4 Month Check Up

Sadly, this is the only picture
 I got at his appointment.

Luckily, Tillman has not been to the doctor since his two month check up in November.  He has been a pretty healthy boy!  Tillman hasn't had time to be sick because we've been on the "go" for the past two months, and he has been busy himself growing! 

At 4 months Tillman is

-14 lbs 4 ozs (37th percentile)

-25 inches long (54th percentile)

-Head size 16.25 inches (25th percentile)

-BMI of 16

I was glad to see his height became a little bit more average, and all of his stats have increased in the percentile rankings (especially his head size-it is up from the 3rd percentile!). 

Tillman got one vaccine (a combo shot), and he'll go back in two weeks to get the remaining 3 vaccines to complete his 4 month vaccine schedule.

We spent about 30 minutes with the PA going over questions and having her "take a look at" Tillman.  We were excited to find out that Tillman shows all the right signs to start food-rice cereal (holding his head up with good control and taking more than 32 ozs in a 24 hour period). We plan to start cereal this weekend, and by 6 months he will be able to have some fun fruits with it!

We also discussed sleeping.  She told us that he SHOULD be able to sleep through the night, and we SHOULD just let him cry it out....ugh!  Hard to hear (at the appointment and during the night last night...we did feed him once during the night).  Even though we explained when he wakes at night, he takes down a bottle and goes right back to bed (no play time involved), she said he should be fine until the morning, and he needs to sleep through the night.  BUT, she did follow up by saying "every child is different." We are going to try to see what works for us.  Having a long weekend (MLK holiday) may help us get through the "crying it out" stage if we choose that route.

Tillman is still pretty content with 3.5-4 ozs of milk at each feeding (I, the milk maid, am exclusively pumping...no formula yet for Tillman), although he should be taking 1/2 his weight, which is ~7ozs.  After getting home from the pediatrician visit, I did open a box of new bottle that had some 8 oz bottles and stage two nipples.  We gave him 6 ozs before going to bed, but during the night, he still took another 4ozs.  Tillman is funny when it comes to eating.  He is very good at "cleaning his plate" aka "taking down a full bottle," but don't ask him to go for "seconds."  Once the bottle is out of his mouth, he won't take anymore...he's done! 

I think if he can get down an 7-8 ozs bottle before bed, then I'll feel better about letting him "cry it out." 

We also chatted about "what should Tillman be doing now?"  She assured us that he was "normal." (I need to hear that.)  We did get confirmation that Tillman has been teething and he has a couple teeth under the gums.  It looks like he'll get teeth early.

She checked him out doing some "Tummy Time," and she said he does really well and looks "strong."  We asked if there was a suggested length of time we should do Tummy Time, but she didn't feel there was a set time to do it. 

She did ask if he was rolling over or intentionally grabbing at things.  We said "not yet."  So, that is what we will focus on.  He has rolled over, but it isn't intentional.

We are very glad to hear that Tillman is right on track!  Happy 4 Month Birthday, Tiny T!