Noah came after two days of labour and after induction. He was born on his due date with no complications, and in hospital. He had a tongue tie which was detected a few days later by the Health visitor and he had it cut in Portland Hospital. He weighed 3.4kgs.
Noah latched on immediately however I did seek help from a lactation consultant because he was cluster feeding and I wasn’t sure if he was eating properly. I breast fed for 7 months and then it was formula milk.
There are issues such as reflux. He isn’t talking yet and is currently receiving speech therapy. He has mild hypermobility and also has some sensory issues, e.g. coordination and movement. He currently sees an Occupational Therapist for his sensory/movement issues.
He has no food intolerances however he is a very picky eater. At 6 months, he ate everything and enjoyed food up until 18 months old. Then, he became fussy and gradually resulted in liking 5 main meal choices only and he doesn’t like trying new foods. He also doesn’t like the texture of some foods like fruit.
He only eats porridge (with fruit puree inside and nut butters), pancakes, spaghetti Bolognese (meat sauce), spaghetti in a pesto sauce, pizza, cereal and toast. In fruit, he only eats banana as a whole. He doesn’t like eating other fruit unless they are pureed into his yoghurt or porridge. I put vegetables into his foods, but he doesn’t eat vegetables as whole, e.g. carrot sticks.
We recently saw a feeding specialist who said that he may have some sensory issues around his eating but we are trying to figure it out at the moment.
Wakeup – 4.30 – 4.50am. Noah stays in bed until 5.45am and then we take him out and take him to the living room.
Breakfast – 7.30am – cereal and toast, or porridge. He likes to do something else while he eats, e.g. a puzzle or read a book. Often I have to feed him in pieces as he doesn’t have much interest in food.
School start – 8.30am. He likes school and happily goes in.
Snack – 10.30 (yoghurt or banana)
Lunch – 11.30 (pancakes, croissant and a dessert). At nursery, he eats himself with utensils.
Pickup – 2.30pm
Snack – 3pm (yoghurt with fruit, toast, muffin, or cereal)
Dinner – 5.30-5.45 (pizza, spaghetti, porridge). This is fed by one of us.
Bath – 6.30pm. Noah enjoys his bath and doesn’t mind his hair being washed.
Story time – 7.15pm
Bedtime – 7.45pm (he goes into the cot and we leave the room)
Noah sometimes sleeps from 7.45 to 4.45am straight without any wakenings, or he will wake up in the night and stay awake for 2 hours. He stays in his cot calmly and isn’t distressed. If he wakes in the night, then he will wake up at 6am instead. When he wakes up at 4.45am, he is wide awake and ready to play. He calls out, babbles, and stands up in his cot.
There isn’t any co-sleeping in the night, however occasionally when he wakes up very early at 4.45am, we bring him into our bed to try and stay in bed longer. In the last few weeks we have stopped doing this. Noah doesn’t need any sleep aids. He goes into his cot happily and falls asleep very quickly. He likes to sleep on and across his pillow in a ball shape which makes it quite cramped. We cut out his nap a few weeks ago and because he wakes up so early, he is very exhausted from 5pm onwards. He finds it hard to stay awake but we manage till 7.45pm.
No issues
We would like Noah to sleep through the night in his cot, and sleep till at least 6.30/7am. At the moment, he wakes up too early and then is tired in the day. From a young age, he would sleep 10 hours without waking, and last winter, he was sleeping from 7.30pm until 5.30 or 6am. Since March, he has been waking up even earlier (between 4.30-4.45am).
We would like him to also learn to self settle more quickly. Right now, when he wakes up in the night he stays awake for 2 hours and then goes back to sleep.
Food – how do we know if he has eaten enough, especially at dinner time so it isn’t the reason why he wakes up?
Food – he has no interest in food and therefore doesn’t try new things. Is there a way to encourage trying new foods?
Room – he has quite a big room with all his toys. Do you think this is a distraction and could cause him to wake up and not go back to sleep?
Melatonin – is sleep related to how much melatonin you have and could this be an issue?
