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?