.
5. Have different play materials like straws to paly together with the dough teaching them the idea of what is soft and hard. What is smooth and rough.

Last for not least, please make sure small children are under supervision while playing so that they do not put the play clay into their mouth or nose.

It's time to have fun, isn't it.

Outings and Travel | Making travel with babies & kids fuss-free

June holidays are approaching. Yes, some like it some fear it. My kids childcare has planned a series of school outings for the kids and I am tagging along too to enjoy the holidays as an adult. Well, adults don't have school holidays so I have to make full use of any opportunities to play and bond with my children.

My children are 3 and 6 years now and thus it is much easier now. I definitely recalled when they are still a baby and a toodler. The mind is all about making sure that I have brought enough items so that I won't lack any items that are required. Ironically, when I have brought everything out in a big bag (sure heavy!!!), then I realised a lot of items were not used at all. Well, it's for just in case purposes anyway, sigh. =p Sometimes, I even have this bad thought that we should not go out so that we won't be iny situation that makes the trips unpleasant. Bad thought actually!

Nevertheless, parents will tend to bring their children out more often during the holidays, be in some interesting places locally or aboard. At different ages, parents should be concerned and prepared themselves essentially when out as you won’t know what you might experience along the way, especially when all of you travel overseas.

Outings can in fact be very enjoying if you are well prepared, well organized and self-assured. However, do bear in mind that travels should not be too ambitious and should not be any overly strenuous walking expeditions. Relax and should you experience some hiccups, laugh at it instead of fuss over it, spoiling your outings and overseas trips.


Here's a guide of what to pack in your bag.

A. Local Outings

0-1 Year Old
It’s worth while to spend some time to plan how you are going to your destination, what you need, where to feed your child and change him. If you are not confident, have your partner or friend with you to help.

Items to bring along for a young baby:
- Changing Mat (if nursing rooms are not easily located)
- Sufficient Nappies/diapers
- Baby Wipes/ Diaper cream/
- Milk Feeds
- Sweater
- Extra set of clothes
- Burp cloth/ Bib
- Pacificer (if baby needs it)
- Hat
- Toys
- Wet Bags

Extra items to bring along for an older baby:
- Milk Feeds, Baby Food and spoon
- Snacks
- Water
- Bib
- Sweater
- Extra set of clothes
- Hand Sanitizer

How to bring your baby out?
Parents should also think about how you want to bring your baby out. The time you are bring them out, i.e. during off peak or peak hours, the amount of time out and what is the mode of transport all contribute to how you decide to carry your baby and of course the items baby needs.

1. Using a Sling
Slings are one of the most convenient methods to carry your baby if your outings are not too long. But do ensure that baby and adult is comfortable.


2. Using a stroller/pram

Use a stroller if you are expecting to be out for hours as your baby can sleep comfortably in the stroller. However, do not leave your child unattended. When in stationary position, ensure that the wheels are locked and put on the safety harness.

1-3 Years Old
By this time, your child might have learned to walk. The greatest possible problem is to keep him or her safely restrained. Always be prepared to slow down your outing pace as your child might stops to look and explore what he or she sees along the way.

Your child might not be happy if he or she is totally restrained in his or her stroller. You might see the need to persuade your child to stay in it and one of the best way is to bring along his or her favorite toy as well as some snacks.

Items to bring along:
- Toys
- Books
- Water
- Snacks
- Comforter
- Sweater
- Hat
- Diapers if not toilet trained
- Additional set of clothes
- Wet Bags


B. Air Travels

If you are intending to travel by air, you need to plan your journey meticulously. Always check with the flight company or travel agency the constraints on board an air craft.

Things to note:
- Always indicate that you have a baby with you.
- Ask for a bulkhead seat as there’s more leg room
- Check if cots are provided onboard
- Arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare
- Always seek your child’s doctor advise ahead of the trip for health precautions, vaccinations, medication

Items to bring along (ensure sufficient supplies):
- Child’s travel documents
- Baby bag for baby’s on-the-go items
- Stroller/ pram
- Changing needs
- Plastic bags
- Feeding needs
- Toys
- Comforters
- Sweater
- Water
- Medication

Here's a list of products to consider. Get them at www.eobexclusive.com.

Label Label Pacificer Holder

OXO Tot Snack Disc

Smelly Bag

Steripod Portable Toothbrush Sanitizer

Potty Training Mistakes to Avoid

Potty training can be a chore sometimes. But it got too be taught eventually. Here's some tips to make sure potty training do not become a hassle.

1. Don’t be unrealistic. We heard parents say that their baby was potty trained at the age of 2 without much help. Well, good for you. However, we like to emphasize that the average age for a child to understand or even start potty training between 2 and 3 years old. And it does not matters if your child is a boy or girl. There's no proof that girls or easier to train or whatsoever. Hence, be realistic. Establish your child routine and how acceptive they are to potty training. Even if your child is trained only by age 4, there's nothing to be ashamed of.


2. Don’t pin all your hopes on advice. Be prepared for lots of ideas when your toddler enters this phase. You’ll be told that diaper-free time is THE way to go. Or perhaps candy bribes. Or having your child help clean up the messes with you. Or use a special training pants will work. Unfortunately, every child is different and there’s not really a one-size-fits-all approach to potty training. So take advice for just what it is – ideas you can try out, but not perfect solutions to the problem. Just be positive and try. If a child is not ready, no matter how much you try, chances of succeeding is not high.


3. Do not buy too much stuff when you are potty training your kid. As this method might not work and the stuff deem useless.


4.Don’t forget that personality is key. A child’s temperament greatly affects the whole potty training experience. Confident, type-A (i.e. choleric) children might thrive on being given challenges or even taking dares (“Let’s see if you can keep your pants dry while you are playing this morning!”) Thoughtful and introspective toddlers who are prone to worry (i.e. melancholic) will benefit from frequent praise and encouragement and be ultra sensitive to any kind of negativity or disapproval from you. Happy-go-lucky types that flit from one thing to another (i.e. sanguine) are going to be so busy playing that potty training might become a boring, mundane interruption. So you might have to make it SUPER FUN for these free spirits! And last of all, the laid-back, careful and peace-loving (i.e. phlegmatic) children just aren’t going to see what the big rush is. Number two messes and puddles on the floor? Hmmm, not really a big deal for them. Learning to use the potty? Can we put that off another day? The slow and methodical phlegmatic needs more motivation than all the other personalities. This is the child you’ll have to kindly and gently “light a fire” underneath, or they may put it off until it’s time to go to school.


5. Don’t lose patience and don’t take it personally! They will make messes right on the floor. They will run and hide when it’s time to go. They will sit on the potty for thirty minutes and then have an accident as they walk out of the bathroom. They will miss and spray the bathroom walls, floor and furniture. They will create more dirty laundry than ten newborn babies. They will regress just when you’ve put away all their diapers and patted everyone on the back for a job well done. And when you think your patience has been tested to the limit, a few adventurous toddlers will want to put their hands in it, create art with it and quite possibly try to ingest it! So pray for patience; you’ll need loads of it. And try not to take all this personally, although it will be tempting some days to think they are doing all this to punish you for making them eat vegetables.

Making your own baby snacks using fruits and vegetables

I really can't believe it that my kids are constantly eating. However, it is totally different during proper meals.

And it is bad that they keep eating outside snacks which might contains salt, presevatives and colouring. So I like to introduce making your own healthy baby snacks.And it will be great too for adults too to snack together.

1. Chop or cut the vegetables/ fruits a hape and size fitting for your little one to pick up easily and chew/swallow safely. Remember that the smaller the dice, the more quickly it cooks. And the size and shape should take into considerations your child's age and his/her ability to self-feed themselves.

2. Coat the chopped dices with olive oil.

3. Put it into the 350º oven and stir occasionally, until the toughest vegetable is tender, for roughly 30 minutes. The vegetables need to be cooked to the point they are easily smashed between your thumb and forefinger.

Some good vegetables and fruits choices are:

•Potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, celery, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, beets
•Bananas, Papaya, apples

My kid has a fever and why I should be concern everytime

Have you ever have the expeirences that when you touch your child, he or she feels warm but when you measure her, the temperature was all right? Or have you ever wonder why your child has a higher temperature when he is perfectly fine just a moment ago, but he still seems energetic?

Here, we came across a website that has a pictorial that gives us information when you can seek initial self-treatment or head to your paedictrician right away. However, it does not mean that you need not worry. I would put it across as being concern everytime there's a fever. Not worrisome though it might be the case especially it's a high fever. Do also note that commonly doctors refer fever to be higher than 37.5ºC.

In the picture, it uses Fahrenheit. Hence for conversion, we includes some figures.

1 degree Celsius = 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit

Some key temperatures to note:
98.7ºF = 37ºC
99.5ºF = 37.5ºC
101.5ºF = 38.5ºC
102.5ºF = 39ºC
100.4ºF = 38ºC
104ºF > 40ºC

And some indications to summarise the chart:

1. For children 3 months to 3 years old, a temperature of up to 39ºC (higher for older children) indicates the body fighting an illness.

2. A low grade fever might be expected for children who recently gets an injection.

Common Singapore fever medicine includes:

1. For fever lower than 38.5ºC, paedictricians/ GPs normally prescribe the pink solution call paracetamol. Do note the strength as it does indicates how much you feed your child. In the market there are 2 strengths; 120mg per 5ml and 250mg per ml. So always check carefully how much you feed your child if you are seeking self-treatment. If ensure, call your doctor's clinic or visit a doctor. And always follow the dosage as when as the times to be given.

2. For fever above 38.55ºC, ibuprofen is commonly given. However, as this is stronger, always limit it use unless required. And seek professional guide at all times.

Source: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/01/when-a-childs-fever-becomes-a-serious-problem-infographic/

How to raise a positive child while disciplining less

Do you have trouble disciplining your child and is always at a lost that neither ways works? Maybe it's time you look at how to raise a positive child while disciplining less.

Each child has their own character and it is more important to identify their nature and act accordingly; raising a positive and happy child.

Be intuitive, not reactive. =)

Source: The Child Whisperer

The all Natural-Homemade Postpartum Care Kit | Just too good for mothers on confinement

Giving birth requires a lot of work to recover and hence in Asia context, we have our one month confinement to nurse back our health and at the same time bond with the newborn. Not forgetting that healing can be painful and challenging.

For first time mothers especially, I recalled myself shortage of things that I actually need but never prepare. Luckily, in Singapore, shops are not too far away to send husbands to run an errand to. =p

However, maybe we can relook at our already available home items that we can make used of. And also saving on costs.


Preparing for postpartum in advance is also essential for helping guard your adjusting body against the baby blues and postpartum depression that you are susceptible to after birth.

Please note that information here are merely to educate, inspire, and motivate you to look into these issues more on your own, or to speak with your own medical practitioner for more information.


1.Postpartum Salt BathFor women going through natural birth, and there's a cut or tear to the perineum area, soak yourself for 5-10 minutes or even wash the area with a bath bath to help healing faster. Fill up warm water in a basin and dissolve in a tablespoon of salt. This can be your table salt. No, it does not sting. We tried it and it indeed help heal the perineum area faster and helps soothes the pain. You can either sit in the solution for 5-10 minutes or wash your perineum area with this after using the loo.

2. Refreshing Perineum SprayFill a small spray bottle with witch hazel and a few drops of lavender essential oil and apply to your perineum after you use the restroom.

3. Postpartum Blues SprayGeranium or bergamot essential oils are excellent to prevent post-partum depression, so dilute a 2-3 drops in a small spray bottle or diffuse around the room to help balance all those adjusting hormones. A small spray bottle with this concoction is another great gift for a new mommy.

4. Homemade Mother’s Milk TeaYes, you need it for the hearty production of your milk supply.
Please refer to the recipe at this link.

If you have more good ideas to share, please drop us a note so that mothers can get prepared. =)

All Natural-Homemade Mother’s Milk Tea Recipe

Here's a good receipe for an all natural homemade Mother's Milk Tea for nursing mothers.

Mother’s Milk Tea
1/2 cup nettle leaf, dried (a vitamin factory, high in calcium, iron, potassium, etc. -strengthens and tones entire system)
1/2 cup red raspberry leaf, dried (nourishing tonic for the reproductive system, high in calcium)
1/4 cup alfalfa leaf, dried (a superlative restorative tonic, rebuilding vitality and boosting milk supply)
1/4 cup dandelion leaf, dried (beneficial for all conditions due to the wonderful source of minerals, vitamins, fiber, and micronutrients)
1/4 cup fennel seed (Increase milk production and tone the digestive system, curtailing colic and indigestion) – you could also substitute fennel with any of these seeds: anise, cumin, caraway, coriander or dill
1/4 cup blessed thistle, dried (Stimulates the milk flow and helps restore vitality to weary mothers)
ground cinnamon, to flavor

You can coose to make a smaller or larger portion; just adjust accordingly the proportions.

Combine herbs well and cover securely with a lid. Store in a dark cupboard as light will cause nutrition lose. Use about 1 tablespoon herbs per cup of boiling water. Allow to steep covered for 15 minutes before consuming. Best results if you consumed 3-5 cups per day. You can change this recipe as desired, if you do not have access to all these herbs. The best galactic herbs are nettle, alfalfa, blessed thistle, and red raspberry leaf. The other herbs add wonderful nutrition and are healing to the body. The herbs can be rather bland and grassy tasting on their own, so I added cinnamon (about 1-2 tsp for this quantity), which provided a delightful flavoring. You could try chamomile or lemon balm as an alternative. A teaspoon of honey tops it off for a refreshing tea beverage.

Use french press or tea bags for this recipe with perfect results. If this are not available, simply filter it off with sift.

Some other methods of increasing milk supply include:

Oatmeal- a good bowl of oatmeal daily is an excellent means of increasing your milk supply. Have it as breakfast.

Bump Up the Calcium – Loading up on calcium is very valuable.

Liquids – drink lots of water and papaya fish soup!

Rest – when the body is weary, it will not be so inclined to produce milk.

Fenugreek – I have been taking a fenugreek supplement in capsule form for its helpful benefits of increasing milk supply. Fenugreek can also be added to the mother’s milk tea listed above.

10 interesting ways to let your child drink more water

Some parents like me always have a hard time to get your child to drink more water. Well, it all depends onn how much water they are already drinking. If they are already drinking a lot, do not force them anymore. It's not a problem at all.

However, some kids just do not drink water. And that's a headache. Here's some ways you can encourage your child to drink.

We did a search and compile some suggested ways.

1. Wilted Plant – Show kids how important water is to plants. Just a day without water can cause the leaves to wilt. The good news is that water can perk up a plant immediately if it hasn’t been dry too long. Water is as necessary to our bodies as a plant.

2. Lead by Example – It is really easy to start the day off with a cup of coffee and neglect water, but lately I have cut back to one cup of coffee a day so my first cup is water instead. I was surprised how quickly this became a habit and how satisfying water can be even before coffee.

3. Make Water Available – I have found in my house that whatever is the most available is the most consumed. If we don’t have cookies, then none are eaten. The same goes for soda. If the fridge is stocked with water instead of other options, that is what the kids grab.

4. Pack Water – Sending a water bottle in the kid’s backpack or sports bag makes it really easy to drink when needed later in the day.

5. Water Bar – I love this idea to set up a water bar with ingredients to add like cucumbers, lemons, limes, mint and rosemary. Kids can create their own special mixture to drink.

6. Fruited Water – Last time our family was on vacation the resort we were staying at had fruited water stations throughout the pool area. One day the water dispensers may be full of brightly colored watermelon and another day might be orange slices with a few raspberries. I noticed that we never passed one without helping ourselves.

7. Be Persistent – Kids don’t like change and would prefer to eat like elves…sugar, sugar, sugar. Make it your goal to outlast their water resistance for their own good.

8. Do Some Water Activities – The internet has drinking water activities appropriate for children although they could be modified for multi-age kids within a family.

9. Body of Water – Investigate how about 60% of the human body is water. In fact, in kids that might even be higher since babies’ mass is nearly 75% water and it decreases with age. Get out a ruler and measure 60% of their height. Fill buckets with water that are as heavy as 60% of your child’s weight to demonstrate how much water they really are and how much they need to stay being!

10. Take a Water Pledge – Have your kids take the Pledge to drink more water. And in turn reward them.

Oral care during pregnancy

It's a wonderful, beautiful and joyous momemnt to be pregnant. Congratulations. And while having to take note of various issues about being pregnant, the dos and the don'ts, we are sorry that we got to put forth another - pregnancy oral care. However, it's for your own and baby's well being. Hence, it definitely requires a small effort to learn about it.

As we all already know, pregnancy can make a woman feeling very sick or nothing at all. This is due to the hormonal changes occur in our body that alters its normal behavior. This is the reason why it’s important pregnant women to take good care of our teeth and gums. The hormonal changes increase the risk of developing gum disease because it makes gums more sensitive, making gingivitis easier to develop, and this can affect the health of the baby. Pregnancy gingivitis, identified by and uncomfortable swelling, bleeding, redness or softness in the gum tissue.

Fret not actually. We have some tips to prevent that.

And it is best that good practice starts way before pregnancy. However if you are pregnant, just start paying some attention to your oral health.

Before Pregnancy
Visit your dentist regularly at least every 6 months to have teeth professionally cleaned and gum tissue carefully examined. If there is any oral condition, it is better to get it treated in advance of your pregnancy.

During Pregnancy
1. Avoid sweet food as much as possible. The more sweets you eat, the greater chance you have of developing tooth decay. Moreover, the food you eat influences your child's food preferences. Hence, no matter how great your sweet craving is, try to control it. And it good to control especially pregnant ladies need to be wary of gestational diabetes.

2. Avoid dental treatments at specific times during pregnancy. For precaution, during the first trimester and second half of the third trimester dental treatments should be avoided as much as possible. You need to let your dentist know you are pregnant during your routine dental care and checkups. Avoid dental X-rays during pregnancy.

3. Always eat a healthy, balanced diet. This is very important because your baby's first teeth begin to develop around after the third month of your pregnancy.

4. If morning sickness is keeping you from brushing your teeth, change to a bland-tasting toothpaste during pregnancy. Rinse your mouth out with water or a mouth rinse if you suffer from morning sickness and have bouts of frequent vomiting.

5. Pay special attention to any changes in your gums during pregnancy. Visit your dentist right away if there's any discomfort.

6. Maintain a good oral hygiene to prevent or reduce oral health related problems.

If you need more tips on oral health and hygiene, join Steripod Singapore Facebook page.