Breast milk is best for your baby

Breast milk is best for babies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Promotion Board (HPB) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Unnecessary introduction of bottle feeding or other food and drinks will have a negative impact on breastfeeding. At around six months of age (but not before 4 months), infants should receive nutritionally adequate and age-appropriate complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Consult your doctor before deciding to use infant formula or if you have difficulty breastfeeding.

Abbott Singapore fully recognises breast milk’s primacy, value and superiority and supports exclusive breastfeeding as recommended by the WHO.

The content on this website is intended as general information for Singaporean residents only and should not be used as a substitute for medical care and advice from your healthcare practitioner. The HPB recommends that infants start on age-appropriate complementary foods at around 6 months, whilst continuing breastfeeding for up to 2 years or beyond to meet their evolving nutritional requirements. If no longer breastfeeding, toddlers can switch to full cream milk after 12 months. This should be complemented by a good variety of solid foods from the four main food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, meat and alternatives). For more information on the nutritional requirements of infants and young children, please visit www.healthhub.sg/earlynutrition.

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PRESCHOOL

4 tips on teaching kids how to read and speak

What you can do to encourage your kids to read well and speak well
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Whenever we think of young children communicating and interacting with their peers, we often think about the sounds, words and gestures that they use.

However, communication is a far more complex process. It involves skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and body language, as well as an understanding of our cultural and social conventions.

Good communication skills can make it easier for children to learn things, take part in peer group activities and to gain acceptance by peers. Here are some strategies for helping your little one learn to read and speak well.

  1. Be a role model

    Children learn from their environment and day-to-day experiences with other people. So you need to be aware of the words you use when you’re communicating with your child.

    Use correct, simple language when conversing with your child. Short and concise sentences will help kids hear and understand more of what you say. Your child is also more likely to remember new words and sentence structures you have said out loud.

    Be as careful about how you converse with other adults in front of your little ones, so that impressionable kids do not pick up bad language!

  2. Do not over-correct mistakes

    Making mistakes is an important part of learning. It is important to allow your child to make mistakes, as most children can learn to correct their language mistakes after hearing adults speak the proper version.

    If you focus too much on correcting your children, they may become nervous and hesitant to try to speak up.

    The best thing to do is to repeat the correct version of what your child has said incorrectly, in the most natural way. For example, if your child says “I hurted myself”, resist the urge to correct them and reply “Oh dear, did you hurt yourself.” That way your child can pick up the correct version without losing confidence.

  3. Teach listening skills

    The ability to listen is important for effective communication. By listening attentively to others, your child will collect and understand what has been said and respond accordingly.

    Model good listening habits by paying the same amount of attention to your child that you would want when others are listening to you.

    Establish eye contact with your child when talking to your little one. Always prompt your child to ask questions and comment on what you say.

  4. Develop a reading habit

    By reading across a broad range of topics and genres, your kids will be able to add new words to their daily vocabulary. The general knowledge gained from reading will also enhance your child’s self-confidence.

    By reading frequently, your child will better understand and appreciate the grammar rules of the language they’re reading in.