Yesterday was my baby’s half birthday! Today I took him to the pediatrician for his six month check-up. Poor little bugger.
Whenever we go for his check-ups, I have a list of questions ready. It’s a little trick I learned from my prenatal visits before Smarticus arrived. As soon as something cropped up that I needed solid advice for (not just internet advice), I wrote it down on my running list of questions.
So on my list of ridiculous, first-time-parent questions this time was — can you guess? Ding ding ding! You’re guessed it — eating and sleeping! Conventional wisdom says that you have to introduce solids one by one, and absolutely no “high allergy” foods such as peanut butter. In addition, babies are supposed to have a set amount of solids each day. Conventional wisdom also says babies his age are supposed to have 28 – 32 ounces of fluids (breastmilk or formula) each day.
Apparently conventional wisdom has changed. And definitely for the better. Our pediatrician said “feed him when he’s hungry and keep feeding him until he’s full — both solids and liquids.” Genius. Goodbye tablespoon. I don’t need to measure food anymore.
AND — yes, this story gets better — conventional wisdom used to claim that better daytime sleep dictated better nighttime sleep. But apparently, pediatricians are more concerned with nighttime sleep. And the amount your baby sleeps at night dictates how much they sleep during the day! Who knew this could be so simple?! It’s no wonder my kid flops around in his crib for 30-45 minutes each time I put him down for a nap! He sleeps at least 12 hours at night (with one 30 minute interruption around 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.) so hello?! Of course he doesn’t need to sleep every two hours during the day!
When I was little, I hated going to the doctor. Now I LOVE going to the pediatrician!
Ridiculous, first-time-parent questions? Answered!
