BG is 6 months old!
Holy moly, where did the time fly?
Today, my daughter is half a year old.
We went for her 6 month routine check up and vaccinations yesterday and of course the subject of solids came up. I’ll be honest, I’m not too keen on this as I’m so proud of how far I’ve come breastfeeding. I feel like my turf is being invaded. Silly as that may sound I know that I can’t stop her from growing up and if I’m like this with solids, Lord knows how I’m going to be with other things like going to big girl school or what not.
So the doctor said we should plan on introducing foods this month. She wants us to start with 1 tablespoon a day. If she isn’t keen on it, wait and try again another day. That’s slow enough I suppose.
I think DH is excited about this. I could be wrong but I think eating solids somehow is linked with him participating more in her food needs. I’m not too keen not only because I love the breastfeeding time with her but also because solids means, more gear, more mess, more weird poop drama and more worries but you can’t stop progress.
So last night, I perused my favorite BPA free baby gear website and purchased some spoons, bowls, individual ice cube doodads and food bibs. I also read my bible, Kellymom, and started formulating a plan.
Most of the moms I know have started solids past 6 months. Some have 7-8 month olds and are still only feeding them 1 oz of food. According to most of the breastfeeding moms, this seems normal so I shouldn’t feel so much anxiety over this.
I’ll keep you posted on the feeding front when I finally figure out what we’re going to do. We’ll probably start with a small meal in the evening when I come home. I’m leaning towards avocado/breastmilk first.
Oh, on the mug front, I received my replacement mug yesterday! I’ve been treating it like it’s an Oscar. I also refuse to put it in the dishwasher and have been handwashing it. I love the cup. Everytime I see the picture of both of us smiling back at me, I get all giddy. I’m probably going to be the mom that wears the shirt you get at the fair with your kids face with some weird backdrop.
On the sleep front, BG still enjoys her sleep but since I’ve returned to work, we’ve moved towards co-sleeping although occasionally we’ll transfer her to her crib. I just love the bonding I feel with her in bed plus she started waking up more and more during the night which led to a very sleepy deprived mommy during the day. Honestly, I think the wake ups were for feedings as she doesn’t like to drink much from the bottle and also to just spend time with me as I’m away during the day.
I don’t have anything against it and actually like the special time together but I know DH is more akin to having her sleep in her crib, a very expensive crib that took him a very long and frustrating night to put together.
Oh, I like my pediatrician, don’t get me wrong but maybe because I’ve been around so many clinicians, I just don’t feel the need to meet these ‘standards of norm’ all the time. The first few times I met with her she told me that formula is totally acceptable. I understand the reason she says that but I didn’t need to hear that. Now she’s saying that my baby’s sleep pattern is shifted and she should be sleeping solidly from 7-7 without a wake up and we should work towards this. Ok, you don’t need to tell me 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep would be great but honestly, I don’t think I can get 12 hours in straight, although nowadays with so many plates to juggle, I probably could.
My issue is, what’s wrong with my baby’s sleep schedule? She gets the recommended amount of sleep daily. So she naps later than most babies. That’s her body’s clock. Her sleep schedule is approximately: 12-1pm, 3-5pm, 7:30-9pm, 10-7am. The docs recommends a sleep schedule of 10-11am, 2-4pm, 7pm-7am.
Sometimes I feel like the guidelines are great but they are just guidelines. Sure, I’d love to have my baby sleep through the night so I can spend more time with my husband but I figure as she gets older, her schedule will shift again and she’ll get used to sleeping longer and eventually completely by herself.
DH is more of the ‘standard’ conventional parenting and thinks we should follow the doctor’s recommendations as close as possible. I take them as recommendations and figure I know my baby better than they do but I respect their advice. I think I scarred my husband with the pre-birth classes that he calls, “crunchy and hippy dippy.”
I’m the farthest from being a hippy but I do value the theories of attachment parenting and I am a proud mom who wears her baby, breastfeeds and co-sleeps. I think I have a good relationship with my baby and we both can ‘read’ each other well. I guess this is one of those things that my husband and I will be working through as parents. I’m sure there will be plenty more for us to have differing opinions on and we just need to respect each other’s ideas and find a happy medium.
