Health & Wellness Archives - Page 32 of 50

Stress Free Parenting Tips On Weaning

While Chico was feeding on his bottle and Sati on my breast, I asked Sati if she’s ready to move to bottle.. and a violent AYAW says it all. Chico on the other hand asked her if she wants to drink GATAS (milk) on the bottle. Sati answered, “Ayaw ko ng Gatas!” huh? ayaw daw ng gaats eh panay ang dede.. turns out, my milk is DEDE.. and it’s not Gatas!

That reminds me about weaning.. so for our Tuesday Parenting Tip, let’s talk about weaning.

Scientifically, weaning is the process where the baby stops nursing and also the time where in adult diet is introduced to the baby and all his nutrient sources is no longer the breast.

When is the right time to wean?

Reading would suggest that moms need to continue breastfeeding until the baby is 6 months. Our pediatrician also mentioned that and we should breastfeed exclusively for 6 months. After that, it is our choice if we want to continue or wean the baby and start feeding them with formula. I choose to feed them as long as I can.. but with my first born, pregnancy comes in the way and I had to wean him when he turns one. With my second boy, he was breastfed for 1 year and 8 months. My third son’s case was the same with my first born, pregnancy came in the way. As with my youngest, you know I’m still breastfeeding her until now.. she is 2 years old and 4 months.

My experiences weaning my kids led me to a conclusion that the right time to wean a baby is before they turn a year old. Anything later than that is not advisable. Why? As the kid turns one, they were old enough to understand but young enough not to argue. Just like what happened to my first born.. when I told him he can no longer have mommy’s milk as soon as he turns one, he never asked for it after his birthday party. It was quite sad for me.. I was expecting commotions.. The same thing happened with my third son, when I started weaning him, it took him only a week to get used to it.

The story of my second born was different.. in fact telling I have a hard time weaning him is an understatement. It was riot and the whole household can attest to that. Husband complains of lack of sleep… good thing he had to leave for US for 3 weeks and that’s how I finally won in weaning. What went wrong? He is old enough to know what he wants and knows how to get it through tantrums.

Stress Free Parenting Tips On Weaning

Start early. As I have mentioned, the age is very important as it can make or break the weaning process.
Start gradually. Cold turkey maybe effective to some but to me, gradually reducing the feeding is more effective. If you’re baby use to feed 3 times on day and 2 times at night, start reducing it one feeding at a time.
Increase the break time. If you’re baby love feeding every 3 hours, try increasing it to 3 hours and 30 minutes and so on.
Simultaneously, reduce the time that they spent on your breast.
Do not introduce bottle feeding yet, delay it for a few more weeks or until the baby is almost ready to give up your milk.

When should you delay Weaning? When the baby is sick or is experiencing a milestone such as teething or starting to walk, delay it for a few more weeks.

When a baby is old enough, like with my second born, the most effective way to wean them is to decrease their supply gradually. It takes time, sleep and a lot of effort. And it will take a lot of tears too, just remember that if you are determined to wean the baby, do not give up.

I’ll let you in to my little secret.. with Sati, it’s me that would needs weaning.. yes, I just can’tlet go of this little girl.. it’s a little bit selfish, what can I do? she’s my only girl *wink

Run United 1: Our First Fun Run Experience

March 4, 2012. Mall of Asia. Run United 1. 500 m Dash

That’s my second son on the photo. He’s a typical child, only active when it’s wrestling time with his older brother.. he loves playing though but you can’t consider him sporty.. he was actually scared that day.. afraid he would not be able to finish the race… but he did!

For my first born, it was a different story.. he is competitive, excelling on his studies and still managed to play basketball and always ready for any physical activity. Sadly, I never got the chance to catch his running gig…. the boy runs fast..less than 3 minutes for 500m dash.. and that was his first time.

Mine was another thing. I joined the 3k run and oh boy it was exhausting! I managed to finish it a little over 30 minutes and I am first timer too! It was really a first time experience for us to join a fun run. And for a family who was not that active, we really took some time off to prepare for the run. Almost every day (two weeks prior to the run) we would run around Pasig Rainforest, test our endurance and see how much we can do. For the first few days, I survived with the help of Alaxan FR.. after a week, my body’s adapting. When we started practicing, I can only run/jog/walk for 600 m but 2 weeks after, I was able to finish a 3k run! That’s quite an achievement for me. The same goes to my second born as I mentioned he is not that active. The first few days of our practice, he would have a hard time running around the 240 meter oval at the Rainforest. He finished a 500 meter dash and I was so proud of him. As for my first born, I kinda expected that he can do it real fast, I just didn’t expect that he can outrun me.

Here are some of our photos from Run United 1:

My boys with Nina and her son together with the other kids running for the Ceelin 500m dash.

My sister with her son and my second born finishing the race:)

The boys at the 500m dash finisher’s safety booth (?) I don’t what it is called but that was a secured place where the kids went after the race. Accompanying adults need to claim their child/kid before the staff let the child go. You have to show the claim stub to the staff. And that’s a really cool move for me.. but there is a tiny hassle on this one. I just noticed that for parents to fetch their kid/s they need to walk a few meters and go through the expo. I wish on the next run, they would provide a small opening where parents can go inside so as to fetch their kid/s. And oh, another thing I noticed, the 500m dash started late. The assembly time was supposed to be 6 AM and the gun shot was at 7 AM but it started around 7:30. I guess some kid runners need to wait for their parents to finish their respective race..But I have to commend what they did during the run as they sort the kids base on their ages.. kids ages 9-12 (boys) run all at the same time, then followed by girls ages 9-12, then boys 4-8, then girls 4-8.

There was so much going around the expo but we never had the chance to roam around.. with these two Ceelin protektodo toddlers in tow.. it’s not just possible.. specially that we drag them from the custom mattress at 4 in the morning.. Lesson learned.. leave the toddlers at home unless they will be joining the run 🙂

Our experience was so much fun that we will be joining the Run United 2 2012.. definitely! I’d still go for 3K.. my goal is to lessen my run time.. the kids would still go for 500m. Maybe next year, we will join a different category or we might even join the 21k run.

and yes, this will be the start of more fun run ahead.

P.S.
Get your Run United 1 race result/ chip time through RUNRIO E-COM:

type RESULT RU1/DISTANCE/BIB NO/NAME/BIRTHDATE send to 09229992444.

sample: result ru1/3k/14235/pehpot pineda/02011982

The official results will be posted in Unilab Active Health and RunRio Facebook fan pages starting March 12, Monday.

What You Need To Know About Pneumucoccal Disease and How You Can Prevent It

It may not be the number one killer disease.. but it ranks first on morbidity and ranks 5th on mortality. Pneumucoccal Disease is a SERIOUS disease.

Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae), also known as pneumococcus. The bacteria may cause ear infection, pneumonia, meningitis or sepsis. Young children and the elderly are more prone to the disease. People who are suffering from diabetes are also at risk, along with people with serious underlying medical condition such as heart or kidney disease and chronic lung. Smokers are also at risk and people who’s immune system is weak.

How is pneumococcal disease contracted and What are the symptoms of pneumococcal disease?

The Pneumococcal bacteria can travel through the air and a close contact to people carrying the bacteria can spread the disease. It can be spread through sneezing, coughing or even breathing and talking.

Symptoms of pneumococcal disease include fever, shaking chills, headache, productive cough, muscle pain and weakness. It also vary depending on the severity of the disease.

How is pneumococcal disease treated and how can it be prevented?

Pneumococcal Disease can be treated by antibiotics but the bacteria has become increasingly resistant to penicillin and other frequently used antibiotics.

A new pneumococcal vaccine is now available in the Philippines for the prevention of pneumococcal disease caused by S.pneumoniae for adults aged 50 years and older. Immunization has been the most effective control measures in preventing Pneumococcal Disease and Pfizer Inc. has officially launched in the Philippines its pneumococcal vaccine for adults aged 50 years old and above.

In a press conference was held last week, Julio Alberto Ramirez, an specialist on infectious disease, told us that death caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae is even higher than the death caused by HIV.

Dr. Professor Heinz-Josef Schmitt, Senior Director for Scientific Affairs (Vaccines) of Pfizer since May 2011, explained to us the microbial exposures and diseases throughout life and it can be seen that young children and elderly are prone to more microbials and diseases. Dr. Schmitt also pointed out how important the vaccine is to adults 50 years and above since their immune system have weakened and leaves the body susceptible to more diseases.

Also present during the press conference is Dr. Rontgene M. Solante, president of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) and Dr. Ricardo C. Zotomayor, Chief of the Section of Pulmonary Medicine.

The pneumococcal vaccine of Pfizer has been available in the country since 2010 for use in children ages 2 to 5 years old and is now approved for adults 50 years old and above in the Philippines since November 2011. The adult indication was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) last October 2011 and the US. Food and Drug Administration last December 2011.

About Pfizer
Pfizer combines the application of science and global resources to improve the health and well-being of humans at every stage of their lives. The company strives to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicine for people and animals. Their diversified global health care portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and many of the world’s best-known consumer products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with their responsibility as the world’s leading biopharmaceutical company, they also collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on them. To learn more about Pfizer’s commitments, please visit www.pfizer.com.