Cereal and Solid Foods

           So you are probably wondering when you start to transition your little dumpling to the wonderful world of cereal and mushy baby food. You do not want to rush it to soon because it can actually cause your child to develop allergies if you start cereal too soon. I know a few of my friends started putting cereal into their babies bottles around 2 and a half months so they would start to sleep through the night but the truth is you should really wait until they are about four months to introduce cereal. You should start to feed them a small bowl everyday at the same time. So for instance when your baby gets up in the morning give them their regular bottle or breast feed as normal. The second meal or the next time your baby usually wants to eat you should give them the cereal. So this means it’s time to put together that high chair. This will also help your baby learn to sit by starting them off as a supported sitter. Now this is the same time that you can start to put cereal in the last bottle of the night well if you are bottle feeding at this point. You will have to cut one of the tops of the bottles just a little bit bigger so that the cereal does not get stuck. This will help keep your little one full and hopefully it will keep them asleep all night. You should keep this routine up from ages 4-6 months.

http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/847805/beyond-baby-food

             Around 6 months you will have the babies 6 month check up and your doctor will most likely give you the go ahead to start your baby on solid foods so now you will have to stock up on all those little jars of mushy food. There are a few signs to look for that will also let you know your little one is ready for solids. The first is head control you want to make sure they can keep their head steady in an upright position. The loss of the extrusion reflex is another sign. This means your baby will stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth. Sitting with support is another sign even if they cannot do it on their own as long as they can hold themselves up straight with support they are good to go. If you baby looks like they are immatating you chewing that means they will be able to move food around there mouth and then swallow it.  Last if you baby seems to be getting a bigger appetite meaning they are eating 8-10 bottles a day then you know they are ready for a change in their diet. 

                                 http://www.euphoriababy.com/blog/tag/baby-food/

           The best thing to do is start off with vegetables because if you try fruit first they will love it because it is so sweet and it will be harder to get them to eat the veggies after that. Another great tip I learned is when you are first introducing each veggie and fruit be sure to give them the same kind for three days straight. This way if your baby has an allergic reaction you will know which one caused it.

Getting baby on a sleep schedule

Between months 4 and 6 your baby will be capable of sleeping through the night but don’t be upset if they still wake up once or twice. If they do sleep through the night it can be around 8-12 hours. This way you can finally get some sleep after dealing with all those sleepless nights in the beginning. It can be very frustrating if your baby still wakes up a few times but they have their reasons. Your baby might just want some cuddle time with you or they may be trying to learn how to sit up and rolls over that they even do so while they are sleeping which can wake them up. Around 6 months you should try to get your baby on a regular nap and night time sleep schedule. You can tell when your baby is getting sleepy when they start to tug on their ear, rub their eyes etc. Try and get a schedule going that flows with your life style as much as possible. Pick a set name time or numerous nap times depending upon how long your little one stays asleep.

 My baby just turned 6 months old so we are starting to get a routine down. I can tell I will have a difficult time with it because one day he will take two or three 15 minute naps then the next day he will take a three hour one. His bed times are always different sometimes it is between 8-9pm other days its 10:30-11pm. I swear sometimes he knows when it is the weekend because he tends to stay up later on Friday and Saturday nights. What I am trying to do and what everyone should do at night I develop a routine that you do right before bedtime so your little one will know it is time for bed. I always give him a bath right before bed, but you could also read a bed time story or sing the baby a song, then end it with a kiss goodnight. Try to do things in the same order at the same time every night to get the routine down pact.

Some parents even resort to the cry it out method after a long period of trying to get a routine down does not work. This is not easy especially for those who really cannot stand to her their little bundle upset. You have to put them in their room every night at the same time. Let them cry it out for 5 minutes if they do not stop go in rub their tummy and speak softly tell them it is okay. Every night you should extend the time period by 5 minutes so 10 minutes then 15 minutes and so on. Eventually your baby will get the hint and they will just know it is time for bed.  It is not going to happen right away but just be patient it will happen eventually.

                                                             Pictures are of my baby boy :)