I absolutely LOVE our pediatrician. Her name is Dr. Cathy Hoshauer, and she is a wealth of knowledge! She never makes us feel rushed, always goes into detail, and is always so excited to see Liam that you would think he is her only patient (or perhaps even her grandchild).
Today Liam is 4.5 months old, and we went to see this wonderful doctor for his 4-month check-up. Our little buddy did an excellent job getting his vaccinations. He took the needles in his thighs with great courage, not crying overly so and certainly not crying for very long. He took the oral medication easily and eagerly, as if it had tasted good (although we all knew it didn't). I am so proud of him!
Here's what we learned today:
1.
It’s too early to have Liam in the Jumparoo. Babies develop from the head down and
from the center of the body out toward the extremities. Therefore, more BELLY TIME is
needed. If Liam goes into the
Jumparoo at all, it should be only for 5 or 10 minutes a day. Oops!
2.
It’s fine if his bedtime is the same as ours,
which is a late 10:30 PM. Since
Liam doesn’t really begin his day until 9 AM and since he takes one, two, or
three 2-hour naps throughout the day, he’s getting all the sleep he needs, she says.
3.
Even though the peak of children being affected
by SIDS is during the 4th month of life, now is the time to
transition him into the crib in the Nursery, she said. If we wait until 6 months when he's developed the concept of object permanence, it will be much harder to leave and walk away from him. He'll know all too well that we're just in another room.
4.
In our pediatrician’s opinion, the cry-it-out
method of putting a child to sleep is useless. Michael and I already tried it for 1.5 hours recently and it
didn’t work for us, either.
5. Her advice is that we lower Liam into the crib at bedtime and at nap
time while he is groggy but not yet asleep. Let him hear that we’ve left the room. If he cries, go back and soothe him
every 5 minutes, even picking him up if necessary. In 3 days of doing this, he should learn how to fall asleep
on his own and know how to soothe himself.
6.
Cranberry and pineapple are only good at
PREVENTING urinary tract infections, not curing them. She’s never seen anyone overcome a UTI without the
assistance of an antibiotic. I
needn’t fear harming my breastfeeding child if I take an antibiotic. Very few things that I can consume, she
assured me, will negatively affect my son. Praise God!
