Baby Bucket - all about babies

Saving your baby from Pneumococcal disease

2008-07-28T14:39:00.009+08:00

My baby Kobe was due again for another vaccine and this will be the second of three vaccines that his pediatrician will inject to his precious legs.

I have posted an entry before about this vaccine and for the benefit of first time parents and parents to be I would like to add few more things that would help parents fight against the harm that this disease would bring to your baby.

Pneumococcal disease is a leading cause of illness in children throughout the world. The disease is caused by a common bacterium, the pneumococcus, which can attack different parts of the body. Illnesses that can be caused by the pneumococcus (or the "pneumo bug") include pneumonia, meningitis and otitis media (middle ear infection).

Having your baby this prevenar vaccine will prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (eg pneumonia, meningitis or blood poisoning) caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria in children aged two months to five years.

Prevenar Vaccine is defined as a vaccine that contains extracts from seven of the most common types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. These bacteria are responsible for causing invasive diseases such as pneumonia, blood poisoning and meningitis. The vaccine works by provoking the body's immune response to the bacteria, without causing the diseases.

Each bacteria or virus stimulates the immune system to produce a specific type of antibody. This means that different vaccines are needed to prevent different diseases.

Prevenar contains inactivated extracts from seven of the most common types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. It stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against these bacteria and thus is given to prevent the diseases that they can cause.

This pneumococcal vaccine is now part of the childhood immunization schedule. This vaccine will usually be given as three doses, at two, four and thirteen months of age. There will be a catch-up campaign for children up to two years who have already started their immunizations.

The prevenar vaccination is given as an injection into the muscle of the thigh for babies under one year and the upper arm for older children.

After the vaccine has been done, your baby might have flu so just like what my baby’s pediatrician told us, do not wait for this thing to happen as it advised that you give the necessary medication for your tot. A paracematol would be fine and the dosage will vary for us we give Kobe a 0.9 ml of paracematol.

I hope I was able to give important information for parents out there. Until my next posting.

Ten reasons why being a DAD matter

2008-07-23T13:44:00.003+08:00

Here's why:

1. Who else, other than mom will tuck your baby into bed at night, teach your tot to play basketball, give him/her first toy or teach your baby to eat Oreo Cookies (the one putting in a glass of milk?

2. Your baby has your genes. Think of this, you are not one of kind, you are part of who he/she is, how he/she looks – the lips, the eyes, the nose, the skin color, etc.

3. Your partner needs you. You should be right beside her in her ups and downs, be thankful for everything she has done for you and your baby.

4. Teach your baby the basics; children who were taught by fathers have better social skills when they reach kindergarten.

5. As a Father, you help your child to be rationale. “Father-child closeness is a crucial predictor of long-term mental health.”

Father and Son

6. Successful professional women tend to have at least one thing in common: fathers who respect and encourage them.

7. Do well as a father and, when your child's time comes, he/she will be a better dad/mom.

8. Good fathering means your son is less likely to have a criminal record.

9. Guidance, security, discipline, love and support will be crucial so be sure to give this your baby.

10. Do you want your child to have higher self-esteem, be friendly, and trust others? Your influence makes a difference.

*text based here

Baby Toys for 4 months up

2008-07-14T15:14:00.014+08:00

Now that my baby is four months old, I can see huge development on his part, Timothy Kobe can now suck his fingers, can use them to grab a rattle or toy firmly. Also he is beginning to reach out for toys. That’s why my partner and I made it clear thatevery toy he holds is safe for chewing. Everyone knows how virus can attack one’s tot and cliché as it may sound Prevention is better than Cure.

As parents, we are planning to buy toys that in one way or another he needs for his development both mental and physical.

And here are some of the toys that we listed; this may help other parents in buying the necessary toys for your Babies. Be sure you place them in a baby bucket so that everything is organized.

Playmats - choose the best play mat that will your suit your baby’s needs. Invest on this thing, for this will help your baby’s development grow faster. Pick the baby playmat with musical sounds and lots of colors in it and you can even hook some toys such as rattles, teethers and others.
Board books - one of the board books that I’d like to buy is the 4 in 1 set manufactured by Brainy Baby, which comes with themes from shapes, colors, animals and numbers. Your baby will listen to different sounds and language that you say and this will help him/her develop as early as a baby his/her hearing.

Play gym – this toy goes hand in hand with playmate since this will be placed above whenever he is lying. Your baby can hit at the toys, pull them, spin them, and rattle them.

Teethers – Babies like to gnaw whatever they want, so be sure that this teether is child safe. There are tons of design you can choose from food inspired toys to a brand new set of plaything that you have never seen.

Rubber Toys – buy toys that can be easy to handle and something that goes with a sound or a squeak for this will attract better attention to your tot. Also, these toys are very applicable when bathing for this will create sounds that your kid will surely enjoy.

Rattles – as a parent, you should know by now that babies like to create noise, be sure to give a rattle and play with him also try to add some music whenever possible.

Hope this list of toys will help you as parent and for your baby’s need and development.

Timothy Kobe's first milestone

2008-06-14T21:30:00.007+08:00

Video taken last when my baby Timothy Kobe started to somehow turn sideways and do a mini-crawl, I checked on Google when does baby start to crawl and found out that babies usually between the ages of 6 and 10 months. We were all surprised by this since Kobe is just turning 4 months old this 24th of June.

We are all happy to see this milestones our Kobe's part. Hopefully, he'll just grow healthy and free from all diseases.

Here's the article taken from http://www.babycenter.com:

Crawling

Crawling is your baby's first method of getting around efficiently on his own. In the traditional crawl, he'll start by learning to balance on his hands and knees. Then he'll figure out how to move forward and backward by pushing off with his knees. At the same time, he'll be strengthening the muscles that will soon enable him to walk.

When it develops

Most babies learn to crawl between the ages of 6 and 10 months. Your baby may opt for another method of locomotion around this time, though — like bottom shuffling (scooting around on his bottom, using a hand behind and a foot in front to propel himself), slithering on his stomach, or rolling across the room. Some babies skip crawling altogether and move directly to pulling up, standing, and walking. Since the "Back to Sleep" campaign was initiated in 1994, more babies seem to be crawling later or skipping it completely. (The campaign aims to reduce the risk of SIDS by encouraging parents to put babies to sleep on their back.) Don't worry about his style; it's getting mobile that's important, no matter how your baby does it.

How it develops

Your baby will likely start crawling soon after he's able to sit well without support (probably by the time he's 6 or 7 months old). After this point, he can hold his head up to look around, and his arm, leg, and back muscles are strong enough to keep him from falling on the floor when he gets up on his hands and knees.

Your baby will gradually (over a couple of months) learn to move confidently from a sitting position to being on all fours, and he'll soon realize he can rock back and forth when his limbs are straight and his trunk is parallel to the floor.

Somewhere around 9 or 10 months, he'll figure out that pushing off with his knees gives him just the boost he needs to go mobile. As he gains proficiency, he'll learn to go from a crawling position back into a sitting position. He'll also master the advanced technique that pediatrician William Sears calls "cross-crawling" — moving one arm and the opposite leg together when he moves forward, rather than using an arm and a leg from the same side. After that, practice makes perfect. Look for him to be a really competent crawler by the time he's a year old.

What's next

After your baby has mastered crawling, the only thing between him and complete mobility is learning to walk. To that end, he'll soon begin pulling himself up on everything he can reach, whether it's the coffee table or Grandma's leg. Once he gets the feel of balancing on his legs, he'll be ready to stand on his own and cruise while holding onto furniture. Then it's just a matter of time until he's walking, running, jumping, and leaping.

Prevenar Vaccine - vaccine that will protect your Baby from pneumonia, blood poisoning and meningitis

2008-06-03T11:23:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday, we went to see the pediatrician of my baby Timothy Kobe to have his scheduled Prevenar Vaccine. So what is Prevenar Vaccine? I admit that I don’t know this kind of vaccine, so I decided to search Google and look for the meaning of this shot.

Here is the meaning of this serum that was given to my baby.

*Prevenar is a pneumococcal vaccine that contains extracts from seven of the most common types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. These bacteria are responsible for causing invasive diseases such as pneumonia, blood poisoning and meningitis. The vaccine works by provoking the body's immune response to the bacteria, without causing the diseases.

When the body is exposed to foreign organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, the immune system produces antibodies against them. Antibodies help the body recognizes and kill the foreign organisms. They then remain in the body to help protect the body against future infections with the same organism. This is known as active immunity.

The immune system produces different antibodies for each foreign organism it encounters. This establishes a pool of antibodies that helps protect the body from various different diseases.
Vaccines contain extracts or inactivated forms of bacteria or viruses that cause disease. These altered forms of the organisms stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against them, but don't actually cause disease themselves. The antibodies produced remain in the body so that if the organism is encountered naturally, the immune system can recognize it and attack it, thus preventing it from causing disease.

Each bacteria or virus stimulates the immune system to produce a specific type of antibody. This means that different vaccines are needed to prevent different diseases.

Prevenar contains inactivated extracts from seven of the most common types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. It stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against these bacteria and thus is given to prevent the diseases that they can cause.

This pneumococcal vaccine is now part of the childhood immunization schedule. This vaccine will usually be given as three doses, at two, four and thirteen months of age.

Hopefully my new born infant will be safe from all these foreign elements that might attack his immune system and that this pricey injection will work and be able to help my baby grow as a healthy toddler.

For first time parents like Katrine and I, we are very cautious about our son’s health so we make sure that everything is doing good, fortunately we are very pleased that our tot is growing fast and in good physical shape, he’s actually overweight for his age at 3 months but the doctor said its fine and we have nothing to worry about.

*Definition of Prevenar Vaccine came from this source.

Fatherhood

2008-05-28T14:27:00.003+08:00

So what happens when couples who are both working decide to start a family and become first time parents? There will be a lot of adjustments to be made in every aspect like one’s role in the family, the resources and most especially the emotions will change. Starting a family is another chapter in one’s life. There are so many things to consider when you decide to build your own family.

The things the author is experiencing right now are all part of what we call transition period. Father’s role will be something like this:

· Protector, defender of your family.

· Prioritize your family above all. Provide them the basic necessities in life such as food, shelter, and clothing. Add to the list are emotional, physical, and mental aspects for your family.

This may seem very difficult at the beginning but having a positive attitude on how will these works out will make it lot easier for you and you family.

Another thing that will be greatly affected in starting a family will TIME. Your commitment to your new-born child and also with your family will eat up most of your time.

For first time Dads, you will be amazed by the amount of time this child demands especially in the first three to four months. First time Dads will sleep a lot less than they were used to before pregnancy and birth. New born babies will wake up in wee hours in the morning to be breastfeed/bottle-feed, change the little one’s diaper and make the infant sleep. This is an arduous task but very rewarding especially seeing your tot smile back at you as if saying “Thank you Dad for helping fall asleep”.

One of the many surprises a lot for new Daddy’s experience is how their relationship changes with their better half after the baby arrives. These things will happen especially when the Mother is breastfeeding the infant will be the first priority with her, Mom will get less sleep and the newborn needs more attention. Even when the baby is asleep, she will just not have the physical or emotional capacity to focus on you. The playmate you enjoyed before baby won't be back in the same form after the baby arrives.

With that said there are some really good things about a post-baby relationship. Both of you working together for a common good - baby, family, home life can be a really uniting experience. While the infatuation and lusty feelings of the pre-baby life may decline by nature and necessity, love deepens and expands when baby makes three. If you let it, and work toward it, you will find a whole new level of love, commitment and connection that you did not know existed.

With regard to partner, Sexual Intercourse will be greatly affected for quite a while after the baby arrives. Your spouse’s emotions and moods will be different so be patient, you can still cuddle but here’s a rule no sex for about one to three months after the infant arrived. Ask your doctor and he/she will give the signal to get back on track.

Are you ready to become a Father?

Fetal Development of your Baby

2008-05-19T15:43:00.012+08:00

Your precious Baby looks like this on his First Month

Fetal Development - 1 Month First Trimester

At the end of four weeks:

Baby is 1/4 inch in length.
Heart, digestive system, backbone and spinal cord begin to form.
Placenta (sometimes called "afterbirth") begins to develop.

The single fertilized egg is now 10,000 times larger than it was at conception.

By this time, your OB-Gynecologist will give you the needed vitamins for your baby and also for the mom. One of the most important things you can do to help prevent serious birth defects in your baby is to get enough folic acid every day - especially before conception and during early pregnancy.

Folic acid, sometimes called folate, is a B vitamin (B9) found mostly in leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach, orange juice, and enriched grains.

During pregnancy, especially first time parents require more of all of the essential nutrients than you did before you became pregnant. Although prenatal vitamins shouldn't replace a well-balanced diet, taking them can give your body - and, therefore, your baby - an added boost of vitamins and minerals.

Welcome, Welkom, Benvenuto, Bienvenido, How Y'all Doin'?, Kalos ilthes

2008-04-18T15:40:00.000+08:00

I just want to Welcome! you guys to my new blog, I named my blog after my son, Timothy Kobe, I'll be posting entries anything related to my son's activities. Come and always visit my blog in experiencing the ups and downs of having a baby and enjoying Fatherhood.

Photo Collage - Timothy Kobe

2008-04-18T15:35:00.000+08:00

Timothy Kobe's Photo Collage

Pictures were collated from his Christening, held last March 30, 2008 at St. Francis Church of Assisi.