6 Month Checkup

Ok - so I'm a little behind. Cooper's six month checkup actually happened a month ago on July 17. It went great. He is now in the 25th percentile for weight and height and 30th for head circumference. His length is 25 7/8" and he weighs 16lb 4oz. Dr. Jen started him on solid foods at this visit. We were hoping she would because it seemed like the little guy was never full. Cooper had to get more vaccinations which I was really apprehensive about since he cried so much after the last set. But this time he did really well. He cried, of course, but stopped before the nurse even left the room.

We started the solid food the next day with rice cereal. He made some funny faces at first but after a couple bites he was holding his mouth open like a baby bird waiting for the next spoonful. We also were able to go off the Neosure Preemie formula and start plain old Similac Advance. We were looking forward to this because of the cost of the Neosure. Our formula budget has gone from $45/week to $28/week.

The first night of solid foods was a rough one. We don't know if it was the cereal or the new formula but Cooper barely slept the entire night. He was only consoled if he was held. I finally got him to fall asleep about 2:30 and then a thunderstorm woke us both up! Chris took over after that so I was able to get a few hours of sleep before work. The next week or so were also pretty rough. He was eating the cereal really well and was up to 4 tbsp twice a day within a few days but his sleep schedule was getting worse. Before the cereal he was sleeping 10-12 hours every night. After the cereal he started waking up hungry once or twice a night. Maybe it was a growth spurt but it was an unwelcome change. After a week or so things started settling down and we were back on track.