dryikis_crib

dryikis_crib A paediatrician at Baby and Beyond Clinic, Publika with close to 2 decades of experience in child health.

My passion is to share knowledge and empower families even while navigating my own journey as a mother of 3.

One of those viruses that can present in so many ways in different children. When i check for it, sometimes the positive...
23/04/2026

One of those viruses that can present in so many ways in different children. When i check for it, sometimes the positive result confirms my suspicions, and sometimes it just catches me by surprise.

Child 1: 9 years old, high fever for 4 days, sore throat started on day 4 with throat looking a little red, no eye discharge, recovered by day 6. Still had a few days of disturbed sleep and lowish energy.

Child 2: 2 years old, REALLY high fever which lasted for almost 10 days, some runny nose and cough but no sore throat, developed eye discharge midway. Because we tested early, we were able to manage expectations, managed child calmly and waited expectantly for his recovery.

Child 3: 6 years old, fever for 5 days with sore throat, was treated with antibiotics elsewhere but did not improve. Tested positive for Adenovirus. Wasted antibiotics because antibiotics dont work on viruses.

Same diagnosis, different presentations.

18/03/2026

Myths vs Facts of Common Colds -- ooh, so many of them.

I busted 3 in this video -

๐Ÿงจ Common colds can indeed last up to 2-3 weeks. Several factors determine how long or severe the symptoms can be but some episodes of upper respiratory infections can really hold out and it's normal. Seeing 3 different doctors in 1 week won't hasten recovery, I'm afraid. ๐Ÿ˜…

๐Ÿงจ Cough and cold medications function to just give temporary relief - it may "plug the leak" but it does not fix the pipes. The body is a quite a remarkable creation really. It can fix itself most times, we just need to give it time.

๐Ÿงจ Antibiotics. ๐Ÿ˜‘ Don't get me wrong, I use them too, but JUDICIOUSLY. Seen too many kids given antibiotics like they were sweets! I cant teach you the entire syllables on "Responsible Antibiotic Usage" but may I embolden you to give the doctor some pushback if the antibiotics were prescribed too early or without clear indications. (Eg. a slight sore throat is NOT an indication for oral antibiotics.)

Oh, and one more -- It is common for children, especially younger children who jusy started going to school or daycare to get up to 6-7 episodes of common colds in a year. Yes, it's true and it doesnt mean their immune system is weak. It is the body's natural way of building defenses for future attacks. The key is that they bounce back to health quickly without health complications.

Do you know of any other "myths" that need clearing up? Comment below. ๐Ÿ˜„

Iโ€™m honoured and excited to be speaking at Heart-to-Heart: Parenting For The Future, a parenting workshop organized by ....
11/03/2026

Iโ€™m honoured and excited to be speaking at Heart-to-Heart: Parenting For The Future, a parenting workshop organized by . ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆโœจ

As both a paediatrician and a mother, conversations about childrenโ€™s emotional wellbeing are deeply important to me. Our children are growing up in a fast-paced, demanding worldโ€”and they are not exempted by setbacks, challenges or failures. Iโ€™m constantly reminded that raising resilient children isnโ€™t about them looking confident or successful on the outside, but about helping them develop the emotional tools and build emotional reserves to navigate life. As a parent myself, Iโ€™m on this learning journey too.

In my session, โ€œRaising Emotionally Resilient Kids in an Overwhelmed World,โ€ weโ€™ll talk about practical ways parents can support their children in building emotional strength, coping skills, and healthy self-worth.

๐Ÿ“… 11 April
โฐ 9:00 AM โ€“ 12:30 PM
๐Ÿ“ NeroPJPAC @ 1 Utama

If youโ€™re a parent hoping to better understand and support your childโ€™s emotional wellbeing, Iโ€™d love for you to join us for this meaningful morning of conversation and learning. ๐Ÿ’ฌ๐Ÿ’›

๐Ÿ”— Sign up via the link in bio. Limited seats available.

07/02/2026

Majority of cases of Child Hot Car Deaths are due to the child being unknowingly left in vehicle, 43% of them were supposed to be dropped off at childcare. They are usually under 5 years of age, 88% were 3 years and younger.
( kids and car safety database 2024)

80% of the increase in inside temperature happens in the 1st 10 minutes and a child's body overheats 3-5 times faster than an adult body. 20-30 minutes in the full sun in a closed vehicle is all it takes to kill a child.

๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ˆ๐˜•๐˜ ๐˜–๐˜•๐˜Œ.

But there are steps that we can start to take right now to prevent this tragedy from happening again.

Please watch the video where I expand on each of these:

โžก๏ธ Waze Child Reminder feature. Did you know this existed?!
โžก๏ธ Remind to Remember
โžก๏ธ Swap Something
โžก๏ธ Set an SOP

๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด!

Follow for more child health tips.

๐‘๐’๐• ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐Ž๐“ โ€œ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ฅ๐.โ€In Malaysia, RSV circulates all year and is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in bab...
22/01/2026

๐‘๐’๐• ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐Ž๐“ โ€œ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ฅ๐.โ€

In Malaysia, RSV circulates all year and is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in babies and young children. While most recover, some can develop severe lung infections, ICU admissions, or long-term breathing issues.

The good news?

๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ๐—ฉ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ.

โœ”๏ธ Maternal vaccination during pregnancy

โœ”๏ธ Long-acting monoclonal antibody for infants
(This is different from a vaccine. A vaccine trains the body to recognize and produce its own antibodies to fight the infection. Monoclonal antibody is giving the body ready-made antibodies.)

โœ”๏ธ Simple hygiene measures still matter

๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ด & ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ-๐˜ต๐˜ฐ-๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ด!

โœ”๏ธ Vaccines take time to train and produce antibodies - babies are only adequately protected when born to moms who have received the vaccine at least 2 weeks prior.

โœ”๏ธ Monoclonal antibody is recommended for any healthy infant in their first year. Additional doses are recommended for babies who are born premature or with severe chronic diseases like heart and lung problems.

โœ”๏ธ RSV vaccine is much cheaper than monoclonal antibody!

โœ”๏ธ RSV vaccine is also recommended for older adults above 60 years old - so letโ€™s think about our parents too.

If youโ€™re pregnant, planning a baby, or caring for an infant โ€” this is a conversation worth having with your doctor.

๐Ÿ’ฌ Save this post
๐Ÿ”„ Share with new parents
๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โš•๏ธ Follow for evidence-based health tips

24/12/2025

โ˜€๏ธ ีแ‘Œแ‘Žีแ‘•แ–‡แ—ดแ—ดแ‘Ž 101 ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Excellent question from Ask-Me-Anythimg Wednesday!

โ“๏ธW๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™  ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ค๐™™ ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™˜๐™ง๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ?

โญ๏ธ Broad spectrum that gives high protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Many will have SPF, but make sure it has PA +++ too because that's the sneaky ray. It doesn't burn in the heat of the afternoon but is present all day - rain or shine, indoors or outdoors, and through the glass; silently aging and damaging the skin. It can be a cause of sensitivity and flare-ups. For older kids who csnt agree with the white cast from the mineral sunscreen, you can consider part chemical sunscreen cos ANY sunscreen is better than none!

โญ๏ธ For children, best to keep to mineral sunscreen and avoid chemical sunscreen which has higher risk of causing irritation and absorption impact. Active ingredients in chemical sunscreen are like names that end with -benzone (oxybenzone), -oxate (octinoxate), -salate (octisalate) or octicrylene.

โญ๏ธ Some sunscreens are matched with other ingredients like ceramide that can also help moisturise the skin. For daily usage, that is such a bonus! It is time we started applying sunscreen more regularly beyond sunny pool and beach days!

๐Ÿ“ธ credit: Daily Mineral Face Lotion

๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต. ๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ (๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด) ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ด' ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ?

๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ: ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ด?

27/11/2025

I am a parent to three growing children and a paediatrician, and I say YES, I support my Malaysian government's serious plans to ban social media accounts to children under 16 years!

Before anyone chides the government of pulling a trigger finger, being reactive or over-controlling, I need you to be aware that these are children we trying to protect, not dictating grown-a** adults. Yes, while it is our responsibility as parents to put in place (and keep) social media boundaries for my children at home, we can't fight this uphill battle alone. It's us against the whole world! If we are going to have a decent chance at rolling back this phone-based child, we are going to need the collective effort and coordination of schools, communities and policy makers toย  coordinate.

I really like how Mr summarised the four norms that we can adopt to delay and reduce the effects of digital platforms and social media and give our children back their childhood healthily.

1๏ธโƒฃ ๐™‰๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ข๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ฅ๐™๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™—๐™š๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™๐™ž๐™œ๐™-๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก. Wait until they get through most of puberty before they get full access to one. Get them basic phones like flip phones and phone watches for communication purpose.

2๏ธโƒฃ ๐™‰๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ค๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™ข๐™š๐™™๐™ž๐™– ๐™—๐™š๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ ๐™ฎ๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™จ.

3๏ธโƒฃ ๐™‹๐™๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š-๐™›๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก. We need the government and schools to make rules and legislation for this.

4๏ธโƒฃ ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™œ๐™š ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š, ๐™›๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ in the real world.

We have to stop overprotecting them in the real world but under-protecting them on the digital world.

Do check out his interview on podcast/youtube titled "๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐——๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—”๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฎ" to understand the science that backs up his proposal. It's an hour long but it's worth the time to lean in!

Video remixed from

What DOES it take to raise mentally resilient children? Easy enough question but very tough to answer. It's not a matter...
13/11/2025

What DOES it take to raise mentally resilient children?

Easy enough question but very tough to answer. It's not a matter of googling or chatgpt it to get bullet form answers. As parents, we need to internalise exactly what those points mean for us and how we can turn them into daily and practical actions.

It's really a very big, wide and deep question with a tapestry of factors weaved together intricately. If we dont take time to unravel it, we will likely be overwhelmed, guilt-tripped and sink in our parenting journey.

We want to raise them well and give them our best, but how? This post is just the beginning of our conversations together.

Do you feel you are equipped with concrete practical parenting tools?

It's been a little over a week since we got hit with the news of the tragic death of a teenager in school from stabbing ...
27/10/2025

It's been a little over a week since we got hit with the news of the tragic death of a teenager in school from stabbing by a fellow student. It made the episode from "Adolescence" not just a scary plausibility but a heartbreaking reality. Too close to home.

As parents, there are so many deep questions we need to ask ourselves in response to what happened but the most immediate response I got from parents was that the first thing they did was to give their kids tighter and longer hugs that day. ๐Ÿฅน My oldest schools nearby and so, I too was concerned about what my boy had heard and how he was processing it.

Having a clear and calm strategy, it gave me an opportunity to have a meaningful conversation with my son - to objectively assess how he was or wasnt affected, see his perspective and answer his questions. As tempted as I was, it wasn't the time to jump straight into nagging about screen time or online games - these issues matter, but not just yet. It was a time to get a pulse on his mental and emotional health and have a deeper conversation depending on how HE steered the dialogue.

My only goal was this - to let him know he is safe with me and that he can talk to me about difficult things openly and honestly with me.

Here's a step-by-step guide to help us talk about violence and tragedy with our kids. Save and share it - only God knows when we may need it again in the future.

Sources:
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
American Academy if Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

PS: It was inspired by a conversation kit released by the children's ministry of my local church which included some biblical guidance to help bring some comfort and faith. If you'd like a copy of it, do DM me.

PPS: Have you spoken with your child about recent tragic happenings in schools?

23/10/2025

Parents often ask me,
"How old should I give my child milk until?" or "When should I stop giving my child milk?"

My honest answer is, "Don't stop."

Milk is still an key part of their daily diet for strong bones and teeth, to support growth, immunity and brain development.

For kids 1 year and above, give 2-3 servings of milk a day between 150-250ml per serving along with their meals or snacks.
Keep the milk, keep them strong, keep them growing!


Enfagrow A+ Malaysia

22/10/2025

Can you pick up what I really want to say? ๐Ÿ˜‚


With Deepavali celebrations and short school break almost over, let's be vigilant looking out for our children falling sick, which almost never come with a warning. Please don't be too quick to send them back to school.

Oh, and have you gotten your child immunised with the flu vaccine yet?

Address

B2-1-2 Publika Solaris Dutamas, No 1 Jalan Dutamas 1
Kuala Lumpur
50480

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