Sawyer finally had his 9 month well child check-up and we got some surprising results.
Head circumfrence: ? 25%
Weight: 16 lb. 12 oz. 10%
Height: 27 1/2 in. 20%
He has officially moved up from the 3rd percentile (where he had been since birth). Yeah for a growing boy! I've never been too concerned with his percentiles because he has always been a healthy, happy boy, but it's always good to know they are growing.
(The bruise on his cheek is from him falling on the dishwasher and I'm sure there will be lots more to come.)
Also while at the doctor's office I asked the pediatrician when I could start introducing small amounts of whole milk. The typical introduction age is 12 months, but I am starting to wean Sawyer from breastmilk and I was just curious how long I would have to buy formula. Anyway, to my surprise he told me I could start giving him whole milk right now and switch completely to whole milk in about 1 month. He said breastmilk and/or formula are recommended until age 1 not because of allergies, but because of important vitamins that cow's milk lacks. However, if he is eating a balanced diet he should get all the vitamins and minerals he needs from fruits, veggies, meat, and dairy. So, my plan is to continue to use breastmilk/formula exclusively for the next month and then start introducing whole milk. Has anyone introduced milk before 12 months? How did it work for you and your child?
And the biggest surprise during the visit was the ped told me that as of 9 months I could feed Sawyer any food with no exceptions except honey! Most recommendations state no peanut butter until 1 or 2 years of age, no eggs until 1, no tomatoes...You get the point. This is primarily due to food allergy concerns. The doctor said recent research does not support these recommendations, so I am free to feed him anything except honey or foods that are choking hazards. It's so interesting to me that parents and doctors have such different views on introducing food to children.
In my experience with Sawyer he has had no allergic reactions and he is now tolerating some meat (we haven't tried turkey again). He has been very close to me when I was eating peanut butter and no reactions appeared. So, I feel pretty comfortable giving him all foods. I may keep the peanut butter away until at least 1. Not because of allergies, but because I know how much I love pb and that's all I wanted to eat as a kid. I want to encourage his veggie eating as much as possible, so keeping pb out of his diet might be a good idea :)
My niece will be 2 in May and they weened her to milk at 9 mo. she started sleeping better once she was on milk. She did have a sensitiviy, so she is on Lactaid. Also, they do a lot of smoothies w/spinach etc which she won't eat, but will drink.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth! We haven't tried the milk yet, but I think we will this weekend...we're doing 1/2 nursing and 1/2 formula, but he doesn't always take his formula bottles very well. And smoothies with lots of good nutrients is a great idea! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKristen,
ReplyDeleteOur peds sound alike! :) I asked the same thing at Mackie's 9-month check-up about the milk. I wanted to avoid giving her formula, but wanted to start to wean her so she was completely done (me too!) by her first birthday. She was nursing about 4 times a day at 9 months, then it dropped to about 3 times a day at 10 months. I remember at about 10.5 months or so I started to introduce her to whole milk at lunch time. I kept this routine until about 11 months. I added another round of whole milk at dinner time and we did this for about two weeks. The final two weeks before her first birthday I just did morning nursing with her. Her last nursing time was on the morning of her first birthday. I cried - she giggled. It was a wonderful experience and I was so happy I could nurse her the entire year.
As for other food introductions...we didn't introduce Mackie to peanut butter or whole eggs (including the whites) until 12 months. It was probably closer to 13 months until she had her first pbj sandwich. She's not a big egg eater, but I don't like eggs so that's my own fault for not making them for her more often. :)
Have fun with the meal planning. It's fun - have you tried introducing the blander "spices" to him yet? I started with cinnamon in M's yogurt or oatmeal. She loved it! Again, www.wholesomebabyfood.com is an excellent resource for these transition periods.
Thanks Amy all that information is very helpful! I don't like eggs either and so far Sawyer also has a distaste for them :) Right now were down to 2 nursing sessions (morning and supper) and 2 bottle feedings (lunch and before bed). Seems to be working out okay...he's not a big eater, so sometimes he won't take the bottle until he is very hungry (i.e. 3 hours after he is supposed to drink it :) I think we're going to try a little whole milk this weekend.
ReplyDeleteSince you asked:
ReplyDeleteI think I switched at least one of my kids to regular milk at 10.5 or 11 months, because hey, it's almost 12 months (although, don't play this "almost" game with carseat rules, ok?). And your doctor's right, the true issue is lack of nutrients in cow's milk, namely iron. If you are still giving him those infant cereals, they are iron fortified. Regular cereals often are too. I've also heard some breastfed babies get iron suppliment drops if needed.
Many kids don't like certain kinds of formula and often that helps people go ahead and go for the milk too. I did have one friend who switched too soon and her daughter had a long lack-of-growth time and she thinks that's what caused it. (They did a lot of tests and never came up with anything). But the kid also never ate anything else. REALLY picky eater, lol.
Had another friend that stopped nursing at 9 months but wouldn't give her kid milk until 12 months, and didn't want to "get her hooked on formula" in the meantime. That lil' girl also suffered some slow-growth issues but eventually caught up again. They did give her lots of yogurt. That's a good thing to give if you feel like he's not taking enough milk feedings, it's good in addition to milk, not completely instead of it at this age.
We waited til 18 months for PB, I'd heard exactly what your doctor said-- that there's no proof that waiting longer than about a year makes any difference, but I decided to wait a little longer than a year but not the full 2 or 3 years, just go in between to hedge my bets. Plus there's the choking hazard aspect of it. but I was ready to go ahead and try it by 18 months, mostly I was sick of policing everyone else about what they fed my kid, haha!
It feels really good to have them start eating regular foods and whatever you are having. Makes things easier and shows that they're growing up well! Enjoy!