Cow's milk.

Pichan really doesn't care for cow's milk. And really, I can't blame him. He is used to sweet breast milk, at a certain temperature and with a cuddle, so it is no surprise that cow juice doesn't do much for him. But now he is a year and five months, which means that in another six months or so I hope to wean him, and then where will he get his dairy from...

Apparently, he should be having two cups of dairy a day- or about 700 milligrams. So what can I do?

He eats yogurt- though the tubs here are small. And will have some cheese most days. Sometimes he will have a few sips of milk, but if I make him banana milk (Banana, flax seeds, oats and a teaspoon of honey) he gulps it down- I actually mix it with even more milk so it is only lightly flavoured. While I don't want him only drinking milk if it is sweetened, I figure that he has been raised on sweetened milk, and he is better off drinking sweetened (not too much) milk, than none at all.

The good news is, I have found other sources that he can get his calcium from (for more info- see http://www.babycenter.com/0_calcium-in-your-childs-diet_10324689.bc):

• 1/4 cup raw tofu prepared with calcium sulfate: 217 mg (The calcium content of tofu varies, depending on how it's processed. Check the label.)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt: 207 mg
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses: 172 mg
• 1/2 cup fruit yogurt: 122 to 192 mg
• 1/2 cup calcium-fortified orange juice: 133 to 250 mg
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese: 167 mg
• 1/2 cup milk: 150 mg
• 1/2 cup chocolate milk: 144 mg
• 1/2 ounce Swiss cheese: 112 mg
• 1/2 cup vanilla frozen yogurt, soft-serve: 102 mg
• 1/2 ounce cheddar cheese: 102 mg
• 1 slice whole grain bread: 24 mg
• 1/2 ounce mozzarella cheese: 103 mg
• 1/4 cup collard greens: 66 mg
• 1/4 cup homemade pudding (from mix or scratch): 76 mg
• 1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed butter): 64 mg
• 1/4 cup turnip greens: 50 mg
• 1/4 cup cooked spinach: 60 mg
• 1/2 cup calcium-fortified cereal (ready to eat): 51 mg
• 1/2 cup calcium-fortified soy beverage: 40 to 250 mg

I really want him to have strong bones and teeth. I suppose I will just have to be extra good about giving him a varied diet. Maybe I need a meal plan...

The final 'wonder week'- Huzzah!

The final 'wonder week' (which is always at least a month long) runs from week 70 and a half, to week 75 and a half. This developmental leap was all about the world of systems. Meaning now not only can he see a pattern of things that need to be done in order to complete a task, but it means he realises that they can be done in a different order to complete the same end.

For example- it was "Let's go to the shops".Which meant- clean nappy, socks and pants, get mummy's bag, get our water bottle, close the windows, put on our shoes, lock the door.

Now he realises that we can get the bag ready before we put our socks on, and we can close the windows first.

The 'Stormy period'- aka, cranksville, was at the start of the leap this time which was kind of nice. And it was pretty bad for a while, but passed after a week or so.

His naps are hit and miss. The same with his sleeping; some nights he sleeps until 5am (then he has a quick feed before going back down again) and some nights he wakes a few times. I am hoping it sorts itself soon enough.

From my other friends, I have heard that the terrible twos also have a few month long periods of crankiness, but thankfully I feel like it is getting a little easier to deal with now that he is older.



                                

Pichan's Holiday Book

Our holiday is over now and already fading away into a distant memory. Pichan had a great time (future post of flying with a 15month old coming soon), but is super glad to be home. 

One thing I did before we left, was I made him a "Pichan's holiday" book. It is a story book filled with photos that tell the story of his holiday- from start to finish.

I included everything I thought relevant.

From the packing (and later repacking) of the suitcases

To taking trains and planes (there and back) and inside the aircraft.

To pictures of Nanna and Poppy, and their house, and the room we will be sleeping in.

I also made a little countdown night calendar in the story (top right)- the idea was to cross off one night at the end of each day so he could see time progressing- but we got distracted and didn't really pull out the book again until we were at the airport ready to go home. 

I finished the book with a photo of our house and then his bedroom so he could see we were coming back.

Did it work to make his transition easier? I thought maybe? But his reaction when he got home to his toys was one like: "I thought I would never see this again. My boat! I love my boat! Ahh, this thing! and that book!" so maybe he had no idea that he would be coming home and ever seeing his stuff again. 

Either way, it wasn't too difficult to make (just made in word, with photos pasted in it, and then cut out and glued onto cardboard, then stapled). For the trip next year I will make one again, and as he will be just that little bit older he will probably understand what is going on a bit more. 

Help with colic

So, I have realised that I never really did a colic post about what worked, and what didn't. It has been so long since those first, scream-filled 12 weeks, but I still remember it. My heart always goes out to anyone currently going through it, as it really takes away from the time you get to 'enjoy' your newborn. 


From my research, Colic is caused by gas pains, which are caused by a build up of lactose in the intestines, and not enough lactase to process the lactose, so it creates gas, and thus pains, and thus, cranky baby. 

I read that probiotics can make it better, and I think it slightly did. So, the probiotics I used were:

Nature's Way, Primadophilus, Reuteri, Superior Probiotic, Powder

http://www.iherb.com/Nature-s-Way-Primadophilus-Reuteri-Superior-Probiotic-Powder-5-oz-141-75-g/4676#p=1&oos=1&disc=0&lc=en-US&w=probiotics&rc=967&sr=null&ic=10

I believe it is the Lactobacillus reuteri is the strain that you need and I have heard great things about biogaia but I couldn't get them shipped to Japan:

http://www.biogaia.com/consumer?field_bg_product_countries_tid=11&field_bg_product_symptom_tid=All

Here are the other things that I have tried and their effectiveness:

Lots of rubs/burps/leg moves . (not helpful at the time, but maybe it helps for future pains). There are lots of videos on youtube for gas pains in babies. Touching your baby is always good though.

Pumping in the morning to get rid of lactose rich foremilk and so he gets more fat rich hind milk. ( I stopped doing this, as it took a bit of time, and didn't think it was super effective for the effort involved. Maybe it helped slightly though)

Feeding him from only one breast per feeding (Meh? I did it for a while, and then didn't).

Not feeding him so much (I fed him less, but usually every two hours or so. Pi gained weight really well, so I kept an eye on that. I think this helps though)

No more dairy for me to rule out a milk protein allergy (I don't think it was, but just in case). I stopped some other foods too, but I forget what they were. Dairy was the big one though.

Lots of walks (him in the Ergo carrier) and moves to get the gas moving through his system (he LOVED walking, and after the initial struggle, he went straight to sleep). Pi LOVED it (still does), and it saved my sanity. I wore him most of the day, which was a killer on my neck and back, but it is better than a crying baby, and I hated seeing him upset. Being upright with the gentle pressure on their belly helps with the pain. I noticed it helped a lot. Pi was far less fussy when I wore him all day, but it is hella tiring.

Gripe water- 'mommys bliss', (he LOVED the taste of this. I don't know if it helps with the gas too much, but it sometimes distracted him and he stopped crying so it works that way. You need to use a lot per dose though).

'Infants friend' medicine from Australia- works a little bit I think.

I gave him a little bit of fennel tea (a teaspoon or so at a time) when his gas pains are bad (I do think this helps. I think the fennel, combined with the water really flushes out the system). Gripe water is usually ginger, fennel and chamomile, but fennel tea doesn't have the sugar.

I also ate fennel seeds so it ended up in my milk.

What does actually work...time. 

That is such a sucky thing to hear. 

11weeks and two days was when Pi stopped writhing in pain. It was so hard to watch him cry all the time. It also was the worst vicious cycle, as his pains would wake him up from sleep, so he was always over tired and harder to get to sleep, and then I would finally get him to sleep and then 20mins later- boom- pain again. He was an all day/most of the night pain/Colic. It was so hard on the little guy. He is the happiest little man now though, you wouldn't know it. I think it is the big cause of why he was such a crap sleeper though- we never had that 'sleeping like a baby' thing.

I blame Pi's tummy troubles on the doctors inducing me and giving me antibiotics, and continuing the dose while I was breast feeding- on doctors orders to complete the dose. No wonder his little belly was so screwed up. I felt so sorry for the little man. It is so hard to see them in pain!

On a side note:

Check out the 5 S's. If you can- get your hands on "the happiest baby on the block" dvd- by Dr Harvey Karp. They have some super helpful tricks. The best one (forgive me if you know this) is 'shushing' in their ear REALLY loudly. It kind of resets their inner crying button and they stop (most of the time), especially if you combine it with others (Swaddle, Shushing, Sucking (Pi wouldn't take a pacifier though), Swinging (any movement), and Side/stomach position (not for sleeping). Pi loved to be held by Husband in the "colic hold". To do it, just drape the babyhead down across your forearm. Pi liked it and I think it helped him.

To any mothers with a colicky baby out there; good luck! and just remember that it will pass.

Keeping baby cool at night.

We are kind of struggling with this lately. The temperature is rising and rising- and even though all three of us are Aussies (though Pi was born in Japan)- we don't do so well with the heat. Pi gets so incredibly sweaty... Must be all that delicious baby chub.

Before we give him a bath each night we check the weather report and see the minimum temperature. As it isn't dropping to anything under 25 most nights (sometimes it is still 28 degrees at 9 pm), we have him dressed in his 0.5tog sleep sack.

Yeah, it's girlie- but he doesn't mind :P

He wears a nappy and we have bought him a super light, gauzy onesie from akachan honpo (http://akachan.7netshopping.jp/shopping/g/g144005003)






I like the fact it is so light and breathable. You might not be able to see it, but it is like wearing a cotton mesh suit.

We also set his airconditioner onto dehumidification mode and set the temperature to 26 degrees- so it is cool, but not cold. We also have a fan going (but that is also for white noise).

I turn off the airconditioner at about 9 or 10pm, when we go to bed and it is a little cooler, and open up his sliding glass door and bedroom door so that the air can really flow through the room (when there is a breeze- when there isn't a breeze it is very stuffy). So he sleeps just with the fan on, and all the doors open. I get up at 4:30am (when the sun wakes me) and close all his curtains so that the sun doesn't wake him. It stays a reasonable temperature in there, and he usually wakes a 6:30ish.

If it ever doesn't drop below 28 degrees, then we might look at keeping his aircon on all night. Not so great for the power bill, or him to sleep in- but we can't have him sweating up a storm.

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire...

On Friday I felt really run down, and started to get a pain in my right breast. I thought maybe I was just tired after waiting with a toddler at city hall for over an hour, but by the next morning the pain was stabbing, and I felt absolutely horrible. There was also a big red patch on my breast- under the nipple.

Yep, mastitis. I really thought I wasn't going to get it at all as most people get mastitis during the first few months. I didn't have cracked nipples or anything either so at first I wasn't sure just what it was.

Pichan had a night or two where he almost slept through (I had to wake him for a dream feed at 4am, as my boobs felt like balloons about to burst). Couple that with the fact he is down to three feeds a day instead of four- and it is dropping about 3 feeds in a 24 hour period. No wonder.

Mastitis really hurts, and the thought of feeding while having a massive pain is a huge turn off. Also, I felt like I had the flu- body aches, run down etc. It wasn't great.

Thankfully I received some great advice from a lactation consultant. So I rested as much as possible, I took showers where I left the water pressure massage my boob, and I fed as much as possible. I was also advised to feed in a weird position- with me on all fours over my baby (talk about feeling like a cow). The idea was so that gravity emptied the breast as much as possible. It also felt good to feed that way as it didn't have his head pressing into the sore spot.

I was lucky in that it cleared up by the next day- so no antibiotics or anything. Which is fantastic. It was tender for a few days, but after that was all back to normal. I certainly wouldn't want to get it again, but as I don't feed entirely by a clock (not really 'on demand' though either- more of a middle ground) I must be careful. At least I know what to do now.

Hepatitis B becoming free (so I've heard)

Good news for soon-to-be-mothers in Japan. I was talking to some of my students the other day about vaccinations, and was telling how how we are following both the Australian and Japanese vaccination charts. But doing it this way means that we pay out of pocket for some- namely Hepatitis B, and Rotavirus (Hepatitis B cost us 4500yen). She hadn't had her baby vaccinated for Hep B, so at her next visit to the doctor she asked about the vaccine.

Her doctor told her that from 2016, the Hepatitis B vaccine will be covered by the government- no out of pocket expense. How great is that! I have tried to find some articles on the internet which confirms this and *think* I have: http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kabun-blog/200/207285.html


So, hopefully (and please don't quote me) Hepatitis B will be added to the list of routine, free vaccinations in Japan. Lucky you, 2016 babies.