This is a summary of Spear’s 6th week of life. Covering from January 5th through January 11th. He was 5 weeks old during this week!
Feeding: I switched to a quicker flow nipple (medium flow) at the end of his 5th week and he did GREAT with the adjustment! It was def a good move and his feedings were speeding up a bit. He’s nowhere close to being a “quick eater” but that’s okay. It’s just HIM.
Moms on Call is pretty hardcore about cutting off feeding times if the baby takes too long to eat but I just don’t feel comfortable with that and feel like all babies are different and some just take longer to eat than others. He isn’t sleeping while eating so it’s not like he’s sleep-eating.
I just try to be patient and let him do his thing!
Up until this week he was eating 3-4 oz per feeding but this week he seemed hungry so I tried 6 oz and a few bottles he drank it all so I think he may have been in a bit of a growth spurt!
Sleep: I plan to write an entire post about this but yall I had a REVELATION this week. This 5ish weeks old stage? IS SO HARD. Your body finally hits this point where you are just unable to function on such little sleep. I struggled just across the board in a big way. It doesn’t matter if you have a baby biologically or adoption. This point is just that point in parenting where you feel like you’re going to crash and burn and just struggle SO HARD.
I was OVER the lack of sleep and really to a point of frustration about it. I was just really, really ready for solid sleep at night and struggling really really badly across the board due to the very little sleep I was running on.
I tried switching up the schedule again (I know I switched it up twice the week prior haha but tweaking is necessary to figure out what WORKS). This week we did feedings at 7, 10 (breastmilk), 1, 4 (breastmilk), bath at 6:30ish then fed at 7 for bedtime feeding. Did a dream feed at 10:30. 4 oz at each feeding, occasionally a 6 oz bottle when he still seemed hungry after the 4.
I also had my little breakdown moment and had to get Zach to help me some. He struggles when he can’t get solid sleep we were sleeping in separate spaces so he could get that full nights rest and I was handling night duty. We switched it up a bit so one of us would do the dreamfeed and motn feed so the other could go to bed earlier and get that solid sleep. It was HEAVEN to get that full sleep! Our deal was after the motn feeding if Spear woke again then the person who got the solid sleep would handle it!
National Championship Game…or SLEEP.
SLEEP WINS.
I started really hardcore taking notes and tracking his wakings and motn feedings and such to see how to I could troubleshoot. He’d make big strides and sleep till like almost 4 then he’d backtrack and wake in the 2:00 hour. It was very hit and miss. He’d also typically wake up again in the 4:00 or 5:00 hour but would go back to sleep after being moved to the swing.
The latest wake time he had in the motn was 3:50 am!
SO many things can affect sleep at this stage and it’s tricky to trouble shoot. I did realize he was probably in his first wonder week. I’m struggling with Wonder Week stuff for him though b/c I don’t know his FOR SURE due date. Was he two weeks early? Was he late? Was he on time? WHO KNOWS. So it’s hard to pin point when he’s actually, truly in a wonder week situation!
As I mentioned this was a week where I was personally struggling to stay awake at all let alone function as a parent! It’s hard to troubleshoot and really work on sleep issues when you’re just SO TIRED. Tossing Spear into the swing was so much easier than actually working at getting him back to sleep. I’m all about that grace and totally fine with doing what needs to get done in order for everyone to be at their best but I also wanted to be working towards that solid sleep where motn feeds and switching to swings weren’t needed.
I already know everything Babywise recommends but I like having a new resource guide to use as well and this is what Moms on Call suggests to help stretch those feedings:
Not only was the swing a help…but so was the paci! I do like how Moms on Call suggests it as a tool to help get baby back to sleep. There is a DELICATE line when it comes to using things as a sleep tool yet not allowing them to become sleep props!
The kids went back to school this week which makes things a tad trickier with his scheduling. When we have a new baby Zach does his best to schedule his work where he is able to take all of the older kids to school. The oldest two ride the bus home which makes that easy, but I still have to go pick up Tess. With his current schedule, picking her up was in the middle of his nap! I’d feed him at 10, put him down for a cat nap then ease him into the car seat, go get her, get home and put him back to bed then have her eat quickly so I could get her in bed by 1 to be able to feed him at 1! It’s a tad crazy but as long as I make her lunch in advance it usually goes okay.
Our goal is always to only ever upset one nap a day. So he tries to take Tess to school so I’m only messing up the one nap when I have to pick her up!
Other Things with Spear This Week:
Something that is typical among adopted babies is a struggle when being passed around a lot or having a lot of people they’re not familiar with holding them. It’s a bonding thing and connection thing and makes a LOT of sense that it’d be difficult for a baby who isn’t with their biological mother to feel content in the arms of people who they haven’t fully bonded with.
I was very mindful of this with Spear over the holidays and did notice he’d have times where he’d get more fussy due to be being passed around too much.
This week we celebrated Mrs. Charlotte’s birthday over at Casey’s house (it was a GREAT TIME) and Spear did AWESOME. LOTS of family were there and everyone wanted to hold him and he was a total champ about it and didn’t have any fussy issues or discontentment!
He slept SOLID in people’s arms for his evening nap and then took his bottle great too even with all the noise and distractions!
I’ve mentioned in some of his weekly posts about his eye and the concerns I had regarding it from birth. It was red and puffy and bruised and this week I could really tell it fully cleared up!
This week I also packed up all of his newborn sized clothing. The 0-3 months stuff continued to fit but it was time to put up the newborn items! He didn’t have very much of it! It’s also a weird feeling to be purging ALL baby stuff as he finishes using it. Hopefully I’ll rack up at the kids sales 😉
As I pulled out the 0-3 and 3 month sized stuff I had in storage for Spear…I noticed the biggest thing that has changed in boys fashion since I had Kye in 2009…PANTS.
I know people have mixed opinions about this but I personally LOVE the jogger style with the tighter fit around the ankle and have pretty much replaced all of Kye’s pants he wears with this style and am doing the same for Spear!
He had his first Walmart run (which isn’t something I do often but when a deal calls…) and did great! I just kept him in his car seat to avoid germs and used my stroller as my shopping cart! He had his chiropractor adjustment prior to our run and he never fussed a bit, even with missing his nap. So far…he’s a smooth sailing type baby and I LOVE IT.
This week I noticed his scalp seemed really “peely” and I was nervous it was cradle cap. I asked for some tips and man did I get flooded with inbox messages with tons of great ideas for helping fit it!!!
I like to try the easiest methods first so I used stuff I already had. During his breastmilk feedings I’d put breastmilk on it and rub it in. I also would use vaseline and apply it to the area prior to the last nap before bath time. I used a comb to brush it through really well then rinsed it super good during bath. We also used baby oil during bath time too to help and would wash his hair with a good scrubbing!
I did NOT like the way the baby oil clung to his hair the next day though and made it almost greasy seeming. You can tell in some of the pics at the end of this post!
All those methods really seemed to help!
Still short awake times but I really noticed he started being more “wide eyed” this week. Making more eye contact and seeming to really be soaking in the world around him!
He also started getting GREAT head control!
I hadn’t shared our bath routine so I wanted to do that in a post too! We do bath time prior to his last feeding of the day. It’s the only time of the day where the eat-play-sleep routine is reversed. So he wakes up from his last nap and has bath time then gets ready for bed and eats right before being put down to bed “for the night.” Bath time is usually very quick, just getting the job done! We use a wash rag to scrub him down really good with Aveno Baby Wash and use a baby brush to scrub it through his hair. With the cradle cap concerns we put baby oil in his hair prior to washing and let it sit a bit. We also have a soft toothbrush to brush those gums (important to do esp with formula fed babies). And I like having a bath cup to rinse him off with!
He LOVES bath time!
Itty Bitty Baby!
The hand me down struggle 😉
I was excited to finally get ALL of Spear’s birth announcements sent out this week!
And I printed off pics to update our photo wall so he’d be included!
We had a Target run together this week since the kids were back in school!
Rocking his onesie that Target sent to us!
Using my Lillebaby!
I know so many of you were SO thoughtful in contributing to the puzzle. It’s been struggle city with that beast! Our first issue we ran into was that we got the whole thing assembled only to realize we were missing a PIECE!!! Ahhh! The company was great about sending us a replacement (I’ll leave you hanging on what issues happened next!).
Gifts and Visitors: Our sweet neighbor, Ashley, brought us over yummy dinner and donuts and stayed to visit a bit which was wonderful!
We also got sweet gifts in the mail from The Ford Family and the Williams Family!
Siblings: With the schedule change it made bath time for Spear more of a family affair and the kids love watching and helping and carrying him!
Tess is still the most obsessed with her baby brother. I was aiming for a pic of just him and I and she wanted to be part of it 😉 (ignore that random piece of hair sticking up ha!)
Spear and I picked her up from school and when we got home and I opened her door to get her out she was sitting in her seat HOLDING HIS HAND. I can’t even handle the sweetness!!!
The big kids missed him so much when they had to go back to school! I love watching these two together!
Spear is getting so awesome with his eye contact and this just makes my heart MELT!
Daddy handled a lot of sleep duty to help me get some much needed rest!
Mom life. No makeup. Messy hair. Comfy clothes. TIRED! But still smiling and so thankful!
Sibling Comparisons:
Kye (first week I really started Babywise – crazy!)
Britt (ha she had her FIRST Target outing!)
Tess (gosh all the kids look SO YOUNG!)
Here’s more of Sweet Spear from this week (and a cute video here!):
Sometimes he reminds me of a toad haha this is a pic where I don’t love it, I think it’s the chunky cheeks being uneven?
Toad face moment too!
Sweetest feet (Kelly if you’re reading this is for you!)
This was my favorite newborn size outfit and I was sad to pack it away!
I purchase a lovie for each of my kids. My mom started by getting one for Kye and they are GREAT quality and totally breathable! It’s by Komet Creations. Of course right away Zach said we have to name Spear’s “Renegade” 😉 Which I love but will also totally never actually say haha All of the kids have a different animal lovie and so far each one I’ve simply called by it’s animal name. Kye’s is Monkey. Britt’s is Lambie and Tess’s is Bunny. So good luck with making Renegade stick 😉
You can see how Spear’s hair looks greasy in these from the baby oil! Guess I need to redo them with his softer hair look 😉 He loved Renegade right away!!! It was really cute!
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My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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