Thank you SO much. You answered a lot of the questions I had. I did hear that starting them early can lead to increased potential for developing allergies, and that is a huge concern of mine. I have always suffered from seasonal allergies (but not since getting pregnant - yeah!) and was allergic to dogs when I was younger - but now we have two dogs (hence my login name!) and I am so worried Jack will end up allergic to them like I was.
The more I read, though, the more research seems to point to the fact that being exposed to an allergin during infancy actually helps build up a resistance, and I'm sure BFing helps as well.
I am fine with the one or two night feedings - nights are sooo much better than they were just a few weeks ago. I actually feel like a human being again! It is nice to hear that what he's doing good - its hard not to feel pressure from what seems like so many moms talking about how young their babies were when they started sleeping through the night.
The ped actually did say last visit that Jack would probably not need solids until 6 months, but I didn't know if his current girth might change his mind
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And no rice cereal in the bottle - GOT IT!