Assalamualaikum,

I am declaring (as I have always been) that I am a full supporter of breastfeeding.
Supporter means that I encourage breastfeeding and I am willing to share my experience about breastfeeding. But, I will also refrain saying anything about formula-fed babies. Many moms may have tried breastfeeding and failed, many have tried and found that formula is best for their baby, few may opt for formula because it's easier, and etc.

As a supporter, I will help and try my best to assist moms who are serious in breastfeeding their babies. Do note that breastfeeding is a journey. You will definitely face some obstacles. And eventually you may, or may not succeed. If you don't succeed, do not fret. Share it with your colleagues, or other moms regardless whether they are breastfeeding or not. At least you get to tell your story. Other moms will tend to motivate you and support you in times of need. If you don't have friends to talk to, talk to your husband or your own mother.

Friends have always ask me about breastfeeding because I breastfed both my kids. How do I do it? How to produce more milk especially. I'm going to do a series of breastfeeding posts. So here goes Part One: Tips on how to breastfeed successfully.

1. Study about breastfeeding beforehand.
    What new moms often forget is to study on breastfeeding before giving birth. Study about the supply and demand, about baby's feeding cue, on how to latch your baby to your breast.

Latching tips: Your areolas must be in your baby's mouth, the whole of it or most of it if your areolas are big. Baby's cheek will look full because it is filled with your nipple in there. And when baby is sucking, you will not here any sucking sound. This is successful latching.


5. Ask other bf-ing mother's experience.
    Bf mothers each have their own story. Some may have endured many obstacle before finally able to bf successfully, some may come easy for them. But I assure you, they will always have many to tell, and many tips/tricks at their fingertips.

6. Relax. Don't fret, don't stress. Go with the flow. Even if your baby is crying, practically screaming, for milk and you are still fumbling to open your nursing bra.



To be continued...

Assalamualaikum,

For those who know me, they know that I am a supporter of breastfeeding.
I have not stop breastfeeding since Lulu was born in 2011. Oh, there was a break between March 2013-July 2013 when I was pregnant with Mimi and had to go for Umrah.
Before that though, I was still breastfeeding Lulu. So, Lulu's breastfeeding record is 1 year and 9 months. Just 3 months shy from the full term of 2 years.

Mimi is now 2 years 2 months. And I am weaning her off. My breasts need a break! Can I finally be free? I have been trying to wean her off for few weeks already, but she would always need to breastfeed at night.
When we started, it was so hard to get her to drink formula. Mimi is really attached to me (or should I say, my boobs?). She simply cannot give up breast milk. So we tried different formulas. From Mamex, Mamil, and then we found that Mimi drank more during the Friso Gold stage. I was happy. Did we finally found the milk that Mimi approve?

NOT!

Although Mimi did drink a lot more of the Friso Gold, there was one problem. She had terrible constipation. At first, it seemed normal...later on, it was so bad that everytime her stool wanted to passed, she grimaced & do the thing you do when you berak, but the shit tak keluar pun! Terrible!
So I got her Lactul, medicine yg mcm doc bagi after give birth tu. The purpose is to melembutkan the hard stool. But I guess the hard one was already blocking the passageway for the other stool to go out...so that really hard one has to pass first.

*if you're easily grossed out, skip this paragraph*
It was a pain for her. Seriously. I heard from other mothers that their little ones had bled trying to pass the hard stool, but I can't stand to see Mimi fighting the "stool battle", so when she had that passing feeling again, I put her in a crouching position, and I myself got that hard thing out for her. She was kinda crying and said, "Mama...sakit, sakit." But when it was all out, I knew she was relieved. Afterwards, the next two three times she berak, the stool was very soft. The Lactul had soften the stools but not the one at the "doorway".

After that episode, I told my family about it all in our family Whatsapp group. And my sister suggested Mamil. She had done marketing for brands and knew it helps with sembelit. So I switched Mimi's formula to Mamil balik.
When we switched the milk, we were about to go on our family trip to UK. So I only brought a little for the whole trip and planned to breastfeed her more during our time there. Trust me, travel is so much easier when you are breastfeeding. You don't have to bring milk, warm water, etc.
But when we were there, Mimi drank quite a lot of the formula and it finished few days before we're due to go back home. So I breastfed her during that time.
Back home, we continued with formula & breastmilk. She still cannot give up the breastmilk fully.

However, last night for the first time ever, she lasted the whole day without breastfeeding and slept herself off without the need to bf! Yay!
Will I miss breastfeeding her? Errr...maybe not. Coz now I noticed that my breasts are not as full as before, I think because milk is starting to deplete and it hurts when she wants to breastfeed. So my breasts also is telling Mimi & me to stop the breastfeeding...
*It tells me secretively that it wants to get back into shape & breastfeeding is not helping her achieve that.*


Anyway, even on formula, I am positively sure that Mimi is pretty much Mommy's girl because sometimes when getting that bottle of milk, she will say to me, "Nak baring dgn Mama..."
Oh well.

Breastfeeding jokes to calm my not so good day.

Salam.

Last review was about the baby room at Jusco, Mid Valley. Which was the 1st yg aku pegi.
Now, this time let's review about the baby room at IKEA.

It's located dekat dengan the IKEA Cafe. Ada 2 baby rooms. Each room size is very small but enough to fit one stroller. But if dh ade stroller in there, space could be cramped.
Furniture sudah tentu2 lah furniture from IKEA sendiri.

Dari segi design, IKEA is known for making the best out of small spaces. So, I would say it's a good effort for basic baby room.
It has a single-seater sofa, a changing table with tissue roll for hygiene purposes, a dustbin, mirror, sink & soap.

Plus points: Equipped with basic needs, Comfy sofa, big tissue roll, colourful designed room, confy changing table with mobile toy.

Minus points:
- Quite stuffy room with not much air conditioning felt (sebab lighting they use is yellow lighting)
- 2 rooms not enough! Aku penah share once and although I don't mind but it does feel a bit cramped. Sofa cuma ade satu, so the other mommy kene pakai kerusi dari cafe. Which is not that comfy la.
- Also, one of the rooms have faulty lock.
- Be careful with tissue roll! Roll die loose and could fall one side. Mine did fall and masa tu, Lulu tgh atas the changing table. Nasib baik x kene die.
- No bottle warmer/air minum whatsoever.

Wall decorated with IKEA fabric & that's the single-seater sofa.

Atas changing table, tissue roll tu agak loose.

Basically, IKEA's baby room is really minimal compared to other baby rooms. Now, ppl are much more aware of the importance of baby rooms and have buffed up the rooms at malls, airports, etc. So, IKEA should do something about this also. Maybe check the conditions of the rooms, make sure it is well-maintained.
Aku rasa the baby rooms are not that maintained sebab there are few safety precautions yg IKEA management kene repair.
I hope they do something about the room and try and maintain it regularly.
Of course, should they have space, do build another room.

Kalau nak aku bagi rating, aku bagi 2.5/5.
Banyak yg boleh diperbaiki. Yg faults tu banyak markah potong sebab a baby room kene la kids' friendly kan. Location wise, senang nak jumpa tp pintu masuk baby room ni agak misleading sbb pintu die mcm pintu nak masuk stor.

Ok, kita berhenti takat ni. Jumpe balik di entry akan datang.
Tata!

A nice read... =)

http://leonalim.com/blog/index.php/2010/12/20/real-truths-about-breastfeeding/

Salam.

Being a breastfeeding mother (although not 100%), setiap kali aku keluar ke shopping mall atau tempat2 awam, aku akan scout for any baby/nursing room.
Ini akan menjadi tugas aku sebagai seorang ibu lebih senang. Yela, kalo time tu aku xbawa susu tepung ke, baby berak ke, I know where to go.

Dekat Malaysia ni, baru sekarang la nak ada awareness for baby care. Time kita kecik2 dulu mana ade all this awareness. Kalau baby berak, pergi kat ladies toilet je. If ade tempat yg sediakan just a diaper room, that is considered as very lucky dah. And baby safety during travel...dulu mana org kesah. Carseat pun mana la org2 kita ni nak guna. Pegang je baby in our own arms during travel.
Now, time is changing. The new generation, Us. Kita dah create awareness and now dah byk places yg ade amenities for mothers with babies. Alhamdulillah. Walaupun in general masih tak banyak mcm negara lain, tapi at least we are progressing. Safety-wise pun dah progress a lot. We put safety first for our babies.

Anyway, the first baby room I went to is at Jusco Mid Valley. Lulu waktu tu menangis nak susu & xnak the bottle. Kebetulan, aku ada kat Jusco & ternampak the sign baby room dekat tempat Washroom area diorg.

Nampak tak illustration botol susu & org dgn baby tu?

Breastfeeding room kat Jusco Mid Valley ni pakai just curtain yg you slide. Tapi, no cangkuk whatsoever. Just slide to close and slide to open. Maknanya, ada possibility org lain akan tgk kat dalam.
Pada aku, not a problem. Sebab, luar bilik ade sign kat dinding ckp, Strictly no men inside breastfeeding room. And lagi satu, aku rasa diorg tak letak cangkuk for safety measures. Yela, this should be a child friendly area kan.

Atas pintu tu ade signage illustration mother tgh breastfeed and betul2 luar pintu (yg sign warne orange) tulis no men allowed.

That's the curtain I'm talking about. Ok la kan.

Even with a stroller in the room, still quite spacious.

Apa yg best? Bilik besar, comfortable, sofa panjang, ada table.
Apa yg kurang best? Bilik agak panas...mungkin sebab penggunaan lampu kuning kot. So kene dim the lights la..
And signage botol susu tu quite misleading. Apparently, ada some moms gune bilik tu tapi tak breastfeed pun. Dia bagi botol je. Please moms, look at the sign above the doorway. The room is for breastfeeding mothers.
Unless if you give bottle & then breastfeed sekali, that, I understand ok.

All in all, a very nice touch on the baby room. Aku rasa memang yg ni diorg baru renovate. Memang nampak baru. Comfortable, yes. Easy to find, yes. So, my 1st experience with baby room...puas hati.

Before kita bye bye, utk mothers sekalian, kdg2 bila kita tgh dlm breastfeeding room, sure akan ada encounter mothers lain yg nk share room dgn kita. I'm sure ada org yg kesah or malu...tapi in my honest opinion, be willing to share. There will be at times that no rooms are available even after some time waiting or try searching various places or even worse, the baby start to mengamuk. Be understanding. Takkan la kita nak biarkan anak org tu lapar? What if one day it happens to diri kita sendiri?
So far, walaupun aku baru 4 bulan being a mother, ok, make that 2 bulan start keluar jalan2 as a mother, aku dah experience sharing breastfeeding rooms 3 kali. Ye, mungkin mula2 rasa awkward but it's ok.
Just remember, bila tgh share room dgn org lain, bgtau your husband outside. Ini utk mengelakkan dia masuk secara tiba2 dalam breastfeeding room tu while ade org lain yg tgh breastfeed jugak. =)

So, that's all for my 1st visit to a baby room. I will post reviews of other baby rooms whenever I get the chance. Happy Mother-ing!

there are lots of things they want to say....

"I'm sorry. What did you call us again? Bazongas?!"
"Handle us with care."
"What is this yellowy substance coming out of me?"
"Stop biting. And don't pull us!"
"Stop crying or I won't give you milk"
"I wish both of us were the same size"
"Oh, if only I can have a whole day just resting inside this bra."
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"I'm sore."
"We need a break."