Fatigue is one of the things Pregnancy brings along.

This Baby talk Forum will discuss how do we deal with and handle  fatigue?

This is a few of the faqs about your baby we got on our social page on Facebook.
Q: What color should my baby’s poo be and how many times should they pass?

Answer:
A newborn baby’s poo is usually green and turns yellow by the day 5. The poo is mostly liquid with some cuds. At this time, they tend to poo at or after every feed.
By week six, baby has learnt to digest so may go for a day or too without a poo. Some babies may go for up to 5-12 days. As long as baby is well, has no fever and their tummy is soft, there is no cause for alarm. They may occasionally have some greenish colored poo.

Note: Avoid using homemade or conventional interventions to make baby poo if they are well. Using this frequently can make the baby dependent on the intervention.

Q: How can I engage my husband in taking care of our new born baby.

Answer:
That’s a hard one…dads please help me answer…

It depends on quite a number of things, your relationship, dad’s ability in infant care, both your willingness to work as a team.

The key is to remember that you are both parents and caring for your newborn baby should be a team effort. Though pregnancy allows the mum to bond with the baby more than the dad, once baby is born, both parents have equal share in bonding with their baby. The anxiety of handling a newborn baby may be the hindrance to most dads (and some mums) engaging in caring for their baby.

The best way would be first help him kick the anxiety away. Handling your baby is one very good way of dealing with the anxiety so let him learn and facilitate the learning. Both dad and mum should carry out all the tasks involved (except breastfeeding which only the mum can do) in caring for the baby and then determine which one they prefer.

There are tasks that most dads are better in doing than mums like burping the baby and putting baby to sleep, give him the chance to learn.

Q: I am preparing to go back to work. i have started a milk bank, what should I do to ensure the milk is safe at all times?

Answer:
Well done for starting a milk bank! A bank( would be an airtight container if the fridge/freezer is used for other family needs) ensures that the milk stays safe and uncontaminated.

5 things to ensure:
1. Ensure all the equipment is clean and sterile before you start
expressing.

2. Once you have expressed the milk, cover it and store it in the
fridge. If you express some more later, you can add to the same
bottle till you have a feed.

3. The milk path has no reverse gear. Only keep the forward path
from mum to room to fridge to freezer. so Milk from freezer
never goes back there, milk from fridge never goes back there.

4. Milk on room air lasts 8 hours, in the fridge 8 days, in the fridge
freezer 6 months and in a deep freezer 8 months.

5. Warm the milk in a milk warmer or a warm water bath.

Make breastfeeding second nature.

Q:My baby is 4 months and still not sleeping throughout the night. What can I do to make them sleep as the reduced sleep time is wearing me out now that I am back to work?

Answer:
Mama, I empathize with you. Babies are different, while some can sleep through out the night by month one, some take time to do this. I would encourage you to go to bed early to cover up for lost sleep time at night. When you have time to sleep like over the weekend, do.

For your baby, some things you could try:
1. Ensure your babies day is calm and restful. If the day was good, the night will be. work with your child’s career to ensure they keep baby calm.

2. Create detectable sleep routines during the day. When baby learns what happens when it is time to sleep, they will sleep easy. This also helps him lean to put himself to sleep.

3. “Tank” him up during the day. He will learn that day is for food ad night for sleep. Ensure that before he sleeps he has a good feed as baby will wake up because they are hungry.

4. Develop a bedtime routine. Baby will sleep better and longer after a birth so bath them in the evening. A massage goes a long way to calm them down for bed. Ensure the environment is calm and soothing towards this time.

5. When your baby wakes up at night, try calming them down first. If you have to pick them, make it very gentle. Some babies will sleep longer if mum is not in the same room as them.

Q: Our daughter is 20 months old now. When and should we start potty training her?
Answer:
See http://evesmama.com/2012/05/potty-training-tips/

I learnt a fact, there is no right age to potty train. Most toddlers will be ready by 20 to 36 months but some are ready much earlier while others are not ready till much later.

Here’s how I learnt to make it simple, I used these principles on two of my children and am currently using them again on my youngest child.

“Watch for the ‘GREEN’ light”

G – Get ready:
Both you and your child should be ready emotionally and physically. You know you are ready when the thought excites you.
You know your child is ready when they show any of these signs, can sit on the potty without fear, say when they are doing a poo or pee, is excited about pants, and wants to remove the diaper.

R – Right equipment:
Get a potty. There are many varieties of potties so select the one that will work for you and your baby.  Buy pants, could be disposable or washable and some rewards like soft toys.

E – Explain:
Let your child understand the process. Let them know that they need to call out for the potty when they need it. Teach them simple ways of calling out like saying the word “potty” “poo” or “pee”. Be watchful  for signs that they need to use the potty like squatting, removing their pants or holding themselves.
Most of the signs are evident around the time they were having a bowel movement or passing urine while on the diaper. Keep the potty at one spot and avoid moving it so the child knows where to find it at all times.

E – Exciting and fun:
It is a new experience for your child. Make it exciting and fun. Put a fun toy, a book, some music that they only play with when on the potty.  Put a reward at the potty, like a raising, dried fruit, they are natural sweets that you can give as a reward for a job well done.

N – Necessary interventions:
When they mess, correct them gently. Avoid scolding them so it does not discourage them from using the potty.
Everyone involved needs to be consistent and patient with the child.
Kick the diaper as early as possible. Allow the child to potty train without the diaper, they adopt much faster.
Teach your child to wash their hands. Playing with water if your child likes
water may be an incentive.
Create potty breaks, that is really where the word came from.

Today we celebrate the women in our lives, our Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Aunties, Cousins, Grandmothers and Girl friends. We celebrate them for being female, women and for caring the ability to mother. Today is Mother’s Day.

I take a moment to reflect on the process that earns you the title MOTHER. It is the physical or emotional Birth of your baby. Birth is described as an event, a process, a time during which the young of a human emerges from the mother’s womb into the outside world. It is an intense experience that brings out a lot of emotions that are positive and can sometimes be negative. Birth happens at the end of pregnancy when the baby has fully developed and the mother’s body is ready to expel the baby. And yes, birth isn’t just a physical event; birth can be the emotional process that units a baby to their mother through adoption.

Your baby knows when to be born. They know when they are fully grown ready for the outside world. By this time, you are ready to let go though you already feel like this baby is part of your life/body. You cannot stop this from happening. I remember when I was in labor with my first child, I found the exit time really phenomenal. As much as I tried to contain it, the baby just came out. I remember telling my husband, who was my birth partner that I am sorry for all the times I had asked women not to push! Asking them to wait till I was ready to catch their baby was not a practical suggestion.

To become a mother, another life is involved. To become a mother you have to go through a process of self denial, intense love and acceptance and birth your child. Though this process has evolved over the years and become a medical situation, it is a natural rite of passage that simply requires support and a little monitoring to happen. Like most other rites of passage, it is a time when women should be treated with respect and dignity, held in high esteem, and accorded the privacy they need. They should be surrounded by people they love and who love them so that they are left with great memories of the birth process. The process of becoming a mother should be an empowering one, which allows the mother to grow as her child grows. It should be one that helps the mother to think of parenting as a lifelong journey, with different seasons that she has the ability to go through.

As you celebrate mothers’ day this year, look at your child and appreciate the process you were involved in to become a mother. Be a mother and enjoy it.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Childbirth classes curate the information for you and give you the details you need.

Here are a few reasons to take a childbirth class:
1. Get the full picture:
Know the facts. Childbirth classes help you filter the information and understand the essentials. It also creates a forum for you to talk about your fears and anxieties with other parents-to-be. Some of the fears are derived from myths and hearsay. The facilitator helps dispel the myths and lay out the facts.
2. Gather Information:
The class gives a chance to learn from the facilitator’s knowledge and experience. The facilitator gets to also give you the current best practice. You will find out how labor starts and what happens to your body during labor. This allows you to identify your own coping techniques and go through labor your own way. Early parenting experiences are demystified and you are empowered with the skills necessary to handle your newborn baby. The Visual aids, demonstrations and hands on practice allow you to get information that will last.
3. Get ready:
The information and skills gathered help you prepare for the coming of your baby physically, emotionally and even financially as you get to know what to expect. This makes the start to your parenting journey easier and exciting. An empowering birth always leaves lasting memories.
4. Get Connected:
A childbirth class helps you connect with your labor partner. The classes offer your partner the chance to understand childbirth, and know how to support you during labor.  If your birth partner is your spouse, it  helps you two to bond as this is vital for child proofing your marriage. If you are in a class with other parents-to-be, the social interaction enhances the experience and you get to form new relationships with people in the same season as you.

Your Choice of class depends on whether you prefer a private one or not, the cost, your choice of birth place and the model the facilitators use.

All in all, enjoy your birth class,

This May, evesmama’s BabyTalk  Forum focuses on mums-to-be who are at their 8th to 28th week of pregnancy.

Come learn and share, meet and have fun with other mums-to-be

May 2nd 2pm

Birth Essentials empowers parents-to-be with information about labor and birth enabling them to go through the experience in their own way. It encourages women to trust the intrinsic ability they have to birth their baby.

It is a five week, fun and interactive program with weekly 3 hour sessions.

The most important thing to remember is, start thinking and preparing for return to work at least a month to the reporting date.

Here are more tips:

Prepare yourself:

• The day you report back to work should not be the first time you are leaving your baby. During your last month of maternity leave, start leaving your baby with the care giver. Start with short periods of 15-30 minutes and increase progressively.
• Check your closet for clothes and shoes that can fit…if none, you could take time out (baby at home) to go buy yourself some clothes.
• Make arrangements at home for your absence; make a duty rota for your house keeper, a schedule for the baby. Print them out and orientate your worker(s) around the plan so they are familiar with it by the time you are back to work

Prepare your Baby:

• Your Baby will deal with some effects of separation when you go back to work. To ease these effects and help baby to adjust faster, make the separation gradual.
• Allow your baby to be handled by the care giver while you are present. This helps your baby (and you) form trust with the care giver.
• Ensure your baby has enough food-milk before you go back to work. Start expressing and storing your milk as soon as possible to ensure that your baby is on breast milk till they are six months.
• Learn your baby’s schedule, stick to it and orientate the care giver to it. Babies tend to thrive on routine.

Prepare for Work:

• Meet a colleague and catch up on any changes that may have taken place at your workplace while you were away.
• Meet your boss and/or HR Manager to organize for your return. You could ask them to let you run your first two days back to work over a period of time. For instance, you can split day one into 2 hour work periods over a week. Day two into two half days.
• During the runs, take a day or two to report at the usual reporting time and leave when the rest leave. This helps you determine how much time you need to prepare and get to work and the return back home.

A slow return helps you gradually adjust back to work and wean yourself off home.

The fact is a newborn baby needs about 5-7mls of breast milk  in the first 24 hours and doubles that amount daily in the first week.

Q: When does a pregnant mum start producing breast milk?

A: During pregnancy, the hormone prolactin increases and is responsible for enlarging the breasts and milk formation. Milk formation happens by the sixth month of pregnancy. By the eighth month, most women have pre-milk also known as colostrum. Colostrum is the milk that the baby first takes after birth.
Fact: 95% of women have milk by the time their baby is born.

Q: Breast Size and Lactation: Which produces more milk the big bust or the smaller one and will  my breasts go back to normal.

A: The fact is breast size does not determine milk production. Women with a smaller bust are assumed to have more milk. However, what they have is less storage so their breasts fill up faster as compared to those with a bigger bust. So no matter your breast size, you will have enough milk for your baby.

After breastfeeding your bust size may or may not go back to your pre-pregnancy size. Women with a smaller bust might actually end up a size smaller after breastfeeding. Exercising during your postnatal time will help you regain your pre-pregnancy size.

Q: What are some tips to successful breastfeeding?

A: Learn as much as you can about breastfeeding. Initiate breastfeeding immediately after the birth or not more than two hours after birth. The initial days, feed on demand and avoid giving baby other foods. Avoid teats and soothers till baby has learnt to breast feed. Get as much help and support as you can.

Q: How does one prevent sore and cracked nipples?

A: Often referred to as the breastfeeding couple, sore and cracked nipples can make breastfeeding painful. A good place to start is while pregnant. Prepare your nipples for latching. Flat and inverted nipples predispose you to sore and cracked nipples.
A good position while breastfeeding is very important. Poor latching leads to poor letdown, poor letdown makes the baby suck hard and this causes soreness. Ensure the baby has a good latch and is always facing the breast.
After feeding your baby, release the suction from the baby before removing your breast. A good old golden practice is to apply milk around the nipple, it acts as a protector. Expose the breast to the air for a while to allow it to dry.

Q: How often should I breastfeed?

A: Before your milk supply is established, breastfeeding should be “on demand” (when your baby is hungry). Most babies at this time will feed every 1½ to 3 hours.

As you newborn baby grows, they will tent to breastfeed less frequently. They will be able to develop their own, more reliable schedule.
Some babies will feed every 1½ hours, while others might go 2 or 3 hours between feeds.
It is important that you do not let your newborn baby go for more than 4 hours without feeding, even at night.

Q: How to achieve a good latch on?

A: The most important thing for a good latch is Position. That means both you and your baby are comfortable. Use a breastfeeding support pillow as that always helps you achieve a comfortable position. Bring baby to you and make sure you are tummy-to-tummy with baby at all times with baby’s nose directly opposite the nipple. Hold the breast using a “C” or “U” hold. A nipple touch to baby’s upper lip stimulates them to open the mouth. Allow baby to latch on themselves.

A good latch will usually result in a deep pulling sensation in your breast. Baby’s bottom and top lip are flanged out like fish lips. The Chin is touching your breast and there are circular movements of baby’s jaw. You can here sucking and swallowing noises.