Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Young Parents

THIS MONTH, WE ASK My kid is scared of his fi rst trip to the dentist. What should I do? Many children are afraid because they fear the unknown and what is going to happen to them. They may even think that the dentist is the same doctor that they had just seen for their vaccination. It helps to read books about a dentist’s visit with your kid, but nothing beats a pleasant fi rst-hand experience. Look for a dentist who is comfortable with and experienced in managing children. During the fi rst visit, a good dentist will get to know your kid, understand his risk for oral diseases and conduct a simple examination. The latter should really be quick and simple – like counting from 1 to 20 because…

“I was not prepared for days which revolve around medication. Or having to figure out how best to feed my son so he does not throw up the expensive medicine.’’ My husband and I discovered we had something else in common this year, our fourth year of marriage – a bad copy of the same gene. The odds of this happening are low, considering that there are tens of thousands of genes in each of us. My one-year-old son (pictured overleaf) doesn’t just take after my wavy hair and my husband’s loud voice. He inherited two faulty copies of the same gene we had, giving him a condition known as bile acid synthesis disorder. It is an extremely rare condition. According to doctors, it affects around five out of a…

When you say “please” to your two-year-old, you teach him a very important social skill that he’ll begin to use with other children and adults. “I love you.” Your two-year-old never tires of being told that you love him because it reassures him, makes him feel secure and valued, and lets him know the strength of your positive feelings towards him. He thrives when you tell him that he matters to you. “You are terrific.” There is nothing more likely to make your toddler feel good about himself than being told that he is a wonderful child. Remind him of all his good qualities such as his pleasant personality, his running skills or his ability to complete a small jigsaw. It really doesn't matter which positive trait you decide to…

After three days of non-stop shopping in Naha city, our luggage was full and our legs were starting to ache. But we were definitely not done with Okinawa yet – there’s so much more to this sub-tropical Japanese island than great malls and restaurants. It’s a beach paradise, as well. My husband and I knew we had to complete our vacation with a resort stay. We went on a Google frenzy before our trip to suss out the most family-friendly beach hotel. Then a friend told us: “You won’t go wrong at Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort.” She was absolutely right. Our kids’ hearts were won over the minute they stepped into its lobby and took one look at the marine life in the big pond, across from the check-in counters.…

CENTRAL PERKS Did you know that Singapore has three Marriott hotels? There’s the Orchard Road stalwart Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza, swanky JW Marriott Singapore South Beach, and now, Courtyard by Marriott at Novena. Located adjacent to the Velocity and Square 2 malls, this mid-priced hotel opened late last year and caters mainly to business travellers. But it is worth a weekend staycation thanks to its proximity to Orchard Road and the views it offers – the hotel starts from the 22nd floor of the building. The rooftop infinity pool is the highlight of this hotel – we loved splashing about and enjoying the views of the Novena area (bring your own floats). If you have time away from the kids, head to Urbana bar – also on the rooftop –…

big on beauty Fans of Sephora living in western Singapore now have more to cheer. The beauty retail giant recently moved from Jem mall in Jurong East to Westgate next door – the store is its biggest in the heartlands and has the space to host exclusive events, master classes and sneak previews, similar to what you’d experience at its flagship Ion Orchard outlet. Check it out at #01-23/24 Westgate. Visit www.sephora.sg . the lippie that cares Buy Make Up Store’s Lipstick Red Angel at $29 and do good at the same time. All proceeds will go to Emma & Therese Children’s Project, which runs a nursery in Kabale, Uganda, and gives orphaned street children a chance to lead a new life. It’s available in limited quantities…

These #lipstories lipsticks from Sephora not only look pretty; they come in 40 beautiful shades, too. We dined with the adorable Care Bears at the new Kumoya pop-up cafe, which closes at the end of March. We checked into Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium hotel for a Fam-tastic staycay. Mineral water has never looked more adorable, thanks to Evian and Disney Emoji. We caught up with local singer Tay Kewei to find out more about her parenting journey with baby #ShenMo. Cuteness overload! We spotted so many Pikachu mascots and inflatables at the Pokemon Run Carnival. Follow us and find out what the Young Parents team is up to.…

Traditional full-month parties are so 2015. More Singapore parents now prefer to wait until Baby turns 100 days old before throwing a grand celebration. While it’s been gaining momentum here in the last three years, this is a customary practice in other Asian countries. Traditionally, the Koreans celebrate their newborns’ first 100 days of birth, which was considered a feat back in the olden days as most of them didn’t survive their first few months. Over in Japan, an okuizome ceremony awaits the 100-day-old baby. Parents take turns to “feed” him a traditional, full-course meal to signify a lifelong abundance of good food. Here in Singapore, Joanne Peh, Shaun Chen and Kim Lim were among the celebrity parents and influencers who embraced this practice last year. Inspired by actress Joanne’s…

What matters isn’t the amount of time you and your child spend together, but the quality of your relationship. Time has flown by so quickly since your baby arrived. All of a sudden, your maternity leave has ended and you’ve returned to work. While your little one has adjusted well to the day care arrangement and doesn’t make a fuss when you leave him with the babysitter every morning, you have not. It turns out that you are the one who has separation anxiety. Here are strategies to help overcome your worries when you’re at work. Understand attachment Bonding with your baby is a gradual and accumulative process that develops during the first couple of years – it doesn’t have to take place instantly, or in the first few months.…

Accept that these things happen, and that having a bad day doesn’t mean you have a terrible child or that you are a terrible parent. Most days with your three-year-old are good, some days are great, and a few (hopefully, not many) are downright atrocious – don’t worry, though, these things happen to everyone. So go easy on yourself; it’s okay to allow yourself to break down. Feeling guilty will only lower your confidence and reduce coping skills. Parenting a child this age isn’t easy, and you’d be superhuman if you took everything in your stride without ever experiencing a blip. Usually it’s a combination of small child-related events happening all at the same time that turns a good day into a bad one. You can normally cope with all…

1 Your child keeps catching illnesses from other kids in school It's worrying when your child falls sick frequently, but this is simply a part of growing up, says Dr Lim Hwee Ying, senior resident from the Department of Neonatal & Developmental Medicine at Singapore General Hospital. Immunity strengthens when the body learns to fight germs, viruses and other organisms. In fact, having up to 10 bouts of viral infections a year is normal, Dr Lim assures. Nevertheless, it's important to help Junior maintain a healthy immune system. So make sure that he eats plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables daily, gets adequate sleep every night, and enjoys regular physical activity. Dr Lim also suggests teaching him habits like washing his hands before and after meals and after using the…

On a morning drive to school recently, I was talking to my five-year-old son (pictured, far right) about how one can find the answers to questions by using Google on the Internet. “No, dad, Google is dangerous.” “What do you mean?” “One day, you might be doing Google and then you meet a sheep and you make a plan to meet that sheep outside. When you meet him outside, he’s not a sheep. He’s a wolf.” I was fascinated by his reply and equally appreciative for what was obviously his school teacher’s well-intentioned attempt at an online-safety lesson. The language was easily understood, thanks in part to the multiple occasions he and I have re-enacted the Big Bad Wolf’s gusty destruction of the Little Pig’s blanket fort in our living…

After two years of redevelopment, Admiralty Park opened again in October last year, featuring a whopping 27ha of nature and urban areas – that’s about a third of the size of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. In addition to being the largest park in the north of Singapore, Admiralty Park’s playground also boasts 26 slides, the most number of slides in any park in Singapore. This playground definitely compares to the likes of the well-loved Pasir Ris Park and East Coast Park playgrounds. Here’s what you need to know before you head down with your tykes. FAMILY TERRACING PLAY Best for: 5 to 12 year olds This is the largest out of all three play areas. Let your children explore the different levels of terrain as they play with the engaging…

watermelon gazpacho with greek yogurt dressing Serves 4 Ingredients 300g watermelon 200g bread 15g garlic 800g tomatoes 80g red capsicum 200ml olive oil 5ml sherry vinegar (from supermarkets) or freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice Garnish 2 boiled eggs, grated 100g Greek yogurt, blended with 20ml olive oil to create an emulsion Chives, chopped (optional) 1 Clean and chop watermelon, bread and vegetables. 2 Put them into a blender together with olive oil and sherry vinegar. Mix for 6 minutes and strain. 3 Season with salt and pepper, then set aside in the fridge. 4 When ready to serve, pour the gazpacho into a bowl till ¾ full. Top with eggs on top and drizzle over Greek yogurt emulsion. Sprinkle chives on top to serve. grilled salmon with green apple, with cold…

Storing cord blood can be a lifesaving investment, with statistics showing that one in every 217 persons1 may need a stem cell treatment in their lifetime. Stem cell transplants can be used to treat over 85 types of diseases2 , which include leukaemia, lymphoma, thalassemia, as well as certain metabolic and immunological disorders. Ongoing clinical trials are also underway to use cord blood to treat autism, Type 1 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury and many more3 . Cord blood is rich in Haematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) which play an important role in replenishing blood and regenerating the immune system. However, the odds of finding a match for a transplant within the same racial group is around 1 in 20,0004 . This is why storing your baby’s cord blood can…

GARMIN VIVOFIT JR 2 ACTIVITY TRACKERS Encourage your child to get up and about with these fun activity trackers, which come with Disney, Star Wars and Marvel-themed bands. You can monitor her steps taken via a parent-controlled mobile app and set reminders to do daily chores, which show up as icons on the device. $149 each, from retailers including www.tangs.com.sg and www.courts.com.sg Find out more www.garmin.com.sg/minisite/vivo MARBOTIC SMART KIT Wooden puzzles go high-tech with this smart kit. Place the numbers and letters over your mobile app – it magically recognises and reads them aloud. The games, which have various difficulty levels, are a fun way to practise addition and subtraction, as well as vocabulary. $99, from www.elonthree.com Find out more www.marbotic.fr/smart-kit PARKER: YOUR AUGMENTED REALITY BEAR BY SEEDLING…

ABITE Don’t expect cookie-cutter party decorations from Abite. Its winning combination of stylish cakes and dessert tables, themed decorations, and life-size replicas of kids’ favourite cartoon characters – such as Sesame Street, Lilo & Stitch and Disney princesses – as backdrops, has won it many fans. It also claims to be the first in Singapore to offer 3-D backdrops. Its portfolio of high-profile customers includes Instagram twin-stars Leia and Lauren (pictured left), popular influencer Tammy Tay, Singapore billionaire Peter Lim and daughter Kim Lim, and Korean artistes such as GDragon and Song Joong Ki. Founded by Hilary Beh in 2013, this home-grown bakery first specialised in producing sweet treats before expanding to include event styling. That department is headed by co-director Khor Shu Kim. The most expensive kids' party it…

If you see her anger building up, do your best to calm her and remove her from the source of her frustration. Don’t be surprised if you feel your one-year-old is angry all the time – it doesn’t mean she has started her terrible twos already. It just means that she is a typical toddler who is full of her self-importance. She thinks the world revolves around her, so if she doesn’t get exactly what she wants, when she wants it, she explodes with rage. In a flash, your normally quiet, friendly, loving one-year-old can transform into Miss Angry who won’t tolerate anyone standing in her way. But in most instances, she is not being naughty when she has a tantrum; it’s just that her youthful frustration has reached boiling…

Create an atmosphere at home in which your child knows you will pay attention to her comments about feelings. Your child’s IQ (cognitive intelligence) matters because the thinking ability helps her learn new concepts, progress through the education system, get good grades in her exams, and understand the complexities of her world. But many parents and professionals now consider EQ (emotional intelligence) more important because emotional skills – that is, her awareness of feelings and how she manages them effectively – makes a significant contribution to her happiness. A child with high EQ has an honest awareness of her moods and is reasonably capable of controlling them; at the same time, she is sensitive to the varying feelings of those around her, whether children or adults. This raises her sense…

APPLE PIE LANGUAGE Founded in 2003, this centre (pictured above) aims to cultivate an appreciation for the Chinese language from an early age. The centre offers a range of daily, weekly and specially customised classes throughout the year, for children aged three to eight years old. Class sizes cater to kids who learn at different speeds. Its speech and drama-based programme improves your kid’s social and communication skills and boosts confidence in public speaking. Apple Pie Language also offers holiday camps during the school holidays. VISIT www.applepie.com.sg BABY SENSORY This early childhood programme was founded in the UK by Dr Lin Day, one of the UK’s leading parenting experts and a renowned author in the fields of sensory and early childhood development. It was brought to Singapore in 2015. Baby…

The Singapore Festival of Fun returns to Clarke Quay for its second year with a bigger lineup of events. Join the Nickelodeon Fiesta (March 10 to 11), which celebrates Singaporeans’ love of food with Nickelodeon characters. There are nine food-themed game booths, where you stand a chance to win limited edition collectibles. Don’t miss the photo opportunities with Spongebob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There’s even a ‘Nickelodeon Trail’ where your kids can discover the heritage behind their favourite local dishes. At the Clarke Quay Streetfest (March 13 to 18), watch street performers from London’s Covent Garden, who will be here for the first time. Your little ones will be mesmerised by the showcase of acrobatics, escapology and daredevil acts. Both events are free, and will take place at…