27 March 2018

Amelia's weaning journey


Amelia is 8 months old now and she's been on dietary meal plan that is of a whole new world, outside of her milk in-take. For those who ask, she's on NAN H.A OPTIPRO. As were her jiejie Meredith.

For those who follow me on my mumming journey would know i always always choose only the best i could for my little ones cox sometimes uninformed mistakes or unintentional mistakes can really take us mummies on a never-ending guilt-trip for real. Haha. And also if we (working mums) can't ALWAYS be with our little ones, we need to know whatever we got to feed, cloth, accompany them, are of good quality.

So as i was saying, Amelia has been trying out food in-take other than milk, since she was 5 months plus. She's more advance physically so she could sit at about 5+ months haha. While jiejie couldn't even lift her head on tummy time at 5 months+. The two of them are really different in many many ways i don't think i can ever finish talking about it haha.

Meredith at 2 Years and 10 months old, Amelia at 8 months old.. ='))) These two little creatures i live for, i love and care for, and protect endlessly..
In this picture we took for a magazine cover, you can see how different they actually are. Jiejie is cheeky and very giggly..
Meimei 就...... HAHAHAHAHA.
Jiejie loves the camera.. While meimei..... Not so much HAHAHA.
Jiejie loves swimming, while meimei screamed murder and cling onto us like we were gonna throw her inside a deep frying machine. LOL.
She has her cheerful moments too ^.^ You know what else is the same.. The way i love them.. Although i have much lesser time for baby Amelia as compared to when jiejie was a baby.. Cox of work commitment.. But they are both my precious baobei.. T__T
And i give them both the best start. Amelia's first time having cereal. It is of a very liquidy consistency haha. SHE LOVED IT.

And i'm very happy to share with you what i chose for Amelia's weaning journey..

It's the new Nestlé Gerber® Infant Cereals.

"Mama, is it i model?"
Okay i'm ready!
Look at the huge selection of cereals suitable for weaning and beyond (6 months onwards)!

Gerber® Infant Cereals are the perfect first weaning food for the little ones as it's designed with the sky-high standards like what we have set for ourselves as a mom when we're providing for our kids.

Gerber® promise to never settle for anything less than the most nutritious, delicious food for our baby. And that to me, is the most important. Nothing but the BEST for baby.

I remember few years back, sijie was gonna start Yuxuan on cereal and she was so busy working. We were at a supermarket together and i ask her what brand she giving Yuxan cox Meredith will start on cereal very soon also. She tell me she don't really know what's good so she just go for the one that is the most expensive looking on the shelf O.O LOLOL #Superficial #Shallow #PackagingWin

But i guess for once, her hopeless theory didn't miss cox she was stocking up lotsa Gerber Infant Cereals and Yuxuan is eating well. However, the selection of cereals was limited then and I learnt that they are parallel imported by different retailers. Probably that is why sometimes it is quite difficult to find Gerber Infant Cereals out there. So I put Meredith on Cerelac during weaning.

When i just started to wean Amelia, i put her on a mixture of Cerelac (the familiar brand) and Gerber. Switching between days.. It was all going great, she's eating well, gaining weight at a good rate she's supposed to.

Then there is this pack of organic cereal that we bought at baby fair cox erm.. Cox got some promotion =XXX It was a decent brand raved by a few mummy bloggers as well.. Amelia eats it almost just as well, i tasted it too and i felt it taste good but one MAJOR problem Amelia had with it.. CONSTIPATION T_____T

When she wanna poop she will cry until omg. And she will sweat so much in pain when she's trying to squeeze her business out T___T I hold her hands and sayang her all also still feel very helpless. So we quickly switch back to Gerber.

Lesson learnt - When it comes to baby-related business, it never pays to be too adventurous and gian bng wth hahaha.

Since we've switched back to Gerber, feeding Amelia was just fun and exciting becox it's about getting to know her better, what she likes, what she doesn't.

We're extra excited when we know that the NEW Gerber® Organic Cereals, which comprise of Organic Rice & Oatmeal cereals will be launching in Singapore soon!!!

"Really not mama, don't make me happy for nothing ah!"

If you're wondering why weaning is important and how to wean your child, you may wanna read this article from Health Promotion Board.

Health experts have recommended single-grain infant cereals such as iron-fortified rice cereals as the ideal first weaning food as they are smooth and easy to digest for our little ones. Their stomach is just starting to learn how to process and digest food other than milk so choosing the right food to help them meet their increased need for dietary iron is essential at this time.

And here's why i choose Gerber® Organic Cereals for Amelia:

- It has the HIGHEST IRON among the infant cereal brands sold in Singapore! Iron helps to support formation of red blood cells. It is also necessary for a normal immune system and contributes to the normal cognitive development. So the amount of iron does make a difference in weaning food!

- It contains Calcium, Vitamins C, E, Zinc and 6 B vitamins to support growth & development.

- It is organic certified by Oregon Tilth. I mean how can a mom has time to make your own organic cereals every day for little one?

Yes, it is the nutritional profile of the Gerber Infant Cereals that has won me over! I give it to Amelia every morning mixed with her NAN H.A milk formula (since the range of cereals does not contain milk) and also as mid-day snack, mixed with home-made fruit puree.

And there are additional plus points:

- Non-GMO: Not made with genetically engineered ingredients
- No artificial colors or flavors
- No added sugar
- No added milk (perfect for first weaning food; great for adding breastmilk)
- Packaging made without the use of BPA
- Superior solubility compared to other Organic cereal brands
- Convenient pour out bottle to suit busy parents’ lifestyle

Cerealsly a thoughtful, nutritious weaning food that ease papa and mama minds (and win Amelia’s taste bud too)!

Do use single-grain infant cereals to check for food sensitivities since they are the least likely to cause allergenic reaction! After you're sure your little one is good with that particular grain, you can then add your own twist and a dash of explorative instinct to it haha.

Like this is the Gerber Organic Rice Cereal. Good on its own but even more exciting with other fruits / vegetables / tofu! Remember to only try those that your little one has tried and has no allergy to!
With added steamed and blended broccoli.
The Gerber Organic Oatmeal cereal, perfect to go with roots and and butternut squash pumpkin!
Amelia's favourite!!! The Apple and Blueberry one. It has little bits in it!!! EVEN I LOVE OKAY EXCUSE ME.
These goes well with banana / pear or papaya! Generally anything with peach / apple, it's a tiny weeny bit sour sweet, so Amelia will squirm a little bit at first mouthful but then love it immediately after haha.

Amelia's favouriteeee so far are banana, papaya, carrot, potato and sweet potato! Haha.

She doesn't quite fancy tofu so we try other types of proteins like steamed and blend beans, yogurt, her milk etc.

Banana Strawberry, my personal favourite LOL. Now you know how our cereal at home run out so fast.
"Mama you say so much.. Is it time to eat?"
"Oh it is?"
MMMmmmmm~ (Ok this product is i bought on my own lol)
The lips puckered up like the Gerber logo baby haha.
"What big mouth you have, mama"
Sorry more picture spam of Amelia cox she's too cute~!!!

"But you don't have to apologise mama. I do think i look quite cute like this"
Amelia's serving texture at 8 months old. We will add in steamed mixture bits of vegetables / tofu / fruits depending on breakfast / snack / dinner.
But you know it's good and yummy on its own.. O.O
够了. HAHA.
"ARE THESE FOR ME =O"
Thank you Gerber for sending some love our way but most of it here were bought by me haha. For Amelia, Meredith and their laobu HAHA. It's really quite tasty!!! Don't expect a big punch of flavour (if your baby food taste super flavourful then there's something wrong isn't it LOL they are suppose to eat good, eat well, eat clean) but it's definitely super good and as natural as it can get except better cox it's fortified with vitamins and nutrients!

Also i need to emphasize how convenient it is to bring along the Gerber cereal. It's packed in boxes like that and you can just pour the amount you require out, close it back. Done. Super fuss-free and mess-free. Can easily bring out to prepare whenever you need it!

Alright! I guess that's all i have to say! End of the day, all parents just wanna give the best we can to our little kids, that we think is good for them.

I'm not proud to say i miss a lot of time with Amelia due to work but whatever time i can get with her, i take.

Like, i was the only one who caught a picture of her budding tooth. Hehe.. =')
Ask her to show me she don't know how, so i had to pull her lips down hahaha.
Whenever i see toys i think she'd like.. I'm usually always right =D
When jiejie doesn't mind, i can carrier her =DDD
"If jiejie have a problem, she can come talk to me" Haha. Little rascal face haha. Here we have Gerber Organic Rice Cereal with steamed and blend carrot.
Here mid-day snack - Gerber Strawberry Lil' Bits with sweet potato mash.
Alright! Ending off with a snuggly picture of us - Something quite rare cox jiejie always wants me, and ask me to pass meimei to auntie or papa T.T But hey, we do our best, yes?

You may find Gerber Organic Infant cereals – Rice & Oatmeal in the leading supermarkets from April onwards. And do follow the NEW Gerber Instagram page @GerberSingapore for more updates on fun activities, nutrition tips and cutesy babies photos. Stay tune on their page for more Gerber Infant Cereals update!