在新加坡的菲律宾女佣

在新加坡，几乎每五户家庭就有一个女佣。可能由于地缘关系，印尼女佣的人数最多，大概在12万左右。人数第二多则为菲律宾女佣,人数大概在7万左右。 

每到周末，如果你到新加坡乌节路走，都会遇到很多菲律宾女佣。她们喜欢聚在那里，跟同乡聊心事，交换一些工作心得。

是的，这就是菲律宾女佣。从这些聚会你可以看出她们多数属于外向型，性格相对印尼女佣和缅甸女佣比较开朗。

在新加坡，菲律宾女佣的工资每月最低为570。相对于在中国工作的女佣，这个费用确实要低很多。但在新加坡，她们的工资却是最高的。很多新加坡人担心，一旦中国开始合法接受菲律宾女佣，多数优质的菲律宾女佣会往中国跑。由于来新加坡的人少了，菲律宾女佣工资也可能随之上涨。这种担心不是空穴来风，毕竟中国市场太大，富有的雇主也愿意给很高的工资。

当然，语言是新加坡吸引菲律宾女佣原因之一。菲律宾女佣除了会讲家乡话，还会讲很不错的英语，这使得她们很容易与新加坡雇主沟通。但到了中国，菲律宾女佣的语言就没有任何优势了，只能靠技术以及专业性来获得雇主的好感。根据报道，中国的雇主对菲律宾女佣都有很高的评价。

如果你要在新加坡聘请菲律宾女佣，请点击菲律宾女佣

Income Requirement

As a boss, you must have the financial means to pay for all the cost associated with hiring a maid such as monthly salary, food, water, toiletry, electricity as maid employer will need to pay everything from food to medical expenditure.

The government authority has not revealed the exact amount of minimum monthly income required for the issuance of the work permit, but most people agree that young parents will need to have a minimum income of $3000 per month in order to hire a maid.

For elderly without any income, they can consider applying for a maid under sponsorship scheme or joint income scheme. In Singapore, many hire maid to look after elderly as many elderly are not staying with their children. (A sad thing)

For details, you may want to refer to income requirement for employing a maid.

Maid Requirement

The foreign domestic worker must meet these requirements:

(1) Female.
(2) From 23 to 50 years old at the time of application.
(3) Must be from an approved source country or territory, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand. In reality, most maids are from the Philippines, Indonesia, Indian and Myanmar.
(4) Minimum 8 years of formal education with a recognised certificate.

Others:

To hire a foreign domestic worker, employer must:
(i)Be 21 years old and above

(ii) Not be an undischarged bankrupt

(iii) Have the mental capacity to fully understand and discharge your responsibility as an employer.

Employment Agency Fee in SIngapore

There are more than 1200 licensed employment agencies in Singapore, most of them are located at shopping centres along Orchard Road such as Lucky Plaza, Far East Shopping Centre, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre in the western part of Singapore and City Plaza in the eastern part of Singapore. These maid agencies offer many different packages. For one maid agencies, the packages for maids of different nationalities are also different. Because of this, many employers find it disturbing when they find a huge difference in the maid agency fee.
For maid agencies, the following will usually determine their package fee:

1. Recruitment cost. This is the fee that the employment agencies in Singapore pay the maid agencies in maid's home countries for them to train the maid and doing some paper such as application of passport for the maid. 
2. Operating cost. Overhead cost such as rental, manpower, advertisement fee. 
3. Administrative fee in setting up the business such as license fee and fee for their employee to get their license to work as employment consultant. 

Because of intense competition (many closes their business after a few months as they cannot make any sale), many maid agencies also spend a lot of money on advertising their service.

Government restricting factor
For Filipino maid and Indonesian maid, the maid agencies are not allowed to charge maid a high placement fee. Because of this, part of recruitment cost, in the end, will be bear by the employer. This explains why agency fee for Filipino maid and Indonesian maid are usually higher.  Usually, maid employer will need to pay more than $1200 as agency fee in hiring maid from Indonesia or the Philippine.

Willingness of Maid to Pay the Placement Fee
Some maids, especially Myanmar maids are willing to pay 7 months of salary as the recruitment fee. Some maids are only willing to pay 4 months.

Profit consideration
It has been estimated that the maid agency will be able to earn $1300. if they are able to successfully place a new maid with an employer. For transfer maid, the fee may also be around the same number. As you can see, profit margin of maid agency are very high, that is why many are able to support with just a few transaction in a week.

To read more, you can refer to employment agency fee in Singapore

Compare Filipino and Indonesian Maid in Singapore

In Singapore, Indonesian maids are most popular among employers. They account for more than half of the maids employed in Singapore. Filipino maids are the second most popular among Singapore employers.

Compare Monthly Salary
The minimum salary for new Indonesian maids is at $550 while that for Filipino maid is $570. Both Indonesian embassy or Filipino embassy in Singapore may revise the salary from time to time. However, in one survey, the average salary of Indonesian maid and Filipino maid are almost the same.

Compare communication ability
It is recognized by many employers that Filipino maids in general can speak better English although some employers feedback that their new Filipino maids cannot communicate with them. Perhaps this has to do with the fact the English is an important language in Filipino's daily life back in the Philippine.

New Indonesian maid can speak very little English, but experienced Indonesian maid can speak good English.

Compare working attitude
Many employers said that the Filipino maids are smart, this is not a good thing for them as many employers find it hard to manage their Filipino maids. This is especially true after the off day when they learn new tricks from friends.
It is heard that the Filipino maids are more picky in their job. They may request to transfer if they find the duty too heavy.
Indonesian maids are in general hardworking. They are also less demanding in their job.

Compare Religion
Most Filipino maids are either catholic or Christian while Indonesian maids are mostly Muslim.

Compare personal characteristics
it is said that most Filipino maids are outgoing while Indonesian maids are more quiet.

Compare cooking skills
Indonesian maids are good with cooking. With proper training, many Filipino maids, as I have noticed, can also become a good cooker.
Source: Filipino or Indonesian maid

Infant care centres in Singapore

In Singapore, it is very common that husband and wife have to work to support families or to fulfil personal ambition. It is also very common that they do not stay with their parents. That is why many couples have to put their children into infant care centres after the maternity leave ends which is usually four months long.

Infant care service is not cheap. At those not-for-profit infant care centre, the infant care service can cost more than one thousand dollars. At those private infant care centre, the fee can be more than 2,000 a month. For some mothers, they are able to earn more than this figure, that is why they choose to put their children in infant care centre.

In some areas in Singapore like Punggol, demand for infant care service is very high. Some parents are not able to secure a place for their little ones. In this year’s national day speech, the prime minister said the government will continue to increase the number of child care centre to cater to the needs of young parents.

One thing that many still worry is that the number of child care or infant care teacher available. Preschool educators do not have a high pay and demand of the job is high, that is why it does not attract many people to join. It is now very common to see preschool educators who are from other countries such as China, the Philippines, Malaysia.

In the past, it was grandfathers or grandmothers who took good care of their grandchildren. Things change drastically. Young couples do not stay with parents and some grandfathers or grandmothers have their own jobs. All these make infant care service indispensable to young parents in Singapore.

If you are looking for infant care centre in your area, you may refer to infant care centres in Singapore.

How to select a maid in Singapore

A maid is supposed to be a helper. However, if you do not choose carefully, the maid can become a headache instead of becoming a helper.

If cost is the top priority, then you may want to go for myanmar maid as the minimum salary of myanmar maid is the lowest among three popuplar choice - myanmar maid, indonesian maid and filipino maid. In one example that i know, the employer just pay $500 a month to get a myanmar maid who also works on weekend without any rest.

Of course, basic salary is just one part of the cost. As a employer, you will have to pay for the food, utility, air tickets to and from their home countries, accomodation and toiletry. 

For Filipino maid, the cost will be much higher, the current minimum salary is $550 with 4 rest day in a week.

For some employers, health condition of the maid is very important for a few reasons. First, in many households, maid will be asked to take care of elderly who may wake up at the night and need some form of help in the wee hours. The maid needs to in good health condition to handle the situation.

Furthermore, it is expensive to see doctor in Singapore if the maid is sick or hospitalized, the cost will be incurred by the employer. Although there is insurance to help, employer may still be needed to pay a significant amount.

Lastly, many maids are required to handle baby who have a week immune system. If the maid is not healthy, the maid may pass the disease to the baby.

Some parents have highlighted that some of the maid have dental issue. This has cost many employers hundred or thousands of dollars as this part is usually not covered by insurance. 

Language is also a problem. It is important for maid to understand employer’s expectation and what employer want. If the employer cannot understand it, conflict may arise. In many situation, this is the root cause of abuse of maid that occurred in Singapore. 

In general, filipino maid may be better in communicating in English. A check on wikipedia shows that the percentage of population in the Philippine that is able to communicate in English is much higher than the other two countries Myanmar and Indonesia.

Lastly, family status of a maid is also a factor to be considered. For us who needs the maid to look after our children, we select a maid who is married with children. We need someone who has the experience in handling the children. 

Source: how to select a maid

Auspicious Chinese Names

Like English names, Chinese names carry parents’wishes towards their children. Parents wish thier children to be successful, to be wealthy, to be honest person, to be handsome or beautiful, to be lucky or to be gentle. For example, “chang（昌）”is commonly used in China, it means prosperous.

Traditionally, parents ask those scholars, fortune tellers or fengshui masters to give chinese name to their children. Many fortune tellers or fengshui masters are well versed in traditional five elements-metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Based on a child’s birth date, these fortune tellers will be able to tell that the child may lack certain element and will use the name as an opportunity to make up this/these missing element. For example, if one child is found to lack “water”based on his birthday. The name he is going to have usually will carry the water element, for example, tao（涛）.

Nowadays, many modern parents ignore these traditional five element because of the trouble and money involved. In some cases, they will need to pay a few hundred dollars if they want to hire a fortune teller to name their child.

Most parents still emphasize on auspicious and name with a good meaning. Name like “rui（瑞）”, “jun（俊）” are popular for boy as they means lucky and handsome respectively. Name like hui（惠）, xiu（秀）, fang（芳）are popular among parents with baby girls as they means kind, intelligent and fragrance respectively.

Some parents also worry that their children may not be able to write the chinese character, as a result, they choose name with fewer number of strokes so that it is easy for children to write. According to babyment.com, the number of strokes of chinese name vary from 3 to 19. Traditionally, the number of strokes for each character can be even more.

Source: auspicious Chinese name Chinese Names For Girl Chinese Names For Boy

How to boost your child’s immune system?

It is common to hear parent saying that their children fall sick very often since starting child care centres or kindergartens. Some parents see the positive side of this and say that it gives their childrne an opportunity to train their immune system.

One way parents can help their children is to choose a preschool that really take good care of children’s hygiene. For example, preschool teachers and children wash their hands very often. Washing hand can wipe off the bacteria and prevent the spread of bacteria from one person to another person.

At home, parents can help to improve children’ immune system.

If your child have been breastfed, congratulation, your child is more likely to have a stronger immune system. Breastfeeding provides the most natural nutrient source for your baby and also allows the transfer of maternal antibodies that can provide protection against infections and diseases while your infant’s immune system is undergoing maturation.

Prebiotics are a type of non-digestible fibre compound found in nature. They make their way through the stomach without being broken down by gastric acids or enzymes and bring about positive changes in the digestive tract and organs.

Probiotics are good bacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract of children. They help the immnue system by fighting harmful bacteria thereby reducing the chances of sicknesses and intestinal disease.

Vaccination is another way that you can protect your child from illness. It is recommended that you follow the schedule recommended by the government agencies.

Furthermore, parents can help their children in boosting up immune system by providing food that is rich in vitamin or antioxidant. Food that are rich in these substances include vegetables and fruit. Make sure your child eat some vegetable or fruit for each meal.

Lastly, parents can encourage their children to do more exercise. With some exercises and sunlight, your child’s immune system will be enhanced.

Source: How to boost immune system of your child

Can I have coffee during pregnancy?

First, most gynaecologists agree that one cup or two is okay for most pregnant women.

Coffee in general is not a healthy drink for the pregnant women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends limiting your caffeine consumption to fewer than 200 milligrams (mg) per day. Exceeding that amount could pose danger to both expecting mothers and the growing fetus.

Why is it harmful to drink coffee during pregnancy?

All the harmful effect of coffee has to do with the caffeine in the coffee. Other food that is rich in caffeine include tea, chocolate, soft drink.

1. Coffee can cause an increase the blood pressure

2. Coffee can cause more frequent urination. Many pregnant women experience frequent urination due to growing fetus. Coffee makes it worse as coffee is a diuretic.  

3. Caffeine and polyphenols makes it harder to absorb iron. When this happens, the pregnant women may experience anemia - a common problem during pregnancy.

4. In worse situation, coffee may trigger miscarriage and premature birth. A study conducted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found that pregnant women who consumed more than 300mg of caffeine a day were more likely to give birth to babies who were small for their gestational age.

5. Coffee can cause a change in your baby’s sleep pattern

Remember, caffeine is a stimulant and can keep both you and your baby awake.

What can I do? 

Decaffeinated coffee is one in which the caffeine content is significantly less. You can safely opt for this healthier type of coffee when you are pregnant.

If withdrawal of coffee causes headache in you, you can consider having one cup of coffee daily.

  

In conclusion, it is better to avoid coffee and other food or drink that contains caffeine. If you cannot give up coffee completely, you should minimize the consumption to one or two cups a day.

Source: Can I drink coffee during pregnancy?

Foods to increase breast milk

Source: Foods to increase breast milk supply

1. Oatmeal

Oatmeal can help a nursing mother to relax. When the nursing mother is in a relaxed mood, her body will release oxytocin which is a hormone involved in breast milk production.

Besides increasing breast milk supply, oatmeal is also known for lowering the cholesterol level and maintaining healthy blood pressure as it is full of fibre.

Oatmeal is available in all stores and supermarkets in Singapore. 

2. Carrots

Carrots help to boost the quality of breast milk. In the human’s body, beta carotene will be converted to vitamin A which helps to maintain healthy eyesight for the baby.

However, you should avoid excessive consumption of carrots as allergies to carrot can still occur and your baby may experience a harmless colour change in his or her skin.

Carrots are available in all wet market and supermarkets. 

3. Sesame seeds

Sesame is rich in iron which is important for red blood cell formation. Having enough iron in the diet can improve the quality of the breast milk and benefit babies who are growing very fast.

Sesame also contains other minerals like magnesium, zinc and vitamins like vitamin E which are all beneficial for mothers and babies.

 Sesame seeds are available in supermarkets.

4. Garlic

Garlic is considered one of the best food to increase breast milk.

Garlic has many health benefits. It is good for the digestive tract and heart health. It is also used to treat bacterial and viral infection.

Garlic can be found in all supermarkets, some convenient stores in neighborhood and wet markets. 

5. Asparagus

Asparagus is considered as a must-have food for nursing mothers.

It is a high-fibre food and is rich in Vitamin A and K.

It helps stimulate the hormones in nursing mothers that are essential for lactation.

Asparagus is available in all supermarkets and wet markets. 

6. Sweet potato

Sweet potato is a major source of potassium. It has energy producing carbohydrates which is needed to fight the fatigue. 

Vitamin A found in sweet potatoes is beneficial for the development of the vision and immune system of growing babies.

7. Fenugreek

Fenugreek helps nursing women who experience low milk supply. Fenugreek is a galactagogue which is a substance that increases milk supply. It stimulates the milk ducts and can increase milk production in as little as 24 hours.

Studies published on Complementary & Alternative Medicine, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have all suggested that fenugreek promotes milk flow.

Fenugreek may be available in the form of capulse in GNC. Fenugreek can also be purchased in certain wet markets.  

8. Fennel

Fennel is believed by lactation consultant to be a galactagogue which is a substance that brings more breast milk for nursing mothers.

Some lactation consultants say that fennel assists with triggering the letdown reflex and therefore helps nursing mothers to increase their breast milk supply.

Moderate consumption of fennel is recommended as excessive consumption may have a negative impact on the breast milk supply.

Fennel may be available in the form of capulse in GNC. Fenugreek can also be purchased in certain wet markets.  

Diarrhea in Baby

What is diarrhea?

Diarrhea is a condition in which watery stool is discharged from the bowels frequently.

The symptoms of diarrhea may last for 2 to 4 days. This infection of the intestine is known as gastroenteritis in medical field.

Symptoms of diarrhea

Frequent stool and water stool are symptoms of diarrhea. Other symptoms of diarrhea may  include stomach pain, vomiting, abdominal cramps, bloating, weight loss and fever.

When to seek doctor’s help?

As stated in KKH (KK women and children’s hospital) HealthPedia, majority of children suffers from diarrhea do not need any medication. Parents just need to ensure their babies remain well hydrated. Most of the children will recover from diarrhea in two days without any medicine. 

If any of the following happens to your child who suffer from diarrhea, parents should consider seeking doctor’s help as soon as possible.

1. Has a fever of more than 39 degree celcius.

2. Has bloody stools. This can be a sign of viral infection.

3. Has not wet diaper in three or more hours. This is can be a sign of severe dehydration.

4. Cries without tears. This can be a sign of severe dehydration.

5. Diarrhea condition does not improve after 24 hours.

6. Has black stools.

7. You baby looks unusually sleepy, drowsy, unresponsive or irritable such as excessive crying

Source: Diarrhea in Babies

Low Lying Placenta

What is placenta and its function?

The placenta is an organ that connects the growing fetus to the uterine wall. It plays an important role in keeping baby alive and healthy. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she was diagnosed with low lying placenta. Of course, the result can only be shown through ultrasound scan.

The placenta acts to provide oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby via umbilical cord.  It also helps to protect the growing fetus from infections because it filters the blood from mothers.

What does it mean by low lying placenta?

Low lying placenta, also known as placenta previa, is a common problem during pregnancy.

There are three different forms of placenta previa which is detected through ultrasound scan. Different forms show different degree of seriousness of problem.

When the gynecologist informs you that your placenta lies low, you may want to know the exact form of placenta previa that you suffer from. This would give you a rough idea of what you will need to prepare.

When my wife was diagnosed with low lying placenta, we did not know what to do and were not aware of this at all. The only thing we did is to worry.

Why cesarean delivery (C-section) is needed if condition does not improve?

Gynecologist will tell you that you may need a Cesarean (C-section) delivery if the condition of placenta previa does not improve. This is really necessary. When the placenta lies low, it will cover all or part of the cervix which is the opening to the birth canal. A vaginal delivery is impossible in this case. Vaginal delivery in such case can cause severe bleeding which is very harmful to both the mother and baby.

Will my placenta move up as pregnancy progresses?

In many cases, the placenta will be able to move up gradually as pregnancy progresses.

If the placenta still lies low in the third trimester, you may need to prepare yourself for a cesarean delivery.

Precaution to be taken at home

First and foremost, always follow the instruction from the gynecologist. Usually, the gynecologist will ask you rest more and do not carry heavy objects. In some severe cases, hospital bed rest may be required. For the health of both mother and baby in the long term, expecting mother should slow down the daily activities for a few months.

Exercises should be banned. If placenta previa is detected during early pregnancy, you can still enjoy light exercises like brisk walking. However, if the condition does not improve in second trimester, all kinds of exercises should be disallowed.

Please take note that you should seek gynecologist’s help if you experience any severe cramp or bleeding.

Source: low lying placenta 

My child is always sick at preschool

It is very common to hear parents complaining children getting sick at child care centres. For my case, my lao er was sick once in April and just recovered from another one. In both instances, he suffered from cough and a painful throat with fever. 

I know I am not alone. This is because preschools provide a good environment for the transmission of viruses. Whenever children are together, there is a high chance of spreading viruses. This is because children are likely to use their hands to wipe their noses or rub their eyes and then handle toys, books or touch other children.

For younger children, they do not know they should cover their mouth with tissue paper when they cough or they do not have time to react to cough. This gives virsus chances to infect other children in the same child care centre.

Of course, children’s immunity system is still not mature. This make them more susceptible to infection when they are coming to contact with illness they have never had before. This is also one of the factor why your child is sick often.

To protect our children, first thing we should do is to select a child care centre carefully. I observe. I need to know how frequent the care giver or teacher wash their hands as well as how frequent children in the child care centre wash their hand. If they wash hands more often, spread of virus is much less likely to occur.

Another thing we can do for our children is to teach them to cover their mouth when coughing and do not rub their eyes or noses.

Lastly, we can help to boost our children’s immune system by providing them with nutritious food. Make sure there is enough vegetable in your child's meal. 

Source: my child is always sick since starting preschool

what food to avoid during breastfeeding?

First of all, all babies are unique. Their reaction to what food their mothers consume may be different. Therefore, the information here can only serve as a guideline.

During breastfeeding, nursing mother may want to avoid certain food such as fried food or those from fast food restaurant as these food in general are not healthy.

Not only mothers need to avoid these spam food, there are two more major categories of food that nursing mothers may want to avoid.

First, food that may be gassy. As these food may cause tummy trouble in the small babies. Gassy vegetable includes garlic, onion, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber and peppers.

Gassy vegetable may cause colic or spitting up in babies. These vegetable includes garlic, onion, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber and peppers.

Second category of food is food that may add taste to the breast milk. For some babies, they may be very sensitive to certain taste. If they do not like it, they may end up rejecting the breast milk which is a problem to nursing mothers. Food that may cause this problem include garlic.

There are also food like coffee, tea, chocolate that may cause irritation in baby.

Furthermore, nursing mother should also avoid alcohol as alcohol is definitely bad for the healthy development of children as study shows it can delay gross motor development of baby.

Food that is high in mercury level such as tuna should also be avoided as mercury can cause a child's brain. 

Source: what food to avoid during breastfeeding?

No water for newborns

When i first officially became a father in 2012, i was told by a nurse who assisted the doctor in the birth delivery of my son that I can give my child water 30 minutes later. I gave my newborn the water exactly 30 minutes as I was a new parents without much knowledge in raising children. But I learnt. 

Now, I know I should not give newborn water when I first learn it from one article (source below). I then confirmed it after checking WHO website. Yes, i really checked it out as it sounds weired to me at the begining and it means what the nurse told me was completely wrong and many people out there are repeating my mistake. 

To be precise, WHO advises no water for newborn until solid food is introduced to the baby. For most babies, solid food should be introduced at the age of 6 months.

Reason for this is because breast milk or formula milk can provide all necessary nutrition that a baby needs. If you use formula milk, do not need to dilute the formula milk also. You just need to follow the recommended practice given by the manufacturer of the formula milk.

Water can actually harm your baby. Water interfere with baby’s ability to absorb nutrition from the breast milk or formula milk.

Water can also cause water intoxicification. Although it is very rare, it can be serious once it occurs. It can cause tissue to swell, potentially causing seisure or even a coma. For my case, it did not cause any harm to my baby, in my opinion. 

You can read the original articles at: no water for newborn

No salt for baby

Without salt, food may taste like disaster to you. This is why you are wondering whether you should add salt to your baby’s food.

Babies are different from adult. Without salt, food will not be tasteless to them.

Baby will need salt, they just need 1 gram of salt. All these sodium can be obtained from formula milk or breast milk, and hence, it is not necessary for you to add any salt to your baby’s food.

First, a high salt intake has been shown to increase blood pressure and this increases the risk of heart related diseases.

When you add salt to your baby’s food, your baby may develop a dependency on salt. Once you stop adding salt, they may find it the food tasteless. This will make feeding harder as time goes by.

Other harmful effects of high salt intake include childhood obesity, higher risk of stomach cancer later in life, higher risk of kidney disease and asthma.

Source: why no salt for baby

Baby walkers:advantages and disadvantages

Baby walker, as its name implied, has been claimed by manufacturers that it helps baby to walk. However, in Canada, baby walker is banned. Obviously, authorities in Canada think baby walkers do more harm than good.

Many health expert or organisation also believe that baby walker is not necessary, this is the opinion of KK hospital in Singapore.

First, baby walker does not help baby to walk, it actually slows down this development milestone. Most baby will be able to walk at the age of 10 months to 15 months. Using baby walker too often can delay this by one month, as some studies suggest.

Second, there is a danger of using baby walker. This is because baby walker enable baby to move around faster and reach a greater height. For example, with help of baby walker, he can reach items that he cannot reach without baby walker.

Baby walker may tip, this can cause the baby to be thrown downstairs which is extremely dangerous.

In some studies, researchers also found that baby walker can cause atypical walking pattern. Reasons given is that baby cannot see his or her leg while walking due to baby walker. 

But this does not mean the baby walker does not have any advantage.

In my opinion, it temporarily give mothers some free time to do other things. While carrying baby or watching him walk with the help of chair, mothers really do not have any free time to do other stuff. With the help of baby walker, they are able to perform some simple and quick task.

With proper planning, danger of using baby walker can be minimized. At least for me, it does not show any danger. Whether it delays the development milestone, it is hard to tell.

Source: baby walker: is it necessary

Popular baby names in Singapore

The most popular baby boy name and baby girl name in Singapore all start with E.

Emma has been chosen as the most popular baby girl name in Singapore and Ethan is the top pick for baby boy name.

Emma means universal in Latin.

Ethan means firm and strong in Hesbrew, a good choice for boy who grows up to serve national service in Singapore.

Top ten baby girl names, according to Babyment.com is Emma, Olivia, Charlotte, Hannah, Alyssa, Scarlett, Chloe, Mikayla, Leia and Meredith.

Top ten baby boy names, is Ethan, Aiden, Lucas, Caleb, Javier, Zayven, Ivan, Jayden, Ryan and Enzo.

Among all these names, Emma, Olivia, Charlotte, Hannha, Chloe has been the popular choices among parents with baby girl for many years.

For parents with baby boy, Ethan, Lucas, Caleb, Javier has also been top picks.

It is a bit surprise to see one created name Zayven to be in the top ten for baby boy name.

Meaning of the name is always the top consideration for many parents as reflected from meaning of the popular names such as Ethan, Ryan, Charlotte, Chloe.

It is believed that religion affect parents in naming their children. Many the names picked is related to regiion. These include Mikayla, Jayden and Ivan.

You can refer to popular baby names in Singapore for a list of top 20 baby girl names or baby boy girls name in 2017.