On Starting Solids (Take One)

I have been wanting to hold Kennedy off on starting solids until she was 6 months old. Breastfeeding is going amazingly well, and I hoped not to interrupt a good thing.

However, ever since 3 and a half months old her sleep has gotten a little more interrupted. Kennedy has been a great sleeper since birth. In fact, I had to wake her to feed since she was jaundiced and we needed to get it out of her system. Yeah yeah, you can all hate me. I had that newborn who was perfect.

Lately, however, I've noticed her sleep has become more adult-like, which is pretty much by the book. Infants at this age have a bit more trouble falling back asleep unassisted. She wants to wake up and nurse.

She started showing many of the signs of a baby who might need to start solids. Her pediatrician recommended a small amount of rice cereal mixed with lots of breastmilk to see if that will help her be less hungry through the night. She said it's not pressing, so just when I can't handle her night wakings anymore.

So, we tried it. I can't say that it helped her sleep more, but I'm not even sure if she ingested much. Meh. We gave her a good week or two and decided it wasn't really helping her sleep. In fact, she had more trouble getting to sleep. She does alright once she's asleep, waking once.

I about pulled my hair out reading all of my baby sleeping books and thinking I was doing something wrong. Greg and I made the decision to try again at 6 months because there's no reason to give her something on the premise that it will "help her sleep" when it actually doesn't. We haven't given her any solids for three days and she doesn't miss it. She wasn't ready, and that's okay.

At least it made for a funny video! I had Greg do the honors of giving her the first solid food since my boob did the first honors of her liquid diet. My sister and I are cheering her on (I realize we do sound alike).

Gosh, this child's facial expressions are priceless.




My baby is already a drama queen.