Today our girl is 7 months old! It seems as though each month that passes brings the feeling of time moving faster. It feels like yesterday I was writing her half birthday update.
I can happily say that sleep still remains the same. She is going to bed a bit earlier than last month, anywhere between 8:30-9:00 pm. She wakes a bit earlier then she used to, around 6:00 am but will fall back asleep within minutes. She then wakes again around 7:00 am for a feeding and will go back down until around 9:30 am. She still requires two afternoon naps, one at 12:00 pm and one around 3:00 pm, both about an hour and a half in length. She has been sleeping in her crib at night since 6 months with great success and continues to take both of her two naps in the crib as well. She tends to need a third nap in the evening around 7:00 pm, which is usually fairly short in length. It can be quite a struggle to get her to sleep during this time at home as she prefers to be awake and socializing. If we are out, she will fall asleep more easily in her car seat.
This month brought on the addition of solids. We have been moving a bit slow in this area and have only tried rice cereal so far. We had increased the amount of cereal we were giving with breast milk to a thicker consistency and were giving it every second day. However, this past week after thickening it quite a bit, it seemed to cause Emsley an upset stomach, gas and constipation. We have slowed down since and she appears to be back on track. Our goal this week is to introduce some sweet potato. Still no signs of any teeth or teething at this point.
At around six and a half months Emsley finally rolled over! It’s amazing how all of a sudden they can master a new skill and then act like they’ve been doing it forever. She’s officially all over the place and will roll in one direction many times, causing her to end up on the other side of the room in a short amount of time. She is starting to sit on her own fairly well but will topple over at times when she starts to get excited. She still prefers standing to sitting and will instantly attempt to stretch her legs when we place her in a sitting position.
The biggest change this last month has been Emsley’s independence with playing. Her increased ability to reach and roll for toys has brought a whole new world of play for her. She’s very content to lie on the floor and play with her toys for much longer than she used to be. Playing on the ground seems to be her new favourite past time, however the Jumperoo and Jolly Jumper are still close seconds.
Emsley is still enjoying being read to and will listen and look at books very contently. We are still doing this before her first nap with great success. Dr. Seuss still seems to be her favourite book.
We are getting more and more defined laughs from her and her newest enjoyment is laughing at daddy when he makes drum beats with his mouth or when mommy hides her under a blanket. Such joy it brings us to see her smiling and laughing!
This month has really shown an evolving personality and new side of our little pumpkin. She’s extremely vocal and will let you know when she’s bored or unhappy. She also likes to express her joy verbally when she’s playing or greets you. She makes very airy screams or what we like to call pterodactyl noises when happy. Her silly personality really emerges during bath time which she still thoroughly enjoys.
This past month has been my favorite month so far with her in terms of development. Six months brought us milestones of sitting and rolling as well as an increase in personality and playtime, which has really melted my heart to see her engage in new ways. As the time continues to move faster and faster, I try my best to take more time to sit and study her as she learns and grows. I can’t wait to see her develop more and more into the little person she is over these next five months. Such an exciting time it has been!
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Did you ever have to use sleep teaming or she’s always been a good sleeper? Do you allow her a pacifier and do you nurse her to sleep or put her down awake?! Our little girl used to sleep through from 2-3 months but now has major sleeping problems!
Your little one is so beautiful!
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Hi Katie! Thank you! 🙂 She’s always been a good night sleeper. She woke up for feedings at the beginning, every three hours, but was sleeping through the majority of the night (11pm-7am) quite early on, around 6 weeks. We introduced the pacifier at one month but never gave her it at night as we didn’t want to have to go back in and put it in her mouth if she woke up from it falling out. We use it in the day from time to time when she’s fussy but she’s never taken to it as she prefers to chew on it rather than suck.
During sleep time, whether it be naps or bedtime we have always let her “cry it out” for ten minutes before entering the room. There are still times when she will cry at bedtime before falling asleep (especially now since she’s teething) or she will wake up during the night and instantly cry. These cries are different and are not panicky in nature but rather intermittent noises. During either of those times we have never been quick to enter her room as hard as that can be. We always stuck by our ten minute rule, meaning we would wait until she was crying for ten minutes before we entered. About 99% of the time she will fall asleep within 3-7 minutes.
We did struggle with naps around 4 months old as she would cry very hard in a panicky way instantly when put down in her bassinet/crib. We would often enter her room at ten minutes, pick her up until she calmed and start the process over again. I would place her in the crib and stand with my hand on her, then stand near the crib without touching her, then move to the floor and sit so she could see me, then move closer to the door etc. for a few minutes at each spot before finally closing the door and leaving the room. She would immediately cry once I was gone. It took about a week or two to finally get her to be able to sleep on her own during nap times. It was obviously very hard to do this but I was determined and my husband and I would take turns doing it when he was home. Even now during some naps she will cry the intermittent whining noises but again will fall asleep in under ten minutes.
We have chosen to never co-sleep and so that has never been an issue for us. She also transitioned to her crib at night wonderfully at 6 months. We did start naps in there first at about 5 months.
Overall I think we have been lucky in terms of getting a good night time sleeper so I am not sure if this is helpful at all. Every baby is clearly different and every momma is too. I know a lot of my friends comment how they couldn’t let their baby cry for ten minutes before entering the room! Take what I’ve written with a grain of salt, figure out what works for you and remember that it will get better! 🙂
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