BABY FORMULA FEEDING

CLINIC

Kelmarin (Jumaat, 19 Sept), Rafiqh ke klinik bertemu paed-nya, Dr. Yoshimoto. Dah lebih 2 bulan tak ke sana, kali ni pergi untuk dapatkan vaccination for polio (2nd time). As for now, dah settle dah urusan cucuk Rafiqh, seterusnya kena tunggu dia cecah usia setahun ++ baru ada appoinment cucuk lagi... InsyaAllah kalau Rafiqh sehat walafiat, lamaaa pulak baru pergi ke klinik ni lagi, kan? kan?
Berat Rafiqh tak bertambah banyak pun compared to 2months ago. 8.1kg saja, ok laa kan, as long as you are healthy, active and growing well, mama tak kesah laa sayang...

Masuk saja dalam bilik doktor, doktor tanya "????"("Mana ayahnya?"), hehe, "????"("Outstation.")... Doktor pun belek2 Rafiqh, check sana sini, "??????????????????"("Sangat sihat yer Tsuyoshi-kun."), hahaha, sihat alhamdulillah. Agaknya doktor ni tunggu Rafiqh demam kot, kuikuikui...

As usual, setiap kali nak jumpa paed, I akan list-kan segala persoalan yang bermain di minda. Haa hambik kau doktor, macam2 soalan kena tanya, jawab2, jangan tak jawab, hihi... Dari soal solid foods yang I nak introduce hingga laa ke bab stool baby. Nasib laa kan, I kan new-mommy, macam2 laa I nak tahu, betul tak? Betul betul!

Kesimpulannya Rafiqh berada dalam proses pembesaran yang baik, syukur. Tak ada kegembiraan yang lebih hebat buat seorang ibu selain melihat anaknya membesar dengan sihat, bijak dan melalui fasa kehidupan dengan baik, kan?kan?

SEPARATION ANXIETY

Tertarik pulak I nak menulis tentang separation anxiety, satu fenomena atau "penyakit" biasa yang dialami oleh hampir kesemua bayi dan kanak2. Dalam bahasa utara, we called it as "peghak"!

At certain stages, most babies or toddlers will show true anxiety and be upset at the prospect or reality of being separated from a parent. Regardless of the origins of this normal developmental stage, it's frustrating for babies and parents. The good news is that separation anxiety will pass and there are ways to make it more manageable. And in the meantime, enjoy the sweetness of knowing that to your child, you're number one!

Babies can show signs of separation anxiety as early as 6 or 7 months, but the crisis age for most babies is between 12 to 18 months. Most commonly, separation anxiety strikes when you or your spouse leaves your child to go to work or run an errand.

There are several options which are available to parents on how they can help their babies through it...

Option I
Minimize separations as much as possible and take your baby along if he seems to feel anxious. With this option, you're basically waiting for your baby to outgrow this stage.

Option II
If you have to leave your baby, for example, to return to work, try leaving him with people who are familiar, like his father, grandmother, or aunt. Your baby may still protest, but he might adjust more easily to your absence when surrounded by well-known faces.

Option III
If you need to leave your child with someone he doesn't know, give him a chance to get to know his caregiver while you're still around.

As a new parents, most of us will feel uncomfortable with this situation, but by knowing that this is a normal phrase and process in baby's life and by knowing on how to deal with it, somehow it helps us to understand our babies more.

I still can remember when my younger brothers were still babies, they are so afraid of strangers. For the worst case was achik, not only he hate when someone hold him, but even when stranger looked at him, he will cry. So, everytime we went to relatives or friends' houses, my father had to hold him outside of the house, because he refused to get in, or else he will crying non stop! Hahaha...

Rafiqh shows the sign of separation anxiety when he was around 4 or 5 months old. At that time, he didn't want anyone except me or his dad to hold him. He even didn't allowed anyone to touch him, and sometime he will cry when someone talks to him, huhuhu. We are quite worried even though we know it is normal. So, myLove always asked me to bring Rafiqh outside, exposed him to strangers frequently. Let him see other people and give him chance to be friendly. Alhamdulillah, at 8months old he has developed the communication skill with others. He shows a positive sign towards separation anxiety. No more crying when someone talks to him, but he will "reply" happily! No more crying when someone trying to touch him, he is able to "salam" and "give me 5"! HOWEVER, he still refused to allow anyone to hold him, maybe he is afraid if they will take him away, hahaha. But of course I dah cukup happy dengan perkembangan terbarunya ini, be friendly to others! He just need some more time to handle with this situation. Usually when I bring him to the new place, he will "scan" the people and place first. After 10minutes, he will give a good response. But if the place or people around are familiar, he won't take a long t

The Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota) is a species of marmot found in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. Alpine Marmots live at heights between 800 and 3,200 metres, in the Alps, Carpathians, Tatras, the Pyrenees and Northern Apennines Italy. They were reintroduced with success in the Pyrenees in 1948, where the Alpine Marmot had disappeared at end of the Pleistocene epoch.They are excellent diggers, able to penetrate soil that even a pickaxe would have difficulty with, and spend up to nine months per year in hibernation.An adult Alpine Marmot may weigh between 4 and 8 kg and reach between 42–54 cm in length (not including the tail, which measures between 13–16 cm on average). This makes the Alpine Marmot the largest squirrel species.
Alpine Marmots eat plants such as grasses and herbs, as well as grain, insects, spiders and worms. They prefer young and tender plants over any other kind, and hold food in their forepaws while eating. They mainly emerge from their burrows to engage in feeding during the morning and afternoon, as they are not well suited to heat, which may result in them not feeding at all on very warm days. When the weather is suitable, they will consume large amounts of food in order to create a layer of fat on their body, enabling them to survive their long hibernation period.
Alpine Marmot in Massif des Ecrins, France.When creating a burrow, they use both their forepaws and hind feet to assist in the work—the forepaws scrape away the soil, which is then pushed out of the way by the hind feet. If there are any stones in the way, providing they aren't too large, the Alpine Marmot will remove them with its teeth. "Living areas" are created at the end of a burrow, and are often lined with dried hay, grass and plant stems. Any other burrow tunnels that go nowhere are used as toilet areas. Once burrows have been completed, they only host one family, but are often enlarged by the next generation, sometimes creating very complex burrows over time. Each Alpine Marmot will live in a group that consists of several burrows, and which has a dominant breeding pair. Alpine Marmots are very defensive against intruders, and will warn them off using intimidating behavior, such as beating of the tail and chattering of the teeth, and by marking their territory with their scent. One can often see an Alpine Marmot "standing" while they keep a look-out for potential predators or other dangers. If one is spotted, they will emit a loud whistle or chirp—one whistle is given for possible airborne predators, more for ground predators.
The mating season for Alpine Marmots occurs in the spring, right after their hibernation period comes to a close, which gives their offspring the highest possible chance of surviving the coming winter. Alpine Marmots are able to breed once they reach an age of two years. Once the female is pregnant, she will take bedding materials (such as grass) into the burrow for when she gives birth, after a gestation period of 33–34 days. Each litter consists of between one to seven babies, through this number is usually three. All the babies are born blind, and within several days all will have grown dark fur. The weaning period takes a further forty days, during which time the mother will leave the young in the burrow while she searches for food. After this period, the offspring will come out of the burrow and search for solid food themselves. Their fur becomes the same colour as other Alpine Marmots by the end of the summer, and after two years they will have reached their full size. If kept in captivity, Alpine Marmots can live up to 15–18 years.
Introduced Alpine Marmots in the Pyrenees .
As the summer begins to end, Alpine Marmots will gather old stems in their burrows in order to serve as bedding for their impending hibernation, which can start as early as October. They seal the burrow with a combination of earth and their own faeces. Once winter arrives, the Alpine Marmots will huddle next to each other, and begin hibernation, a process which lowers their heart rate down to five beats per minute, and breathing down to 1–3 breaths per minute, which uses up their stored fat supplies as slowly as possible. Their body temperatures will drop to almost the same as the air around them, although their heart rate and breathing will speed up if they approach freezing point. Some Alpine Marmots will starve to death despite this, due to their layer of fat running out. This is most likely to happen in the younger Alpine Marmots than the older ones.

La marmotta delle Alpi (Marmota marmota) e un roditore del genere delle marmotte e della famiglia degli Sciuridi, vive a delle altitudini superiori ai 1.500 metri, al limite superiore della foresta, dove gli alberi si diradano e diminuiscono di grandezza. Normalmente le altitudini in cui vive la marmotta vanno dai 2000 metri ai 3000 metri d'altitudine.
Le famiglie si nutrono d'erba, di granaglie e di foglie. A fine settembre