Kaelyn turned 9 months old on January 24th. She had her 9 month check up today. No shots, so that was great!
Last night Kaelyn only got up once. However, she got up at 5:20 as well and was very hard to keep asleep after that. I tried taking her to bed with me and that didn't work. I tried laying back in the chair with her so I could doze too and that didn't work. She would only stay asleep if I rocked. So rock on mama! She slept that way until 7:15 which I was glad about in hopes she wouldn't be crabby with me. I showered while she played in her stroller and threw keys to the floor over and over. Then she helped me eat breakfast. Next was her bathtime. SHe gets pretty excited about that these days. I take her pajamas and diaper off and start the water. She rolls over and joins me at the edge of the tub squealing and watching the water fill the tub in anticipation. Then, once she's in the bath, she's calm as can be. After she was all clean we played for awhile, then hit the grocery store for milk before the doctor's appointment. It's cold enough it was easy to leave it in the car for awhile and not worry!!!
The nurse actually got Kaelyn's blood pressure for the second time ever. They seem to have a hard time getting a read on her. But this time it worked, after several attempts, and it was 82/48. Her temperature was 97.7 degrees. She yelled at the nurse for sticking that thermometer in her armpit. Poor nurse. Poor Kaelyn! It got worse.
Then we had to take her clothes off and throw her on the scale. A practice she (like many girls) doesn't like. She just kept reaching for me while on the scale. It's a painless thing...she's such a big baby! :) She weighs 19lbs 8 ounces which is in the 95th percentile. After that traumatic event we had to lay her down and stretch her out to get her height. She's 28.5 inches tall...that's over 2 feet!! Which is in the 90th percentile. Her head was in the 90th percentile as well and she didn't appreciate that measurement being taken either. As long as the nurse stayed at bay Kaelyn happily babbled. Get anywhere near her and mess with her, here come the screams!
The pediatrician came in and took a look in her ears and nose (which she did not appreciate). Then the doctor sat back and Kaelyn just babbled and happily screamed away. The pediatrician approached again to push on her belly and check her eyes with a light. Kaelyn screamed bloody murder. The second she was done it was back to the happy babbles. She was VERY talkative. She had quite a story to tell. Maybe she was telling us how she had on a size 2 diaper and it was really riding up because she's been a size 3 for months.
Since Kaelyn was happy I got a chance to ask the pediatrician some questions. She said Kaelyn looks great and is growing well. I asked if she still needed to be eating at night. Answer: No! She said that babies need to eat at night until 4-6 months because they can't keep their blood sugar regulated. Around the 4-6 month mark they can and should no longer NEED to eat at night. After that it's more of a comfort thing. She said I could A. shut the door to her room and leave her all night. B. Give her a bottle of water or bottle of nothing to suck on rather than nurse her to try to transition. C. continue nursing her because it wasn't hurting anything and if it worked for us, fine. I'm not sure what I'll try, if anything. I may try just patting her back to sleep and see if that'll work more often. I do that if she wakes up and it hasn't been long enough for her to possibly be hungry again and it works then. But if it's been 3 1/2 hours or more I assume she wants to eat. Not that I know she doesn't HAVE to eat, maybe I'll try...not sure! I just don't like being yelled at at 3am. Or ANY time, really! :)
Lately Kaelyn hasn't been AS interested in baby food either so I asked about that. She said to just give her bites of whatever we're eating and let her try it. Put some on the tray and let her play with it because at this point food is just a toy. Something to get used to. She'll catch on eventually. My only problem with that is that Kaelyn doesn't put things in her mouth. Not food, not toys, nothing. Only the spoon when I offer it, stress balls (which is strange, I know!) her sippy cup...and me, of course! :) At lunch today I did try giving her little bits of bread and when I put them up to her lips she did take them. She made quite a face, but she ate them! So I may just have to hand feed her like that instead of expecting her to do it on her own at first. I look forward to getting some foods at the store soon for her to try. I'm not the fruitiest-vegetabley-ist (quite the words huh!) eater so I need to stock up on some things she could try.
Sometimes when I put Kaelyn down for a nap she jerks violently and that wakes her up and makes her mad and she just screams and screams so I asked about that. The pediatrician said as long as she doesn't act different because of it, not to worry about it. If it made her act different in some way, then I should be concerned. I guess she acts normal I just would prefer if she stayed asleep and didn't wake herself up!
I also asked if she should be drinking water and the doctor said maybe a little bit. That's good because I DO give her a sippy cup of water but all she wants to do is chew on the plastic nipple. The water just runs down her chin, if any comes out at all. So I'm glad to hear she doesn't necessarily need a lot right now. Sometimes she'll suck water from the washcloth in the bath and sometimes she'll even turn her head in the tub and drink it in there. But not very often. So I guess she's getting what she needs.
I meant to ask how you go about weaning a baby, how you know when they're ready, etc, but I didn't get to it and she probably would have given me her standard answer "There's no magic to it, do it however you want...someday she'll grow up and be a 12 year old girl and won't want to have anything to do with you no matter WHAT you do now." True, but not always the most helpful answer when I'm asking for advice!
IT was a successful visit. Kaelyn is doing well. Growing nicely and proportionately. I got a few answers to some questions and a few ideas to try. And some of my concerns were waylayed as well. We don't have to go back until she's a year old. And then she DOES get shots so I expect to dread that visit a bit more!!
Last night Kaelyn only got up once. However, she got up at 5:20 as well and was very hard to keep asleep after that. I tried taking her to bed with me and that didn't work. I tried laying back in the chair with her so I could doze too and that didn't work. She would only stay asleep if I rocked. So rock on mama! She slept that way until 7:15 which I was glad about in hopes she wouldn't be crabby with me. I showered while she played in her stroller and threw keys to the floor over and over. Then she helped me eat breakfast. Next was her bathtime. SHe gets pretty excited about that these days. I take her pajamas and diaper off and start the water. She rolls over and joins me at the edge of the tub squealing and watching the water fill the tub in anticipation. Then, once she's in the bath, she's calm as can be. After she was all clean we played for awhile, then hit the grocery store for milk before the doctor's appointment. It's cold enough it was easy to leave it in the car for awhile and not worry!!!
The nurse actually got Kaelyn's blood pressure for the second time ever. They seem to have a hard time getting a read on her. But this time it worked, after several attempts, and it was 82/48. Her temperature was 97.7 degrees. She yelled at the nurse for sticking that thermometer in her armpit. Poor nurse. Poor Kaelyn! It got worse.
Then we had to take her clothes off and throw her on the scale. A practice she (like many girls) doesn't like. She just kept reaching for me while on the scale. It's a painless thing...she's such a big baby! :) She weighs 19lbs 8 ounces which is in the 95th percentile. After that traumatic event we had to lay her down and stretch her out to get her height. She's 28.5 inches tall...that's over 2 feet!! Which is in the 90th percentile. Her head was in the 90th percentile as well and she didn't appreciate that measurement being taken either. As long as the nurse stayed at bay Kaelyn happily babbled. Get anywhere near her and mess with her, here come the screams!
The pediatrician came in and took a look in her ears and nose (which she did not appreciate). Then the doctor sat back and Kaelyn just babbled and happily screamed away. The pediatrician approached again to push on her belly and check her eyes with a light. Kaelyn screamed bloody murder. The second she was done it was back to the happy babbles. She was VERY talkative. She had quite a story to tell. Maybe she was telling us how she had on a size 2 diaper and it was really riding up because she's been a size 3 for months.
Since Kaelyn was happy I got a chance to ask the pediatrician some questions. She said Kaelyn looks great and is growing well. I asked if she still needed to be eating at night. Answer: No! She said that babies need to eat at night until 4-6 months because they can't keep their blood sugar regulated. Around the 4-6 month mark they can and should no longer NEED to eat at night. After that it's more of a comfort thing. She said I could A. shut the door to her room and leave her all night. B. Give her a bottle of water or bottle of nothing to suck on rather than nurse her to try to transition. C. continue nursing her because it wasn't hurting anything and if it worked for us, fine. I'm not sure what I'll try, if anything. I may try just patting her back to sleep and see if that'll work more often. I do that if she wakes up and it hasn't been long enough for her to possibly be hungry again and it works then. But if it's been 3 1/2 hours or more I assume she wants to eat. Not that I know she doesn't HAVE to eat, maybe I'll try...not sure! I just don't like being yelled at at 3am. Or ANY time, really! :)
Lately Kaelyn hasn't been AS interested in baby food either so I asked about that. She said to just give her bites of whatever we're eating and let her try it. Put some on the tray and let her play with it because at this point food is just a toy. Something to get used to. She'll catch on eventually. My only problem with that is that Kaelyn doesn't put things in her mouth. Not food, not toys, nothing. Only the spoon when I offer it, stress balls (which is strange, I know!) her sippy cup...and me, of course! :) At lunch today I did try giving her little bits of bread and when I put them up to her lips she did take them. She made quite a face, but she ate them! So I may just have to hand feed her like that instead of expecting her to do it on her own at first. I look forward to getting some foods at the store soon for her to try. I'm not the fruitiest-vegetabley-ist (quite the words huh!) eater so I need to stock up on some things she could try.
Sometimes when I put Kaelyn down for a nap she jerks violently and that wakes her up and makes her mad and she just screams and screams so I asked about that. The pediatrician said as long as she doesn't act different because of it, not to worry about it. If it made her act different in some way, then I should be concerned. I guess she acts normal I just would prefer if she stayed asleep and didn't wake herself up!
I also asked if she should be drinking water and the doctor said maybe a little bit. That's good because I DO give her a sippy cup of water but all she wants to do is chew on the plastic nipple. The water just runs down her chin, if any comes out at all. So I'm glad to hear she doesn't necessarily need a lot right now. Sometimes she'll suck water from the washcloth in the bath and sometimes she'll even turn her head in the tub and drink it in there. But not very often. So I guess she's getting what she needs.
I meant to ask how you go about weaning a baby, how you know when they're ready, etc, but I didn't get to it and she probably would have given me her standard answer "There's no magic to it, do it however you want...someday she'll grow up and be a 12 year old girl and won't want to have anything to do with you no matter WHAT you do now." True, but not always the most helpful answer when I'm asking for advice!
IT was a successful visit. Kaelyn is doing well. Growing nicely and proportionately. I got a few answers to some questions and a few ideas to try. And some of my concerns were waylayed as well. We don't have to go back until she's a year old. And then she DOES get shots so I expect to dread that visit a bit more!!
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