My Daughter Loves to Brush Her Teeth

~ Article by Cheng Yi

I’ve started to brush my daughter Amelia’s teeth quite a while ago before she turns one year old after I introduced her to the song "This is the way I brush my teeth" and showing her the actions while I was reading her a nursery rhyme book for her bedtime story. Seeing her getting excited with the actions of brushing teeth, I thought, why not take this opportunity to teach her and start her on a daily habit of cleaning her teeth. Two paediatricians that I consulted actually said that there is no need to brush a baby’s teeth until they are about two years old but I have been thinking to myself whether it would be hard to introduce it much later when our toddler is already used to the habit of not cleaning their teeth!

My sister introduced me to the First Teeth Baby Toothpaste (manufactured by Laclede Healthcare Products Inc., USA) which is to be used with the Infa-Dent Finger Toothbrush. The toothpaste’s label states that it is fluoride free, safe to swallow and is made of natural milk enzymes that can be effective in reducing the bacteria that cause gum irritations and early plague build up when used daily. It has got a natural apple-banana flavour. I find it quite good as it is easy to use.

Every evening before bedtime and in the morning, I will carry Amelia on my left side and first show her how I brush my own teeth, gaggle and rinse my month before I help her brush hers. I will tell her which one is her toothbrush which I will wear on my index finger and which one is her toothpaste as I squeeze a tiny amount of it onto the brush on my finger. Then I will tell her to open her mouth (which she will say ‘’ah...’’) and i will put my finger into her mouth to brush her teeth and her gums using small circular motion. To make the experience more interesting for her, I will sing her ‘’This is the way I brush my teeth’’ while I am in action! I think Amelia enjoys it very much as every time when I ask her to come and brush her teeth, she will happily say ‘’please’’ or ‘’I want!’’ and nod her head in eagerness.

Bringing Out the Best in Our Children

~ Article by Cheng Yi

Over the recent weekend, my husband and I brought our 1 year old daughter, Amelia, back to his hometown, Muar, to celebrate her great grandmother’s birthday. We stayed overnight at our good friends’ house. Ching Leng and Poh Koon have three adorable daughters and they are Sara, Hannah and Abby, aged 16 months, 3 years and 5 years respectively. During the stay, I have had the chance to witness the fun, creative and somewhat carefree approach Poh Koon uses to bring up her kids… I must say, it is an eye-opening experience!

For example, Poh Koon encourages her children to go outdoor and play in the garden, to fill their lungs with some fresh air and get their dose of vitamin D from the morning sun. The kids will be riding on their bicycles, running around just to keep themselves healthy or perhaps a cold dip in the pool. At time, she will even drive them to a nearby park or the children’s playground near the seaside, just to give them a change. Hence, on that Sunday morning, I decided to expose Amelia to the outdoor experience! We joined Poh Koon and her three angels, for their usual dose of sun in the morning at a nearby playground. When we were there, having fun, I was so surprised to see how little 16-month old Sara, confidently sat on a swing, being pushed by her mom from behind, without support! In my head, very quickly, I heard myself saying, “I can’t do that! Amelia would fly off the swing!”

Of course, as an inexperienced first time mom, I was so eager to find out how she trained her baby to have such good motor skills. Through our casual chit-chat later on, I find out it all started when she encouraged her baby to sit in the baby swing (those that have a bar that kept them from falling off) and soon her little girl very quickly learned how to hold onto the swing confidently and graduated to the ones without the bar, just like her two other sisters.

Through our stay in Muar, little Sara continues to amaze me with her exceptional motor skills… from pedalling bicycle, to jumping into the swimming pool just like her 3 & 5-year old sisters, to holding her breath in the water and enjoying her acrobatic act in the pool… all these are timely reminder to me that providing fun outdoor activities is just as important as reading, flash-carding to a child’s development!

And Amelia had lots of fun both playing indoor and outdoor throughout our stay in Muar!

A session with my boy..

One day, when I got home late evening from work and I heard my maid, Jasmin, who is having a conversation with my 14-month old boy.



Jasmin : Boy, how old are you?

Sammy : One! *in his baby-accent*

Jasmin : How many teeth do you have?

Sammy : E-ight! *big smile on his face and clapping his hand*



Another occasion, when I was sitting in the living room with my little boy, going through the small flash cards (a friend gave him as a present on his first birthday), in his baby-accent again, he started… ‘banana’, ‘horse’, ‘pig’, ‘rabbit’, ‘bird’, ‘star’, ‘leg’, ‘clock’, ‘snake’, ‘ant’ and often coupled with action, like ‘clap his hand together’ when he sees mosquito in the flash card... we really just casually read/speak to him, didn’t we realise that he is absorbing and remembering those words… *I thought he is too young to be able to utter any of those words* Wow, I was so impressed! The statement about the first six years of a baby/toddler is crucial development years… it rumbles in my ears… it is an never ending internal struggle…