Baby Milk in Singapore

From what I know, price of baby milk powder in Singapore is the highest in the world. Previously, China is the country where some brands of milk powder are sold at the highest price in world. Singapore become the "champion" after Chinese government cracks down on some improper marketing tactics used by milk power companies. 

This high price have benefited many company like Abbott which is the company behind the brand Similac, Gan IQ, Meadjohnson which is the company behind the brand Enfa series, Nan which is the brand from Nestle. 

Other established brands in Singapore include Friso, Dumex, Wyeth S26,Bellamy, Karihome, 

At home, we use Abbott for our children. My wife has tried to breastfeed both children, but not successful. In each month, we need to spend about $150 - $200 on baby milk powder for each child. 

We use Similac, Gain IQ just because of word of mouth. So far, we do not try other brands. Fortunately, both children are healthy and strong.

We usually bought when there is a promotion. The best we get is 20% discount. You can refer to this website http://www.babyment.com or baby milk powder promotion to see promotion of baby milk powder for all brands.

Baby or Infant Formula Milk Powder in Singapore

There are six major baby milk powder brands in Singapore - Abbott, Friso, Meadjohnson, Wyeth, Nestle and Dumex. All these are foreign brands in Singapore. 

Price of baby milk powder in Singapore is probably the highest in the world. In the past, this title used to be retained to China. After Chinese authority's legal action on foreign baby milk powder brands, price of baby milk powder has dropped quite signficantly.

In Singapore, price for a few brands of baby milk powder is inched up again and quietly. The manufacturers employ a indirect price increment technique in which they reduce the price of a can of baby milk powder, but also reduce the amount of the baby milk powder in a can. But overall, the price for 100g of baby milk powder is increased by around 5% to 10%. 

Babyment.com is website dedicated to help parents to save cost. Hence, they provide parents with information on the latest promotion of baby milk powder, Details can be found at Milk Powder Promotion in Singapore.

If you want to see all baby milk powder sold in Singapore, you can refer to Milk Powder Singapore to view all. 

Baby Name - Sophia

Sophia is Greek, baby girl name, it is suitable for those parents who wishes their children to be intelligent as the meaning of Sophia is wisdom

Source: Baby Name Sophia

Recommended Practice of Pacifier

Source: Recommended Practice of Pacifier

Recommended Practice of Pacifier 1

If you are breasfeeding, you should wait for one month before the introduction of the pacifier to your child. This allows the breastfeeding habit of the child to be established so that you will not experience any breastfeeding problem after your child starts to use pacifier.

Recommended Practice of Pacifier 2

You should keep the pacifier clean. Before you pass the pacifier to your baby, you should clean it according to the instruction manual. You should never dip the pacifier with sweet or anything sweet. This can help to minimize the impact of the pacifier on your baby's teeth. When the pacifier is dropped or becomes dirty, you should clean with water before it is used again.

Recommended Practice of Pacifier 3

You should also regularly check the pacifier for any sign of crack or tear. Replace them immediately if it is worn or torn.

Recommended Practice of Pacifier 4

It is suggested that you should start to phase out the use of pacifier after one year of age. This can help to prevent the negative impact of the pacifier on your child's teeth and ear as ear infection are is common for children over 6 months old.

Baby Development at 12 Months

Source: Baby Development at 12 Months

Speech and Language Development: baby may start to respond to your words. When you say "No", "No okay", "Cannot", you baby will react to your request made by stopping his current activity. He may use simple posture, such as shaking his head or shaking of his body to convey "no" to some of your requests or suggestions. Your baby also starts to use exclamation such as "Oh - Oh". Twelve-months-old baby has been able to imitate and say some simple words. He usually use a word to express his meaning, for example, he may use "eat" to indicate that he is hungry; "go" to indicates that he wants to go out to play. If you provide him with proper training, your child may be able to say at least 5 simple words.

Movement or motor skill: The biggest joy of parenthood in this month for parents is that your baby may be able to walk for a few steps without your help. Gradually, he is able to squat down from standing position to pick up object. Walking around furniture is no longer a challenge for your baby. He may now want to climb up low-height furniture.

Twelve-months-old baby likes to stack or arrange things in order and mess them around afterwards. For example, you may build a house using the building blocks and your baby will enjoy tearing this "house" down. He will also like to empty the things in the drawer or in the trash bin.

Baby will start to develop sense of independence. He may start to feed himself with food; he also wants to dress himself. Of course, he will not be able to do it at the moment without the help of the parents.

Read further about emotional and social development of baby at 12 months

Baby Development at 11 Months

Source: Baby Development at 11 Months

Speech and Language Development: under the guidance of you, your baby may be able to call "mom" and "dad". He can imitate adult's tone and voice. At this point, your baby can understand some simple words and may say a few words. If you ask him some questions such as where the toy is, he may be able to answer it by pointing out its location. At 11 months, baby will also like to repeatedly mumble word that he is able to pronounce.

Movement or motor skill: An 11-month-old baby is able to push a stroller or baby walker while standing up. If you hold one of his hands, your baby may be able to walk forwards.

At 11th month, toys with moving parts will attract your baby's attention. If you spin an object in front of him, he will be very interested in the spinning object. He may look at it attentively, touch it to feel it and slow it down, and then pick it up for a close examination.

Toys with small holes will also attract the baby's attention, because he can put his little finger into the hole to "explore".

At 11 months, mom and dad should buy baby a spoon. For baby, spoon can be used as a drumstick and it also allows baby to learn how to feed himself.

In this month, if you write in front of your baby,your baby may grab your pen and start to scribble on paper himself.

Read further about social and emotional development of baby at 11 months

Baby Development at Tenth Month

Source: Baby Development at Tenth Month

Speech and Language Development: At tenth month, your baby may be able to call Mom and Dad intentionally. But some babies may need two or three more months before they are able to do so, this is normal. If you encourage your baby and give him some guide, he can follow you to utter some simple words like dog, car or two. Of course, baby's speech at this time is fast and unclear as your baby is still learning the language. At this time, you must listen to your baby very carefully and respond to whatever he utters.

Movement or motor skill: Baby at tenth month has better coordination for motion of his body, hands, fingers, arms and feet. He may stand up slowly until his body is fully upright by holding onto the fence or rails of his bed. At this time, if you hold his hand, he can stride his little feet and walk a few steps. Hand movements are more delicate and better coordinated; he is skilled in picking up small items or releasing them. If you put him on the staircases, he is able to climb up a few stairs.

Read further here about social and emotional development of baby at 10 months

Baby Development at 9 months

Source: Baby Development at 9 months

Speech and Language Development: : baby may understand more words or simple phrases, this makes your interaction between you and him more meaningful and important. Although the number of words he can say is very limited, but the number of words or simple phrases that he can understand may be far greater than what we estimate. At this time, you should talk to your baby more often, this can help him to understand or recognize more words.

When you say "no" to stop your baby from touching or doing certain things, he may be able to stop what he is doing. When you call his name, he may also stop his activity and look at you.

Movement or motor skill: the nine-month-old baby's hand movement become more and more dedicate and sophisticated. He is able to pick up small objects by using his thumb and forefinger. At nine month, your baby may like to use his index finger to dig or point things. It is not a weird action, it is a way that your baby is exploring the surrounding. Hence, parents do not need stop him from doing that. His leg muscle has strengthened further. With some help from you, he may be able to stand up for a while. He may be able to stand up slowly from sitting position by holding onto the bed railing.

Read further about social and emotional development of baby at 9 months

Infant Eighth Month Growth Indicator

Source: Infant Eight Month Growth Indicator
Speech and Language Development: Your baby will imitate the way you talk to him or her. Baby may be able to utter vaguely "baba", "mama", although this time your baby still does not know the meaning of these words, but you should respond to him or her. When you respond, your baby will think what he or she said has important meaning and this can encourage him or her to speak more. .

Movement or motor skill: Eight months old baby will start to crawl. At the beginning, your baby may crawl backwards, or crawl without actually moving, and some babies will crawl forward slowly. Baby at this stage is able to sit steadily. With hands holding onto your furniture, your baby may be able to stand up from sitting position slowly, but he is unable to stand firmly. Eight-month-old baby can be very precise in pinching things with his thumb, index and middle fingers.

Visual development: Your baby starts to form imagination or have thought about things he see. When he sees the milk bottle, he may know that it is time for feeding. When he sees mom and dad carrying his bowl, he know it is time to have meal. Baby will start to remember things he likes to see or something of interest, If he cannot see the object he is interested, your baby will turn his eyeball around to look for it.

Read further here about development of infant at 8 month in cognitive, emotional and social development

Infant Seventh Month Growth Indicator

Source: Infant Seventh Month Growth

Physical appearance and growth: baby's physical development has slowed down from this month onwards. A baby boy will have a weight if about 6.9 kg to 10.1 kg and height of about 65 cm to 73.5 cm. A baby girl will have a weight of 6.1 kg to 9.8 kg and a body length in the range of 63 cm to 71.5 cm.

Speech and Language Development: In this month, parents should begin to teach their babies some simple words such as "father", "mother" or some simple syllables such as "rice", "hot", "go" so that baby can imitate. Your baby at seventh month is now more skillful in searching for sound source and can understand the different meanings in different tones. He will be more sensitive to sound of his parent and will try to communicate with them though you may not understand what he was saying. You should try to respond to them although you have no idea of what he tries to tell you. The baby may also be at this time will make some sound to remind parents that he need to pee or pooh, but it is hard for parent to notice at the moment.

Read further here to learn the motor skill development, emotional and social development of infant at seventh month

Infant Fifth Month Growth Indicator

Source: Infant Fifth Month Growth Indicator

Physical appearance and growth: Characteristics features of baby's face have been very clear at this month. Baby boy at the end of this month will have a weight of about 6.1 kg to 9.2 kg and a height of about 62 cm to 70 cm. Baby girls at the end of this month will have a weight of about 5.5 kg to 8.7 kg and a height of 60 cm to 68 cm.

Speech and Language Development: At the beginning of this month, your baby has begun to pay attention to the way and the tone you talk to him or her. Your baby will also pay attention to the syllable in each word. He or she may babble. Although you cannot tell any meaning in their babbling, you will notice that your baby is able to lower or raise his or her tone.

Vision: Your baby is able to see objects that are within a few meters of his sight. He starts to learn how to distinguish between the red, blue and yellow color. Baby at this month may tend to like red or blue. Baby's eye can freely move around to look at some small object around; when he saw his mother; his eyesight will follow closely wherever his mother goes.

Read further about motor skill, emotional and social development of baby in fifth month

Infant fourth month growth indicator

Source: Infant fourth month growth indicator

Hearing and Speech Development: Your baby will make some good progress in speech and language development, he is already forming ideas about sounds and speech. He will make some sound to respond when you talk to him. In this month, do respond to your baby whenever he whispers or babbles. He will enjoy this process very much. Through this interaction, baby may also learn some of the way you speak.

Vision: Your baby is now able to follow any moving objects that is in his sight. Better eye coordination also enables him to see objects that is moving towards or away from him or moving from one object to another object.

Body movement: In this month, baby is able to bend and straighten up his leg. If you hold him up, he seems to be able to stand up. Baby's fingers become more and more nimble, he may be pick up something and hold things around him tightly. He is able to hold his head up when you carry him in the arm

Communication Skills and Emotional development: Baby in this month will like to communicate with older children. When older babies or children talk to them, he will be very happy. If he hears voices of children in street or television, he will turn his head towards the source. Baby in this month starts to show preference for different people in his life. Without doubt, he is very attached to the parents. When parents are not around, he may show fear or demonstrate unpleasant emotion.

Weight and Height: The infant's weight will increase by about 0.6kg this month. The baby boy will have weight between 5.6kg to 8.6kg and the body length of 60 cm to 68cm. The baby girl will have weight between 5.1kg to 8.1kg and body length of 58cm to 66cm.

Source: Infant fourth month growth indicator

Infant fourth month growth indicator

Source: Infant fourth month growth indicator

Hearing and Speech Development: Your baby will make some good progress in speech and language development, he is already forming ideas about sounds and speech. He will make some sound to respond when you talk to him. In this month, do respond to your baby whenever he whispers or babbles. He will enjoy this process very much. Through this interaction, baby may also learn some of the way you speak.

Vision: Your baby is now able to follow any moving objects that is in his sight. Better eye coordination also enables him to see objects that is moving towards or away from him or moving from one object to another object.

Body movement: In this month, baby is able to bend and straighten up his leg. If you hold him up, he seems to be able to stand up. Baby's fingers become more and more nimble, he may be pick up something and hold things around him tightly. He is able to hold his head up when you carry him in the arm

Read further here to learn about fourth month growth in communication skill, emotional development as well height, weight in the fourth month

Source: Infant fourth month growth indicator

Infants third month growth indicator

Source: Infants third month growth indicator

Hearing and Speech Development: In this month, baby is able to trace the source of sound and turn his head towards the source. He is able to make vowel sound clearly like 'A' and 'O'. In this month, it is recommended that you talk to him as often as possible, it will give him opportunity to learn the way you speak.

Vision: Baby's eye coordination has improved tremendously this month and he is able to follow a moving object through a 180 degree arc. Baby is now able to recognize his milk bottle and he knows that it is time for milk whenever he see adults holding his milk bottle. In this month, you can hang a small colorful toy around 30cm away from his eyes to attract his attention. When your baby starts to focus on the toy, you can then move the toy to the left or right, this will help to enhance baby's eye coordination.

Body movement: Baby in this month will discover the usefulness of his hands. He may clasp his hands and bring them to his chest. He will start to touch interesting objects such as toy or clothes and holding them in his hands. Baby in this month is able to hold up his head steadily when he is upright. In this month, you can help him develop his muscle by supporting him when he is sitting or upright on his feet.

Communication Skills and Emotional development: Your baby will now communicate with other through his smile. When you smile at him, he will probably reward you with his grin. In this month, parents are encouraged to talk to babies by using different tones, this will help to train babies' perception of the speech. When the babies are making some sound, parents should also listen attentively and response quickly.

Weight and Length: The infant's weight will increase by about 1.0kg this month. The baby boy will have weight between 5.1kg to 7.9kg and the body length of 57.5cm to 65.5cm. The baby girl will have weight between 4.6kg to 7.4kg and body length of 56cm to 63.5cm.

Source: Infants third month growth indicator

Infants or newborns Second month growth indicator

Source: Infants or newborns Second month growth indicator

Hearing and Speech development: In this month, baby will listen actively to the all kinds of conversation around him. He will listen attentively to you when you are telling him, he will watch your mouth and how your tongue moves. At the end of this month, baby will start making different sounds that begin with a vowel like 'A' or 'O'.

Vision: In this month, baby will be able to see many more feet in front of him, but he still cannot see far. He is able to focus on objects that he is able to see and the duration of concentration will be lengthened. He will be very happy to see human faces rather than objects and he prefers to see those who dot him

Touch Reception: Parents' soft touch is healing to the baby. According to some researches, parents' soft touch is able to boost baby's weight gain, immune functionality and muscle development

Body Movement: In this month, baby's hands are no longer clenched in little fists. If you put your fingers or toys in his palms, he will hold them tight and give a little shake. The movement of arms and legs are now smooth and some babies may reach out for objects in this month.

Communication Skills and Emotional development: In this month, babies will spend more time on listening or looking to people around him. He will feel warm and comfortable when people smile at him. He may smile back sometimes. Babies in this month may be able to demonstrate different moods on different days. He may feel tired; he may be crying or fussing. When the baby is getting fussy or tired, apacifier may be able to help as most babies love to suck.

Weight and Length: The infant's weight will increase by 0.7kg to 0.9kg this month. The baby boy will have weight between 4.3kg to 6.8kg and body length of 54.5cm to 62cm. The baby girl will have weight between 4.0kg to 6.5kg and body length of 53cm to 60.5cm.

Source: Infants or newborns Second month growth indicator

Honey is not suitable for babies

Honey is very nutritious and delicious, but it is not suitable for babies. Food poisoning may occur when babies consume the honey, it is therefore important for parent to avoid feeding babies who are below one year old with honey.

Find out how the harmful bacterial Clostridium botulinum make honey unsuitable for babieshere:http://www.babyment.com/infant/honeynotbaby.php

Thrush - An Oral Infection in Baby

Thrush is a common oral infection in infants. Affected infants will have patches of white coating inside the mouth. These white patches can be found on the inside of the cheeks, on the tongue, on the roof of the mouth, lips or gums. Usually these white patches of coating cannot be easily rubbed away. If you force to wipe them away, affected area may bleed or leave behind painful ulcers.

Read further on how to differentiate it from milk residue and how to prevent and treat thrush. 

http://www.babyment.com/infant/thrush.php

Hand and Foot Jittering of Newborn Baby

Some infants, after birth, will see their hands or feet jittering. Some parents are very worried that this has to do with convulsion. In fact, it is normal to see your baby jitter.

Take a look here to understand why newborn baby will demonstrate hand and foot jittering.

http://www.babyment.com/infant/handfootjitter.php