I did a post when I started solids with SB and BW, which you can find here. Yet again, I was such a first-time mom. No cereal - it's empty calories! No iron supplements - we'll feed iron-rich foods!
Result? Two anemic babies.
Not serious anemia, but we had to do twice-daily iron drops, SB and BW seemed particularly vulnerable to illness, which then caused their hemoglobin levels to drop again, and it was a months-long process of iron supplements, frequent scanning of the internet and nutrition labels to find iron-rich foods, and finger-sticks to check levels. And iron drops? Horrid. It's like drinking liquid pennies. Oh, and they can stain teeth, so they should be mixed with something.
The other result is I cringe when I see women commenting on various parenting sites that "food before one is just for fun" or quoting kellymom.com as the end all/be all of reliable sources on the high level of absorption of iron from breastmilk, or "cereal is garbage and tastes terrible", or "cereal is just filler and has no nutritional value" - this last one just kills me. It does have nutritional value - it has iron in it. Even if the iron in BM is highly absorbed, it's not enough, and if you have kids that aren't interested in eating iron-rich foods (like SB in particular), anemia is a real possibility. I've even seen some moms post that it is OKAY for your baby to be anemic. Iron is important for brain development. I'm not willing to sacrifice brain development because baby cereal doesn't taste very good. You know what else doesn't taste very good? Iron drops.
SO, Nugget has been sampling the baby cereal (although we skipped rice and went right to oatmeal). And, as I would expect of my roly-poly chubbers baby, she loves eating like a big girl.
Although my experiences with SB and BW have changed my direction a bit this time around, it's also given me good knowledge so I don't have to rely on cereal as a sole iron source. We'll be offering blended meat and blended beans (SB and BW ate lots of beans, and still do - great source of iron). We also offered SB and BW blackstrap molasses frequently - as a syrup on pancakes, as a sauce on chicken, as a dipping sauce for meatballs, and they loved it. I'm not sure if they would still eat it - they haven't had it in a while, and it's a pretty strong flavor, but it was very versatile for us, and SB liked it so much that she wouldn't eat plain chicken but would eat it if it was drizzled with blackstrap molasses.
In other news...sob. My baby is already moving on to solids. 6 months went fast, I'm sure the next 6 will only go faster.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
I'll take the gift of sleep for the holidays, please
My last post included Nugget's sudden penchant for middle of the night parties every 45 minutes to an hour or more. This went on for a week. Nugget was sleeping in the RnP for portions of the night so we could all get some sleep. Nugget was spending a few hours attached to the boob so we could all get some sleep. I have much greater sympathy for those moms who say their child won't sleep unless they are attached, because we did that for a couple hours two nights in a row. I learned that I love baby snuggles, but bed-sharing is not for me. The manner in which I have to lay to make sure I am not concerned about baby rolling in to me, and the shallow sleep pattern I am in since I am conscious of baby next to me is not restful at all. Yawn.
Anyway, to keep this brief, Nugget had her 6-month check-up, and it turns out she had a double ear infection. I felt like a terrible mom, but aside from some differences in her normal behavior that really only clued me in after the fact (the waking all the time thing, and being a booger about taking bottles at daycare) she was absolutely unchanged. She was her same smiley, cooing self, and even her night wakings she was cooing and squealing like she just wanted to be awake for the heck of it. No fever, no tugging on ears, nothing. So, good to know that the kid doesn't show signs of being sick like I would expect.
It's taken a course of antibiotics and a few days, but Nugget is finally, after almost 2 weeks, starting to sleep some longer stretches again. Every time I get her to sleep and lay her down, I pray she will sleep at least 2 hours. Last night she slept from 8-10, and 10-3. I'll take it.
In other news, she is at the weight limit, and, with rolling and sitting unassisted and being almost able to pull herself fully sitting, developmental limit, for the RnP. It needs to go. However, it's so nice to have the incline sleep option if necessary. Sigh.
Anyway, to keep this brief, Nugget had her 6-month check-up, and it turns out she had a double ear infection. I felt like a terrible mom, but aside from some differences in her normal behavior that really only clued me in after the fact (the waking all the time thing, and being a booger about taking bottles at daycare) she was absolutely unchanged. She was her same smiley, cooing self, and even her night wakings she was cooing and squealing like she just wanted to be awake for the heck of it. No fever, no tugging on ears, nothing. So, good to know that the kid doesn't show signs of being sick like I would expect.
It's taken a course of antibiotics and a few days, but Nugget is finally, after almost 2 weeks, starting to sleep some longer stretches again. Every time I get her to sleep and lay her down, I pray she will sleep at least 2 hours. Last night she slept from 8-10, and 10-3. I'll take it.
In other news, she is at the weight limit, and, with rolling and sitting unassisted and being almost able to pull herself fully sitting, developmental limit, for the RnP. It needs to go. However, it's so nice to have the incline sleep option if necessary. Sigh.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Week 26
I've had a rudimentary understanding of the Wonder Weeks since SB and BW were little, but I haven't done heavy reading into it. It makes sense that babies have developmental leaps; but I don't know that I need to have specific instruction to "help" my baby through the leap.
I vaguely recalled that one was around the six-month mark, so when Nugget slept like poo a few nights ago, and decided that the middle of the night was a great time to have a party last night, I decided to look it up. Closest leap? 26 weeks. Nugget's age? 26 weeks, 1 day. Week 26 is supposed to be about relationships. Baby realizes that things have differing distances from baby. Which explains why Nugget thought she should wake up and nurse every 1-2 hours a few nights ago. Must have mommy close. Also explains while she was squealing and cooing to herself in her crib the next night and I went to peek in at her (hoping she would soothe herself to sleep) she had her paci outstretched and was turning it slowly too and fro, studying it carefully.
She's also started using rolling as a mode of transportation, like she just realized there is a purpose and benefit to being able to roll over, and it's not just an accident or novelty. She doesn't complain about being put on her tummy anymore because she knows she can change it if she wants to. She also is really starting to love interacting with SB and BW. She smiles at them and "talks" to them, and they can usually distract her if she is starting to get fussy and I need a minute or two to finish something up. Although SB and BW are technically our "middle" children, I have a feeling Nugget will be our mediator. She is very calm most of the time, although she has her moments. I can't wait to keep watching them grow up together.
I vaguely recalled that one was around the six-month mark, so when Nugget slept like poo a few nights ago, and decided that the middle of the night was a great time to have a party last night, I decided to look it up. Closest leap? 26 weeks. Nugget's age? 26 weeks, 1 day. Week 26 is supposed to be about relationships. Baby realizes that things have differing distances from baby. Which explains why Nugget thought she should wake up and nurse every 1-2 hours a few nights ago. Must have mommy close. Also explains while she was squealing and cooing to herself in her crib the next night and I went to peek in at her (hoping she would soothe herself to sleep) she had her paci outstretched and was turning it slowly too and fro, studying it carefully.
She's also started using rolling as a mode of transportation, like she just realized there is a purpose and benefit to being able to roll over, and it's not just an accident or novelty. She doesn't complain about being put on her tummy anymore because she knows she can change it if she wants to. She also is really starting to love interacting with SB and BW. She smiles at them and "talks" to them, and they can usually distract her if she is starting to get fussy and I need a minute or two to finish something up. Although SB and BW are technically our "middle" children, I have a feeling Nugget will be our mediator. She is very calm most of the time, although she has her moments. I can't wait to keep watching them grow up together.
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