Proud of the fact that Ying Ying has been on total breastfeeding since birth, I decided to sign her up for the Best Breastfed Baby Contest organised by KKH where she was delivered. Below is the photo I had sent in for the contest. It was taken when she was 4mth-5day old and it is one of my favourite photos because she simply looked so chubby and radiant.
The preliminary round was conducted last month at the hospital and I was pleased that Ying Ying was selected to be one of the 61 babies in her category of 6-12mth to get into the semi-final. (I think there were about 100 babies on the preliminary list.)
I happened to chat with one of the mothers during the preliminary round and I was surprised to learn that she had stopped nursing her 10-mth son when he was only 1-2 mths old.
I feel that the organisers should have been more stringent in the selection of participating babies. Since they called it the best BREASTFED baby contest, they should only take in contestants who are still involved in the breastfeeding. Better still, they can go one step further to have separate categories for total and partial breastfed babies. How about giving a special prize to the oldest child who breastfeed the longest? Otherwise, what makes this contest any different from those organised elsewhere?
Sadly, the emphasis on breastfeeding was simply not there. I did not see any effort on the part of the organisers to promote breastfeeding at both sites of the preliminary and semi-final judging. They could have taken this opportunity to put up some posters to educate the public. External vendors could have be invited to set up booths selling nursing wear or breastpumps. Nursing booths could have been set up for mothers who wish to breastfeed in private while waiting for their turn.
Obviously, KKH has still a long way to go before it can be certified as a Baby-Friendly Hospital by UNICEF.
Anyway, back to our story.
This morning, we took Ying Ying for her semi-final judging at Suntec City. There were quite a number of parents with their babies already when we arrived. I took a glance around and was secretly happy that darling was one of the better-looking ones (to me at least). Unfortunately, Ying Ying wasn't in a playful mood at that time. She had just woken up from her nap and looked a bit dazed (see pic below). I was trying to warm her up when her name was being called.
There were 3 officials (probably KKH nurses) in the judging room. One of them kept me busy by asking me some general questions on her development while the other two played with darling. They demonstrated to Ying Ying how to put the cover of a bottle on but Ying Ying simply stared at the bottle (maybe it reminded her of those dreadful bottle-feeding days when I was away at work.) Ying Ying then ended the session by fussing for me to carry her. We were outta the room in less than 5mins. Aiyo...how to win like that?! Sigh.
Prior to the judging, I didn't really gave much thought to the outcome as participating in this contest was merely a novelty for me. But why am I feeling so disappointed now?
How I wish the judges had known how well Ying Ying can turn the pages of a book, how fast she can creep and how she can do her wobbly-jelly-unassisted-standing position. If only they had seen her delightful smile and heard her bubbly squeals. They would have been won over. Like me.
This reminds me of a TV advertisement (for Class 95? Power98?) about a father who heard only the good stuff from his son's tennis coach when the latter was actually criticising his obese son.
I guess all parents think a world of their children! :)
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