A NEWbie Mommy

Reference : http://www.thelearningweb.net

In the first six years of life, a children has a mind that absorbs great amounts of information without any effort. This is also the child's greatest learning capability period.

In general terms the left-hand side of your brain plays a major part in processing logic, words, mathematics and sequence - the so-called academic parts of learning.
The right-hand side of the brain deals with rhythm, rhyme, music, pictures and day-dreaming - the so-called creative activities.

The left brain is sharpened through languages while the right brain is strengthen through pictures.

British businessman and researcher Colin Rose, author of Accelerated Learning and developer of several rapid-learning foreign language courses, gives a simple example of how different aspects of the brain can work together in an integrated way. "If you're listening to a song, the left brain would be processing the words and the right brain would be processing the music. So it's no accident that we learn the words of popular songs very easily. You don't have to make any effort to do that. You learn very quickly because the left brain and the right brain are both involved - and so is the emotional center of the brain in the limbic system."


If you grow up in China or Japan, you learn to write a "picture" language - and this is largely learned through part of the right-hand side of your brain.
Grow up in one of the Western "alphabet" cultures, and you learn how to take in information through all your senses but to communicate in linear writing.
The English language, for instance, has about 550,00013 words, yet each one is made up of variations from only the 26 letters of the alphabet. Communicate in alphabet languages, and you will largely be using a section of the left-hand side of your brain.

Some guides on

1. When to introducing solid food ?
2. When should I introduce finger food ?
3. What are your baby favourite food ?
4. Foods to watch out for !!

0-4 month old baby

• breast milk / formula milk
  

4-6 month old baby

• Start with infant cereal that are fortified with iron (Infant cereal - rice, barley, oats or rice gruel)
  
• Avoid giving baby food that are too salty or sweet
  
• Put too much salt stress on te kidneys (encourage not to put)
• Avoid giving baby egg white until he is a year old
• Give baby vegetables so that he'll grow to love them (pureed green/dark green vegetables, carrot, spinach, potato) (notes : my baby allergy on carrot & potato)

6-8 month old baby

• Add teething biscuits, over-dried toast, or soft bread as snacks (single / mixed grain cereals, biskuit, bread)
  
• Avoid giving baby food that are oily, fried or spicy
• Be extra careful of food that may cause choking ; candies, nuts, raw vegetables,etc
• Give unsweetened 100% fruit juice (except orange, tomato)
• Try juicing vegetables with fruits
• Oils and sugar do not provide the necessary fats and calories that a baby needs.
• Diluted apple juice or grape juice
• Sample meal : Mashed potato with cooked and sieved carrot ; pureed fish porridge ; mashed banana
  

8-10 month old baby

• Add plain hot cereals, bagels, plain unsalted crackers (porridge with ground/mashed lean red meat, chicken/fish)
  
• Add other cooked, mashed vegetables, finely chopped vegetables
  
• Teach baby to feed himself
• Feed baby small bite-size pieces of fruits, vegetables, bread
• Add meat to baby's diet when he has a few teeth (cooked beans, peas, tofu, lentils, finely chopped chicken, pork , beef)
• Sample meal : Finely minced chicken with spinach ; soft rice porridge ; plain yogurt ; flaked and mashed cooked fish with chopped carrots and peas )
  

10-12 month old baby

• Add whole wheat bread, rice pasta
• Offer cooked vegetable pieces that are soft like mashed potatoes
• Add small tender pieces of lean meat
• Serve up colourful food that come in varied shapes, sizes and texture to stimulate your child's appetite
• Spice up baby's mealtime by arranging vegetables creatively on a plate
• Sample meal : Soft cottage cheese ; 1 whole egg (poached/scrambled) ; mashed tofu ; beans ; minced, finely chopped meats ; minced fish with bean curd and chopped french beans ; minced meat with pumpkin.

Reference : Dumex and MeadJohnson

Abtrasted from 'Sleep Well, Grow Well' - Dumex Sciences

Sleeping through the night is important for babies. According to researchers, sleep is divided into two sort.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement)
In REM sleep, baby's body system are active; the heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and blood flow to the brain increases. It is the time when babies dream, which according to studies, allows them to process daytime emotional experiences, encourages the development of binocular vision and ensures more stimulation, (eading to growth)than babies can get from their sense when awake. It is also the time when recent memories are transferred into long-term storage.

Non REM
In non REM sleep, baby will lie quietly, with a regular heart rate and breathing pattern.

Most newborn enter REM sleep immediately after falling asleep, as it is important to her development; the higher centers of the brain receive stimulation and respiratory motions in REM sleep. However at 3 months of age, babies enter non-REM first which is the pattern that shall continue for the rest of her life.

Typical sleep requirements in childhood
0-3 months - 16 to 20 hours a day
3-6 months - 14/15 hours
6-12 months - 13 hours
1-3 years - 10 to 13 hours
3-12 years - 12 hours (pre-school child) ; 10 hours (pre-adolescent)