Infant Activity Centres

As your baby gradually spends less time sleeping and eating, you have to find various ways to entertain him/ her and I found it quite a daunting task. Let's face it, there are only so many hours of reading, making silly faces/ noises and staring at your baby put everything in his mouth that one can do as an adult without getting bored.

So I've started to try out various activities that are offered in Singapore for my baby's age group (my little tiger is currently 5.5 mths-old). By no means exhaustive, I will update this entry as I try them out.

Kindermusik, Tanglin Mall

www.kindermusik.com.sg

Trial Class:         $30 for 1 session

Normal Fees:     $307.43 (for 8 classes, materials and GST) + $53.50 one-off enrolment fee

Class:               Kindermusik Village for newborn to 18 months (45 mins) conducted by Yim Ching

Format:            Classes are kept small in a cosy room but with plenty of room. The teacher sings throughout the class in which you are encouraged to join and she carries out a variety of activities which involves making rhythmic noises with basic musical instruments and a small little walk-around activity which involves moving your child around to music

Verdict:            [4/5] I don’t think my little tiger is going to end up becoming a musical genius but he seems to have enjoyed it and apart from the singing that I had to do, I thought it was well-organised and age-appropriate

The Little Gym, The Forum

www.thelittlegym.com.sg

Trial Class:           $42.80 for 1 session

Normal Fees:       $438.00 (for 10 classes inc. GST) + $55 annual membership fee

                            5-10% discount if booked in advance

Class:               Bugs for 4-10 months (45 mins) conducted by Gerry

Format:            We attended the Saturday class which meant that there were 2 parents to each baby and with around 12 babies in class it felt crowded even in the large space that they have. Teacher sings through some parts and gives instructions on various activities to do with children. There were even some supported summersaults for the babies which some of them seemed to love. Some free time was given for the baby and parents to go and use any of the soft gym equipment although at this age, it was difficult to know what to do with them.

Verdict:            [2/5] The main problem was that there were too many people and even with an additional teacher in class, it felt a little disorganised and rushed-through. The music and instructions she kept playing on and off was really loud and my little tiger got irritated by the end of it all. It might have been better if the class was conducted at a slower pace with less people. This place may be better for toddler onwards.

Gymboree, Tanglin Mall

www.gymboree.com.sg

Trial Class:       $40 for 1 session

Normal Fees:   $450 for 12 classes + $50 annual membership

Class:               Play & Learn 2 for 6-10 months  with Hannah

Format:            Some more singing (by the teacher only, phew!). The teacher shows you what to do by   using a slightly scary looking clown the size of your baby. Some basic movements followed by ‘Grown-Up Time’.  Some balls were given to the babies to distract them for a while and the teacher brings up a supposedly interesting topic for the parents to discuss but I thought this was carried out rather routinely, therefore a bit of a waste of time. Then some free time around all the Gymboree equipment that are all padded and sanitised. The teacher comes around to show you what you can do with each set of equipment. Some more singing followed by parachute time and some bubble blowing which the babies seemed to enjoy.

Verdict:            [3/5] There is a class for this age-range everyday and therefore the numbers are kept small. The equipment that they have is great and the format of the class was not too bad either but felt a little boring for some reason. 

Bellamy's vs Hipp Organic Formulas

I have not been able to find any useful comparisons between the two so here you go:

Bellamy's Organic Infant Formula (1 - from birth)

- Available in Cold Storage for around SGD50 per can of 900g (can be out of stock so give yourself plenty of time to get a can in advance before you need it)
- It says "Made in Australia from Imported and Australian Ingredients"
- NASAA Certified Organic (but as someone mentioned, they don't specify which of the ingredients are imported)
- Whey dominant, iron enriched, gluten-free

personal opinion: I have used this on my little one from around 3 months as a supplement to breastfeeding. He took it well and he has had no problems with it. The only problem I have with it is that when shaken, it produces quite a lot of foam which some claim it makes babies 'gassy' (I have not found this to be a problem for my little one). Easy instructions to follow.

Hipp Infant Milk BIO (1 - from birth onwards)

- Can get them at Four Seasons Organic Store, B2, Great World City - around SGD14 per box of 300g (which makes is marginally cheaper than Bellamy's if you compare the price at 900g)
- They don't seem to yet stock the new one with added what they call 'prebiotics' to aid digestion and Omega 3 & 6 LCPs, available in the UK
- It seems like a UK brand but the company is registered in Austria and as such it follows European standards
GMO-free feed in accordance with EU Organic Directive
- It says "this organic product is being monitored by an independent organic control institute"

personal opinion: I have only started to try this since last week. The little one was a little confused at first and it seems thicker than Bellamy's which made it a little harder for the little one to suck it through the bottle. He was ok for a couple of feeds then he got really frustrated. It doesn't seem to melt all that well in room temperature water and it leaves little clumps of formula which sometimes blocks the hole. After 30 mins of struggling to get it all melted with vigorous shaking and poking through the hole with a toothpick whilst my little one threw a massive tantrum because he was hungry, I gave up and had to go out to get the Bellamy's one again. The other problems I have with it are on the practical level. It comes in a foil bag, in a box. I don't think this is necessarily more eco-friendly than a tin (which can also be recycled) as it comes in smaller amounts and therefore you go through more packaging. But I find it quite inconvenient to use and store and I found that it attracts ants if not carefully sealed in another plastic container. Plus I'm having to buy them more frequently. And finally, the instructions are a little difficult. I don't have time to make sure that the water is 50C and the measurement for water is in 5ml units (i.e. add 185ml of water) which is not how the bottles measure, therefore it is hard to be precise. Quite frankly, I don't have the time for this.

Comparing Nutrients

Not being an expert on this, I am not entirely sure how to compare the two but on face value, I have noted the following differences that may be significant:

Bellamy's - At first, I found it strange that it contains taurine. Yes, the core ingredient in energy drinks such as Red Bull. I was a little shocked about this and only just discovered it hence the change to Hipp. But having done a little more research, I have found that taurine is frequently used in formula to make it more like breastmilk (it is naturally occurring in breastmilk) and it's totally acceptable.

Here's a link to a scientific study on this:

http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab006072.html

So no need to worry about it but thought to mention it just in case someone else thought the same.
Other than this, Bellamy's has 0.96mg of iron whereas Hipp has 0.5mg. Hipp also has flouride (5.4mg) which Bellamy's doesn't have at all. Hipp also has long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (which are more commonly known as omega 3, I think)
Bellamy's uses organic milk solids whereas Hipp uses organic skimmed milk.

Quite frankly, I couldn't tell you which is 'better' in terms of content - I've seen plenty of good reviews for both and the choice seems personal.

We mustn't forget that babies are little people and they will all be different in their preferences too!
My tiger baby seems to prefer Bellamy's so that seems to be the winning formula for us.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in infant formula nor do I claim to be one!

Why?

This is not going to be a blog about how cute and adorable my little tiger is, although he is! I’m also hoping that it won’t be some trivial expat account of life in Singapore without any local insight.

I’ve decided to start this to see what is all the fuss about blogging and also in the hope of being able to share some of the information that I have found useful, having spent hours and hours googling and sorting through the rubbish on the web these days.

Having had to uproot and restart the home-making process over and over again, I have become used to spending hours asking around and looking for good restaurants, shops, hairdressers (this is a hard one!) and various other useful information. Actually, I also used to be paid to do just that. Finally, I’m in a country where more people speak English but it has been so disappointing to find a lack of good and comprehensive information on local stuff that I can rely on. So much BS out there. So this has become my new mission: to try and share what little information I gather – my first attempt in becoming part of the solution rather than endlessly complaining about the problem!

I’m doing this more to organise my own resources as much as to share the information with anyone who may find it useful – so no hidden agenda or shameless plugging. But I will caveat it by saying that everything that I blog from here on end will be of my own PERSONAL OPINION. I may get things horribly wrong or my opinion may not be of any value. Watch this space and you be the judge.