Travel with a Baby

Baby Jasmine would not sit still and wanted to touch every unsanitized things. Get lots of tricks in your bag -- favorite small toys she hasn't play for a while, snacks, baby signing time DVD (borrowed from the library) although the headphone was a little too big for her head :) change of shirt for all in case spillage. Family with kids can usually go to the faster security line. Bring birth certificate with you and passport if you're leaving the country. since we didn't have to pay for the baby seat for the domestic flight, I reserved window seat (nursing privacy) and my husband got the aisle seat (not many people want the middle seat). Once we got the last row, even more privacy next to the window and closer to the bathroom; more jet noise, but it was convenient when it was time to change poopy diaper. check seatguru.com for the best airplane seats. have a fun trip!

Airline and Fares

For Southwest Airline, child over 14 days and under 2 years of age, not occupying a seat, may be carried free when traveling with an adult. airport staff will ensure compliance with this regulation, so be sure to bring a copy of your baby's birth certificate for age verification.
boarding pass is not needed, but obtain a Boarding Verification Document to board the aircraft at the Ticket Counter or departure gate on the day of travel. If the plane is not full, you can use the car seat and occupy a seat for free. If the plane is full, you'll have to check in the car seat at the gate that count as one of your baggage allowed. If you don't want to risk it and want to reserve a seat, you can call them and request an infant fare and see if it's cheaper than your fare. Google: children ticket airline X, to see the rules applied to your airline. For international flights, depends on the airline, lap babies may cost 10% of the adult fare and infants in seat cost 75% of the fare. once they hit 2, it's considered full fare.

Pick a Seat

Use http://www.seatguru.com to check if the seat is good by mouse over the seat.

Did you know only certain car seats are FAA approved? but most of the new ones are approved child safety seat.

Ears Popping!
Be sure to feed the baby during take off and landing to relieve ear pressure.

Pack Light!
Packing list for baby on board the plane

More of Baby Jetsetter's tips!

Still have to go through the Security.
TSA Info - traveling with children
From TSA - we will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children.

Medications, baby formula and food, breast milk, and juice are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding three ounces and are not required to be in the zip-top bag. Declare these items for inspection at the checkpoint. Click here to learn more about 3-1-1

All items including formula, breast milk, and juice will be inspected, however, you or your infant or toddler will not be asked to test or taste breast milk, formula, or juice. Our Security Officers may test liquid exemptions (exempt items more than 3 ounces) for explosives.

Long Longevity

After watching several news and shows, seems like the secrets to long longevity like Okinawa folks are
- nutrient-rich, low-calorie diet.
- low in fat.
- low sugar.
- high grains.
- lots of green vege and sweet potatoes.
- eat only 80% full.
- body movement from work or exercise.
- supportive network of family and friends. happy life =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet

fat soluble vitamins stay in the body, can lead to toxicity

Take vitamins with care and watch daily recommended dosage.

Please watch the amount of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K) with care. it is stored in the body and can lead to toxicity. not to exceed 100% of daily recommended dosage, and depends on what you eat in your diet.

Following is from my pharmacist friend:
"Regarding your question about vitamins, I don't think it matters on what brand of vitamins that you take. It is more important on the amount and which vitamins. I always tell my patients that just because it is vitamins or herbals (natural), it is not always safe. Not all excess vitamins are been eliminate in the urine, some vitamins are fat soluble and it stays in the body thus it can lead to toxicity. If you have any question, ask the pharmacists near you. They can help you pick the right vitamins for you. By the way, do take extra 1000mg of Calcium for your bone. "

Babies need some sun exposure for Vitamin D.

The amount of vitamin D in human milk is small: 20-136 IU/liter in mothers who are not vitamin D deficient. However, the vitamin D in human milk is in a form that is very easily used by the baby and therefore adequate for most infants, when combined with a small amount of sun exposure.

From kellymom.com: Infants (0-12 months) should not exceed 1,000 IU per day.

Anyone aged 1-50 years should not exceed 2,000 IU per day.

Some say breastfeeding babies need extra vitamin D, some say it's not true... another example of conflicting and confusing breastfeeding info.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said:

Why is it necessary to give vitamin D supplements to my breastfeeding baby? Doesn’t human milk have all the essential nutrients for babies?
human milk does not contain enough vitamin D to prevent rickets. Sunlight is the usual source of vitamin D production in the skin. You should give the drops once a day, every day. But, if you forget one day, it is all right. The vitamin D is stored in the baby and there will be enough in the baby’s body to prevent rickets.

a lactation counselor said to me that this study was conducted on a group of women who do not have healthy diet. Looks like at long as baby and me go out at least 24 min/day or about 3 hours/week to get sunlight exposure needed to achieve adequate vitamin D status, then we're good. FDA increased vitamin D dosage to 1,000 IUs Daily, since it helps with calcium absorption.

I wasn't sure if the prenatal vitamins, DHA supplements, Viactiv calcium + vit D & K, baby's polyvisol vitamins, and the food I eat are too much. My family physician said depends on my diet that day. If I meet the daily nutrition intake, I can adjust the dosage as needed.

I like my friend's advise, just follow your instinct no matter what anyone else says, and you'll be fine.

Breastmilk provides healthier baby.

Speaking of breastfeeding, this video really helps when I was having latching problem in the beginning.

i found my breastfeeding class really helpful. like hold your boob like a sandwich LOL :) but the nurses at the hospital were really helpful and they had lactation counselors to come and help whenever i ask for them. get as much brown part in baby's mouth as possible. sometimes i had to push the baby's head in. as soon as the mouth is open up.

Start breastfeeding as soon as the baby is out of your womb (and chest to chest skin contact!), because the breast milk will start producing the more baby sucks at your nipple. and the baby is more efficient at sucking than the breastpump. You're not supposed to get a lot in the beginning and that's okay. it's packed with good stuff. If the baby needs to be in NICU, use or borrow hospital's breast pump, because if you don't do it within 2 days, your milk supply will stop and it's really hard to restart!! I wish they tell patients that in the hospital, because a lot of new moms don't know and think they don't have enough of milk. drink warm soup to help the blood circulate around your chest. and keep hydrated - ask your family to always give you something to drink when you breastfeed.

I heard it's possible to restart lactating with medication, but it'll be another challenge on top of all others you have to do. Breastfeeding is not easy and it helps to have support and guidance. I got advise from my local La Leche League lead (I attended LLL meeting prior to birth and it helped to establish a group prior to delivery). Don't be afraid to ask LLL leaders and various lactation counselors for help. breastfeeding was not as easy as it seemed and it helps to have support and guidance.
La Leche (donation accepted) 24 hrs helpline 877-452-5324

my local community family support center offers lactation counselors for free. Latching may hurt a little in the beginning, but you and the baby are trying to find the nursing position that works for both of you. try all different holding positions. New moms, don't give up and don't let anyone tell you your milk is not enough or good, because it will be plenty the more baby sucks and the healthier you eat. The bonding and the nutrients for healthy baby are worth it. I just love holding Jasmine and have her eyes looking at me and her little hands on me. oh get a pacifier ready in the hospital too. and cute outfit for the photo :)

However, if you can't breastfeed for whatever reason, don't worry, my neighbor a devoted mom had to formula feed her children, but they grew up tall and healthy.

Please be kind to pregnant women when traveling

After reading Heather's dooce blog (I wonder how many more hits do I need to get $40k of ads income... LOL) when she was traveling via air and seven months pregnant, reminded me when I went on a business trip for a week and I was about 6 months pregnant (or week 25). I had a big belly then. Although I only had a carry on and a laptop bag, but I was dragging my feet. I asked if the airline stewardess would help me lift up the carry on in the compartment, she replied, no, it's not my job, it's someone else, and I injuried my wrist (yet she did not find that someone else). And in the return trip, another airline stewardess looked at me and turned around before I can ask her. What happened to the customer service?? It's like night and day when flying airlines from other countries. I wish it's the other way around. The airline executives must have squeezed all the benefits out of their employees. In turns, I worry about the air travel safety. The pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who performed the miracle landing on Hudson river after the bird strike testified on Capital Hill and indicated that professional airline pilots' pay and benefits were cut severly and jeopardize the quality of future airline pilots who sign up. Short sighted executives drive up the stock price to earn their million dollar bonus is another problem in our financial business system similar to the financial meltdown.

2 months update

Moms need to support each other more

Moms set expectations too high - the guest speaker on Oprah says, "mothers need to know that if they can't do it all—or if they don't want to—that doesn't make them failures. We need honesty. We need to support each other more."

Marriage after baby

Having a baby is a joyful occasion, but the tension of baby crying and the increase stress can be hard on marriage. this article says the more you had, the more you feel like you lost. i guess that's the silver lining. i found it was easy to get frustrated and yell at each other when baby is crying. as we find tricks to keep baby happy through trials and errors, we figured out each other roles and responsibilities, along with laughing therapy by watching comedy shows like 3 and half men or friends to keep the humor going. we also have date nights at home, rent movies and reconnect with each other. then we can relax and go back to pamper each other like king and queen. we can experience the joy of parenthood and the smiley giggle baby.

New Moms Group

After spending hours searching through the Internet for new mom support, I found talking with new moms are more therapeutic! it's more effective and more rewarding *talking* with various new moms. we can empathize with each other and share tips, and just develop friendship and allow baby to learn social skills. You can find a New Mom's group at the hospital, in your neighborhood/community, Baby & Me class at the local family support center sponsored by the county, or the public library programs.

From other moms, I learned

- how to remove baby poop stains: you can remove poop stains using Dreft stain remover spray. I found it at the baby section in Walmart. don't let the fabric dry or it'll be more difficult to remove the stain.

- use breast milk to clear up eye infections. Apparently there are well-documented clinical results.

- play classical music and multilingual: when babies are born, their brains take in the sounds of all languages. as they grow, their brains pay attention to only the sounds of languages they hear most often. If your child hears the languages regularly, his/her brain will be able to learn to speak with the accent of a native speaker. i heard multilingual babies take longer to start talking but will catch up eventually. it also helps to start reading books early on.

- body after delivery - we still can't fit in our old clothes (even though i lost the pregnancy weight very quicky. baby Jasmine is helping me lose weight by nursing all the time). i have a belly and bigger bust. it took 9 months to have big belly, it's going to take time to have a tone tummy. Mederma cream is good to reduce stretch marks. Motherhood Maternity is still my favorite store in the mall with nursing clothes and comfortable elastic shorts. and their fitting room is breastfeeding welcome. since i'm breastfeeding, i'm still eating for two, hungry all the time, drink lots of simply orange/apple juice, need to keep replenish my fluid to prevent constipation, and need to continue taking pre-natal vitamins and Viactiv for calcium supplement.

You can have big boobies if you're breastfeeding :) but it leaks all the time. Just place in Lansinoh nursing pad. I found a bra that I like with buttons in the middle so the fabric is not in the way of feeding. you should try out the bra in person since your bust size is so different now. I heard Target also has nursing tanks. I found a nursing sleep bra very comfortable. it maybe out of stock at certain Target, so select the product and click on "find it at a Target store" to check the inventory closest to you.

- free "Will & Trust Kit" from Suze Orman
enter gift code = peoplefirst

- Homemade Baby Food. Making your own baby food when baby is ready to eat.

- Baby massage helps with gassy and colic baby and help baby sleep better. I L U technique. you can use cold pressed oil like grapeseed oil natural ingredient if you want to stay away from products with chemicals.

- Reading and talking to you baby. I notice Jasmine would look at my lip and see how the sounds are formed. On another note, study found that children whose parent often talked to them about people's feelings, beliefs, wants and intentions developed better social understanding.