Mom vs. Doctor

I do not have a medical degree. I have never been to medical school nor have I ever studied pediatric medicine. I am however a mom. And sometimes I think being the mother of a child gives you more knowledge than any medical degree.

Despite medical recommendations I have done the unthinkable and started my 3 1/2 month old on solids. Yeah...the horror. I know.

Most doctors recommend not starting solid foods until a baby is at least 6 months old. They say 4 months is okay, but they prefer 6 months typically. However, for babies with reflux or colic many doctors recommend adding rice cereal to their bottle. So how much different is to feed them cereal on a spoon rather than a bottle?

Yesterday, Elly ate her usual 6 oz bottle first thing but she was still hungry. Instead of my usual tactic, making her two more ounces and risking some major spit up, I decided to see how she did with some oatmeal. Evie was still snoozing so I plopped Elly into Evie's high chair and made her a small bowl of super watery cereal and let her try it. She loved it! Sucked down about a dozen spoonfuls before she got full.

I warned my mom when I dropped the girls off, even though it had been several hours since Elly had eaten. She will spit up for hours after she's eaten sometimes. So I told my mom what I had done to prepare her for the spit up potential. When I picked the girls up last night I asked how everything had gone and to my surprise was told that Elly had done phenomenally all day. She hadn't spit up all day and she hadn't had any of her colicky crying jags like she usually has in the afternoons.

So maybe this cereal thing was a good idea after all? Well this is day two. So we will so if the good side effects continue or if it was a one-day-fluke. We did cereal again this morning and Evie cried when I put Elly in her high chair. I promised Evie it was temporary but that Sissy wanted to eat some oatmeal. Evie decided that was okay.

I went ahead and ordered Elly a full-blown high chair yesterday morning, since we were planning on starting solids in a couple of weeks anyways. Its only a little early but it just goes to show maybe doctors don't know everything. We started Evie on solids at 4 months, against our pediatrician's concerns. (Just a side note, we have changed pediatricians and this one recommends waiting only until Elly s 4 months old) And Evie has turned out fine. She's happy and healthy and doesn't seem to have any health concerns. Her eczema was around long before I started her on solids and Elly's skin started breaking out a couple of weeks ago too. so I don't think that has anything to do with solids.

I'm very excited about starting this new chapter in Elly's life. There are so many big changes in a baby's life in the first year and solids are one of the first. Next will be sitting up unassisted and finger foods, crawling, pulling up and walking. It's so exciting! I'm so looking forward to the day when I have 2 toddlers, crazy as it seems. But that day is creeping closer and closer. Solids are just one step.