Baby Items Do's... Which We Don't Do... :P

Rebel! Rebel with a cause! In my previous post on "Baby Items Don'ts... Which We Did Used Anyway..." I blogged about using some of the baby items which parents have been told NOT to use... but which we end up using anyway! Of course I do justify our actions in going ahead in using those items, but please note that we are not promoting and recommending that you should follow our suit. My blog post is merely to share my experience on my parenthood :D

So now, I go the complete opposite direction... This post is on the baby items which a lot of parents use and do... but we on the other hand, don't use or do it... Well, maybe some of them we did at least once or few times but no more after that... So here goes...

Baby Changing Mat

In the beginning, we used it. We placed our changing mat on the table and changed Ben's diapers on it. But after a few accidents where hubby (phew...lucky me!) got sprayed by Ben's piss... and poop (yup, you read it right!)... hahahahah....

Pic next to this is of hubby's luckier than winning a lottery strike of being sprayed by Ben's poop and piss (poop was later and not shown here :P)

Of course, when I became a full time mummy, I changed Ben on the bed, its nearer to the bathroom. From 2mths onwards after advice from sis in law (with 6 kids), we changed to washing Ben's butt directly under running water whenever Ben poop by hovering Ben's butt in the sink. We used to use the baby cotton pads and facial cottons to wipe his buttock clean. But no more of that already...

In short, why we didn't use it?
* Convenience - for poo-poo, I just take off his diapers, lug Ben to bathroom and wash his butt in the sink. For pee-pee, I just take off his diapers, wipe with baby wipes.
* Ben is growing taller, putting the changing mat and changing him on the table doesn't work anymore as his feet will jut out - more dangerous
* I had this weird paranoia on the hygiene of the mat (thanks to my visits to baby rooms whenever I go out - btw, do read up on my blog reviews on baby rooms!) a bit skeptical on the poop that might get stuck in the lining and layers of the mat

What we did to minimize the danger risk of not using this?
* Our bed mattress is soft and comfy, so no risk of Ben falling off the table where the changing mat is.
* I normally put a nappy cloth on the bed before placing Ben on the bed, but sometimes I just don't bother due to critical level of the diaper :P

Note: That doesn't mean mummy doesn't get her share of being sprayed by Ben's piss... so here goes the picture for you (and daddy) to enjoy!

And yes, Ben was on the bed, on a towel I laid before placing him on the bed. Goes to show no matter how you prepared yourself, whether you use changing mat or not, accidents do happen.

And in the case of a baby boy, please take note that their piss flies off upwards like in a rainbow curve ... :P

Baby Booties & Mittens

Take a long and hard look at this pic cos other than this, we didn't continue using booties & mittens for Ben.

Why we didn't use it?
* I don't know about you guys, but it' kinda hot here in Malaysia... why torture your baby somemore by wrapping them up? Already they are swaddled up like a nangka (or jackfruit), don't you feel pity looking at your baby all hot and heaty there?
* Fresh air = good circulation. Enough said.
* My Benjamin hates it. Actually he hates being hot (as in temperature hot, I know my baby boy is sexy cute hot :P). Everytime we try to put on the booties and mittens, it'll be off in few seconds. No matter how we swaddled him tight, his hands will find the way to escape out. He's like a mini Houdini or something... :P

Of course some of you may say if don't cover their hands and feet, they will chew their fingers etc etc. So again, would just like to highlight this is my experience not trying to generalise everyone else.

What we did to minimize the danger risk of not using this?
* I trimmed Ben's nails and toes every other day. Thank God for my weird fetish to have short and nicely trimmed nails, I proceeded to trim Ben the 1st day we brought him home :D

Cleaning his tongue

Just because I'm a SAHM and no longer works and less 1 income for the family, it's not that we're poor until no $ to buy things or whatever it is you guys used to clean baby's tongue, it's just that we've learned its not necessary to do it.

Antenatal class trainer said it, postnatal home visit consultant said it, baby websites said it even our paed said it.

Why we didn't do it?
* Ben is nursing every 2-3 hours. His tongue will always have milk residues on it. Unless the whitish spots are also in other parts of his mouth (symptoms of oral thrush), then there's absolutely no need to clean it!

Of course we did get the flak from MIL and even hubby's grandma that we had to clean Ben's tongue but we just turn a deaf ear and look today, Ben is a-OK!! :D

Pacifiers

Heck, I am not able to find any pictures of Ben with pacifier. MIL being old-fashioned like normal Chinese old folks keep saying we had to get one and use it on Ben when he cries and fusses, which we ignored until one day MIL went and bought one from Tesco (she rarely spend her money buying unnecessary stuff, so for her to buy the pacifier means its very important to her already!) Then she tried using it on Ben and Ben pushed it out with his tongue.

Why we didn't do it?
* Of course... he is so used to mummy's nipple... which baby in their right mind would want a silicone nipple when you can have the real thing?! Well, MIL did managed to use the pacifier on Ben for less than 10 times within the first 6 months but after that, no more. Ben's pacifier is mummy's nipples and his own fingers, hahahaha...
* Compared pacifier and own fingers... imagine if your baby get used to using and depending on pacifier (especially if going to sleep), then its like the sarung... everywhere you go, you have to bring the pacifier. Imagine not bringing the pacifier or worse... losing it? Not to mention, if your baby goes to sleep with the pacifier in his mouth, imagine the hazard of choking on it?
* Here are some other reasons of why we should not use pacifier as written in Baby Center article.

Shaving Ben's head bald when he turns 1 month old (normal Chinese custom to shave baby's head bald when full moon)

No, we are not kiam-siap (aka stingy) or vain pot that we don't want our baby to go bald. Just that we read enough and learned enough to know its not necessary to do that.

Why we didn't do it?
* Even our paed said we are doing the right thing cos ppl often have this belief that after they shaved their baby's head bald, their hair will grow more and thicker. Wrong! According to our paed, it seems that way but in actual fact, normally around 2-3 months old, that's when baby's hormone stabilises and their hair starts to grow, giving the impression that its because the parents shaved their baby's head bald.

Look at Benjamin... we had never even shaved his head bald. The most we did during full moon as customary Chinese thingy is to cut a few of his hairs like few milimeters long. That's all. And that is what MIL wanted too as well. I had a friend who shaved her baby's head bald only to have her baby growing back her hair in patches... worse than before shaving. Even now with her baby at 10 mths old, her hair is still in patches... and she's been regretting her actions... after looking at Ben's fluffy and silky smooth hair... hahahaha...

Again, like I mentioned in my previous blog post, you may not agree with me... I'm not in any way saying we are doing the right thing or what we are doing is perfect. I'm only sharing my experience on parenting with convenience and proper justifications and with logic of course!

Happy parenting! :D