Nine-Month Well Baby Visit
April 27, 2009 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under health of the baby
My little Nicole isn’t so little anymore as she topped the scales today at 20 pounds 6 ounces at her nine-month well baby visit! She is 28.5 inches long, which puts her pretty much in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.
Four baby teeth at nine months
Over the weekend she climbed the entire flight of stairs as I followed her right behind. It’s a new world and I definitely need to be extra vigilant now! She can stand unsupported for short periods of time, and seems poised to take her first steps. I am in no particular rush for that to happen, although both my older girls were actually easier to care for once they could walk and did not need to rely on me so much to get at the things that caught their fancy!
Breastfeeding continues to go well. She nurses as desired throughout the day and night. She naps 3-4 times per day — a catnapper as I said before — and wakes 3-4 times at night. I readily admit that I don’t enjoy getting up with her for even the minute it takes me to nurse her back to sleep, but we co-sleep and I fall back asleep quickly.
She enjoys solid food and eats a modified version of whatever the rest of us eat for each meal. Vegetables, fruit, beans, little bits of meat. She sits at the table with us, feeds herself, and makes a grand mess!
We follow a delayed and selective vaccination schedule based on The Vaccine Book
Anyone else with a baby around this age? How is everything going for you?
My little guy is 8.5 months. I’m curious to see how much he weighs, I guess we’ll find out at his well-baby visit in a couple of weeks. He is also a catnapper and nurses several times a night, but we also co-sleep and that makes it more manageable. Some mornings I wake up knowing I’ve been up a few times, but since I’m not waking up fully I don’t know exactly how many and I like it that way.
The big news around here is that while I was washing my hands my little guy pulled up to standing on the toilet and started playing in the water. I’d forgotten how much work these mobile babies can be!
Amber, my daughter has swished the toilet water too! We keep the lid closed now and she just pulls the toilet paper off the roll instead
My daughter had her 1 year checkup yesterday. She is still nursing 4-6 times a day and maybe 1 to 2 times at night. The doctor suggested that I nurse her less because children who nurse “a lot” after age 1 don’t grow right, and he also suggested that I start her on cow’s milk. Neither of these suggestions made sense to me. Just wondering what other people thought.
Thanks,
Angie
My daughter is now 8 months old and usually nurses 4-6 times/day and also a couple times at night…
But my problem has been getting her to eat babyfood (heck, ANY kind of food!) Is this normal?
The doc says it’s fine and just to start trying sone cheerios and see how she does then we can
Move to table food but she doesn’t care about the cheerios either…would rather throw ‘em in the floor
Than eat them. Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions?
i think our babies are 2 weeks apart. mine was born on july 4th. anyways mine has been sleeping alone in a crib since month 6 and topped co sleeping because it was tiring me out. she now doesnt wake up til 9 because i sleep trained her but she still breastfeeds all day (even as i type this..haha) and to go to be and in the morning when i put her to sleep in my bed. she has taken her own steps already but its because i put her in her room to do walking excersises everyday…and she talks in her won language and says small things like mama papa teta etc. i dont think she knows whet everything means yet but she muct have some idea. she does not catnap only maybe 1 or 2 times a day but maybe thats why she sleeps so well at night.
your fatso is gorgeous and i am happy to hear shes doing so well! i cant believe its almost going to be a year!!! can you?
oh about the food my mom told me to not give any meat til 12 months …what did you start her on? i wanted to make her a vegetarian but i am afraid i wont know any good recipes and get too lazy to cook and the poor child will be malnutritioned so i am keeping her on gerber for now.
any suggestions on meals? why dont you write up a blog with what you do for food…
AmberP, one of the great things about breastfeeding is that you do not need to worry so much about getting solid foods into your baby — the breast milk will provide complete nutrition up until a year. I agree with your doctor — put out a few finger foods like steamed bits of broccoli, avocado, sweet potato — things your daughter can grab for herself. Right now solids are more about socialization with others at the table, and experimentation with food (including throwing it!) than with nutrition. Keep it a positive experience and she will come around. Two things to consider — is it possible she has allergies (some kids seem to know what’s good for them and not!) Is it a texture issue? Experiment with different types of food. Pureed baby food might just be too mushy!
Tanya, we give my daughter little shredded bits of meat (beef or pork). I’d be happy to talk more about food in another post!
She’s precious Angela!