Today, Tyler went in to see Dr. Chu for his six month well-baby appointment. You know how much I love military medicine, so you can guess how I felt about going this morning.
The appointment started out much better than usual. The nurse, who we'd never had before, was so nice and so good with Ty. Usually, they never say anything except "undress him" and "put him on the table" and "he can have his diaper on again." Never very warm and fuzzy, to say the least.
As optimistic as I was feeling, I knew that wouldn't last long. Dr. Chu, nice as he is, is like a speeding bullet when he comes in the room. He might touch Tyler for all of 15 seconds and talk to me for about two minutes. It's ridiculous. He even seems to sigh when I tell him I have another question. I'm so sorry to impose on his day at work...
Before the appointment, Danny and I thought of several questions we wanted to ask the doctor, primarily about Ty's feeding routine now that he's six months old. At four months, I was eager to get going with some solids even though Dr. Chu said the American Pediatrics folks didn't recommend starting solids until six months (and, actually, I pretty much complied with this after I discovered what a mess it was). Since he's now six months, I was sure Dr. Chu would give me some very detailed hand-out and explanation for what I am supposed to be doing and not doing. Who am I kidding?
I know he has had a child, and I know he's a pediatrician who works with kids all the time. And, I know that new parents must be so annoying with all their questions. But, that's your job, doc. My job is to do the very best thing for my baby, and it's his job to guide me along the way. One day, I'm going to look him in the eye and say, "I did not go to medical school to be a pediatrician and this is my first attempt at child-rearing. Could you please talk to me and give me the information I need as if I were a complete and total idiot." He just needs to dumb it down and assume I know nothing. Because, really, I don't.
Basically, the only new thing I learned was that he can now eat stage 2 foods. I was asking very specific questions and getting very vague answers. I have learned more with internet research than I have at any of those stupid appointments. Clearly, I am frustrated.
If anyone has any six month old feeding tips and advice, let me know. He did recommend no baby food meat or whole dairy products until after nine months when the kidneys are better able to process proteins. Okay, so he did tell me something else I didn't know.
Most importantly, Tyler is very healthy and happy. He weighs 18 pounds and 14 ounces (75th percentile), is 27 inches long (75th percentile), and has a head circumference of 45.5 centimeters (90th percentile---there's a brilliant brain in there, I tell ya!). Dr. Chu said this is our last chance to baby-proof our house, so I guess I need to start working on that. Y'all tell me what products you really like because I don't have a clue about what I need. Except for outlet covers. I know those are important because I used to stick spoons in the sockets when I was little. And you wondered what was wrong with me...
Other than the doctor's appointment and a few errands, we had a relaxing kind of day. Tomorrow, we're off to the outlets! I can't wait to do some shopping!
This is not the way he was put in his crib. I left him to play independently for about 15 minutes, and when I came back to check on him, he'd done a complete tour of his bed!
4 comments:
My two cents (mostly from trial & error): We started Emily on veggies for the first month or two, because I chose to believe the people who said that if I started with sweet fruits, she'd never like veggies. I'm not sure if that's true, but it seemed to work. I'm pretty sure we started with orange things--sweet potatoes & carrots. I also chose to do the Wal-Mart whole wheat cereal, although I'm pretty sure I mixed it with regular rice cereal. They also sell whole wheat with strawberry/banana flavoring, which Em loved, but I know we did that later. I think I started giving it to her at dinner only, then slowly added in the other two meals. I never worried if she didn't have it (ie, if we were at church or something, making it inconvenient), because it's still not super-necessary. I also started giving her those puffs/stars. I know the packaging says they should be crawling or some such nonsense, but if you've ever eaten one, you'll know they're literally impossible to choke on. So, yeah, I started with cereal & veggies, one meal working up to three a day, adding in fruits after a month or so. It's probably not "right," but it worked for us--Em didn't die, and she even gained weight. Oh, and I made about half of her baby food (the half that I fed her at home, as opposed to the half I sent to daycare), which was pretty stinking easy. At least the veggies, anyway. I can give you some thoughts on that, too, if you want.
From memory, stage 2 is the same as stage 1...just larger portions. I think there's some new flavors/combinations too. But, when you give him something new, wait a few days to make sure he isn't allergic. After 2 days, you can introduce another new thing. And be careful with the wheat/oat stuff. Addison didn't have a problem with it, but Lucy broke out in a rash when she had any kind of oat stuff.
I think when you start teaching again, I would put Tyler on your insurance and take him to a non military doctor. I know military insurance is cheap, but you get what you pay for. I think a ped. is one of the most important doctors and Tyler (and you) deserve to have a doctor that doesn't rush you out of the door. For God's sake...it is their job!
This doctor pisses me off. I am not so sure how you haven't given them a piece of your mind already! I love Addie's ped...she is amazing and so patient with us.
It's not just the military. My old doctor (civilian) did the same thing with Hendley. I'd be willing to bet that you could go to 20 different doctors (military and/or civilian)and get 20 different opinions on how, when, and what to feed them. Same as asking moms - we all do things differently, and yet, surprisingly, our kids all turn out just lovely. Besides, you know your child much better than a doctor you see 6 times a year.
Every decision you've made so far has worked beautifully, and I have no doubt you will figure this one out too. Don't stress over this. Whatever you decide will be the right decision for your baby!
I'll just comment on how cute he is. It has been 25 and a half years since we worried about baby food. I will say this -- read the labels and get the most natural baby food you can.
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