The Journey of Parenthood…

Spear Summary of Month 5

This post covers Spear’s entire 5th month of life which was the full month of April. He was 4 months old during this month!

Sleep: Life is SO GOOD on the 4 hour schedule! Straight Heaven on Earth and I’m so glad to never have to redo any of the newborn stage again haha!

And with Spear being done with the swaddle we’re really just DONE with any sleep transitioning until he moves to a big kid bed 🙂

He’s a great sleeper. I def still consider him to be a high sleep needs baby. I’m interested to see at what  point the evening (3rd) nap will become a cat nap b/c right now he still LOVES it and sleeps so solid for it!

He sleeps pretty solid and when he isn’t asleep he’s always pretty darn happy in the bed. He’ll coo and chat or talk or squeal and just be happily playing! When he does cry it’s typically during the “main nap” of the day which is the 1-3 one. That tends to be his roughest nap when he does have a rough one!

He’s not a hardcore thumbsucker. It’s only when he’s sleeping and even then it’s not always when sleeping and it’s not a constant sucking. Typically it seems like he sucks it to help soothe and fall asleep and then it kinda falls out or just sits there. 

Now that he can also roll to his tummy he often sleeps that way as well. Britt was a hardcore tummy sleeper, but Spear isn’t. Sometimes he’s on his tummy and sometimes he isn’t. He does love his friend and is pretty much always sleeping somewhere near him…not always but most of the time anyway. 

Overall I just say Spear likes sleep ha! On his back, on his belly, with his thumb, with his friend. Whatever. He just likes to SLEEP! 

He also sleeps hard and I typically (majority of the time!) have to wake him from nap to feed him!

Bonus? He also ALWAYS wakes up happy!!!

Spear will often fall asleep in the car. But it’s not a guarantee either. It seems to be that he will fall asleep when it’s supposed to be awake time but then will be super awake and crying when it’s supposed to be nap time haha! 

Zach was out of town and I had to drop Britt at gymnastics and pick her back up with all the kids so I had this awesome idea of going to a playground and walking the track with Spear in the stroller so he could nap and letting Kye and Tess play. Omg yall probably the worst 2 hours of Spear’s life and the worst I’ve had with him since birth. He cried SO HARD and for SO LONG. It was miserable. Kye ended up crying too. We all just felt so awful. 

He really loves that evening nap and maybe that’s why he was upset? I have no clue but I haven’t tried it again since!

I had a hair appointment this month and couldn’t get childcare so I just took Spear with me. Totally not as relaxing or fun when you have a baby beside you that you’re hoping will fall asleep ha! It was his morning nap and he was happy and content and then did eventually fall asleep! So it went pretty well 🙂

This shows an example of how the thumb really is a soother for him! 

Fussy baby…close to nap time…

Found the thumb…

BOOM. OUT. 

Schedule: Same as last month:

645-715: Awake for day. 6 oz bottle

8:45-9:00: down for nap

1045-1115: Up from nap, 6 oz bottle 

12:45-1:00: down for nap

2:45-3:15: Up from nap, 6 oz breastmilk(I often give closer to 8)

4:30-4:45: down for nap (this is his best nap of the day which is SO RANDOM)

6:45-7:15: up from nap, bath, 8 oz bottle then straight to bed for night

Eating:

He had a bit of a growth spurt at the end of last month and for a few days took 8 oz bottles each feeding but soon seemed full and not as hungry so I pushed it back down to 6 oz each feeding other than the last one of the day. I often do put closer to 8 oz of breastmilk in that bottle if the milk I defrost for the day is around that amount! He tends to drink it all and I know breastmilk is less filling so I feel like it doesn’t hurt to give that little extra!

I will say that the amounts of milk is a very stressful part of formula/bottle feeding. With breastfeeding I never had to guess how much to give ’em b/c they just drank what they wanted from me! I never knew if they needed more for a growth spurt or worried over how much they were getting because I knew my body provided exactly what they needed.

Anyone else agree?

I think one of the big things the “breast is best” agenda pushes on people is that it’s free. Well really though breastfeeding isn’t free. If you have to pump then you still need bottles and all that stuff plus a pump and all those supplies and storage bags etc. It all adds up! 

And yes, formula is expensive…but not nearly as bad as I was anticipating for it to be! 

We had a little Starbucks date! I do love how easy it is to feed on the go!

Ahhhhh! He held his bottle completely on his own for the first time this month!!!

When he was a newborn he’d often eat with just one eye open and do this little popeye look that I kinda love 🙂 

Now that life is easier and he’s sleeping solid and we’re on the 4 hour schedule I will say I truly get sad about not nursing him. THIS is when nursing gets ENJOYABLE and I wish I had those sweet, close cuddles and that skin to skin with him all the time. Bottle feeding was pretty awesome during the early stage but now? I wish we had that bond that nursing gives (and as a mom who has done both…NO bottle feeding is NOT the same kinda bond as breast-feeding, it just isn’t). 

More about Spear:


Ugh the negative about having a baby born with a lot of hair…the bald patch! This is my least favorite baby stage looks-wise because their hair is always so random and patchy! I remember carrying the girls always facing out so people wouldn’t notice the back of their heads ha!

Spear is FOR SURE teething. He’s chewing on everything in sight and I’m constantly looking for stuff to stick in his mouth to help soothe his sore gums. Mrs. Charlotte bought him this toothbrush thing and it’s pretty awesome! I keep it at the changing table and do it while I’m changing his diaper as it kinda doubles as a chew toy to help with the teething! 

A total mom-fail moment was when I realized my child is roughly 16 lbs yet I was still cramming into size 1 diapers…and size 3 month sleepers. Whoops haha!

Notice size 2 goes from 12 lbs to 18 lbs…Spear is almost ready for a size 3 and I hadn’t even opened my size 2 stash yet! Size 1 weight limit is 14 lbs haha

Happy be in the super snug sleeper!

Easy going 4th child 😉 

I think Kye went through this same stage where he just LOVED to pull my hair and chew on it! Spear is always grabbing at my hair, hoping it’s a sign he’ll enjoy playing with it when he gets older b/c that’s my fav thing ever 😉 

Spear does so great on his playmats in his room. We still need to get out the pack and play for his independent playtime but he does awesome just having that time on one of the playmats. I can’t believe I always just had one for all my other babies haha I love the variety that having two gives him! 

He did start to get more clingy and whiney this month and I really started making more of an effort to leave him alone on his playmat for 10 min at each awake time and it helped!

Looking for his mama 😉 

With tummy sleeping I know his bald/flat spot will improve pretty quick but sitting in the Bumbo is great to help get that issue solved even quicker and good to help him practice sitting up too!

The muffin top is no joke 😉 

Tummy time isn’t an issue either since he loves rolling all over the place!

He still loves his bath and is always kicking to play in the water!

Siblings:


I love my mornings where Tess doesn’t have school and the two of them get to play together! It makes me SO SAD that she’ll be at school every morning in the fall. Spear and I will miss her! But I know it’ll be good bonding time for he and I too. Whew the day he goes to school I will be one mess of tears for sure.

Tessie likes to get out ALL the toys “for Spear”

She’s smitten and is always talking to him in the cutest baby voice 🙂 

And she loves to read to him!

Best Buddies 🙂 

Kye continues to be very infatuated with Spear. He’ll go in to spend some time with him and I’ll say “you don’t have to watch him, I’ve got him!” but Kye will want to keep staying near his brother and loves talking to him, playing with him and just watching him

It does stress me OUT when Kye carries him around though! He’s good about asking first but I’ve explained to him that babies are super unpredictable and that I just don’t trust SPEAR. It’s not about not trusting Kye, it’s about not trusting Spear and that if he were to fall and get hurt I wouldn’t want Kye to have that guilt, ya know?

I had a blog reader suggest using a baby carrier for Kye and that’s SUCH A GOOD IDEA! I just need to actually size it for him to use it haha! 

I love their matching dino shirts 🙂

Britt gets in on the Spear loving too! She’s just not as noticeable about it 😉 



Sibling Comparisons:

Kye

Britt

Tess (whew can I say HALLELUJAH that Spear didn’t go through a 4 month sleep regression?!?!)

I adore this sweet boy and our quality time together!

Videos: 

More of our handsome boy!

Emily Parker
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