Confinement Myths: To follow or not.

Hi everyone,
I read that confinement month is the fourth trimester and you will need to recharge yourself, else you may experience a lot of problems later in life. I read with interest some confinement myths:

1) You cannot drink plain water as it causes water retention or will cool down the body too much. If you really have to drink water, you must sip slowly while sitting down.

My take: I will drink warm water. I will also drink brewed longan and red date tea.

2) Cannot bath and wash hair for 1 month as contact with water will cause "wind" and rheumatism later in life.

My take: I am one that needs to shower twice a day and wash my hair daily as I have oily scalp. I have read in forum some mothers are using dry shampoo during their confinement period.

I will bath in warm water and use those Confinement Herbal Bath and dry my hair with hairdryer. I also read hairdryer is not recommended as you will introduce wind directly to your head.

3) Cannot be under aircon/ fan as this will cause wind to enter.

My take: I think it is perfectly fine to be inside a cool room but I will not have the fan blowing directly at me. I don't think my baby will like me to be sweaty and smelly while carrying/ breastfeeding her.

4) Consume alcohol and all the nourishing stuff

My take: I have read that if you are breastfeeding, alcohol may affect your breast milk which in turn will be passed to your baby. I have friends who take very nourishing stuff during their confinement until they and their baby break out in pimples. Hence, I would consume in moderation.

5) Others
Can only consume old ginger and not young ginger.

Can only consume hen but not rooster.

Here are some of the basic confinement herbs you will need to get:
- Daifonai herbal bath. Hock Hua is selling @$2.20 per pack, Qoo10 ($45.80 for 30packs) or Mummamia ($9.42 for 4packs). 

Mummamia's pack seem to be more hassle free as you will only need to soak pack in 1L of water for 3 minutes or hottest temperature of water heater for 10-15 mins. After which add in warm water. 

The traditional Daifonai requires you to boil the sachet with 18L of water for 10-15 mins. I bought 7 boxes from Mummamia given the amount of time saved.

My confinement nanny boil 2 packs of Mummamia herbal bath as I wash my hair daily. I then top up the herbal water with cold water heater water. The herbal bath smells great and it makes the skin and hair very soft and shiny.

- Red dates (seedless is more expensive)
- Black dates
- Unsweetened dry longans
- Wolfberries
- Black fungus
- Dan gui 
- Bei qi
- Yok chuk  

- Dang shen   
- So Hup Pills, $19.90 from Eu Yan Sang 
- Bak Foong Pill, $49.90 from Eu Yan Sang. Eat after when menstrual is cleared.

I got my herbs at Bugis next to OG Albert Complex. Here's a recipe for red date tea from pregnant.sg. Hope you find this article useful. 



Love,
Sherlyn