Breastfeeding Journey

I still remembered vividly how tough the situation was when I started breastfeeding my son. He was hungry most of the time and required long hour feeding before he dozed off. I almost went insane as a result of sleep deprivation with additional stress from the smelly hair, itchy scalp and heaty food that made you sweat excessively. Luckily, I survived through the first three months.

With second baby, it was slightly better where I only suffered it for the first month. She could sleep through the nite most of the time and she can sleep by herself. Unlike her brother, we still rock him to sleep until now. He is just too pampered by us.

It is only strong determination make successful breastfeeding. A lot of my friends gave up so easily even in the first week when the babies need nutrients to develop their immune system. Breast milk is the best nutrient and it is easy to digest and absorb by babies. They always said their supply was not enough. In fact, it’s an excuse as they never sought help from friends/lactation consultants. I am not better than them but I insisted to solve the problems as I went along. I regretted giving-up breastfeeding for the first child too early and he is now easily get sick frequently.

But, I’m glad that I managed to do it for the second child. I have successfully breastfed exclusively for 7 months. Hooray!!

Horrible Train Ride

I took the opportunity to experience the commuter ride when I had training in KL Sentral. If the experience is good, I may think to take train to work when I move to KL in July. The experience was just horrible which made me to think twice to use public transport. NO-NO.

#1 Waiting experience is terrible – no air-cond or fan. Damn hot and crowded. You would soak in sweat after a long wait.

#2 No queue system – you may see everyone queue-up in lines before the train arrives. When the train arrives, the last one in the queue will suddenly show-up in front and you are likely to be pushed into the train without you realize it.

#3 It is always late without any reasons.

#4 Breaks down occasionally without clear announcement. It would stop for a good hour to fix it. It would speed-off when the repair was done without informing the passengers.

#5 Zero safety – too crowded until people stand in between the door. The alarm is alerted when the door is forced to close. Still, more people are trying to squeeze in. People are rushing beyond the yellow line and barely one inch from the train before the train stops.

#6 Boarding machine is always out of order. You can just go in and out without a ticket.

#7 Too crowded until you feel like sardine in a can or tuna in a can. This is how the usual passengers talk about it. If you are short and unlucky, you’re like to suffer the stink smell until you feel like vomiting.

#8 Confusing queue system. Different destination would require queuing at different colour lines.

Tame toddler’s tantrum

I already ran out of ideas how to calm down my son’s regular tantrum. I had tried both hard and soft approaches but it failed. He can easily throw tantrum (lie down on the floor crying non-stop, kick leg) when things didn’t get into his way. His temper has gotten worse when he is under the care of my PIL. They pampered him so much so that the sky is the limit for him. They will fulfill every single demand from him. He is now the King of the house.

I’ll be the Devil Advocate which made him felt I’m a BAD mom. I beat him till my palms turned red and he didn’t change.

I just read about an article teaching parents how to bond with their children. She told a story of a child who was beaten by her mom since young age suddenly retaliated at age 12. She advised parents to shower children with love especially for their first three years.

I must start to breath-in and breath-out more regularly to increase my tolerance level. :)