So, here's what's going on in the Alligood house. Jon's work, per usual, is busy, but this rotation is slightly less demanding than the last one. (hip hip hooray!) He's learning about pharmacy informatics, which is basically how to utilize computers in the world of pharmacy. It all goes over my head! I am on my last week rotating at Walgreens and will be at the hospital doing critical care for the next five weeks. My bright spot in this is that I will get to see my hubby on occasion during the day! Jonathan will be nearby soon, because we got good news that he's now #4 on the waiting list for the hospital daycare! I have so enjoyed him being with Sandi and will be kind of sad when he's done there. But I'm sure she'll be ready to get her crew down to just four kids instead of five. :)
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| Playing on his new car playmat from his great-grandmother Mimi. |
The next decision to make is when to start "real" food for Jonathan. Several friends have recommended starting with a little bit of rice cereal in a bottle. The only drawback to this, in my opinion, is that I wouldn't be able to nurse him at night (which is apparently the ideal time to give it him so he'll sleep like a rock!). Moms, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. When did you start cereal/food? And what types of food did you start with?
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| The kid will obviously eat anything! |
Lastly, I just want y'all to know what an encouragement it is to me to read your comments. As we go through life in general, but especially as mothers, community and building each other up is so important. And sometimes that means a deep spiritual conversation or prayer time together, but other times it's just nice to know that other people get pooped on too! :)
forget the rice cereal......start him on spaghetti or breakfast for supper (ha!ha!)
ReplyDeleteYou are right in that the overwhelming evidence is that breast milk is best in so many areas of baby development, especially brain development. Also, the more you nurse/pump, the more milk you will make. In the early days of nursing Catherine, she used to nurse all night long snuggled up in bed with us! I breastfed exclusively until she was close to a year old, then started solids that I prepared myself (no organic baby food back then). You are probably aware that if you introduce cereal, his nursing needs will decrease and your milk will as well. My human mommy voice says give him breast milk as long as you can. You two have a crazy life right now so at the end of the day, pray, ask the Lord for direction. You might just hear His still small voice.
ReplyDeleteWe started Owen on rice cereal (not in a bottle because our pediatrician said it is bad for their teeth or soon to be teeth) when he was four months old and he had his first pureed foods at five months. I used the book "The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet" by Karin Knight. It tells you which foods to introduce on a monthly basis. And they were all things I could make easily with pots, a steamer basket, and our blender. You can see some of Owen's first foods here: http://therumelys.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-faces.html.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can relate on being attached to the breast pump. I pumped exclusively for almost nine months and then my milk basically stopped. Breastfeeding never worked for us and I felt a ton of guilt because of it. It seems like you are doing the best you can so take comfort in that. You can only do what's best for your particular situation. You're a great mommy.