Before we left for Germany, Isaac was sleeping 8 to 10 hours straight at 6 months old. It was heaven. However, when we moved from the US to Germany his sleep became a nightmare. Turns out the reason why Isaac was restless and screaming in the middle of the night - was due to ALLERGIES. I wish it didn't take us 3 months to figure that out. But once we did, he has started to sleep again.
Our move to Germany coincided with feeding him his first solid foods. We discovered through trial and error that he is allergic to carrots, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, and dairy. We had his blood tested here and he tested at a 12 and normally babies test around 2 or 3 (don't ask me what the units were - I have no idea - the discussion was all in German).
It has been about a month since my trip to the US and I am mostly "recovered" from my initial baby food struggles here in Germany. Thanks to many supportive Facebook friends, Katherine, and Amazon.de - we now have glass jars for storing food and a Soft Flask for travelling (Soft Flask tip - for baby food you can take off the bite valve nipple and it is just like the pouches above). This has made feeding him as we are touring around Germany so much easier. I am making my own baby food and have been able to find organic vegetables like broccoli, peas, spinach, and green beans in the frozen food section. Once we finally move into our house, we will have a freezer and I can make baby food and save it. Until then we will keep experimenting.
PS - Just in case, I included the foods above from Ella's Kitchen (available in the UK and US) and Happy Baby / Happy Tot (available in the US at Target) - that Isaac is able to eat. Since I can't get these here in Germany, if anyone ever has extra room in their suitcases for a couple pouches of baby food, Isaac and I would be super grateful. Thanks and lots of love, Judi, Chris, and Isaac
