Aidyn's Eating Plan

Well, this maybe actually should be entitled "My Plan for Sleep".

Aidyn is 15 weeks old and still not sleeping through the night. The lactation consultant at our pediatrician's office, Gloria, said to contact her if Aidyn was was not sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. Well, everyone I talked to said that switching to formula should help because it takes longer to digest formula. Maybe for some kids...but not Aidyn. I decided to wait instead of calling her, but he continued getting up every 3 hours during the night.

At Aidyn's 2 month appointment, Gloria had told us that instead of starting with rice cereal, she likes for parents to start with avocado. I forget the exact reasoning, but I remember Ben and I discussing later how it made sense. I have also talked to many parents that did the same and it worked.

I decided I was going to call her last Friday. Wouldn't you know that Thursday night Aidyn slept 5 1/2 hours. He must've known I was calling. I still did and left her a message. Since she had been out of the office for a week, I figured she would be swamped with messages and breastfeeding issues. She must have been, but she finally called me back this afternoon.

Here is our plan for Aidyn:
Step 1
Increase his 4oz bottles to 6oz and get him to eat as much as possible for 3-4 days.
Aidyn has been eating 4 oz since he was 2 months old. I kept thinking he should be increasing his intake, so I increased his bottles to 5-6oz. I explained this to Gloria and told her that he sucks the 4oz bottles dry in no time, but when I increased them...he wouldn't eat hardly any more. I felt like I was wasting the formula after trying that for several days and having to pour it out, so I went back to 4oz bottles. She said that it is possible that with his reflux, he is more comfortable eating smaller, more frequent meals. This is why he is still waking up at night to eat. If we can get him to eat more during the day, he should stop waking up at night.
Step 2
Instead of giving Aidyn his reflux meds (1 prevacid tablet) in the mornings, start giving it to him in the evenings between 5pm-7pm. She thinks that the meds may be wearing off and that is causing him to wake him in the middle of the night. Many times he will wake up but won't want to eat and this could be why.
Step 3
If eating more (if he hopefully will) and changing the meds time doesn't work, we will start adding the avocado. We will try this for 3-4 days.
Step 4
If Aidyn STILL isn't sleeping through the night at this point, she wants his dr to see him again. With his continual weight gain, Gloria thinks that Aidyn is not getting enough of the meds anymore. She said if the pediatrician won't increase the dosage, she recommends seeing a pediatric gastro-specialist to get a 2nd opinion. She said that many times the specialists will give higher dosages or a more specfic meds.

Today is Tuesday, May 12th. Aidyn is already scheduled to go back for his 4 month check-up and shots on Wednesday, May 27th...2 weeks from now. If he is not sleeping through the night by that point, I will ask to speak with Gloria at his appointment and see what she recommends.

I hope the increased bottles and change of time of the meds will work. I really don't want to have to go visit a gastro-specialist. But...maybe the dosage is the issue. Just like with adults, the amount of meds you take most of the time depends on your weight. And, as Aidyn continues to grow, his dosage amount will also have to increase if we want it to work effectively.

After talking with Gloria, I increased Aidyn's 2:00pm bottle to 6oz. He hate 5oz, so I figure that a start.