Eating My Words

Lucas, his puppy PJs, slippers (Thanks uncle Michael), and his puppy.

Last Saturday Night Lisa was looking at an issue of Parenting. At an article called "When I'm a Mom I'll Never" Lisa told me that I needed to read it because eventually there would be a time where I would find myself doing something that I once said as a Mom I would never do... Well, eventually came today.

So a few weeks ago I was horrified that Ashlee( a girl I know from my childbirth class, Lucas and her son are just days apart) was feeding her son solids when our sons were still 2 months old. (She has been feeding him baby cereal before he was even a week old.) Anyway since my pediatrician recommends waiting until 6 months to introduce solids my I Never was that I would not feed him even a spoonful of food before then. That was until this morning.

I found myself eating lunch talking to Lucas. The last few weeks he has been mesmerized by watching me eat. He has even started to mimic me chewing. There I was eating a couple of apple sauce with a baby spoon (all the big people spoons were in the dishwasher getting cleaned) and he just had these big eyes that said "come on mom, just a little taste." So I gave him the tiniest little taste, and then another, and then another. Each time he would open his mouth wide and take the food off the spoon, taste it, swallow and then smile. He never pushed even the tiniest amount out of his mouth (which is one way you know if your baby is ready for solids or not). I felt a mix of pride, excitement and guilt. I didn't even take a picture of it because to him this doesn't count at his first meal... This was just practice.

I found myself rationalizing "well, if he had been born on time, he would be turning 4 months in a matter of days." I know the bad parents police aren't going to come pick me up. I just want to make sure I'm not feeding him too early before his little digestive system is ready for it. I don't plan on feeding him solids all the time just yet but now I don't see us waiting until he is 6 months old. I did buy baby cereal just in case though. I won't feel so bad giving him that since you have to mix it with something (like breast milk). Plus I don't plan on trying to replace any of his nursing time with other foods. I'll still let him nurse as much as he wants.

All day long whenever he got fussy I did have little worries in the back of my mind... is this because of the apple sauce I gave him?... is he having a reaction to the food? It turned out to be gas or that he was ready for his nap. I did find something that works 200% better then gas drops! Baby's Bliss GripeWater is awesome! I wish I had it sooner!!!! His tummy was so hard from being gas... I gave him just half of a dose and in less than a minute he had a squishy tummy and was no longer crying in pain. This stuff is amazing! Also with the amount you get in the bottle it ends up being cheaper than the gas drops.

It was so cool though to feed him with a spoon and have him take to it from the first bite!

He is also sleeping now like a champ! I give him a bath every night now which helps him get ready to go to sleep. Thanks to the time change he now goes to bed between 8-9PM which gives Curt and I time at night to relax together. He now wakes up at 11:30-midnight to nurse and then between 3-4AM to nurse again. He now takes at least two naps one around 11 and another around 2. A schedule of sorts really did do the trick!