Three Months Old

Stats: At 12 weeks old, Matilda weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces (5th percentile).  She is filling out her 3 months clothes nicely.

Sleep: Matilda still only sleeps in her bouncer.  During the past week she's started napping in her room during the day, but she still sleeps in our room at night because it is easier for us.  She's slept through the night twice now (9.5 and 10.5 hours), although she usually wakes 2-3 times during the night.  Six to seven hour stretches aren't uncommon these days.

Eat: After 7 days of being back to work full-time, Matilda still refuses bottles.  Before you start offering suggestions of how to fix this, let me answer a few commonly asked questions.

Have you tried other bottles or nipples? Yes of course.  We refer to a cabinet in our kitchen as the bottle graveyard given how many we have tried and that have failed.

Oh ok.  But have you tried xyz bottle?  It is suppose to resemble the breast and mimic breastfeeding.  I'm guessing you haven't shopped for bottles lately, because nearly every bottle on the market claims to resemble the breast and mimic breastfeeding.  The bottle makers obviously didn't have Matilda in their product studies because she would have loudly explained how their bottles are nothing like the breast and "OMG get this bottle out of my face and give me a dang boob!"

Did you introduce the bottle before you went back to work? Yes, we've been trying to get her to take bottle since her first month.  We tried nearly everyday for weeks prior to me going back.

But did you have someone else try to give her the bottle?  I've heard if the mom is around the baby can smell milk and will only want to breastfeed.  I left the house for hours at a time while Jason tried to give her the bottle.

Have you tried different positions? Jason has walked around the house with her facing out, bounced on a bouncy ball, had her in her bouncer facing him, had her in the stroller, tried outside and inside, swaddled and not swaddled, and so forth.  Would you like him to pat his belly and rub his head while giving the bottle too?

What about the temperature of the milk?  Freshly pumped, cold, warmed, doesn't matter.

You could always try different methods of feeding.  What about cup feeding, syringe feeding, or spoon feeding?  Tried them all with no success. 

So, just to be clear, how does Matilda feel about bottles?

We'll continue trying to get her to eat from the bottle next week, but I imagine I'll be heading home on my lunch breaks to feed her for the foreseeable future.

Play/ Milestones: Matilda has perfected her smile this month.  At first she would only smile during diaper changes, but now we get spontaneous smiles all the time.

A few weeks ago she started wanting to sit up (with us supporting her).  Her neck strength is still a bit weak, so she bobbles around a lot.  We've really stepped up tummy time during the day.  She really hated it for the first two months, so we didn't force it, but now that she wants to sit up and look out all the time, she needs to improve her neck strength.  She even wants to face outward in the Bjorn carrier and sit up in her stroller (without the car seat attachment).

This month she has discovered her hands and loves to have them in her mouth.  She has also started noticing toys and book pages, and we're working on her grabbing things.  She can grab things if you set them on her, but she is still learning to reach out for them.  I sewed her a taggy blanket to help with this, which she seems to enjoy.

Hip Dysplasia/ Leg Update:  After four weeks in the rhino cruiser brace, she had a ultrasound to see if her leg was still dislocated.  Unfortunately it is.  She is set to have a closed reduction surgery once she's four months old next month.  The surgeon will cut a tendon and try to pop her bone into place.  If he feels it pop into place, he will put her in a spica cast and do an MRI to make sure it is in the right position and blood flow is good.  If he doesn't feel it pop in place, he won't do anything and she'll have an open reduction surgery when she is eight months old.  After whichever surgery is successful, she will be in the spica cast for 3 to 3.5 months, followed by a few more months in the rhino cruiser.  This isn't what we hoped for, but we're just happy that hip dysplasia is fixable.