Snuza Hero - Two Months Later!

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I received a lot of emails asking me about the Snuza Hero and Snuza Trio. Some are pretty repetitive queries, but I enjoy interaction with my blog readers so I try my best to reply accurately and on time. Then a thought struck me, why not share the questions and the answers with you, yes you - the one who is probably too busy tending to your baby thus not having the time to send me a comment, what more an email!

But before I jump into that, I feel that I owe it to my readers to share my experience with the Snuza Hero two months after trying out the product. Back then, my sole reason for using this nifty gadget was to ease my paranoia about SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Since 90% of SIDS cases happen to babies below six months old, I no longer worry (too much!) about this happening to Ian. Instead, I use the Snuza Hero for days when Ian is unwell, such as when he is down with the flu and his nose is blocked. It is not advisable to give flu medicine to babies below two years old and babies generally do not know how to clear their noses and throat from phlegm, hence there is always a risk that they will have difficulty breathing in the night. Snuza Hero lets me sleep soundly knowing that the alarm will sound, if this ever happens.

I also use the Snuza Hero for the first few nights after a hard bump. With all the crawling, standing and climbing that Ian is doing nowadays, he has recorded a few nasty bangs by losing his balance and crashing into the house furniture. Even though the general advise is to monitor him for the next few hours for any vomiting or increased crankiness, which usually indicates a serious concussion, I worry that I cannot monitor him all the time. Especially if the incident happens close to bedtime or naptime and he falls asleep soon afterwards - anxious parents like me would check on the baby for disturbances in color or breathing. But what about when I am asleep? Snuza Hero gives me peace of mind that the alarm will sound if Ian starts losing consciousness or have difficulty breathing.

Scenarios like these are when the Snuza Hero becomes important for babies above six months and for circumstances other than SIDS.

Anyway, back to your queries. I have tweaked or merged the queries slightly where needed.

Q: Hi Liz. Is the giveaway for the Snuza Hero or the Snuza Trio? Can I get the baby monitor instead?

A: I had several people asking me this question. The generous folks at Tadgets are giving away two units of Snuza Hero because this is their award winning product which quietly monitors the strength and rate of your baby's breathing movement. The baby monitor does not work as well as the Snuza Hero in alerting parents when the baby stops breathing so that the parents can quickly attend to their babies. In some reports, mothers had praised Snuza Hero for saving their babies’ lives (see this youtube link).

Q: Do I really need the Snuza Hero? Should I get it only if my babies are preemies? Please advise, I am going through my first pregnancy with twins.

A: Premature babies may be at risk for SIDS longer than full-term babies. However, this does not rule out the risk completely for full-term babies. In my opinion, you should get the Snuza Hero in both scenarios. Trust me, you will appreciate the sleep you will get knowing that your babies are safe with the Snuza Hero.

Q: Salam. Saya tengah google untuk baby monitor dan terbaca blog puan. Berapa harga untuk Snuza Hero dan di mana saya boleh beli di Malaysia? (Translated: Greetings. I googled for baby monitors and read your blog. How much is the Snuza Hero and where can I get this in Malaysia?)

A: The Snuza range of products can be purchased from the website www.tadgets.com. The website enables the conversion of SGD currency to MYR currency. The prices in MYR (estimated) for the Snuza Hero is RM439 and the Snuza Trio is RM1167, and are subjected to change. Tadgets is also working with a few retailers in Malaysia, and Malaysia customers will be able to purchase from them in the near future.

Great news! Tadgets is extending the discount coupon for 10 of my readers to enjoy the special price of S$269 for the Snuza Trio. This discount is valid from 9 Sept to 13 Sept 2014.

1)      Go to http://www.tadgets.com/customer/account/create/ to create an account. It is free and you just need your name and email address
2)      Once an account is created and you have logged in, add Snuza Trio to your cart and choose free shipping option
3)      Enter the discount code LIZMUMSNTRIO in the discount code area to get a S$180 discount.
4)      Enter your ship to address and it is done.

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Tadgets is also having a great promotion for the Snuza Hero and even the Snuza Trio Plus. The price is the lowest ever I have seen so far, and I am even more impressed that they provide free delivery to Malaysia! The Snuza Hero is now only SGD119 (~RM 297) anddddd the Snuza Trio is only SGD269 (~MYR 672) for the first 10 customers! This means you need to add less than RM400 extra for video monitoring capabilities as well! Click here for the link to this promotion, which is only valid until 7th Sept - that's just 2 days away!

Q: Can I use this if my baby sleeps on her tummy? Will it come off easily and cause a false alarm? Can my baby accidentally turn it off with his movements? 

A: This is three questions combined into one longgggg answer. As I mentioned in my blog, Ian is a pretty active sleeper, but if you fold the top of the diaper before clipping the Snuza Hero or use on thicker waistbands, you will get a pretty snug fit, even when he rolls on his tummy. Yes you cannot rule out false alarms if the Snuza Hero ever comes off - just be wary that the alarm might be muffled by the blankets. Ian usually uses a thin blanket so this is not a problem for us. If you are worried that it can come off easily, try putting your baby in a onesie to reduce the chances of this happening. As for the risk of the Snuza Hero turning off, rest assured that you need to press the on/off and mode/off buttons simultaneously (at either sides of the gadget) to turn it off. It is highly unlikely that this will happen by your baby's movements.

Q: Will my baby's sleep become disturbed with the Snuza Hero on his tummy?

A: The Snuza Hero is barely 31gms and tip is very soft - your baby will barely notice it is there. I have had certain instances when I forget to put on the Snuza Hero before putting Ian down for the night. I usually wait until he is in deep sleep before attempting to put on the Snuza Hero. I have never had a problem with him waking up from this as well.

Q: Hi! I am a fan of your blog. Can I use the Snuza Hero for toddlers?

A: I am flattered that you are a fan of my blog! Yes, I believe I can use the Snuza Hero for Ian when he becomes a toddler soon enough. Especially if he has a flu or had a hard knock due to his clumsiness. (Refer to above for a longer explanation.)

Q: Hello Liz! Are you interested in selling your Snuza Trio?

A: Hi! I am happy you were bold enough to ask, but unfortunately I love my Snuza Hero and Snuza Trio too much to give it away. I need peace of mind (and my beauty sleep). Sorry dear!

Anyway, keep the questions coming and let me know if I haven't sufficiently answered your questions. Happy to help, and happy to share!

Eijas' Engagement Cake

This was an order that I could never say no to. My aunt was planning her eldest son's engagement and she asked me to prepare the engagement cake for the dulang hantaran. I happily obliged, since this is the first time my aunt is going to receive a menantu. Also, this is the first time a cousin younger than me is getting engaged! In my eyes, he is still my baby cousin. I remember when I was younger, I used to love babysitting him and his brother as I did not have any siblings of my own. I even bought him his first phone as a reward for his great SPM results. I am actually also his guarantor for his university loan! Alhamdulillah, he's going to be a doctor soon. But now, he's getting engaged??

Anyway, my aunt requested for a lilac cake to fit the theme. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any purple sugar flowers at the bakery. Instead, I found this beautiful pink sugar flower that matched so well with my pink cake board. (Yes, the sugar flower was store-bought. If I am ever able to make that flower myself, I might as well stop working and open a cake-making business!) 

Just after putting on fondant to the cake.

I decided to keep the cake simple but elegant. Since the cake was simple, the flower became the main attraction of the cake. I only decorated the cake with a flower border and matching white pearls.

The finished cake.

White flowers around the cake.

View from the top.

Since we did not own anything in lilac, I decided to wear my Cadbury purple baju kurung. And a week before the event, I dragged Hubby to Jalan TAR to purchase a matching purple baju melayu and even sampin! Thankfully, Hubby agreed on the colour, especially since Cadbury purple is quite an adventurous colour. I haven't managed to convince him to wear fuchsia pink, though!

Takes a confident couple to wear this colour, so kudos to Hubby for trusting your wife's taste with this baju melayu.

As soon as we arrived at my aunt's house with the cake, everyone crowded around whilst I gingerly took the cake out of the box. They ooohhh-ed and aaahhh-ed when they saw the cake! One of my aunt's neighbour actually pulled me aside and asked whether I could bake her daughter's wedding cake, but I politely declined. Honestly - baking and juggling two boys just can't seem to jive!

The cake on the dulang hantaran. Loving the purple baby breaths!

Phewww... even though the cake was more pink than lilac, it didn't look too out of place from the other hantarans.

Ian posing with the man of the day.

The engagement was held at Intekma in Shah Alam. The girl's side actually booked a huge hall for the event. The pelamin was also beautifully decorated, as if it was a wedding dais! Kalau nak kahwin terus pun boleh!

Our side in lilac, and the girl's side in pink.

The representative from our side showing the hantaran that we brought.

My aunt's 4 boys - the hantaran bearers. She has 5 boys in total, including the one getting engaged. 

Upacara menyarung cincin and my aunt posing with her future daughter-in-law.

My two aunts, cousin in-laws and I posing with the lady of the day.

Another shot.

Posing with the hantaran from the girl's side. I love their dulang hantaran!

Aiden posing with his favourite cousin and best friend - Airyl.

The cake.

Last picture of the day before we left.

And this was how I ended the day. By having tapai at an open house. Heaven!

iPhone 5 Defects - Free Replacements from Apple!

I have a love hate relationship with my iPhone 5.

There, I've said it. Despite the bigger screen, clear photos, friendly interface and my love for anything from Apple - lately I have been hating my iPhone 5 due to the erratic battery life and the damaged power button. I could have sent my iPhone 5 in for the power button repair during its warranty period, but alas the last date of my warranty ended during my confinement and there was no way I could part with my phone back then. I needed the phone to capture precious photos and videos of Ian's first month!

And so I have been surviving the past year with power banks, spare power cables and using the home button and its shortcuts to lock my phone. Recently, during the first day of Eid - my phone touch screen crashed due to all the photos we were taking, and I couldn't use my home button shortcuts to restart the phone. I actually tried pleading with Siri *laugh out loud* to restart my phone but it kept saying:

Siri: Sorry Liz, I can't restart your iPhone. But you can do it yourself; press and hold the sleep/wake button for a few seconds until the "slide to power off" slider appears.
Liz: Oi, Siri! I can't use my power button lah!
Siri: I'm not sure I understand.
Liz: You are dumb!
Siri: After all I've done for you?
Liz: %(&(%(&^%&%($

Siri 1, Liz 0.

(In the end I waited for the power juice to die out - which meant that I could not use my phone the whole day, and then plugged in my charger to turn the phone back on.)

Anyway, I found out from a fellow blogger that Apple is now offering free replacement for batteries and power buttons, for affected selected units that were purchased between September 2012 and January 2013. You can check if your iPhone 5 is eligible for battery and power button replacement by clicking here and here (respectively). You will need to check if you qualify by entering your serial number. The serial number can be obtained under Settings > General > About.

Don't forget to back up your data to iTunes and erase all contents on your device before sending your phone to a participating Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Excerpt from SoyaCincau.

So when am I going to make the time to do this? *sigh* The last time I checked, it will take 2 weeks to repair the power button. How am I going to survive not having a phone during this period? Or maybe I should just wait for the launch of the iPhone 6 (to be announced on 9th September!), get the new phone, and then only send my iPhone 5 for repair before selling it off?

iPhone 6, nyum!

Ian at Seven & Eight Months Old!

Erk, I am getting quite inconsistent with my reports on Ian - a mistake I vowed never to make again after realising the number of milestones I missed in my failure to blog about Aiden's first year.

But at least with this age of smartphones, I am able to make short notes about Ian whenever I remember (usually before I sleep at night), take lots of photos and videos and then use these to check back his milestones during that particular month for the blog post.

So, here's a recap of Ian when he was seven months old. And wow oh wow, it was certainly a MAJOR month for Ian's milestone. Just a week after turning 7 months old, he finally mastered the art of sitting. He was constantly on his fours (like pumping) and would use his knees to rock his body and butt back and forth. Sometimes he would lose his balance and would fall flat on his stomach or sometimes even on his face! *ouch*

Ian practicing his "push ups" with his friend Ozil, who was born just a month after him. Tired from all the exercise, they both collapsed together into each other's arms. Ultimate cute-ness!

Wearing Daddy's kopiah with a big wide smile!

After just a week of practicing, he figured out how to use his upper body to twist his torso into a sitting position. Funny, even though this is my second child, I simply couldn't imagine how babies are able to twist their body to sit - so when Ian managed to do that, especially in just a span of one week, I was really quite amazed! And lo and behold, once Ian mastered that, he was no longer satisfied with just lying down. He wanted to sit up all the time.

Remember the trip to JB that I had at the end of Ian's seven-month journey? On the way home from the airport - Hubby called and gave me the great news, Ian took his first few crawls! So during Eid, Ian was happily practicing his crawling skills around his moyang's house at Hubby's kampung. By the end of the month, his crawling was quite steady.

At his moyang's house in Teluk Intan.

And after mastering the art of crawling, he closed his seventh month by trying to pull himself up! Although I must admit - with not much success the first few days. I was so scared during this period. Falling on your face when you're in push up position, and falling on your face when you're attempting to stand, are two completely different circumstances!

We also found him testing his standing skills in the playpen! Different from Aiden, when he stands up in his playpen, he is not afraid to let go. He simply releases his grip to the playpen and let his body fall, bum down. Worried that he would next try to climb out, we decided to remove the upper level of the playpen, hence Ian has now graduated into the lower level of the playpen.

"Mummy, you can't make me stay still anymore - I am going to try and sit now!"

"Check out my push up position!"

*crawl crawl crawl* ... and in a blink of an eye he's in a sitting position. Andddd tried to stand too! Check out his cheeky face when I reprimanded him

Found him trying to stand using the Ikea box table, and check out his muka tak puas hati when I dragged him away. Dangerous-lah, baby!

Ian is also able to hold his own milk bottle. Unfortunately, he still hasn't figured out how to tilt the bottle. So at a certain point when he holds the bottle horizontally, there isn't enough milk to fill the teat so we have to help hold it up. Sometimes when he's not too hungry, he'll hold his bottle but then immediately release it so that he can gnaw on the bottom of the bottle!

Cried his eyes out when we refused to take him out of the playpen (still in the upper level in this picture). And then some milk to calm himself down.

Moving on, here's a recap of Ian when he was eight months old.

With his new found ability to crawl, his entire eighth month was mainly dominated by him taking it to the next level, i.e. using his upper body strength to pull himself up standing! He would crawl to the couch, the tv panel, the coffee table or even the small ledge off the u-shape window and use that to help himself stand, similar to rock climbing! Unfortunately he still hadn't figured out that the curtain isn't stable so whenever he uses the curtain to pull himself up, he ends up swaying off the curtain like George of the Jungle, then losing his balance and crashing on the floor.

As for crawling, he can crawl sooooo fast! One minute we leave him in the middle of the living room, the next minute he's already at the edge of the living room, heading towards the dining hall! You can't even leave the front door open because in a split second he would have arrived at the door, trying to crawl outside the house!

With all the crawling and standing he has been doing, he has been shedding so much weight, the chubby cheeks are practically gone! Even his thighs have slimmed down. *sigh* I am the one who needs to lose weight, not you, baby!

At the start of his eight month - chubby cheeks still there.

By the end of his eighth month - no more chubby cheeks!

When he wakes up from a nap, he would immediately turn over, sit and if there isn't any one in sight, he would crawl while crying. No such thing as crying while lying down, so we never put him for his day naps on the bed in fear that he would crawl off the bed! In the morning, if he is sleeping on our bed and we hear him crying, we would immediately run upstairs because he crawls first before crying hence he is usually already at the edge of the bed. Once, the maid hid herself and peeked to see where he would crawl to. Yup, as expected, he even knew where to crawl to find the maid. Crying with tears pouring down his cheeks, he crawled towards the kitchen!

Had his first (and second) bump this month. First bump was caused by him losing his balance at the TV panel and knocking his forehead on the drawer (which he also pulled open). Now we have taped down the drawers and the Astro decoder. Currently checking out safety gates before he starts to explore the stairs! Second bump was caused by the maid - she accidentally knocked Ian's forehead on the garden wall!! *sigh*. Poor Ian also had his first fall off the bed that same day. Boys will always be boys!

First bump!

Loves flapping his hands when excited! Soooo adorable! And on the rare occasions that he gets to sit with me in the car (free from his car seat which he absolutely hates nowadays), he would stretch his hands out and touch anything and everything! Even in the house, I had to clear out all my small and dainty decorations and photo frames in the living room too - giving it the minimalist look! Ian kept knocking down everything his small fingers could reach.

Even Aiden cannot control his brother when he's on a roll!

My two boys.

He knows how to indicate that he has soiled his diapers. In a sitting position, he would rock himself front and back, sometimes even flapping his hands. The first time he did it, I didn't really get it. I caught a whiff of the stinky smell and changed his diapers. But the maid told me the same story, but she thought he was being bitten by ants or something. Then she checked his diapers and found a small amount of poop (which didn't even smell!) but it must have made him uncomfortable! At the end of his eighth month journey, he had diarrhea for one week straight. Since it doesn't seem to particularly bother him, some people say it's just a sign nak naik bulan.

Change my diapers, please! I'll reward you with a hugeee smile!

Loves to teeth on me. And by teething on me, I mean gnawing on my cheek or jaw bones. Sometimes when we are not looking, he would even bite his car seat handle! Unfortunately, no sign of any teeth anywhere and if he's taking after Abang Aiden, it would be another 3 months before he starts sprouting any. He still loves to put anything and everything in his mouth though. I wonder when that phase will end!

Posing with Dafiya. Or rather Dafiya was posing - Ian was simply more interested on chewing Dafiya's toys!

Loves desserts. And I say this because his favourite food are pear and also pumpkin with potato. Which are all sweet, hence he must have a sweet tooth! (Loves kuih bakar, chocolate chip cookies and macarons - erm you didn't read this here!) When we try to feed him with porridge, he'll eat but we sometimes have to trick him to open his mouth by showing him his water bottle (cos he loves water!) but when he opens his mouth, we shove a spoonful of porridge in! Likes eating bread but unlike with the baby bites, he hates holding the bread himself. So we have to actually tear it into small pieces and feed him piece by piece.

"I have a sweet tooth, Mummy! Although I don't have any teeth!" *grin*

Definitely right-handed. Everytime we pass him something (biscuits, toys etc.), he would always take it with his right hand.

No smile, Ian?

His hair is growing quite nicely, except for a half bald spot just at the nape of his neck. I hope he inherits my thick mane. 

After mastering crawling and standing - he has even started cruising. He can slowly "walk" from one end of the couch to the other. Mobility is definitely not a problem for him anymore. When standing, he also knows how to bend his knees to get into a sitting position, sometimes even extending his hand out to cushion the fall - so no more hard landings on his bum. Also, he is stable enough to sit unsupported in restaurant baby chairs and even shopping carts. So grocery shopping and even eating out are a breeze nowadays as he's either amazed by the sight of the supermarket, or busy eating his own food in the baby chair while we enjoy our meals.

Taking in the new surroundings of the supermarket - hence the serious face.

Last but not least, just a week before he turned 9months old, he managed to crawl up the stairs. Great leg and hand coordination too, as the maid reported that he climbed the stairs all the way up to the master bedroom (with the maid guarding him from the back, hand ready at him bum, of course). The next day, I bought a safety gate! Now, the staircase and the kitchen are both barricaded. We also started babypoofing our house, even resorting to taping the drawers shut! Read my hilarious attempt to baby proof our old house for Aiden, here.

The safety gates. Get ready for some pro gate-leaping.

Exploring the safety gates.

And that brings us to the close of Ian's eighth month old journey. Happy nine months old, baby!

I am nine months!