Usually I don't give my kids anything other than breast milk until they are about 10 or 11 months old. I will start giving them tastes of foods and allow them to very slowly adjust to the new foods they are introduced to. Then at around a year I will start giving them actual meals made from the food I make for our normal meals, I'm not a big baby food fan, blah!
Today I was getting lunch ready for Ethan and Lauren and trying to get diner going in the crock pot, too. Lily wasn't happy about it and wanted all my attention; obviously she's emotionally scared for life from yesterdays grocery store incident. So, I was looking around for something new to distract her with and my traitorous eye fell on the Nilla Wafers. Hmmm, I wonder.....
Anyway, yes,I gave my 6 month old a Nilla Wafer, and suddenly I had the happiest most intrigued baby alive.
She was so into it that when she dropped the cookie into her lap and couldn't get it back up, all h@#! broke loose. Luckily I was able to retrieve the cookie and get it back into her furiously grasping hands in time. Phew! My angel baby turned into a monster for about 5 whole seconds there. Out the window go all my most treasured mothering ideals...
This reminds me of Lily's 4 months check up with her doctor, this is going to make me sound like such a hypocrite. First off, I like doctors so if this comes off as me thinking they are useless, that's not the case, they just don't make much sense sometimes. And these aren't exactly what we said or how it came off, but basically, this is how the conversation went.
Doctor:"Do you exclusively Breastfeed her?"
Me:"Yes."
doc:"I want you to start feeding her rice cereal for iron."
me:"Why, she's only 4 months old and will just spit it out with her tongue."
doc:"Children who only breast feed don't get enough iron."
me:"I had Lauren and Ethan's iron levels checked when I was EBF(exclusively breast feeding) them and their levels were perfect."
doc:"Well, there is no real test to see how iron levels are so that was probably incorrect."
Me:"Oh, then how do you know that EBF children are not getting enough iron then."
doc:"Well, in a large scale test done on children who's mothers breast fed them, a small percentage of the children showed lower testing scores."
me:"Were the diets of the mothers taken into consideration?"
doc:"Not that I know of."
me:"Oh, hmmm, so based on a small percentage of children from women with unknown diets, you want me to force feed my infant something that may or may not help her?"
doc:"Just to be safe, yes."
me:"But the iron in baby cereal is harder for their bodies to absorb, right?"
doc:"Yes, but she will absorb a little bit."
me:"And the iron that she gets from my milk absorbs really well?"
doc:"Yes, she will absorb most of it, but I want the supplement from the cereal added as well."
(mental note of what I was thinking at this point, so he wants me to give her less milk that we KNOW she absorbs most of the iron from to give her some filler crap in cereal form that her body has a hard time digesting AND from which it's hard for her body to absorb the iron??? What the crap???)
me:"I'm always a bit concerned about introducing foods at young ages since it's hard on their systems to process anything other than breast milk. I prefer to wait until they are older and their bodies don't have such a hard time digesting solid foods."
doc:"How about an iron supplement in liquid form?"
me:"Will it cause constipation or irritation?"
doc:"I doubt it, but you can see after you start it."
me:"Perfect, I have no problems with that."
5 comments:
Basically I have a hard time believing anything. It seems once a study is "proven" in 10 years it is disproved. I think most times mothers know best and can do as they please. (now I said MOST times..there are many cases in which mothers shouldn't do what they did...but same with doctors...so we are even)
I like doctors too. But sometimes I think they say things without anything to back them up...just like mothers. I guess we are all the same;)
I think you are too hard on yourself. You are such a good mom.
Now let's remember that you wouldn't be a bad mom for giving her crackers or anything else for that matter. Look at all the kids that are just fine. Maybe keep in mind that they are improving their fine motor skills at an age that is appropriate to start. And the whole Doctor thing, do what you want, but most pediatricians are there to be helpful and give insight through suggestion. Suggestion can be taken or not it is up to you.
Don't be too hard on yourself. I think that you go above and beyond with your kids and it's good that you're conscientious of what your kids need at each age. Most people just do what they're told without being aware of why.
I'm glad Lilly was okay when you went back for her. I can't think of a single mother who hasn't done something absentmindly that they feel guilty about later. I call it "mommy brain" and you're allowed one mistake. The hardest thing about those mistakes for me was that Nate was always so happy and perfect and somehow that made me feel even worse.
Can I ask you who your Dr. is? I know most of the doctors in Nampa since my dad is one. I bet I know who it is.
My dad's name is Harold Kunz. He used to do obstetrics and pediatrics but in the last five years has only done family practice. I think he still sees kids but it isn't a major part of his practice. He is one of the partners at Saltzer Medical Group on 12th next to the Rec Center.
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