Breastfeed Exceeding Two Years Old

Image from www.910moms.com

It is encouraged in Islam to breastfeed newborns until the age of two years old. And we always hear about mommies who breastfeed their children up until they are three, some even four years old. But my curiosity was, what is the ruling in Islam if the breastfeeding exceeds the age of two years old? Yesterday, I found this article in Utusan Malaysia.

Kemusykilan Agama - Bersama Mohd. Farid Ravi Abdullah
(Pengarah Institut Kajian Hadis, Selangor & Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa, Selangor)

Soalan:
Apakah hukum menyusukan anak lebih daripada dua tahun, apakah ada dalil atau hadis yang mengatakan bahawa tidak boleh menyusukan anak melebihi dua tahun?

Adakah menyusukan anak lebih daripada dua tahun mendatangkan penyakit bagi anak yang disusukan itu kerana susu itu akan bertukar menjadi darah setelah anak lebih dari 2 tahun?

Jawapan:
Menyusukan anak lebih daripada dua tahun adalah harus terutamanya untuk maslahat si anak. Tiada nas atau hukum fikah mengharamkannya.

Cuma sesetengah ulama berpendapat ia akan melemahkan bayi kerana setiap yang disyorkan oleh Allah seperti tempoh menyusu dua tahun itu pasti ada hikmahnya kerana Allah Maha Tahu sebagai Pencipta manusia.

Penyusuan badan adalah hak anak dalam Islam, sudah tentulah ia yang terbaik dan ini telah terbukti benar melalui kajian saintifik kini.

Tiada pula sumber ditemui mengatakan ia bertukar menjadii darah selepas dua tahun. Jiran saya seorang jururawat menyusukan anaknya sehingga tiga setengah tahun.

Dia berbuat demikian setelah bertanyakan doktor yang membenarkannya berbuat demikian selama anak itu masih ingin menyusu tetapi bukan sebagai makanan utama selepas dua tahun.

Namun kebanyakkan ulama berpendapat patut dihentikan selepah dua setengah tahun kerana susu itu tidak lagi berfungsi sebagai pembekal nutrien untuk membesar kepada bayi.

Juga untuk memberi peluang kepada ibu mengandung lagi kerana penyusuan badan biasanya membantut proses mengandung secara alami.

I intend, God willing, to breastfeed my baby until he is two years old, max. Amin.

Grieving Mothers Blame Baby Slings For Infant Deaths

I received this in my inbox today. So heartbreaking. I'm not sure whether Infantino is available in Malaysia, but to be on the safe side, please pass it on.



(CNN) -- It wasn't a long walk to Lisa Cochran's car in the Costco parking lot from the store. But by the time she got there, her infant son was near death.

Cochran had just enjoyed a hot dog at the Salem, Oregon, wholesale outlet with her grandmother and put 7-day-old Derrik back in his Infantino "SlingRider."

Cochran had him out of the sling while she was eating, and people at nearby tables asked about Derrik's age and expressed amazement that Cochran was already out and about after the pregnancy.

But something about Derrik was amiss when she reached the car, she said.

"He was not the right color. He was yellow. He had purple spots from where the sling rubbed marks on his face," said Cochran, 27.

Cochran called 911. Her fiancé, Jerrid Fowler, administered CPR. An ambulance arrived and paramedics also tried to revive the infant.

"By the time I got to the hospital, they told me they weren't able to save him," she said.

Cochran filed a lawsuit in January, asking for millions of dollars in damages and alleging that Infantino was negligent and liable for her son's May 7, 2009, death.

The death certificate cited compression asphyxia/suffocation as Derrik's cause of death, Cochran said.

Infantino issued a recall Wednesday of two baby slings, the "SlingRider" and the "Wendy Bellissimo," offering customers replacement slings.

The San Diego, California-based company said consumers should stop using the recalled slings immediately but did not take responsibility for any deaths.

"Our company is comprised of moms, dads, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents and we care deeply about the quality and safety of our products," President Jack Vresics said. "All of our products go through rigorous testing and we work closely with governmental agencies as well as other third-party testing organizations continually to ensure the safety of our products."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about the use of certain baby slings, saying it had identified 14 deaths with sling-style carriers, most of them in children younger than 4 months. On Tuesday, Health Canada issued a joint statement with the agency, saying three of the deaths appeared to occur in one of Infantino's slings.

About 1 million of the slings were recalled in the United States, and about 15,000 were affected in Canada, according to the joint release.

"In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling's fabric can press against an infant's nose and mouth, blocking the baby's breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two," the joint statement said. "Additionally, where a sling keeps the infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate."

Attorneys for Infantino referred requests for comment to a public relations firm that sent CNN the statement from the company's president. The company has not filed any pleadings in the case except for a notice to remove the case from the Marion County Circuit Court in Oregon to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Cochran isn't the only mother blaming Infantino's SlingRider for an infant's death. Anthoinette Medley is planning to sue Infantino for the death of 3-month-old Nelsir on February 20, 2009, said her lawyer, Alan Feldman.

His twin, Timir, was in an identical sling over Medley's other shoulder as she walked through the Gallery at Market East in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She saw an old friend who hadn't seen her new children yet, Feldman said, and Medley was eager to show them off.

"That's when she discovered a tiny bit of blood on the baby's bib and ran to the bathroom," Feldman said.

Nelsir was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and pronounced dead later, Feldman said.

"I will never get to hear him call me Mommy. I will never get to see him take a first step," Anthoinette Medley told CNN affiliate WPVI.

Feldman said he is not satisfied with the recall.

"If you recognize that your product is not safe, and you realize that babies have died, you should stop babies and moms from using the product," he said.

Infantino's president said the company's announcement of a free replacement program reflects its commitment to safety as its highest priority.

"As a company, Infantino conducts extensive safety testing internally as well as with third party experts, regardless of whether official safety standards have been established. We will continue to play a leadership role in the industry and to cooperate closely with CPSC as it continues its investigation of all baby slings," Vresics said.

Cochran said the sling came highly recommended, especially for breast-feeding mothers. A neighbor had one, she said, as did a friend's cousin. She even carried Derrik to his first doctor's visit in the sling.

"There were a lot of people who had this sling, and it seemed like a great thing," she said.

Cochran says she broke down after Derrik's death. Simple chores became extremely taxing. She neglected going to the grocery store and bank. She had trouble getting out of bed, showering, even talking on the phone.

"I was kind of hysterical. I was kind of not quite with it for several months, actually. I neglected going to the grocery stores or anywhere I would commonly frequent," she said.

"It was just hard to even be in a situation like this because the first thing everyone asks is, 'How's the baby?' "

Cochran, a manager for a housecleaning service in Keizer, lost Derrik's twin in the first trimester of her pregnancy, she said. She is pregnant again with a girl who is due in June.

"I'm doing a lot better now, especially that I have another one on the way," she said.

"Hopefully, there won't be any more babies that die and any more families that have to go through what me and my family have gone through."

Let The Complaining Begin!

1. Since the baby haven't convert to full time cloth diapering, he's using Huggies disposable diapers as the unhealthy-for-the-Earth-and-daddy's-pocket alternative. Huggies have been good to his skin and hardly ever leak. But as of late, I feel that their quality has been decreasing.



I've encounter this same problem for about 5 times already. Instead of having it go to waste, I sew it back on and it's good to go. But what irks me off is that how can it tear off in the first place?


2. Motherhood Expo 2010 at MidValley Megamall was mediocre, in my opinion. I even had an unpleasant experience at the You Have A Baby booth. There I was trying on the Autumz nursing poncho when one of the sales lady rudely snatch it away from me, just to pass it to another customer who was asking about the poncho. The customer was the same race as the sales lady, perhaps that was why she didn't give a flying dung that I, who was a customer also, was trying on the nursing poncho. There were a couple of sales ladies who were clearly embarrassed about their colleague and were very apologetic. They quickly got another sample for me, and by the time they did, the rude lady came back to me and get this, RUDELY offered to help me to put it on. I couldn't tolerate it any longer. So I said,

"You are so rude. Forget it. I'm not going to buy anything from you."

and walked away. I don't know whether she heard me because the hall was obviously noisy. But fish laaa, I really wanted to buy the poncho. On the website it's selling for RM 43.90, but at the expo it was only RM 30. *sigh*


3. The ants at my place are starting to irritate the crap out of me. Rasa macam nak ajak gaduh je. So yesterday I went to Giant and got the King Kong Ant Killer. It wasn't until late at night when I opened the box and found this



It should have two traps inside the box, BUT, IT WAS FRIGGIN' EMPTY!!! It took me a whole 2 minutes to realize it. I was blinking stupidly, peeped inside the box, blinking again, peeped again, and then cue the cursing.

Many thanks to Giant and their staffs who were very helpful and gave me a new box today. Jaga-jaga kau ye, semut!

A Date With Husband And Alice

Super excited to go see this. Firstly because this will be my first time ever watching a movie in 3D (yes, yes, saya sangat ketinggalan zaman). Secondly, I've been a fan of Tim Burton's work ever since I saw Nightmare Before Christmas, back when Laser Discs were the shiznit and my mother rented that movie on LD. I played it on repeat mode for about gazillion times. And thirdly, this will be my second time going to the movies since the baby is around. The first was Sherlock Holmes, which was a bit disappointing because the storyline is great but somehow the cinema screen's brightness was dimmed down, making the whole movie very dark and hard to watch.

So, please Alice, don't disappoint me tomorrow! I have high hopes for you.

Saya Suka Makan

Our binge last weekend at Italiannies and Spaghetti Grill.

The weekends/holidays and I have a love/hate relationship. Because weekends/holidays means spending time with the loves ones. Spending time with them means we go out and eat. Going out and eat means a bulging tummy. A bulging tummy means a very disturbing sight. But heck, bulging tummy or not, I love food!

Labour Experience Story, 8 Months Later.

Fresh from the oven!

Reading about Noe and Ayuni's labour experiences made me realize that I should write about my own, so that it won't fade in memory (okay okay, I might have forgotten some details already). I mean, come on, giving birth to your first baby?! You HAVE to treasure that moment. This is going to be a long one. Okay, here we go.

I was in my 38th week. Work was piling at the office as if I won't be going on my maternity leave any time soon. I wanted to start passing on-going jobs to my coworkers, but my superiors said,

"Not just yet! Trust me, you will go past your due date. Now, go continue your work."

If you say so, boss.

While dumping more work on me, my ex-employer said,

"Oh, don't give me that pathetic I-am-pregnant look."

Right.

Later that evening after office hours, I went for my check-up. I told my gynae I was getting quite bad headaches lately, prolly due to the work stress. She checked my blood pressure and it was borderline high. Then she said she was going to perform a vajayjay check-up. Yeah, baby. Vajayjay check-up. I was dreading that moment. My husband had this horror look on his face as if he was the one going to receive it. So she put on her gloves, and in her hand went. My, how lovely that was (/endsarcasm). My husband swore I looked like I was ready to punch my gynae in the face.

Gynae: Oh! You're already dilating 2cm, my dear.
Me: I am?
Husband: (mulut melopong sambil mata terkebil-kebil)
Gynae: Yes, yes. Your water might break anytime tonight. When it does, come straight to the hospital. If it doesn't, then come tomorrow morning at 8:00am and we'll get you admitted. In the meantime, I'll give you some pills to help with your blood pressure.
Me: Yes, ma'am.
Husband: (mulut masih melopong, mata masih terkebil-kebil)

Then off we went to book our ward, went home, made phone calls to families and bosses, frantically pack our things and sent over to my parents' place. I couldn't sleep that night. I was scared that my water might break while I was sleeping and not notice it. I was nervous about giving birth which could happen any time then. I was ecstatic to finally meet the little fella I've been carrying around for 9 months.

Then the morning came, and my water didn't break. We woke up at 6:00am, did our Subuh prayers, and then by 7:00am we went to McDonald's for breakfast. My last, awesome, unhealthy meal before I started my confinement.

After breakfast, we went to the hospital, got admitted, changed into the hospital gown, got into the labour room, and that was when it all started to get blurry as everything happened so fast. There were more vajayjay check-ups, water breaking, high blood pressure, inducing, crying, painkillers, stoned, contractions. Somewhere in between all that, husband told me my senior manager sent a text asking about the status of an account that I was handling. Yeah.

By around 10:00am, my gynae informed me that my blood pressure was high, my baby's head was pointing upwards and his heartbeat got slower every time I had a contraction, therefore I had to get emergency C-section to avoid any complications. I didn't object. Get the baby out safely, that's what matters most. Zap zup zap, I was cut open while the doctors were talking and laughing like they were playing masak-masak with my belly. Husband was holding my hand and tried not to look at my bloody guts. Then my gynae said to me,

"Okay, now we're going to pull your baby out. You're going to feel a bit of a pressure on your stomach but it won't hurt."

I nodded. I felt the pressure, the tugging, and then the relief from my stomach. It was 11:39am. They quickly cleaned up my baby, and I could hear a distant cry. The doctor called my husband to recite Azan to him. Then the nurse came to me with my baby and asked me to give him a kiss. I was so drowsy on painkillers and everything happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to see his face properly. But I remember his cheek was so so warm. And I remember seeing his balls and thought,

"My. Those are big balls."

The first time I properly laid my eyes on our precious bundle of joy was in the ward room. It was surreal. Like, did I really go through all that? The morning sickness, the weight gain, the huge belly, the pregnancy discomforts, the operation, the whole shebang and now I have this little fella in my arms. It was such a small price to pay.

*pant*pant* Okay, penat type.

So there you have it, folks. The story of the beginning of my motherhood journey :)