I can't believe I actually have a moment to blog. Monkey is having a nap, and we are waiting for a fitter to arrive and lay a new carpet in the lounge. This will mean that Monkey has free rein to venture around in this almost-crawling stage. At the moment we have a duvet spread on the floor but she always ends up on the cold, hard wooden floor. I don't think it will be long before we see crawling-proper, yesterday she was scooting along backwards. I really feel that she is moving away from being a Little Baby. The mop of hair makes her look like a little girl anyway, and I held a friend's new baby last week which reiterated to me that what we now have is certainly no longer a newborn. I had a little weep in Starbucks at the weekend because she was sitting on the couch holding her beaker of juice all by herself (see photo) and eating soft cheese from a breadstick!
Those of you who know me from any of the forums I visit might have seen my messages last week about weaning and breastfeeding. Very briefly, I'd been concerned that babe had cut down her breastfeeds far too much, and that we were filling her with solids that haven't so far had any impact on her weight. I was also raging at the health visitor who told me I should try not to feed her at night because she was 'filling up' at night and not therefore able to eat enough during the day. This is, to be frank, b*llshit. As someone rightly pointed out, if that were the case, breakfast wouldn't be her favourite meal (which it is). I can't believe that I have a HV who doesn't seem to be supportive of on-demand breastfeeding. She is ONLY 7.5 months old, for goodness sake, and she is small and therefore, I presume, in possession of a small tummy which probably doesn't hold enough to keep her going all night. Apart from pure fats/ oils and avocado, breastmilk is the most calorie-dense thing she can have! Anyway, we are still giving her solids but I have cut back slightly during the day by giving her finger foods at lunchtime rather than stuffing her with mush. She still has a puree in the evening and perhaps a yogurt at some point during the day. She has correspondingly increased her mummy-milk feeds, and still just having the one feed at night. I'm happy with that, we'll just have to see what she weighs in at on Friday.
What else is happening? I've just finished Week One at Slimming Word, and was happy with a 5lb loss. It is a lot for one week, I know, but it was the first week and it always levels out a bit after that. I should stress that I am still eating A LOT of food, just healthier, and cooking most things from scratch. I've also finished my latest knitting project, mittens, and sent them off to their new home. I am very excited about my next project, babylegs for the Monkey. The yarn arrived today, along with some double-pointed needles (yikes!). I can't wait to get started, just need to watch a few tutorials on YouTube and get the hang of the new method. I think that I'm going to try this pattern, will blog my progress as it happens!
Oh, and here's Monkey in a Basket v2, and v1 for those who haven't seen the first pic (not sure if I ever blogged it). I think the first photo was taken in August when she was 3 months old.
8 comments:
All that hair is at THREE months?! omg, that was like me at that age. But my LO is a baldy, lol
Lo is almost 9mths and isn't crawling and isn't inetrested in solids. She's sharp as a tack cognitively, but physically she doesn't seem to be in any hurry. But with cold floors like you, I'm looking at the positives of that right now. lol I think she's just going to get up and walk one day.
It's so annoying how many HV are so clueless and unsupporting.
I understand those little cries at the too-fast-growing. *sigh*
My back was already up having had a discussion with a very distressed Mummy at my breastfeeding support group about weight. As long as your baby is eating and sleeping, has wet nappies and is alert when awake then don't weight them. The charts are intended for bottle fed babies who just go up and up and up in weight (hence the cause of most obese children) you can ask for a breast fed baby weight chart or do as I did and not get them weighed. You know yourself that she is ok and just go with how you feel. Mothers are not as stupid as some healthcare 'professionals' would have us believe. After my first child being very under weight and a poor weaner I decided not to interfere with the others and play by ear. They are only weighed at major developmental checks and before innoculations.
You don't have to weigh monkey on friday, it's not the law!!
Big hugs, xxx
Mmm - totally agree re health visitor. Trout, clearly. Also, 7.5 months? Hardly knocking on for stopping feeding, is it? The witchling is just the same age, as it happens; we're doing the baby-led weaning thing, and she's not really eating enough yet for it to have had much effect on feeds, I don't think. Surely, as you so very rightly say, breastfeeding is the best thing you could be doing for Monkey, if she is little? The witchling is quite dinky too, incidentally, though you wouldn't think it, if you saw the enthusiasm with which she stuffs carrot into her mouth. :)
All of which is a rambling way of saying I agree.
Ahem.
Oh, and I knitted the witchling some babylegs as her Christmas present - my first circular knitting endeavour, and done without a pattern. It's actually quite easy once you get the hang of it, honestly, and very smug-making when you get things like ribbing sorted. Hope it goes well. :)
Thanks guys. The weighing is more for my curiosity than for the HV, but I know I don't *have* to go. Now I'm thinking about declining the 8 month developmental check...has anyone else done this? Would there be 'implications' if I don't go?
Ack she is just the cutest thing! I hope you don't get bored of people telling you how darn pretty she is...
I have a lovely HV and the 8 month thing has been a none issue, but in short if you refuse it there's nothing they can do about it. Jenna cut down feeds a LOT when she was getting mobile, down to two feeds a day and none at night, but she kept those two up for well over a year. (hug)
I have to concur she is the cutest little thing - the mop of hair is gorgeous!
I noticed when i registered at my new gp that on the form there is a little tick box asking where I agree to my child having the checks. Just thought I'd mention that.
I wasn't even offered an 8 month check, where I lived before they did a 3 or 4 month check I think and then don't bother again until 2 1/2 years!!! HV said to me it's because the parents know the child best and assessing babies is very difficult really... best to let the parents flag any development issues.
Hi. Just found your blog and wanted to say that I had an awful experience with my HV too regarding breastfeeding.
At 5 months I took her to be weighed and told them that she was becoming unsettled at night (previously slept very well though not all through - like many breastfed babies who love night time cuddles!!).. the HV tried to tell me that I wasn't nourishing her enough with my breastmilk and she was waking as she was hungry.
'Yes I know', says me, (she's my 3rd so I'd experienced it before) 'I'm going to start her on baby rice'.
HV tells me under no circumstances should I feed her anything solid as she is too young and it will damage her tummy (yet it was fine at that age for my eldest?!) and instead should start giving her formula milk 'to fill her up so that she will sleep'
I never went back LOL - she was the most clueless HV ever - aren't they supposed to push us to do exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months - and mine was telling me not too??
And we don't get anything after the 8 months check - just a questionnaire... useless!!
Your little monkey is gorgeous.
mine are little monkeys too..... www.rljbk.blogspot.com
Rachel
Oh and mine is dinky too - that's how BF babies are and it can be so easy for HVs to bully you into thinking that you are not feeding them enough 'cos they are little, and you then end up bottle feeding.
Luckily my first was chunky so I knew that BF was feeding them just fine :)
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