Katie's Growth Update/ Weaning Update

A little late, but as promised, here is what we found out at Katie's one year well check. She is in the lowest possible percentile, less than 3%. She weighed 16 pounds 5 ounces, which was an increase of about 3 pounds in 3 months. She also grew in her height and head circumference. The doctor asked me try to increase her milk intake during the day to at least 18 ounces and to put either ovaltine or carnation instant breakfast in her milk, both of which I have done.

I was holding on to her last breastfeeding session, which was the middle of the night one. I was afraid that if I cut this out that she would lose out on some much needed fat and calories. I figured if she was still waking for it, she must need it. I was wrong. The doctor told me that she was perfectly capable of sleeping up to 12 hours at night and was most likely just using the night feeding for comfort. I swear, she heard and understood him. For the next two nights, she slept 11 hours straight and skipped the night feeding. Night 3 was a different story. She woke around 3 AM. At first I tried to let her cry it out(CIO). She did, but woke a few minutes later. Then I tried picking her up and rocking her for a bit and laying her back down. She would have none of that. I tried walking around the house with her, which kept her quiet, but I was exhausted. I was fully committed to cutting out her middle of the night feeding, but by 5:30 AM I couldn't take it anymore. I made her a cup of milk and sat down to let her drink it. By this time, everyone else in the house was up too. We put in a movie and put some blankets on the floor to lay down. Katie and I laid on the couch and she finally went back to sleep at 6:30. It was NOT fun, especially when I had to get up a couple hours later and go serve in the nursery at church. Needless to say, I skipped the shower that morning and opted for a little extra sleep.

This has happened two times since then, but most nights she will sleep 11 hours. The first time it happened I tried CIO first, then went straight to the milk. After drinking about 4 ounces, I went through our lay down routine and she went back to sleep for the rest of the night. Last night I let her CIO and she made it through the rest of the night. So, Katie is fully weaned from breastfeeding and if it weren't for the puppy that I talked my husband into getting, I would be sleeping through the night most nights.

As for Katie's growth, her doctor and I are happy with her progress for now and will continue to keep an eye on her. As long as she is eating good and grows proportionally, there really are no real concerns.

Eat, awake, sleep

Eat, awake, sleep refers to the pattern I have followed since Katie was a couple weeks old when referring to her daytime routine. It has helped make her day predictable and helped me fit in time to focus on my other kids and have some "me" time. I did NOT come up with this at all. Two books that I used as reference for this pattern are "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo and "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. I will be happy to share my thoughts on this subject but you can refer to the above books for much more detail and explanation.

Basically it is recommended that you implement this pattern when your baby is one week old. Before then, feed on demand focusing on keeping your baby awake during feedings. This is VERY important. At one week of age, begin by making sure your baby has a full feeding, also very important. If you have trouble keeping your baby awake during the feeding, I found that it helped to change Katie's diaper mid feed. The next step after eating is wake time. This can encompass any number of activities such as: bath time, floor time, tummy time, bouncy seat, swing, really anything. When Katie was young, her wake time was only 45 minutes. This time gradually increased as she got older and is now 2 1/2 hours at 11 months.

The last step in the pattern is sleep. Like Erika mentioned in her post about swaddling, setting a routine to let your baby know that it is time to sleep is very helpful. When Katie was 5 months old and younger our routine consisted of swaddling, picking her up and rocking her side to side to sing a song, and then I would lay her down, say goodnight and leave the room. Now I follow the same pattern minus the swaddling. The next part was hard to begin with and is not really an issue now. Jake and I chose to let Katie cry it out(CIO). In the beginning it was very difficult, but I knew it was best for our family that I teach Katie to sooth herself to sleep. I would cry right along with her most times in the beginning. I questioned our decision many many times. I'm glad I did not give up though. For the most part, Katie wouldn't cry longer than 15 minutes before falling asleep. For a while though, she would wake a few times during her nap and CIO all over again. The key was that I knew when I fed her and when to begin the pattern all over again.

Until 5 months of age, Katie's pattern would restart itself every 3 hours. If she ate at 7, I knew to get her up from her nap at 10. Even if she was sound asleep, I would wake her up to feed her. Then she would have her wake time and then I would lay her down at the appropriate time to finish out the pattern. Soon, she came to expect this pattern and even looked happy when I laid her down for her nap. Being swaddled and in her bed was a happy safe place for her. There are still times that she cries when I lay her down, but I know that if her belly is full and her diaper is clean when I lay her down that I am doing what she needs by letting her blow off some steam before she sleeps. I mentioned above that Katie was in a 3 hour pattern until she was 5 months old. At that time, I transitioned her to a 4 hour pattern and she still follows it now at 11 months.

Final thought. If you are not comfortable with CIO, the baby whisperer book has some great techniques to teach your baby to sooth itself to sleep without using CIO.