Tips from my babysitter
These could very well be myth-ical beliefs handed down from one generation to the next without scientific proves. It had worked all this while so I’m not about to deny the effectiveness of them all. But it made me wonder, what would other mums do if they didn’t know any of these tips? What are the other alternatives (besides prayers..hehe)?
Babies tend to have unexplained symptoms/discomforts when growing up esp. from 2nd month till 1 year old. My babysitter, Wan, has shared the following with us and I would like to share them with everyone here:
1) Pearl powder – this is selected good grade pearls, crushed into powder form. Best to buy this from a trusted CMH otherwise you might be given low grade pearls. Add some water to the pearl powder and feed your baby. A small teaspoon would suffice for young babies. It is to help baby sleep better at night when they have been over-stimulated during the day.
2) Old ‘yeong some’ – given to babies as young as 2 months old. Take a few slices and warm them in hot boiling water. Serve the water to baby, it acts as a cooling element. Formula fed babies are said to be more heaty.
3) ‘Ling yeong’ – another cooling drink (for older babies, 6 months onwards). Purchase a small pack from CMH and double boil it.
4) ‘Atap-che’ – enc. photo.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when Wan did this on Ivan when he was 1 month old. He was very restless at night and wouldn’t sleep. She took some Chinese tea, rub on his skin esp. his back. Then took some flour and rub on top of the Chinese tea. The result was those black spots that looked like thorns started ‘spurting’ out onto his skin. To remove those thorn-like thingy, she applied some powder then shave them off completely. Finally use a warm cloth to clean his body off.
5) Roll egg – when Isaac was teething, he got fever & flu almost on a monthly basis. I didn’t feel good giving him so much medication coz they made him feel ‘weak’. Wan told us one day that his fever was gone but she didn’t feed him the medication at all. What she did was to boil an egg and rub the egg all over his body. This made him sweat and brought out the ‘heati-ness’ which caused the fever. When doing this, switch off the fan – otherwise he would catch a cold.
6) ‘7 star tea’ – bought at CMH. Boil the concoction (looks like normal herbal tea) Serve as water to older babies (6 months onwards). It helps to improve his appetite.
7) Gripe water – given to babies (newborn onwards) after their bath. It helps to remove excess wind in their stomach – prevents colic.
8) ‘Poh ying dan’ – similar function as pearl powder.
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