Infant care service in Singapore

As of end of 2016, there are 471 child care centres offering infant care service. This means that more than 1 out of 3 child care centres offering service to cater children that ages between 2 months and 18 months. Sengkang, Jurong West, Woodlands and Yishun are the towns with most child care centres. 

Infant care services is not cheap because it is labor intensive as these children will probably need attention as long as they are awake.

Of course, most of the time, they are sleeping. One parent even say that my child is just sleeping in the infant care centre and play with us at home.

This does not mean the child care teachers do not need to do anything. In fact, they need to feed these children often as the tiny stomach cannot store a lot of nutrition and therefore need to be fed more often.

Most of the time, infant care service will cost parents more than $1,300 a month. However, this is far less than the average income that many mummies can earn now. According to latest data by the government authority, the median fee for infant care service is $1357 and the average is $1477. It should be noted that these fee is still high as some mummies may not earn more than $2000 a month.

For details, you can check infant care centres in Singapore to find more information about infant care centres in Singapore such as contact,address, details of fee and map of its exact location.

Top 100 baby girl names

In a recent survey conducted by https://www.babyment.com, parents in Singapore picked up the top 100 baby girl names. 

Top 10 baby girl names are Emma, Olivia, Charlotte, Hannah, Alyssa, Scarlette, Chloe, Mikayla, Leia and Grace.   

Close to 1000 parents have participated in the survey, and the top 30 baby girls names are:
1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Charlotte
4. Hannah
5. Alyssa
6. Scarlett
7. Chloe
8. Mikayla
9. Leia
10. Grace
11. Meredith
12. Sophia
13. Averie
14. Natalie
15. Chevelle
16. Mia
17. Ainsley
18. Elena
19. Amelia
20. Adela
21. Charlize
22. Kalley
23. Megan
24. Krystal
25. Cassidy
26. Kraylyn
27. Seraphine
28. Belle
29. Xandria
30. Naomi 

You can refer to top baby girl names for a complete list of  top 100 baby girl names selected by the parents in Singapore. 

Sore nipples causes and prevention

Sore nipples:causes, treatment and prevention

Sore nipple is different from temporary pain which lasts for about 30 to 60 seconds.

Researches have shown that the most important cause of nipple soreness is improper positioning of the baby on the breast which causes the baby not take the nipple deep enough into his mouth. The baby ends up sucking on the nipple rather than the breast. This causes the nipple pain.  

Other causes of nipple pain include:

(a)    Infection in the milk duct which is called mastitis in medical field.

(b)    Breast engorgement which is another breastfeeding discomfort. 

(c)    Baby is tongue-tie or lip-tie.

(d)    Strong suckling by baby

(e)    Unusual nipple anatomy such as inverted or flat nipples.

(f)    Teething. If your baby has tender gums due to teething, she may change the way she moves her tongue. If she is not able take in a big mouthful of breast, she may end up biting your nipple.

Treatment of sore nipples

In most cases, nipple pain can be solved by adjusting the positioning of your baby during breastfeeding.

A good position occurs when the baby is able to take the nipple deeply enough into his mouth. He is able to have the entire nipple and part of the breast in his mouth, so that the nipple is near the back of his mouth. A proper latch also means that the baby latches on with his head tipped back and his chin is pressed into the mother’s breast with his nose away from the breast. 

Prevention of nipples pain

You can do the following to prevent nipple pain:

1. If you feel your baby nipple-chewing, break the suction, remove your baby from your breast, and try attaching him again.
2. If your baby is sucking his tongue, you may hear a smacking sound and see his cheeks caving in. Take your baby off your breast and reposition him.
3. Ensure proper release by inserting a finger between your baby's jaws to break the suction before removing him from your breast.This can prevent your baby from clinging to the breast and damage it when you remove him or her. 
4. Allow your nipples to air dry after each feeding. This can help to prevent any infection.
5. Keep the nipple area free from Irritation by avoiding breast cream that is dry or contain alcohol. This helps to prevent infection or kill the germs.

Nursing room Suntect

Cheap baby milk powder

There are many brands of baby milk powder sold in Singapore: Similac and Isomil series by Abbott, Enfa series by Meadjohnson, Friso, Nestle Nan series, Bellamy, Karihome goat milk, Aptamil and Dumex by Dannone. All these are established brand and it comes with a price: baby formula milk in Singapore was sold at a much higher price compared to other countries in the world. I can only help you to buy cheaper than normal selling in supermarket or online.

First, it is not a good idea to go to baby fair to buy baby milk powder. It is not a good investment of time and transportation cost as the saving is not significant compared to your time spent and the transportation cost, especially if you stay in the north or west which is far away from common baby fair destination.

Second, you should buy online only when there is significant discount like more than 10%. This is because you have to buy large quantity in order to enjoy free delivery. You usually have 2% to 4% discount for members when you buy it at supermarket, provide that you have the membership. Online stores usually do not provide time-independent discount.

Third, you may not need to wait for any promotion for stage 1 formula as retailers, distributors and manufacturers are not allowed to promote or market stage 1 formula milk as instructed by the Health Promotion Board under the Ministry of Health.

Fourth, you should consider buy from Malaysia, Products sold in Malaysia are similar to those sold in Singapore, but at a much cheaper price. If you buy from Malaysia, you can enjoy at least 30% discount. Please note that AVA has a restriction on the amount of processed food that you can bring into Singapore.

Furthermore, you should visit baby milk powder promotion to check the latest baby milk powder promotion from all supermarkets or online stores in Singapore.

Also, you should join the membership club of the manufacturer, you can get the free sample of 400g in some cases. You can visit free sample baby milk powder to request sample. You can also enjoy very good discount on some special occasion like birthday of your baby, national day of Singapore. The manufacturer may also inform you when there is a promotion through newsletter.  

Lastly, you should try to practice breastfeeding. If your baby is fully on breast milk, the saving can be more than 2000 a year. Of course, the benefits of breastfeeding is not just about cost saving. 

Cheap baby milk powder

Cause, treatment, prevention of breast engorgement

Source: Breast engorgement: cause, treatment and prevention

Breast engorgement is a condition in which new mother’s breast is painfully overfull of breast milk. 

It happens when nursing mother's milk first “comes in”(right after birth, which usually occur in day 2 to 5 after birth delivery. Most breastfeeding mothers will experience breast fullness or slight pain during this period. New mothers do not need to panic first.

Breast engorgement can also occur when your baby suddenly breastfeeds less than usual due to various reason like poor appetite.

To prevent it from happening, nursing mothers can look for signs first.

Common signs of breast engorgement:

1. Swollen and painful breasts. 
2. Flattened nipples.
3. Slightly swollen and tender lymph nodes in your armpits. 

Treatment of breast engorgement

Before nursing, you can take a hot shower or soak in a warm bath. Heat can improve circulation and help the milk let-down. Warm compresses or a heating pad can also be used to achieve the same effect. 

Furthermore, you should use pump to express a small amount of breast milk from both breasts before you allow your baby to latch onto the breasts. This will soften the breast and makes it easy for your baby to latch on. 

Lastly, you can also massage your breasts. Gentle breast massage improve circulation. 

How to prevent breast engorgement

First and foremost, do not skip breastfeeding, especially nigh time feeding. Instead, you should try to nurse frequently and practice breastfeeding on demand which mean you may need to nurse your newborn about 8 to 12 times in a day in the first two months after birth.

During breastfeeding, you should completely empty one breast before you switch to other side. Your baby will ‘signal’ you when to switch side.

(a)    Your baby's sucking slows down a lot or stops for a minute.

(b)    You can no longer hear your baby swallowing.

Lastly, you can wear a supportive bra. But make sure it does not have under-wire and don’t bind your breasts as it can lead to plugged ducts.

Should I call doctor?

In most cases, breast engorgement can be treated at home without any medicine. Nursing mothers must take action immediately to relieve the engorgement before the situation becomes worse.

If you experience fever associated with breast engorgement, you may visit the doctor as it can be a sign of infection.

Breastfeeding

Pumping for newborn

Source: Pumping Breast Milk For Newborn

Premature babies are babies who are born before full term. Their muscle movement is still not mature enough and they may not be able to latch onto their mothers' breast.

In this case, pumping helps babies to enjoy the benefits of breast milk which include better immune system, lower risk of obesity, cancer and other diseases.

Timing of the first pump

You can use a breast pump soon after delivery, as desired. Early and regular stimulation of the breast encourages the breast milk secretion.

However, if you are feeling uncomfortable after delivery, you may want to wait for one hour or two. This will not affect success of pumping or breastfeeding. If you are going to a c-section, you may wait a bit longer.

Frequency of pumping
When your baby is under three months of age, it is recommended that you pump once in every two to three hours, or 8 to 10 times a day if you decide to pump exclusively. This is the frequency whereby most newborns will need to be fed in the first three months.

How long should I pump for?

If you are exclusively pumping, you should be pumping for about 120 minutes per day. 

How much breast milk for each pumping section?

You would probably pump small amount like 3ml or 4ml each time on the first day. This amount is sufficient to fill the tiny stomach in a day. The amount of breast milk produced will gradually increase to about 90ml each time when your baby reaches 3 months old of age.Ideally, 

How long can I store my freshly expressed milk?

This will depend on the temperature of the surrounding where your expressed milk is stored. The following is a guideline.* At room temp: 4-6 hours* In the refrigerator: up to a week*  In the freezer above or below a refrigerator: up to 3 months* In a deep freezer: 6-12 months* Once defrosted milk is thawed, it must be used within 24hrs.

Nursing room in Singapore

How often to breastfeed

First, there is no definite number for this question. In the first four months, it is recommended that nursing mothers practice breastfeeding on demand rather than scheduled breastfeeding. 

Breastfeeding on demand means you breastfeed your baby whenever she shows sign of hunger like hand sucking motion.

Breastfeeding on demand has shown to be much more beneficial than scheduled feeding as scheduled feeding has shown to be linked with poor academic performance in the future.
Another reason  that breastfeeding on demand is better is because there is growth spurt in the first year in which baby will put on more weight than usual.

In general, in the first four months, frequency of breastfeeding is about 8 to 12 times a day. This will usually decrease as the size of tummy of baby increases.

Number of times of feeding will drop to 3 to 5 times a day when your baby is 6 to 12 months old.

For duration, there is no specific guideline, nursing mothers should look for sign that the baby is full like stop sucking for a minute.

In general, duration of breastfeeding can last from 10 minutes per session to 45 minutes per session. In the first few days after birth, the size of tummy of the baby is very small, the breastfeeding may just last 10 minutes.

One of the major concern that parents have is whether their babies have sufficient milk or not for each session of breastfeeding.

To know that, parents can monitor the weight of the baby. In the first three days, baby will lose about 7% of weight after birth and gain 35 grams daily thereafter in the first week.

In the second week to 2 months old, the baby is expected to gain weight by 170 gram every week. The increase in weight will drop to 120g to 160g per week in the 2 months to 6 months. The number will drop further to about 80 when the baby is between 6 months to 12 months old.

Please refer to how often to breastfeed for more information.