In my last post I mentioned Magnus had started going in and out of nursing strikes starting at around 7 months. Some days he would cry and fuss and not want to nurse at all. I didn't know what to do because Axel didn't do this until he was 10 months. I think a couple of things caused this, which led to a perfect storm nursing strike:
1. He started solids
2. He started crawling
3. He had 6 teeth that started pushing through
I didn't pay too much attention to his nursing strike. I just did the best I could by feeding him well and trying to get him to nurse as often as I could. However, during his 9 month checkup, he had only gained 1/2 pound from his 6 month checkup. The Doctor said I needed to try to get his weight back up, because that was a significant lull in his weight growth. His height was fine. I realized that, with the second child, you don't plan their food as perfectly as you can with the first. With Axel, I made sure he had every food group, every vitamin, every source of fat and protein he needed. The only thing I had to do all day was make sure he ate well and slept well. With Magnus, I just didn't have 100% of my time to devote to this. Plus, as soon as he could crawl he didn't stop moving, so I guess any calories I gave him he quickly burned up. I gave him whatever I cooked, which was good homemade food, but I wasn't focusing on iron rich or fatty foods, and I wasn't focusing at all on how much he was nursing.
So after feeling incredibly guilty after the Doctor's visit, I started to pay more attention to how much milk he was drinking, and what and how much he was eating. Some days were pretty stressful because all I was doing was trying to get him to nurse, take a bottle, or eat fatty foods, all with the goal of getting his weight back up. I tried everything. I fed him a pretty steady diet of avocado, egg yolks, cheese, 10% Greek yogurt, steel cut oats, salmon, and meats, in addition to other veggies and fruits on the side. He wouldn't take formula, so that was out. But I pumped bottles and fed him as he was crawling or cruising, and I kept the nursery super dark and quiet while nursing. If he wanted to nurse, I nursed him, if he wanted a bottle instead, I always had a bottle on the side table just in case he preferred that. I made sure he wasn't overfed on food so he'd want to drink his milk. I tried combinations of these things, and ultimately, I got him back to nursing 24 ounces a day (before he was drinking maybe 15 ounces a day), and eating three solid meals. When I took him to his weight check at 10 months, he had gained 2 lbs!! The Doctor and I were so happy. That was a lot of work and so stressful.
So here are his stats:
6 months: 19.4 lbs (8.8 kg)
9 months: 19.9 lbs (9.04 kg), 29.5" (75 cm) long, 18.5" (47 cm) head
10 months: 21.8 lbs (9.87 kg)
I think he is very similar to Axel in that he is just a super active, social baby. Nursing is boring, sitting still and drinking a bottle is boring. So I'm pretty sure we'll be done with nursing by the time he hits 1 year. I still have to make sure he drinks enough breastmilk each day and eats a good variety of healthy fatty foods. It's a lot more work than it was with Axel at this age. Axel ate and drank everything! Granted, he also weaned himself at 10 months because he too couldn't be bothered to sit and nurse.
Magnus is now 11 months, and is cruising all over the place. He loves to walk while pushing his little baby walker. I think he feels very proud that he can do it, since he is usually smiling and laughing the whole time. One thing about him that completely amazes us, is that he listens to us when we say "No". We didn't know that was possible! For example, he knows he is not supposed to play with Leia's water bowl, so he'll crawl up to it, then touch it, then look at us for approval. When we shake our heads and say "no, Moosie", he will smile, and also shake his head no. He learned how to shake his head "no" at 10 months. He also does this when he is done with his food, is done with his bottle, or doesn't want something. He loves playing on the piano, and adores Axel.
He is on a two nap schedule now. We gave up the third nap because it was unrealistic with school pickup anyways. So his current schedule looks like this;
7:00 Wake up
9:00 First nap
1:00 Second Nap
5:15 Bedtime
He will still sleep from 5:15 pm until 6:30 or 7:00 am the next morning.
As I mentioned previously, when he was 9 months, he started teething. Because of this, he started waking up every 3 hours crying and had to nurse back to sleep. This was not convenient while he was already on a stressful nursing strike! And it felt like we had a newborn again. And since we are such smart parents, we also took him on two trips to the U.S. during this time. We were tired. He finally quit waking up every three hours to nurse once he hit 10 months, at which time he finally started sleeping the entire night without waking up. Yay!! BUT THEN, those six teeth decided to start cutting through all at once, isn't that so great?? This teething business has hit him (and us) hard. So for the past several days, he's had a high fever (103), won't eat, slept a couple of nights and naps in my arms in the rocking chair, and is grumpy in general. But we're starting to see the light. The fevers have stopped, and he is starting to eat a little during the day. His favorite food is by far avocado. He usually also loves his morning oatmeal, but right now, he will only eat avocado.
Axel is in a really fun age where he is equipping himself with quite the sense of humor. He keeps us laughing, and even covering my eyes and ears with his inappropriate and gross boy humor. His first loves are club soccer and skiing, and he also plays hockey and preseason club baseball practice has just started up. His best memory from this school year has been almost winning the western Toronto cross country meet. He took off like a flash but got passed in the last seconds. He was very happy to place second out of hundreds of kids. His favorite subject in school is math, and he loves art and writing stories. If he could choose, he'd play video games every day, but we are "mean" parents and have decided to only let him play video games on Saturday mornings, which works well for us. He still sleeps from 7 pm - 6:30 am. Some mornings he will wake up at 5:30 and start rummaging through the kitchen looking for food and making himself a peanut butter sandwich. Then I'll force him to go back to bed until at least 6:30. I don't know how he survives waking up so early!
I am turning 40 this year! I have two fun trips planned. I am meeting one of my favorite partners in crime in Reyjavik, Iceland, in February for some glacier hiking/hot springs bathing/whale blubber eating adventures. And Johan and I are going to Greece with some friends in July. I am excited. I feel good turning 40. I say that now, while I'm still 39. And FYI, I will be 39 until February 23rd, 11:59:59 pm, and don't you dare tell me otherwise.
Johan is an incredible Dad. He loves spending time with me and the boys, and often takes Axel to play shinny (hockey) at the local outdoor rink. Sometimes Magnus and I walk over and join them. I attempt to play, and Magnus watches, bundled up all cozy and warm in his stroller (that comment is for you, Mom. Baby is WARM AND BUNDLED, I said).
So that is life summed up for us. Happy 2019!
