The first weeks we didn't get any sleep. Bellamie liked to be held, thus we took turns holding her on our chest, while we sat in the lazy boy. Then a good friend came over one night to give us a bit of a break and while we slept she tried propping Bell on her side and she actually slept!! Between casts on her legs and her surgery we still had many sleepless nights, but at least she was sleeping on her own! We were finally in a good routine, when she got her last cast off and was put in corrective shoes. Now, while the shoes were a huge improvement from the cast, she could only sleep on her back and we were back to square one!!! Then one night, desperate to get her to sleep longer than a few hours at a time, we tried her in her infant swing and she slept through the entire night!! Between the calming motion and the support for her feet it was just what she needed. At the time I worried that she would want to sleep in her swing forever, but once again she surprised me and not only did she not want to even be rocked to sleep, she was falling asleep totally on her own in the crib!! Total success!
Once again she was sleeping through the night until a few days ago. After putting her down at 8 she is up, fussy and very ready for a bottle between 11 and 12. Now you see, Bellamie spits up a lot... like a lot!! So we only do 4 ounces of formula at a time, which was fine until recently. I can actually hear her little tummy growling when she wakes in the night and she always goes right back down after the midnight snack but mommy can't always fall back so easily! And trust me I need my beauty rest!!
So my question today is this... When did you start solids? Did it help with spitting up? Did they sleep better at night? Did they seem more full?
I started Harrison on solids like a month and a half ago because he seemed really interested in it. He seemed to spit up more from 2 months to 5 months of age and then slowly stopped doing it so much. I only feed him solids once a day right now (getting ready to amp that up, ahhhhh!) but he hardly ever spits up now (been that way for at least a month). He's always been a good sleeper, I always tried to feed him A LOT before bed so he'll sleep longer. Generally that means when he pushes it away I try to coax him to take a little more once or twice. So far I haven't noticed it makes him more full, still loves his bottle. Now I'm at the point of trying to figure out what kinds he likes best (so far sweet potatoe, banana with mango, and carrots are his favorite).
ReplyDeleteHow many ounces of formula do you give him?
ReplyDeleteRight now I always make 6 and he'll generally drink the whole thing, or sometimes only 5.
ReplyDeleteI started the boys on rice cereal at 3-4 months, and Millie at about 6 months. Millie was a big spitter-upper and the solid foods helped her tummy a lot. And yes, I think it also helped them sleep through the night better. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI started my kids on solids at 4 months. Julia was a mega puker and the solid food didn't help anything. She just spit up solid food...which meant I avoided the orange stuff...too messy! I hope the solids help with the spitting up, but if not I'm sorry. It may sound silly, but spit up really took a toll on my sanity. Julia used to eat 6+ ounces and spit up at least 1 ounce and then continue to spit up as the day went on. At 6 months I told my doc I couldn't take another 6 months of this (i figured it would last around 1 year) and I asked to try some reflex meds. That is a another story in itself! I the end medication worked for Julia but it was a hard process to figure it out. I don't know if I would do it again. Cole was a huge puker also and we also tried one medication and it did not work so I let it go. He spit up until he was around 9 months. Good luck...it's pretty fun to see them eat food. They are so darn cute!
ReplyDeleteI started at 5 months- she took to it right away. We started with avocado and then sweet potato. By 7 months we were at 3 meals a day. Now she is 8 months and eats 3 4-oz meals a day and snacks in between. I make most of her food, but buy some for variety! It did help her sleep a little better. She didn't spit up very much by that age so I didn't notice a difference.
ReplyDeleteWe skipped rice cereal but give oatmeal and she loves that in the morning with fruit.She has definitely cut back on nursing now that she eats so much real food, so I pump a lot less at work!