Four Month MOT

Eddie had his four month checkup today. The doctor said he’s looking great! He’s got some very rough skin on his cheeks which we asked about, and she said it could be a sign that he’ll have very sensitive skin or eczema in the future. Other than that, no problems. His head has grown from 40th percentile to 65th, and he’s 17 lbs 3 oz and 25.5 inches long. Both of those figures are in the 70-80% range.

We talked about delaying solids till nine months, and after talking to her we are thinking to start at 6 or so months rather than nine. She said that babies who delay solids till 8 or 9 months often have trouble with the gagging reflex and dislike different food textures etc. She also advocated getting him lots of different flavours and spices: cinnamon, curry, garlic etc to expand his palate.

He got two of his four vaccinations (the other two will be next month), DTaP and Rotavirus. These were the second rounds. He was starting to whinge a bit because he was hungry but was immediately distracted by the rotavirus vaccine - he seems to love the taste! I wish I had been filming him because he made the funniest noise of sudden interest when it went into his mouth. The DTaP was less pleasant but he didn’t cry long at all, and after having a feed we headed back home. He doesn't seem to be reacting to the vaccines at all yet. Last time he was pretty sleepy, a bit cranky, and the rotavirus messed with his digestion a bit. It's too early for that last one yet, but he's been quite bubbly and energetic this evening so far. He appears to have completely forgotten the experience.

We go back at the end of August for the Prevnar and HiB vaccines, and then in mid-October for his six month checkup, though that will be closer to seven months.  At that point he'll get more vaccinations, and since HiB will be done by that point we may do all three (DTaP, Rotavirus and Prevnar) at once.