Eating

We had the J-dog's six month appointment last week, and were a bit surprised to learn that he has not been gaining enough weight since his last appointment at four months. He only gained 7 ozs in two months! He went from being in the 50th percentile to just around the 5th. Our doctor was wonderfully calm about it and asked me how often I breast feed him every day. I wasn't exactly sure, but said around five, I guess. And how many supplemental meals of baby food? Usually 2. I told her how much he loved eating his new foods, and how he would cry when I was done feeding him. I was so sure that I was feeding him plenty, because it seemed like he was eating a ton. But apparently the crying wasn't just because it was so yummy, but because he was still HUNGRY! How stupid of me.

Also, at our last visit I told her how he was starting to get distracted while feeding, and would tug on me and look all around. She said it was ok for me to cut him off if he started doing that, but in retrospect that was probably a mistake. I was also in the habit of just giving him one breast at each feeding, so he would fully drain it. I guess all of these things combined to contribute to his low weight gain. So the doctor told me to just up his extra meals to 3 a day, and let him eat as much as he wants at each one.

While I have been doing 3 meals on some days, it is often hard to fit in that many, what with the breastfeeding and naps as well. But, I think I am on a much better rhythm overall. First of all, we start the day in bed in the morning with a very leisurely feed on BOTH sides. This is actually really nice, because by the end of the second side, he will sometimes fall back asleep and we will snooze together. I love that! Then we get up and play for just a little in his new activity bouncy seat, before having breakfast. He will have a nice bowl of oatmeal, with some fruit (bananas, or pears or prunes) or maybe some sweet potato or butternut squash (for some reason I have a hard time thinking of giving him peas or zucchini for breakfast...). I let him eat as much as he wants. He is much more relaxed about it now, and not frantic, because he has had a good feeding beforehand. Also, we got a real high chair, which helps a lot too. Before I was feeding him in his Bum.bo chair on the kitchen counter, which caused him to lurch forward into the food a lot.

Next he goes down for his morning nap, and indeed it seems to help him sleep longer too! This morning he had an hour and 15 min nap, whereas they used to never last more than 45 mins. So I guess that having a full belly helps him sleep longer.

The rest of the day is a little less structured - either a music or yoga class at mid-day, or just hanging out until the next nap and then going out after for a walk or shopping. Sometimes I'll take him out for a walk after his first nap, and then he'll fall asleep for his second nap in the stroller and I'll do some fun shopping for me. I'm continuing to make sure that he starts on the breast that he finished on at the last feeding, and then switch to the other. I know this is what many people consider normal, but I had always felt that he seemed satisfied and done after finishing just one. I'm worried that maybe my supply has diminished because of this, so hopefully it will increase as I continue these new habits.

In the late afternoon he will have another meal, this time with both a green veggie and an orange one, and then a fruit too. Sometimes he takes a third nap, but sometimes he doesn't. Then it's bath time, another feed and bed!

So, I'm hoping that by implementing these new feeding habits, we will get him back on track and gaining weight like a champ. (He is 27 inches long, and weighs 14 lbs 10 ozs.)

I know I also promised an assessment of my new Baby Bre.zza baby food maker. I will just say that it is incredibly easy to use, easy to clean and small enough to store on my tiny kitchen counter. It will automatically puree after it is done steaming, but you can also set it to do just one or the other separately, which is handy. So far I have made peas, zucchini, green beans, butternut squash, sweet potato (these I baked in the oven and then pureed in the Bre.zza), apples and pears. He likes pretty much everything, though I would say maybe he isn't super-fond of the zucchini yet. Today he had 1/2 of an avocado mashed up, and he loved that! It was only the second time he has had it - the first time was at the very beginning and I didn't give him too much. And of course he loves bananas too.

I'm super tired right now, so this post is a bit disjointed, but I didn't want to put off writing it any longer. I have been so bad about blogging. But on the plus side, I've been having fun hanging out with the J-dog, which doesn't leave me a lot of time for the computer.