Babyone stroller review

This stroller is really difficult to push when the handle is wobbly and the front wheel is hard to maneuver.
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When I got this stroller, I should have been more prudent in the quality `checklist. Alas, I was only fixated on the light-weightness of this stroller.
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Indeed, the stroller is very light-weighted and easy to fold, carry and definitely no problem during oversea travel.
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In addition, the stroller is really spacious and comfortable for my kid. The seat is lengthy and this allows older kids to sleep/rest comfortably without dangling their feet in àwkward way.
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But I missed on several important points:
1. Stroller should be easy to push. This one was not and it tend to swerve left/right.
2. Easy to maneuver. Not easy, especially when your toddler sits up. It is only easy when your toddler is lying down (when the weight is shifted to the back-wheel).
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So my review for this stroller is 2/5 for satisfaction. I wouldn't have bought it if the rate was not above 3/5. Too late.

Zaini milk chocolate eggs with a 3D collectibles

The product is made in Italy. We got two boxes for S$11 at VivoCity Harbour Front. If you are familiar with "egg surprise" on YouTube, then you will be aware of the craze kids nowadays about egg surprise. 

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Zaini Milk Chocolate Egg Surprise.

Our kid loved it. However the stickers that comes with the car are so small that it was difficult to paste them on the car model. Here is the final outcome of car.

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Front view

Side view

Back view

 Another surprise about this car is that IT GLOWS in the dark. So cool!

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However, if you have less than a year old toddler in the house, remember to keep this car away from him/her because it is a choke hazard.

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Just to share.

Learn about periods of the day

Morning starts around 5 am and noon takes over at 12 pm. Evening is at 5 pm onward and night is from 9 pm until 5 am on the next day. Twilight is the first light over the horizon. From the East, twilight signify day while on the West, it signify the starting of night.

Periods of the day

What to expect in newborn prolonged jaundice

There are many reasons (multifactorial) for newborn baby jaundice. Some are normal events (for Asian babies), whereas in rare cases they are due to insidious reasons.

First week

After given the green light to go home (especially with acceptable jaundice level), baby will still be susceptible to increased bilirubin (biological product that causes jaundice), especially when he/she drinks just mother's milk. There are two main means to remove bilirubin, i.e. urine and stool. If baby's urine is pinkish/reddish, it is an indication of blood/hemoglobin in urine (e.g. hemoglobinuria as experienced by our baby) which can indicate ABO incompatibility (e.g. mother's antibody is attacking baby's blood cells) which is common for parents with different blood type (see below). After discharge from hospital, parents are required to visit polyclinics to monitor their babies' bilirubin level (every two days). The result mostly will show an increase in bilirubin level (if it reaches a threshold, hospitalization and phototherapy will be required). To minimize the chance of going back to hospital, babies should be given sufficient amount of milk for him/her to pass both yellowish urine and stool. Some doctors don't encourage sun-bathing babies (but morning sun should be harmless). Alternatively, getting a portable photo-therapy assembly is good (if ABO incompatibility is suspected; good hospitals will check baby's blood type and compare it with mother's).

ABO incompatible arises when mother, father and resultant baby's blood types.

Second week

After second week when the bilirubin still persist on the high (even after healthy amount of passing urine and stool), it is still normal considering that baby's liver is still not fully functional. Visit to the clinic is still at two days intervals. There is nothing much the doctor can do except prescribe the next visit.

Third week

If the jaundice level is still high. It is time to add milk with formula. Although we wanted fully breast milk, but jaundice and re-visiting the clinic is not permitting that ideal. The best way to beat baby jaundice is to add milk with formula for the day-feeds and fully breast milk during the night-feeds. You will realize that the amount of stool will increase tremendously. Giving our baby fully breast milk at night prevents constipation (milk is mild laxative whereas formula can cause constipation). 

Normally if jaundice is still high, doctor will prescribe liver function test. Our baby has normal liver function.

Subsequently

After introducing formula at 1/3 part of daily feed, our baby's jaundice stabilized. The jaundice still come-and-go but by the look of the skin and white eye, our baby is getting better.

What we wished our hospital provided

• Blood type test on baby (we had to ask for it)
• Portable photo-therapy assembly for rent (when required)
• Step-by-step expectation if jaundice level persisted. Although the hospital encourages fully breast milk for babies, persistent jaundice is an indication that breast milk is not enough and a compromise is needed.

 
 

Good Gift Vouchers

What makes a good gift voucher?

• Discount should be more than 10 % off listed price. If the gift voucher can't provide an equivalent of 10% discount of the listed price, then it is useless.

I got this voucher with terms & conditions stating "a minimum purchase of 12 packets of Pampers/Merries diapers". There is an ambiguity in the term "packet". If it meant a pack of diapers (e.g. Pampers New Baby Diapers size S 46 diapers cost SGD 18.20), then 12 packs would be SGD 218.40! That would translate to a  3.7 % discount which is not attractive.

 Anyway, there is also Pampers New Baby Diapers (24 pieces) that cost SGD 8.80 per pack. At 12 packs, they cost SGD 105.60 and an SGD 8.00 off would translate to a 7.57% discount. Well, it's still less than 10% discount.

However, if you compare with Dutch Lady promotion of SGD 3.00 off for every SGD 8.00 spent. That translate to 37.5% discount! Way better than the first example. However, practically, I would have to buy approximately SGD 9.00 of Dutch Lady product to qualify for the SGD 3.00 off, which is still better at 33.3% discount.

This is how voucher/promotion supposed to be! At more than 30% discount. Great buy Dutch Lady!

Another good example is Old Town White Coffee SGD 5.00 off for minimum SGD 20.00 spent in the restaurant. That is a 25% discount! Although it's not possible to have exactly a SGD 20.00 bill, the voucher is still better at more than 10% discount.

Old Town White Coffee voucher worth SGD 5.00 for every SGD 20.00 spent (equivalent to 25% discount).

• Ubiquity to redeem the voucher. If the voucher requires the holder to travel to far region of Singapore just to spent it, then it will not be a favourite.
• Free-means-free vouchers. Sometime back, a friend received a free facial treatment voucher and went to redeem it. The outlet provided free facial treatment to half of the face (as a comparison for "before-and-after effect" of treatment). However, the other half of the face will require payment! That's a deceitful tactic (even if there is fine prints on it).
• Reasonable time/duration to redeem voucher.
• Privacy protection voucher. A voucher that requires filling in personal particulars with name, address, phone number, spouse name, children's name etc. can sometimes be an uncomfortable feeling, especially when we don't know how the personal data will be protected/safe-guarded.i

That is my list of good voucher criteria. I'll add more if I can think of any.

Just to share.

 

Noisy foldable bathroom door wakes baby

Foldable plastic door that you slide to open and close in the bathroom has a "clickable" catch, i.e. spring catch (I called it springy latch). It is used to fasten the foldable door in place and it makes a clicking loud noise that startle my baby.
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Going to the bathroom will have a fail-proof baby-waking effect in our household, especially when our baby sleeps in the master bedroom with a bathroom.
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There are different types of spring catch out there, with some that comes like ball bearing. I think they make clicking sounds too but I'm not sure how subtle these better quality designs are.
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The easiest to fix way would be to do away with the door catch. I removed two of them (bottom and upper ones). These catches will not affect the locking mechanism of the foldable door.
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It is much better now with the catches gone. The only difference to the door is that if you don't lock the door, a strong wind/draft will move the door.

Pigeon baby wipes - one pull three out problem

I uses Pigeon baby wipes and there is one problem with the product, a pull of a wet tissue produces three of them in a go. If it had been the automated teller machine (ATM), I would have been happy but I was definitely not impressed. It is really distracting especially when I'm cleaning my baby. The wipes that accidentally fall to the floor is not as hygienic as I wanted wipes to be. Is there better alternatives?

Instead of relying on Pigeon, I am going to try other brands and see if the problem with Pigeon is universal or just specific to a brand. Fortunately, there are other baby wipes out there where I can do a survey and decide which baby wipes is best for the household.

Other baby wipes

• Huggies Gentle Care baby wipes.

Huggies Gentle care baby wipes

• Johnson's Baby wipes (Gentle Cleansing wipes).

Johnson's Baby wipes.

• Tollyjoy baby wipes. I don't like the official website. It is difficult to find the product as there is no search entry. Also, there is no webpage for this product. Looking at the quality of the image will remind me how awful the website is.

Tollyjoy wipes. The official web site didn't appeal to me.

• MamyPoko soft baby wipes.

Mamypoko baby wipes.

• Guardian's in-house baby wipes as well as a variety of wipes available in their store, visit their site.

Guardian's in-house baby wipes. I would definitely want to try the fragrance free wipes.

• Fairprice baby wipes.

FairPrice baby wipes.

• Watson's baby wipes.

Watson's baby wipes.

• Others. There are other baby wipes in the market, e.g. Kodomo, NUK, Combi (available at ISetan), Zappy wipes (available at Yeap Medical), Pampers wipes, Anakku wipes, and more.
• Dettol wipes. Note that I don't prefer Dettol wipes or any wipes that claims to be antiseptic. Providing a sterile environment for baby's skin is not advisable as it will bring more complications than good. 

Note
Search at FairPrice website shows return for all the baby wipes in store and the corresponding prices (accessed on 11 Feb 2015). E.g.

• Pigeon Wipes 82 pieces x 3 packs (SGD 9.85; at 4 cents per piece)
• TollyJoy wipes 84 pieces x 3 packs (SGD 7.90; at 3.1 cents per piece)
• FairPrice wipes 200 pieces (SGD4.95; at 2.5 cents per piece)
• Johnson's baby wipes 80 pieces x 3 packs (SGD 11.95; at 5 cents per piece)
• BabyU wipes 80 pieces (SGD 3.00; at 3.7 cents per piece)
• Kodomo wipes 70 pieces x 3 packs (SGD 8.80; at 4.2 cents per piece)
• Huggies wipes 80 pieces x 3 packs (SGD 9.95; 4.1 cents per piece)