Sleep & nap schedule transition from 0-2 years

When sleepy, any place will do! 

Phase 1: Out of whack, zombie land 'non'-schedule, i.e. the first 2 months. His circadian rhythm was yet to settle and he was wide awake by 3. I mean 3AM. And his temper and impatience for his milk was no help either. He wanted milk in his mouth within 3 seconds of waking up else hell would break loose! Dude! Hang on lemme open my eyes first! Lemme go pee before you're glued to me for the next forty five minutes! But that was apparently an inordinate delay for my little hot tempered boy!

Phase 2: Two naps + bedtime at 7-8pm i.e. 2-18 months. He slept through the night but he woke up some four times for milk. Although this was obviously better than phase 1, he took very long to actually fall off to sleep, and putting him to sleep meant carrying him around in a gandong (sling) for over half hour each time. Of course half the world warns you not to "encourage" such habits ("you'll have to carry him to sleep till he grows old and has his own grandchildren!") but we did it anyways. He DID outgrow the habit, and by the time he was One year old, most times we would just pat him on the bed till he slept off.

Leaving babyhood

The first year is tough. In terms of physical effort. Way too much effort. But I guess when parents look back at the past; they remember only the fun parts. Like when my tiny tots cleaning obsession led him to wiping the plane windows or food spilled on the restaurant floor. Or how he peed in a basket during potty training (hey that’s a cool looking potty!).

We moved to India (from Jakarta) when he turned 1.5 year old, and the big move brought along many changes. The biggest difference (in MY life) was becoming nanny-less. But the timing couldn't have been better! As much as I couldn't have survived without an extra set of expert hands the first 1.5 year, our nanny was beginning to take a larger control of his emotional landscape, in a manner which wasn't in sync with our parenting philosophy. The excessive pampering was not something we approved of!

Making your own Baby Food: A little help from "Super Baby Food"

Ruth Yaron's book:Super Baby Food

“Food you eat can be either the safest & the most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison”- Ann Wigmore.

And I absolutely embrace this belief! I’d started learning to cook from scratch only when I was well in my third trimester. One, I realised that eating healthy AND knowing how to cook healthy go hand in hand and two, I finally had the motivation, knowing that the health of my baby lay entirely in my hands. Our critical window to establish long term health is from the time you conceive till the time the child is 2 years old. It’s also the time you have maximum control over what he eats! You don’t offer coca cola= he doesn’t know how it tastes= he doesn’t demand for it when you are at the mall. We have to incorporate the entire spectrum of food groups to ensure proper “soil” to our “seed”.

Where to shop for baby clothes in Jakarta

What makes shopping for kids so much fun is not only the adorable stuff available,but also no bothering about the size (unlike shopping for my clothes, which I hate!), in case you're unsure, pick a size larger, if not now, he'll wear it a few months from now! Jakarta is several times more expensive than Bombay and although the malls are nasty and drool worthy, the price tags are sure make your eyes roll! 

So the kiddie shops in swanky malls may be for the ultra-fashionable-skinny-stilletoed-Richie-Rich-mommys, but for me they reserve a special visit every few months during Sale only. 

I honestly think a tee or pair of shorts should cost less than 50,000 rupiah / Rs 250/ $5 as a baby’s entire wardrobe changes literally every few months. Also what's more important than buying expensive clothes is not fussing over food stains or mud stains and simply letting a child be a child! 

So if you want cute + reasonably priced stuff for your tiny tot, here are few places where you could give a try:

(i) The swanky malls (Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia, Pacific Place, Senayan City etc) *During Sale* I once picked up 5 pretty neat Baby Gap tees for under $5 each (like in the above pic)! So always keep a watch for the Sale sign. The good news is that it happens often and during festivals (Ramadan, Christmas) they go on for more than a month each.

(ii) ITC & Ambassador malls, Kuningan: here I've found the following categories of shops catering to kids:

• Baby shops: selling everything baby related : toiletries, slings, clothes, strollers, high chairs, pacifiers, socks, blankets etc. These serve the purpose of my kids night wear. I've always picked up full sleeved tees & jammies in nice pastel shades from here for probably 16,000 rupiah / Rs 90/ $2 for each item. Here I have also bought his high chair, my Medela Breast Pump (parts too), toilet top for potty training etc.

• Factory outlets: selling some known brands for cheap: here I buy my kids outdoor shorts. Limited colors, but the greys and blues for 40,000 rupiah/ Rs 200/ $4 team well with most tees and are perfect for playgrounds. Sometimes I pick up a tee or two too.

• Speciality shops for swimming gear: a fancy pair of swimming trunks in Mothercare would perhaps cost 250,000 rupiah/ Rs 1,400/ $30 for a mere 6 month use, but you can pick a cheap pair here.

• Shoes shops: buying shoes for my kid is a nightmare, cuz there's always something that goes wrong. I make sure he comes along when I shop, but either he ends up losing a shoe, or turns out the shoe easily comes off when he runs, or he simply outgrows a pair before we realise it. So I stick to shoes that cost under 100,000 rupiah/ Rs 500/ $10 which you can find here.

• Fancy dress shop: Your child's invited to a fancy dress bday party? avoid Mothercare/ELC! Theres one shop here we found after a lot of searching but ended up NOT buying the Cowboy outfit intended, as my son refused to try it on!

• Football Jerseys: When our 1 yo was invited to his pals birthday party with the Jersey dress code, the smallest Arsenal jersey we found was a 2 yo size, looked pretty smart once we tucked it in!

Cool Mothercare shoes for $35/ Rs 1,500

Note: I'm not against Mothercare! I love that I can buy Zoggs swimming training tube, organic flouride free toothpaste or Baby Blanket sun block, i.e.; things I find nowhere else! I just think its not worth spending the monies on clothes :)

(iii) Factory Outlets. Most big brands are actually produced in Vietnam or Sri Lanka or Indonesia. So "FOs" are big business here! Bandung, a cosy weekend-gateway-kind-of-small-city is 2-3 hours away from Jakarta and has a string of these on Dago street. So if you're interested, you can pop by for a day or two, and submerge yourself in shopping (and food!). 

My husband is yet to find a decent tee that lasts more than a single wash (most likely fakes instead of export runovers) and shopping for me is restricted to shorts but for baby it's perfect! I've picked the most adorable, good quality & tees, shorts and jackets! And if you don't wanna make a trip, you could pop by Blossom's branch (one of the better FOs) right here at SCBD in Jakarta itself. 

And like I've mentioned in point (ii), there are a few small FOs in ITC / Ambassador mall too.

Well of course , if you don't worry about budget or wanna splurge on a party dress or two, the swanky malls (with at least a floor dedicated to baby gear) will definitely make your dreams come true.

Read More: Nannies in Jakarta (& How we couldn't have survived without one!) 

Until later! Stay in touch!

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Slummin' the sling!

The 'sling' is one baby item that's both economical & absolutely necessary. Not that I've been a regular user, but whenever I've needed it, it has been a god sent!

Economical cuz I'm not talking about the elaborately wired ones with five different buckles and belts and where the baby just hangs over his crotch facing the world. I had one that was gifted to me, but I would take forever to get all the buckles in place and by the time it was all set ,baby would want to get off ! What I'm talking about is the simple single piece that goes around the neck, under one arm & diagnally over the chest ,so your babys semi-facing you and semi facing the task you're doing, with a round metallic ring on which you can adjust the length. Its akin to carrying your baby , while keeping your hands free.

Nannies in Jakarta

 When I was pregnant, there were impeding plans to move to Jakarta (from Bombay) for a few years. We came down for a ten days spouse familiarisation trip and what I saw all around me was the super-sized nanny culture that flourished here. In malls for instance, it was typical to see a lavishly dressed (sexy, skinny, stilettos, you name it) woman pushing a stroller containing a dozen shopping bags , and a tiny little girl dressed in a nanny ("baby-suster") uniform (pink for girl babies' green/blue for boy babies!) carrying a baby or child in her baby sling ("gandong") If there are two babies/ children , there are two nannies too.

Although "fancy" & "glamorous" in theory , it put my mind at ease. Raising a baby in a new country where we knew no one, didn't seem like a big deal. Once my baby was a month old, we started looking for a "suster"

How to get one: first let me describe the experience we had trying the "baby suster agency".The first such nanny we met arrived with her escort. At 9 pm. WITH her bags and baggage. And the first thing she did was freshen up and change!

 our 3 month old boy with his first nanny in our trip to Bali:

Let's go thru this once again.

• We had thought it was just a preliminary meeting... Umm which it apparently wasn't.

• We couldn't understand a word of what they said. Neither did our trusted friend google translate. 

• It was 9 pm remember? do we send a lady back at this hour? Esp since they literally took 4 hours to get here in the first place? And that she was already nice and comfy in her night suit?

• Then they asked us to pay 150,000 rupiah ($15) for her "transportation".

Our jaws dropped straight to the floor. Maybe even poked thru' the floor to the apartment below.

But the truth is I was terribly sick (I was DYING) so we thought, huh, let this weird-woman-who-is-cosy-in-her-nightsuit stay for a few days till I get better. Whats the worse that could happen? Well nothing bad really happened, but we didn't like her at all. We kept her for 4 days till my antibiotics kicked in and then sent her packing. & you thought transportation was only a one way charge didn't you? Fooled ya! We had to pay another 150,000 rupiah ($15) along with her 4 day salary.

So THAT obviously didnt work. What worked was good old fashioned "send the word out that ure looking to hire a baby-suster" through the maid / nanny network within the apartment complex and voila! Within a few days the perfect nanny shall show up! Of course by then we were , umm , er, desperate and we dropped our very important criteria of "English speaking skills"! Realized it's way easier to learn the local language by ourselves, which I did in no time! (I HAVE seen English speaking maids and nannies, so if there's no rush you may still keep looking !)

How to choose one: you gotta interview a few first. What we looked for was someone disciplined, loving and energetic. You may get a sense right away, but the best way to do it is having a week or two of "trial period". They give you a photocopy of their KTP (ID card) which is also given to the apartments security team. The first nanny we had for the first six months was an absolute live wire! We liked her cheerful animated face the minute she walked in that door. She had to later go back to her hometown and so she helped us get our current nanny as replacement.

Do they burn a hole through your pocket? Nope! For a monthly salary of 1.5-2 million rupiah ($150-200) you can get an excellent full time nanny to work 6 days a week. You provide her a place to stay (apartments usually have a maid room and toilet) and food. And you can get them uniforms if you'd like to be all prim n propah :)

Job Description: she is trained and or experienced in EVERYTHING related to baby. Preparing his food, feeding him, taking him to the playground, taking him to play school or school, daily massage, putting him to sleep,  bathing him, changing diapers, brushing his teeth, cutting his nails, playing with him. She can do everything baby related under the sun, so it's your call on WHAT exactly you want from your nanny.

The Big advantages: For me, the biggest task in the first year was putting him to sleep ,cuz we had to walk around holding him for 30-45 mins every time, even for his daytime naps. The two biggest tasks now are feeding him and keeping him outdoors for as long as possible! Yup, he's extremely outdoorsy and wants to be in the playground/ friends house/ neighbours  lobby etc for at least 3 hours a day. And I'm a lazy bum. And cuz nannys have their own nanny friends , incidentally the kids become friends too. So basically our one year old has an uber social life with a ton of friends & play groups while we, his parents have only each other!

So I'm NOT a fancy stiletto-ed and definitely not a skinny mommy strolling in a fancy mall, but I haven't YET lost my marbles, the house doesn't ALWAYS look like a pig sty, my kid looks freshly scrubbed (er, MOSTLY!) and I have the CUTEST, most ADORABLE mixed-raced toddlers walking in my house every now and then to play!

Until later! Stay in touch!

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Baby's Daily Diet Plan

From the day you find out you’re pregnant, the no 1 priority will ALWAYS be health. Which means nothing is more important than what both the mommy and baby eat! After a lot of over-analytical researching, various permutation & combinations of ingredients, I came with a daily diet plan for my baby.

Travelling with baby : ear plugs

Flying when the baby's only a few months old is relative quieter ... Cuz soon as you put the baby in an moving aircraft or moving car they snooze. So no ear aches, no screaming sessions, no wanting to walk all over the place. The challenge begins later !