Overview of Baby Stomach Size

It's important to know newborn baby stomach size as we adult tend to have zero idea on this.
So here is the overview of the infant stomach size

Getting Baby Milk Warmer

There are two types of milk for baby:
- Breast Milk
- Formula Milk (e.g. Cow Milk/Soya Milk)

For formula milk, a warmer is not required because we will use warm/hot water to dissolve the formula milk and subsequently feed baby.

However we need to heat up breast milk because we usually store breast milk in the fridge or freezer. We have been informed by lactation consultant that breast milk lasting duration are:
Freezer - 3 months
Fridge - 3 days
Room Temperature - 4 hours

We started off in using the hot water to warm up the baby bottle but it's a too much hassle because:
- The breast milk sometimes end up cold as it's not heat up properly
- The breast milk sometimes end up too hot
- At times, we run out of hot water and have to wait for a while for the hot water

Finally one day went to Jaya Jusco and check out the variety of milk warmer devices, and I have finally decided to get Little Bean brand because:
- Cheaper than other brand as Little Bean Home & Car Bottle Warmer cost RM 90
- Have features which can warm up milk using home electricity or car battery charger

- Have a feature to turn off automatically once the water inside the warmer has reached the desired temperature
- Have a feature to turn on automatically once the water gets cold
- Have a "cap" to prevent water to evaporate out quickly

Guide in Getting Baby Names

Searching for English Name
Nowadays there are tons of website that can help to suggest baby names for parents. Here are the site that contains all the list of website that can help to suggest baby names for parents:
http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Family/Pregnancy/Baby_Names

However there are still a lot of website in the dmoz directory. To shortlist, there is a good review on the baby name websites:
http://www.babynameclusters.com/d/review_of_baby_name_websites

After going through many websites, below is the best website because it contains many variety of names and country's top list names too.
http://www.behindthename.com/


Searching for Chinese Name
In the internet, there are tons of website that suggest some pin-yin names and there is a possibility that the kids may find his/her "twin" names in the class when the kids goes to school. The reason is because some parents look for the best suggestion from the website and if two or more parent uses the same name for the kids, then we'll going to have lots of "twin" name in the classes.

Here are the steps which my wife and I went through to find our baby names as both of us cannot read and write Mandarin.
Requirement:
- To find Chinese baby name that comprise of the format: Surname + 1st Character + 2nd Character
- Comply to a Chinese believe on the strokes rules
Step 1: Ask ourself what meaning we want to associate to baby and derive the English words out.
Tools - http://dictionary.reference.com
We can refer to Synonyms section in the dictionary website as to get more variety words that associates to the words we want to associate with our baby.
Example:

Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com using word "Strong"

Step 2: Use Google Translator to Get 1 or 2 Chinese Character
If parent select one Chinese Character from the list, then have to go to Step 1 again to choose the 2nd Chinese Character.
Tools - http://translate.google.com
Example: 

Translation of the word Brilliant to Chinese Wordings

Step 3: Listen to the Chinese Character
Once we had gathered 2 Chinese Characters, then we'll combine the surname to listen to the pronunciation tone whether name sounds like a boy's name or girl's name.
Tool - http://translate.google.com
Example:

Copy the Chinese Character, Paste to Google Translate and Listen to the Pronunciation

Once we are OK with the baby name, then next task is to align the baby name with the Chinese Character Strokes Rules. In this example, we will use the name 李连杰 (Li Lian Jie).
Step 4a: Get the Number of Strokes in a Chinese Character
Tool - http://www.nciku.com
Example: 
李 - 7 Strokes
连 - 10 Strokes
杰 - 8 Strokes

Search the Chinese Character, then click "Stroke Order" to find the total strokes

Step 4b: Check with Stroke Rules #1
The total strokes for the baby name should equal to: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, 29, 31, 32, 33, 37, 39, 45, 47, 48, 52, 63, 65, 67, 68, 73 or 81.
Example:
The total strokes for 李连杰 is 25 strokes (7 + 10 + 8) and matched to the good number of total strokes.

Step 4c: Check with Stroke Rule #2
If the Chinese Character stroke is in even number, then it's call Yin.
If the Chinese Character stroke is in odd number, then it's call Yang.
The Chinese Name for the baby must be balanced in terms of the following pattern:
- Yang Yang Yin
- Yin Yin Yang
- Yang Yin Yin
- Yin Yang Yang
Example:
李 - 7 Strokes => Yang (Odd Number)
连 - 10 Strokes => Yin (Even Number)
杰 - 8 Strokes => Yin (Even Number)
The name pattern are Yang Yin Yin and comply to the Stroke Pattern rules.

Step 5: Ask feedback from friends and relative especially those that knows Mandarin as to check out whether there is any weird/odd meaning associate to the baby name. It's best to gather 3-5 names so that there are contingency name in case some names are not suitable due to some reasons.

Warning: 
This steps takes a lot of time but the process of going through the name are fun. However there are sifu in Klang Valley that provides services in helping parent to choose baby name.


Here are some additional tools:
1) To find Chinese Character based on pronunciation sound / Pin Yin
http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/sinograms.html?p=
Note: After click the Pin Yin, we need to identify which characters that we're looking for

2) The book title "Best Chinese Name" (ISBN : 981-3068-30-2) was very helpful.
Here are the preview of the book content:
http://books.google.com.my/books?id=4g-P9R0Kg0cC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Resources:
http://mandarin.about.com/od/chinesenames/a/number_strokes.htm

Full Moon Gift Pack

A full moon ceremony is held to celebrate baby's first month of life according to Chinese custom. Usually eggs dyed in red  and red tortoise cake (ang ku kueh) with other food are given to relatives and friends as part of the celebrations.

In modern world, relatives, friends and colleagues give red packet that contains money or present for baby. In return, the parents would give in the following method:
1) Organize buffet catering for friends and family at a location
2) Get full moon food package and distribute to friends and family
3) Get gift voucher and distribute to friends and family
The KFC, Pizza Hut, RasaMas gift voucher can be bought at http://myonlinevoucher.com.my

Below are the list of food vendor in Klang Valley (Malaysia) that offer full moon package:

Restaurant	Delivery?	Catering?	Cheapest Gift Pack with Chicken (Preferably curry chicken)	Contacts
Ayamas	Y	Y		http://www.kedaiayamas.com.my/delivery/fullmoon.html Contact: 1300-88-2323
Chicken Rice Shop	Y	Call to Confirm		http://www.thechickenriceshop.com Click here for the fullmoon menu Contact: Please refer to the Chicken Rice Shop in the website
Delight's Full Moon	Y	Call to Confirm		http://www.delightsfullmoon.com Contact: KL/Klang: 012-223 3516 / 016-369 2773 PJ/Subang: 017-329 9077 Puchong: 016-285 4708 Kepong: 017-510 0366 Cheras: 016-220 1805
H & H	Y	Y	Buy 10, Free 1	http://www.hnhcatering.com/fullmoon.htm Contact: 03-7880 2606
Kenny Roger	Y	Y		http://www.krr.com.my/v3/catering.php?category=baby-full-moon Contact: 03-2119 9888
Lian Bee	Call to Confirm	Call to Confirm		http://www.lianbee.com/products/special-occasion/fullmoon/fullmoon-sets Contacts: 03-3290 3399
New Trendy	Y	Y		http://fullmoongiftpack.com.my Contact: 03-6277 0167 / 03-6275 1062
Nyonya Restaurant	Y	Y		http://www.nyonya-restaurant.com/full-moon.html Contact: 03-78759709
Nyonya Village	Y	Y		http://www.nyonyavillage.com/fullmoon.html Contact: 03-7956 5293
Uniq	Y	Y	Buy 20, Free 1 (Delivery) Buy 10, Free 1 (Own Collection)	http://www.uniqfullmoon.com.my Contact: 03-8070 0686
U-Ton	Call to Confirm	Call to Confirm		http://www.u-ton.com Contact: 03-9019 5626 / 016-626 5383

Decision Making on Baby Diapers

Nowadays there are so many brands and product models on baby diapers. However, there are two main type of diapers which are Cloths Diapers and Disposable Diapers:


Decision between Cloths Diaper vs Disposable Diaper
Let's be realistic, time is precious especially when baby is less than 1 year old as dad & mum need to put more attention in taking care of the baby unless there are people that can helps out on the laundry. I can conclude that cloth diapers is a nightmare to both working parents as the amount of time required is tremendously a lot. For me, I'll go for disposable diapers as both myself and wife are working and we don't have much time to do the cleaning.

Checking out Diaper Company
We can summarize the list of diaper company in Malaysia as per below:

Sterilize Baby Mouth's Equipment

The reason to sterilize baby feeding equipment is to ensure microbes (e.g. bacteria, fungi, virus, spore, etc) are destroyed before passing to baby for feeding or playing. Such equipment are baby bottles, nipples, pacifier, teethers or anything that baby's mouth touches.

And if the baby equipment are not cleaned, then there is a possibly infections that can cause discomfort to the baby as baby immune system is still weak after birth. Example of infection are oral thrush

By 6 months old, baby would have taken most of the vaccination jab. The continuation of sterilizing baby equipment depends on:

- Water condition at home whether it's clean or dirty (Some home have a rocket filter)

- Baby condition whether baby get sick easily

There are few ways on how to sterilize the baby equipment.

1) Hot Water

The old conventional which is to use hot water to kill the microbes. Back many many years ago, the baby bottle are made of glass and it's very safe to use this old convention methods. However nowadays most baby bottles are made of plastic and it's dangerous which can release a chemical call BPA which can disrupt the kid's health system.

2) Hot Water and Salt

This method is similar to method (1) but using salt to clean the bottle nipples.

3) Electric Steam Sterilizer

This method uses steam to sterilize the baby equipment.

4) Microwave

This method uses Microwave to sterilize the baby equipment. Ensure the baby equipment can be microwave

5) Sterilizing Tablets

Dump the sterilizing tablet in a 2 liter water with normal temperatures to create a sterilizing solutions. Put the baby equipment in the sterilizing solutions for 30 minutes and wash the baby equipment using clean waters. Another thing, we could use sterilizing tablet to clean big stuff like baby toys, playmat and etc.

Here are the summary:

No	Method	Cost (RM)	Duration to Sterilize (Minute)	Leach BPA in Plastic
1	Hot Water	Water Cost Electric/Gas Cost Water Pot	10 Minutes	Possible
2	Hot Water and Salt	Water Cost Electric/Gas Cost Water Pot Salt Cost (~RM2)	10 Minutes	Possible
3	Electric Steam Sterilizer	Electric Cost Little Water Cost Electric Steam Sterilizer (RM 100 - 350)	2 - 6 Minutes	No
4	Microwave	Electric CostMicrowave Oven (RM 250 - 450) Microwave Sterilizer Container (RM 70 - 150)	4 - 10 Minutes (Include Cooling Time)	Possible
5	Sterilizing Tablets	Water Cost 1 Box (RM 17 for 56 tablets)	30 Minutes	No

Note:
- For method 5, the example cost is Pureen Sterilising Table. Assuming 1 day uses 1 tablets for 24 hours, therefore it would cost RM 68 (6 Months x 31 Days x 1 Tablets = 186 tablets = 4 Box).
- If parent want to save time and have bigger budget, then best option would be Electric Steam Sterilizer.
- If parent are organized, clean baby equipment after use, then best option would be sterilizing tablet.

Resources:
http://www.parenting.com/article/toxic-baby-bottles

Adapt to Baby Sleep - Part II

This post continue from Baby Sleep Adaptation - Part I.

Moving forward, below is the step by step guide to get newborn baby to adapt to the 24-hour system and sleep better:
1) Exposure to light and darkness

Expose baby to lights when sun rises, and minimize light exposure during nighttime especially close to sleeping time. This allows baby to sync to the 24 hour clock system.

2) Ensure baby are comfortable - Check Diapers

Check diapers before sleep as to ensure diapers are dry or change in regular time. This is to prevent infections that subsequently cause baby to be uncomfortable with skin irritation or pain.

3) Ensure baby are comfortable - Check Room Temperatures and Humidity
Ensure room temperature are around 21 Celsius with humidity. Dry air can cause stuffy nose. High humidity can cause allergy-type molds. An air-con/heater and humidifier can helps maintain a consistent nice temperature and humidity in the sleeping room.

4) Ensure baby are comfortable - Check Nose Block
Check whether there are runny nose or baby mouth is mouth to breath. If yes, use nasal aspirator to clean the baby nose as to clear the nasal passage way. An air-filter would be great to minimize dust around the room as to ensure a consistent minimal dust in the sleeping room.

5) Ensure baby are comfortable - Check Baby Temperature
Do check baby body temperature as to ensure baby body are doing good before sleep.

6) Ensure baby are comfortable - Check Sleepwear
Check whether there are small rashes around baby skin or baby cries when wearing the sleepwear. This could be due to the detergent, fabric softener, newly bought cloths or polyester cloths.
If suspect detergent and fabric softeners, then get a mild type that is meant for baby cloths.
If suspect newly bought cloths, then wash a few times.
If suspect polyester cloths, then get 100% cotton sleepwear.

7) Ensure baby are comfortable - Feed Baby Before Sleep
A hungry baby is an angry baby. So it's best to feed baby before sleep.
Note:
- Breast milk that are expressed at night contains nucleotides (5'AMP, 5'GMP, 5'UMP) that are linked to sleepiness. Therefore it's best to feed baby with breast milk that are expressed during night time.

8) Avoid stimulation before bedtime

It's recommended to make the last 2-3 hours before bedtime as quiet and calm. And avoid any physical exercise or other forms of excitement that can keep baby alert. Baby may tend to cry in the middle of the night if there are too much stimulation especially approaching bed time.

Below video is an example of stimulation to the baby:

9) Massage Baby

Give baby a nice massage as to relax the muscle and preferably massage baby after bath.

Or do a colic massage:

10) Sleep Aid

Use sleeping aid when baby is about to go to sleep. An example of sleeping aid are pacifier, soft toys and blanket.

Warning: Avoid many soft toys and blanket as to prevent SIDS

11) Be Consistent on Sleep Routine
The reason to be consistent on the sleep routine is to indirectly guide newborn baby to sleep on consistent timing. This would be a win-win situation for both parents and baby sleep requirement. It won't be perfect in the initial plan sleep routine, but we can fine-tune the sleep routine from time to time. Below is an example guide and be flexible to fine-tune the sleep routine:

Resources:

http://www.neuroacoustic.com/methods.html

http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-sleep-chart.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17908-evening-breast-milk-means-a-good-sleep.html
http://www.birth.com.au/Newborn-fevers/What-is-a-normal-temperature

Adapt to Baby Sleep - Part I

Infant has accustomed to mother's physiological body during pregnancy period. Below are the key element that affect baby sleep pattern during pregnancy:
1) Noise in Amniotic Fluid inside Mummy's Tummy

The sense of hearing is more acute since sound travels through water more efficiently than air. While inside mother's tummy, the infant can hear mother's heart beat and various noises. This is the reason some parent uses white noises to get baby to sleep better.

2) Tight Space in Mummy's Tummy during Third Trimester

During last trimester, the fetus movement is restricted in a limited space in mother's tummy. This is one of the reason that some babies like swaddling.

3) Movement in Mummy's Tummy

Fetus has been living in amniotic fluid for so long to the extend got used to the movement inside mummy's tummy. This is the reason some parent uses swinging method to get baby to sleep better.

Once baby comes out to the world, the jet lag start to kicks in as newborn baby does not know when is the proper time to sleep. However, we do know the number of hours that baby requires. Below sleep chart is based on true evidence conducted in Switzerland on 493 babies in year 2003. We can use the sleep chart as a baseline as every baby are slightly different due to his/her sleep requirement.

Here are tips to simulate newborn baby environment as if baby is still inside mummy's tummy:
1) Turn on White Noise
This usually works from birth till 3 months old. Example of white noise are shhh sound, water flow sound, vacuum cleaner sound, hair dryer sound, microwave sound and etc...
http://incomingincomingbaby.blogspot.com/2012/09/getting-baby-to-sleep.html

2) Swaddle Baby
This usually works from birth till 4 months old, but avoid swaddle baby if baby can rollover as to prevent SIDS.
http://incomingincomingbaby.blogspot.com/2012/11/swaddling-newborn-baby.html

3) Rocking/Swinging Baby to Sleep
In southeast asia, using baby hammock is a common sleeping equipment. However the risk is that baby will get used to the swinging to the extend that baby can only sleep with baby hammock.
Warning:
- Make sure to get a good quality hammock as to avoid metal break or broken spring. And get the fabric which allow air to flow through so that baby can breath when baby turn around.
- There are cases which hammock cause problem to the baby. Therefore it's best to watch baby periodically as to anticipate the problem. Example of the problem: broken metal, swing too fast, electrical issue, baby knock to the side (awake baby), etc

Please click here for part II.

Resources:

http://www.neuroacoustic.com/methods.html

http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-sleep-chart.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17908-evening-breast-milk-means-a-good-sleep.html
http://www.birth.com.au/Newborn-fevers/What-is-a-normal-temperature

APGAR on Newborn Baby

Apgar score is a test conducted at 1minutes and 5 minutes after birth to quickly access the current health of newborn baby. The Apgar score is not meant to predict the future health of the baby.

Below is the matrix for the Apgar scoring:

Example:
When baby is out, the baby cries very loudly and skin color is fully pink but the leg have some blue color with pulse above 100 beats per minute. The baby muscle is also strong however not much active motions. Therefore the APGAR score is 8 (1+2+2+1+2).

Below is the definition for the Apgar scoring:

Below is the baby with Apgar score 7 on 1st minute and 9 on 5th minutes.
The video is on baby Xavier for 1st Apgar score

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apgar_score
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003402.htm

Baby Walker Decision Making

My first thought is that baby walker device is meant to assist baby to walk earlier. After reading wikipedia and understand baby journey to walking, then my perception has changed.

The baby walker may delay baby's walking ability by 2-3 weeks. As per below video comparison, we can see that baby will use leg, hand and balance skills to walk independently. With baby walker, the baby can walk in dependent mode.

Below is the video on how baby gets up and start walking

Below is the video on baby using baby walker device

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_walker
http://incomingincomingbaby.blogspot.com/2012/11/babys-milestone-journey-to-walking.html

Newborn Baby Reflexes - Part II

Here is the continue information on the newborn baby reflexes from previous post:

Babinski and Plantar Reflex
Babinski reflex (toe curl up) begins from birth till less than 1 year old. While the brain is developing, the baby's reflex will goes to Plantar reflex (toe curl down).
Here is the video on Babinski Reflex

Here is the video on Plantar Reflex

Galant Reflex
Galant reflex begins from birth till 4-6 months old. Infant will swing towards the side that was stroked when the skin along the sides of an infant's back is stroked.

Swimming Reflex
Swimming reflex begins from birth till 4-6 months. Infant will paddle and kick in swimming motion when face down in a pool of water. Swimming lesson is recommended after 3 months old.
Warning: Baby will swallow large amount of water that can cause water intoxication.

Babkin Reflex
Babkin reflex occurs in infant baby. When apply pressure to infant's both palms, there are few possible action may occur:
- Head flexion
- Head rotation
- Opening of the mouth
- Combinations of the 3 possibility

Snout Reflex
Snout reflex is present since birth till 1 year old. Snout reflex is a pouting or pursing of the lips when there is a light tapping of the closed lips.

Glabellar Reflex
Glabellar reflex or called tap reflex is an action that repetitive tapping on the infant's forehead and infant's eye blink in response.

Parachute Reflex
Parachute reflex occurs at later months after birth and we can see the comparison in the video between a newborn baby and baby whom has aged about 1 years old. Parachute reflex is meant to stretch the arms as to protect from falling.
Warning: Ensure baby are held properly as to avoid unintentional fall.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startle_reaction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_reflexes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snout_reflex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glabellar_reflex

Newborn Baby Reflexes - Part I

This is going to be very interesting as to understand new born baby reflexes. Enjoy !!!
Be gentle when attempting with newborn baby.

Moro / Startle Reflex
Moro reflex begins from birth till around 3-4 months old. It usually occur with this conditions:
- Infant's head suddenly shifts position (Warning: Ensure baby are held properly as to avoid unintentional fall)
- Change of temperature
- Sudden stimuli
- Startled by sudden noise

Walking/Stepping Reflex
Walking/stepping reflex starts from birth till 6 weeks old, and reappears as voluntary behaviour at around 8-12 months old. Newborn baby will attempt to walk by placing one foot in front of another when the soles of both feet touch a flat surface.
Warning: Ensure baby are held properly as to avoid unintentional fall

Rooting Reflex
Rooting reflex starts from birth till around 4 months old and gradually becomes voluntary control. Newborn baby will turn his head towards anything that stroke his/her cheeck or mouth

Sucking reflex
Sucking reflex is linked to rooting reflex and breastfeeding that causes the baby to instinctively suck at anything that touches the roof of their mouth and suddenly starts to suck simulating the way babies naturally eat.

Tonic Neck Reflex
The tonic neck reflex (called asymmetric tonic neck reflex / 'fencing posture') starts from 1 month old till 4 months old. When the child's head is turned to the left side, the left arm will straighten and right arm will bend. This is vice-versa when child's head is turned to the right side.
Warning: Be gentle when turning baby's head

Palmar Grasp Reflex
Palmar grasp reflex starts from birth till 5-6 months old. Palmar grasp happen when an object is placed in infant's hand and strokes his/her palm and subsequently baby's finger will close and grasp the object. The reverse motion can be induced by stroking the back or side of baby's hand.

Click here to view Part II.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startle_reaction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_reflexes

Swaddling Newborn Baby

Swaddling is a traditional practice of wrapping infants in swaddling cloths or blankets as to restrict infant's limbs. There are two school of thoughts in swaddling the infants.

View that Agree Swaddling Technique
- To settling and soothing irritable infants
- To help babies to sleep longer with fewer awakenings
- Babies sleeping in the back position can reduce SIDS risk
- Prevent infants from waking up with his/her moro reflex
Note:
- Parent should transition from swaddling to non-swaddling when baby can roll over which are around 4-5 months
Warning:
- Loose and ineffective swaddling can increase the risk of SIDS because blanket may cover baby's face.
- Risk of overheating if uses multiple blanket or thick fabric that creates excessive thermal insulation

View that Disagree Swaddling Technique
- There is a risk in impairing the motor skills especially tight swaddling
- Baby that can roll over from back to tummy have a risk of SIDS
- Tight swaddling with head covered reduces the infant's ability to cool it's body temperature which can lead to hyperthermia.

Here is how to swaddle the newborn baby

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaddling

How to Clean Baby Nose

Babies are unable to blow their noses and the tiny nasal passages can cause uncomfortable situation when there is a congestion. To allow baby to breath through the nose comfortably while drinking milk, it's best to flush baby's nasal passages and suck out the congestion in the baby's nose.

Here is a good video on how to clean baby's nose using nasal aspirator:

Resources:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/199842-how-to-aspirate-a-babys-nose

How to Bath Newborn Baby

This post will focus more on baby whom are less than 6 months as the baby is still fragile and require a special way to bath the newborn baby. Here is a good video to guide parents on how to bath a newborn baby:

Note:
It's best to bath the baby under the water when the umbilical cord has fallen off which should take about 2 weeks time. This is to prevent infection at the belly button area. After bath, make sure the belly button area are dry. Feel free to check out this post on umbilical cord healing progress:
http://incomingincomingbaby.blogspot.sg/2012/08/baby-belly-button-healing.html

Getting Breast Milk Pump

This post is about the analysis and evaluation in getting a breast pump products. There are tons of breast pump products and my wife and myself are quite puzzling on what breast pump product to decide. There are cheap and expensive and it's very hard to part a hard-earned money to something which we've no clue how it works. Enjoy the reading...

Hand vs Manual Pump vs Electric Pump
First of all, there are 3 mechanism to extract the breast milk which are as per below:

Using hand method would take a very long time and tiring to express the breast milk.
Using manual pump method would take some time, and tiring too to express the breast milk.
However using electric pump method would take shorter time without much efforts.
Finally we decided to go for electric pump device.

What Brand?
The next puzzling thing in our head is to go for which brand. Upon asking lactation consultant, we've been informed that Avent and Medela brand are good. So I went to Philips showroom and ask to get a whole list of Avent products and breast pump is in the list. I was informed that Philips representative would email me about the good price as I could get corporate discount. 1 week passed, 2 week passed and still no news. So finally decided to look for other brands like Medela. We come across that many baby shops sells Medela product but kind of doubt on the warranty and Medela product is not cheap. As warranty is an important factor in our decision, therefore we drill down to Medela distributor and found out that lacta-equip is the only distributor in Malaysia. And lacta-equip provide a 1 year warranty.
Medela distributor for Malaysia link:
http://www.medela.com/IW/en/breastfeeding/about-medela/distributors.html?country=Malaysia
Lacta-Equip Website
http://www.lacta-equip.com/
Warning: If purchased Medela product from other source (e.g. ebay) which lacta-equip does not recognize, then be prepare to fork out more $$$ for repair as lacta-equip company is the only service centre for Medela products in Malaysia.

Which Model to Choose?
Finally we have decided to go for Medela brand, and the next question is which model. Medela have 3 types of electric breast pump:

Swing is a single electric breast pump that cost RM 799.
Pump In Style Advanced (PISA) can be a single or dual electric breast pump that cost RM 1,788.
Freestyle is similar to PISA but it's mobile that cost RM 2,299.

We decided to get dual electric breast pump as this provides a better mechanism for breast milk expression. However the cost is a bomb to the family budget.

Decision Time
Finally we decided to get Pump In Style Advanced at lacta-equip because:
1) Based on Amazon.com product review, we come to the conclusion that PISA is better than Freestyle because the suction power in Freestyle is weaker than PISA.
2) Lacta-equip company have promotion in selling PISA at RM 1,399
Do call up lacta-equip whether they have promotion as it's much cheaper and with warranty.

Also, do get Hands Free Breast Pump Bra that can free up the hands for multi-task purpose. The product that we got is from Simple Wishes that cost RM 132.

Try First Before Buy
Recently a friend share his experience in which a shop allows the mum to try different types of breast pump product before buying, and this is a good idea and friendly way to allow mum to experience different type of breast pump before parting hard-earned money. The shop is located at Klang and here are the website:
http://www.enjoybreastfeed.com/aboutus.php