On October 14th we had Margaret's 4 month appointment. It was at that time that her doctor expressed a concern about Margaret's continuing trend of being off the charts on weight. Mind you, she was 9 lbs 2 oz at birth and has been gaining steadily. In fact, last month was the smallest gain so far in a month's time. And she's 26 inches tall. Regardless, her doctor told me to cut back her formula by 1-2 oz per feeding! She had been taking in 36 oz/day in 6-6 oz feedings and since we normally had to wake her for her last feeding at 9:30PM, we decided to try dropping that one. Her doctor also wanted me to start giving her cereal. I originally intended to wait until she was 6 months old to start cereal, but I knew she wouldn't be happy with less formula unless she got something else in exchange.
The problems. Well, for starters, she hates cereal. In 5 feedings, she only once ate it...at the first one. Every time I've attempted it since, she's screamed, spit it all out, and refused to eat. So Friday I stopped trying to give her cereal, figuring this is her way of showing me she is not ready yet.
Next are the sleep problems. Margaret started consistently sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks of age. There were a few instances when she did not, but those were mostly when she was ill. However, once we started cutting feedings, she stopped sleeping through the night. She was 17 weeks old when we started this, so it had been a couple of months that she had been sleeping well before this. The sleeping problems keep getting worse. She used to sleep 9:30PM to 6:30/7AM. Last night, she went down "for the night" at 8:30PM, but woke up at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5:45AM. She went back down pretty quickly for most of the wakings, but at the 4AM one, it took me 40 minutes to get her back down. (And I didn't get back to sleep after that because Brian's alarm clock started going off at 5AM, but that's a whole other issue...)
I'm thinking of disobeying the doctor's orders. If it were only a night or two, I probably wouldn't be concerned... but she hasn't slept through the night once since we changed her feedings. It seems to me that she needs more than 30 oz/day to function properly. Heck, my mother told me my brothers were taking in 40 oz/day at her age and she wasn't told to cut back (and their doctor is the father of Margaret's doctor, actually). I just don't know what to do. But I do know that what we're doing right now isn't working.
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5 years ago
3 comments:
Are you offering her a bottle when she wakes in the night or just trying to sooth her back to sleep w/o one? Heck, w/ the dr. I would try giving her like 4 oz or so, enough to get her back to sleep. That is just me. Dr. doesn't always know best IMO. Heck as you know if it wasn't for me seeing another dr. I would not of got my metformin. Each vary.
You know your baby better than the doctor. He's only going by guidlines anyways. I've known LOTS of babies who were off the charts as infants. But, it always seems to even out by the time their two.
If you think Margaret needs more to eat, than give it to her. She's letting you know. Most babies I have her age take 30-40 ounces a day, so I think her 36 is right where it should be.
As for cereal, wait a week or two, then try again. Some babies just don't care for it and it takes them a while to accept the taste. Keep offering and eventually she'll figure it out.
Hang in there, Carrie! You're an awesome mom to be so in tune to what your baby is asking for and concerned that she get it.
Well, I can't say much more than what has already been said, but my immediate reaction when I read this post earlier today (but had a sleeping baby Bella in my arms so couldn't easily type) is hell no, MOMMA KNOWS BEST! The fact that the human race exists (and began long before doctors did) proves that. Not that I'm anti-MD or anti-medicine by any means, and I actually place a lot of trust in them, but I think you should follow your gut in this instance. Heaven knows this is hardly a life or death situation, and I vote to go with your instincts on this one.
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