Amelia is four months!

NortheastWifey · #1 October 7th, 2009, 08:13 AM

Actually she's four months and a day. I'm a day late in posting this.

Things are going great. I don't want to jinx myself but she slept her first five hour stretch last night! Thank God! I feel so rejuvinated today! LOL! And the nice thing was she was making some sounds every now and again so I didn't wake up and freak out worried that something was wrong. I actually had to wake her up this morning to feed her and get her dressed before we left the house. Yay!

I have to say that three months has definitely been the most fun age so far. She's started laughing and she's "talking" up a storm. My mom can get her laughing great! I wish I could get her to do it! We've been doing some tummy time which she doesn't seem to mind. If she gets sick of it, she'll usually put her head down and suck on her fingers. She's gotten very good at getting those - and even her thumb - in her mouth. We definitely have a little thumb sucker on our hands.

I'm going to call our pedi today to see if I can start giving her a little bit of cereal. I think I've heard/read that it's okay at four months, but I want to check to be sure. If so, we'll try it this weekend. So far we've been EBfing. I can't believe we've made it this far. I hope to BF for the first year, but we had some MAJOR struggles in the beginning and I definitely felt like giving up, but I'm glad I didn't. Now she eats fine. Thank goodness!! I thought the day would never come. She used to get so fussy (to put it mildly). I think it was a combination of having painful gas for the first month or more and also she gets cranky when she's tired. She tries to fight sleeping and would get frustrated. She still does that, but now nursing seems to soothe her.

I took some pictures of her last night to commemorate her four months, but I forgot to bring my camera with me to work today. I'll be sure to post them tomorrow.

downunderchick · #2 October 7th, 2009, 09:22 AM

sounds like things are going great and yay for a 5 hour stretch. congrats on the 4 month EBF!

its good to know it does get easier. looking forward to piccies.
xxx

Boo · #3 October 7th, 2009, 09:48 AM

Happy 4 months! Sounds like everything is going well!

I am curious, though, why you want to start her on cereal already? I don't mean to be nosy, just curious.

NortheastWifey · #4 October 7th, 2009, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boo

Happy 4 months! Sounds like everything is going well!

I am curious, though, why you want to start her on cereal already? I don't mean to be nosy, just curious.

No reason, specifically. I had just read that you can start them on it at four months so I'm not sure if that's what you're "supposed to do." But I'm totally fine with waiting, too, if that's better. What did you do?

Boo · #5 October 7th, 2009, 10:42 AM

We waited until 6 months before starting any solids (first one was cereal). Many babies in my PR started on cereal earlier than 6 months, either because their docs recommended it for reflux or because their parents wanted to start early for personal reasons. My reasons for waiting were he was getting his nutrition from BF and didn't need something filling him up taking away from that, if that makes sense. Not that cereal isn't nutritious in its own way, but he didn't need it yet. Plus, full-term babies have enough iron stored into their bodies to last at least the first 6 months, so I didn't see a need to add iron-fortified cereal until 6+ months.

polarbearmama · #6 October 7th, 2009, 05:22 PM

Happy 4 Months Amelia!! Wow! The time has flown by!! Can't wait to see the updated pictures

Jodi0804 · #7 October 7th, 2009, 07:09 PM

Glad that things are going well, and 5 hours, thats great!

courtneytcu98 · #8 October 7th, 2009, 08:43 PM

Congrats, Hollie! That 4-month mark is almost magical. From here on out, you will be amazed at how much fun that wee one is everyday! I absolutely loved the video of her laughing on FB--what a doll!

As Karly said, I think that feeding babies at 4 months is totally dependent on the child and the situation. Elliott was (and is) very skinny and responded well to cereal, but never in substitution to BM or formula. It was early, but for him it worked. If I had it to do over, I would give him a gentle fruit or vegetable first--probably apple or sweet potato. Giving cereal first is entirely cultural and not based in any scientific reason at all! Grains are actually very difficult to digest, and for a breastfed baby, the cereals are incredibly bland after getting to 'taste' all of the mommy's food. Most pediatricians will recommend starting with cereals, I know that, but most doctors only receive very little training in pediatric feeding, and so much of their recommendations are based on 'the usual.'

Okay. . . I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for the update--I think Miss Amelia is just beautiful.