Cough and cold season!!

I think that the worst time for any parent is when their child falls ill. It may be as simple as common cold, but seeing your child suffering added to the fact that he can't really tell you what the matter is, is rather frustrating. Cold and cough and viral are an essential part of everyone's childhood, because they help develop a child's immunity. My issue has always been the antibiotics prescribed by the doctors.. I would always have to force feed them to my son, and because of them, he would completely lose his appetite.

Mainly because of my past dealings with indian pediatricians, I was quite taken aback with the doctors here in Amsterdam. Firstly, there is one doctor for the entire family. You have to register before you can take any appointments with him/her. Until today, whenever I have gone to the doctor, for me or my son, their only advice has been have warm tea and take rest. They firmly believe that comman cold does not get cured with medicine. Infact, we once woke up in the middle of the night with Vihaan coughing badly (he sounded like a dog!!) I got really scared and we called the emergency.

They sent an ambulance with team of emergency medical professionals. When they came, the first thing they asked me to do is to take vihaan in the shower and fill it up with steam to help clear his airway. They even had the nebulization kits, but whenever they would hold it against my son, he would start crying. And they said, if he will cry we can't hold it against him (again a huge change from india, where the nurse asked me to hold my son tight while she forcefully held the mask against my son :P Finally they asked if we would like to go to the doctors, which we jumped at. So they took us to the hospital, where a doctor checked him and said that all he needs is warm tea!! I would have blown out at that time, except V had become totally normal. By the time we came back home, he was running around his usual self and we even went to a birthday party in the afternoon :-O

This was an year ago, and now, must say, I have become a pro at taking care of V when he has cough and cold. So here are my top tips for flu season.

1) Eucalyptus oil on clothes or the bed where the baby sleeps. The smell helps the baby breathe easier. for smaller babies, make sure it is not too strong. some mummas keep cut onions need the babies bed side. it also works as a decongestant for the nose. I have capsules similar to the image attached. you have to cut the capsule and spread the contents over the baby's clothes.

2) Saline spray can be used to clear baby's nose. If you are adventurous enough, you can make your own spray. Or you can ask your doctor to recommend an over the counter ready made spray.

3) Steam treatment.
For small babies: take your child in the bathroom, turn on the shower at the highest temperature you can (make sure your child is safe from the hot water). The hot water will generate steam turning your bathroom into a steam room. stay in the room with your child for 15-20 mins. Do this 2-3 times in a day.
For bigger children, you may try the steam machines. but be extremely careful.




4)Warm tea (not the indian chai). This is basically a tea bag steeped in hot water for a minute with a bit of honey/sugar. You get flavoured tea bags too (with ginger or other herbs). Or you can boil water with fennel seeds and elaichi with a dash of honey/sugar. taste the tea before u give it to your child to check that it is not too hot. (this remedy is for babies above 5 months or those who have started water or outside food, not for exclusively breastfed babies.)



5) Raising the head level when sleeping also helps baby sleep better.This can be done by placing a folded towel underneath the bed cover.

6) Finally check out this link. It has some wonderful do's and don't for avoiding the flu and also for emergencies.

Always trust your mumma instincts, if you feel that there is something wrong and that you need to show the doctor.. do it!! The doctor will not scold or reprimand you for doing so :)

Amsterdam update!!!

Its now been 5 months since we came to the Netherlands. Vihaan has now adjusted completely to the change in scenery and timing.

Every time on travelling to any place in Europe, the first thing that struck me has been the empty streets, the shops closing early, remaining closed on Sundays. But come to think of it, it is all designed so that people can spend more time with their families, so that they can relax and take a break from work. So it is actually a blessing.

Living in Netherlands has been a very different experience from staying in Switzerland a few years ago. Partly because of Vihaan's everyday schedule and partly because of the previous stay in Europe, we never felt like we moved to a different place. Our days are tightly packed with baby related activities, in fact we cant believe that it has already been 5 months!!!

We have already registered with a doctor, and have started going to a playgroup a couple of times in a week. The playgroup has brought about a noticeable change in Vihaan as he now has become more independent and also open towards other babies. Also the playgroup has helped me make many new friends  :)

There are quite a number of mother and baby sites which help new moms cope with the pressures of childbirth in an unknown place as well as with all sort of baby related questions. One of my favurite forums is Amsterdam Mamas. You can go to this site or follow them on Facebook. I prefer Facebook as the forum is really open.

The cost of living here is pretty high, so there is a big market for good quality secondhand goods. Marktplaats is a very well known site for trading second hand goods. also, market groups according to your region can be found on facebook too!!

All in all, living in Amsterdam has so far been great!!

Never travel without a laptop!!

Our old laptop was in horrible shape. The keys not working, the screen was busted, the battery no longer in use. For all purposes it was desktop. and we were already overloaded in the luggage department. So it made sense to leave it behind right? WRONG!!
Its been two months now, and i am actually missing that sorry excuse for a laptop!!

For those of you who think having an ipad is good enough, think again. the ipad is really good when u want to check your emails, facebook or play games. But once you are wholly dependent on it, you realise it not really all that they make it out to be.

Dont believe me? Try it out yourself.
No uploading pics, no going on flash sites, that means no watching movies unless they r on you tube, not working on resumes. Or doing anything work related, unless all you do is send and reply emails!! Blogger too does not have an ipad app. So i am using the iphone app to write this blog. Which is also why i have been MIA until now!!

Rant over!!!

A change in scenery!

It has been quite a while since my last post... But there was a very good reason for the delay. We have shifted!! Mumbai mom is now in Amsterdam!!

The past few months have been a series of chaotic, hectic and panicky days wherein a lot of packing and stuffing of suitcases was carried out. That was accompanied by completing documentation, visiting embassies and bringingthe paperwork up to order. Little wonderthat its been such a long time since my last post! But here I am now,and hopefully i will be able to post more frequently now.

Filing for netherlands visa is quite a lenghty process, but we had help from the hubster's HR dept. In addition one has to make sure that the birth and marraige certificates are firstly reissued and then legalised. This is more important for the application of work permit after you arrive in NL.

After all the documentation was ready, the three of us trooped to the Netherlands Embassy. I was a bit nervous because it wasthe first time I had to visit any embassy, but I didnt have to be so. The ladyat the embassy was really nice and it hardly took us 15minutes there.

That done, all that was left was packing and waiting for the passports to come back with the stamps from the embassy.

Somehow we managed to pack most of the things that we would require in NL in 2 measly suitcases and we were all ready to fly. 12 hrs later, we reached amsterdam.... The weather was awesome!! Very bright and cheerful as we arrived when the summer season was at its peak.

Since then, we have searched, found and shifted in our rented apartment in record breaking time. Time for some relaxation now.

Phew!!!!


Ps: No laptop here and unable to upload any pics on the blog..:( sob... Will try to work something out soon.

Vihaan turns one!!

Last month was a biiiig month for us..... we have turned one year old!!!

We had a small get together with our friends and family. Vihaan was pretty chilled out during the first half of the party. But after the cake cutting ceremony, everyone crowded around him and that freaked him out. He became really cranky (which is really expected). I was so focussed on Vihaan that I even forgot to give some of the kids their return gifts!! I had to feed him to calm him down and he actually fell asleep for the rest of the party!!

Vihaan can now:
Stand without support
Cruise holding onto furniture
Has become a big time crawler
Say baba, mama, tata, dada and a lot more

He has six teeth in total, four on top and two at the bottom.

I can sense his personality developing slowly. He has his preferences while playing, eating and sleeping.
He also points at objects which he wants, and loves grooving to the latest music :P

His sleep pattern has also changed. He now hardly sleeps for 2-3 hours during the day. He used to be a good sleeper at night, but now a days, he tends to wake up for feeds.

I havent stopped feeding yet... some people have been telling me this is the best time to start weaning the baby off breast milk. But over the last year, I have realised the most simple thing: every baby is different..
If something works with one baby, the same thing may not work with another baby. So i am taking it easy atleast with weaning, I feed only when he himself asks for it. Otherwise, Vihaan has three proper meals in a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and also has midday and evening snacks if he is in the mood.

Climate in Mumbai has been fluctuating like crazy... somedays are too hot, and somedays it pours!! That sorta has been affecting Vihaan's health, he has a cold that just wont go!!

The entry into the second year has been good :) My little man is growing up fast!!