Sweet Pea is 5 months old!!

One month away from her half birthday?!

Eating: Soon after turning 4 months Sweet Pea started eating 3.5-4oz per feed! About a week and a half ago, Sweet Pea started eating 4 ounces in every bottle! The GI doctor and the pediatrician suggested that I not let her increase over 4 ounces per feed until she is 6 months, so I guess we will be on the 3-hr feeding schedule for quite a while still. 

Sleeping: Sweet Pea is still taking 4 naps a day, with no signs of dropping that 4th nap. She is sleeping through the night better now. She goes to bed around 8:30pm, Dave feeds her at 11:30pm and then she (for the most part) wakes between 7-8am! Sometimes she would still wake in the 6am hour. If she did I would give her the paci and she would make it to 8am.

Wake Time: Sweet Pea is still only awake for only an hour! She is awake for one hour and sleeps for two hours. This cycle repeats all day until her fourth nap, which is just 1.5 hours. I was thinking that this sure is a lot of sleep for a 4-5 month old and then I realized this is probably another way her little body is processing the methadone. She will increase her wake time when she is ready and able. When she is awake, she is always this happy:

Overstimulation: If you remember, Little Bug was the one we had to basically keep in hibernation for a couple months after her birth because she would just get way overstimulated VERY easily. That was her main withdrawal symptom. Sweet Pea’s is obviously her stomach issues, but I have also noticed some overstimulation, as well. With Christmas and lots of parties and family gatherings, Sweet Pea has just started screaming on several occasions (which is very unlike her) and having a hard time getting to sleep after being around lots of people (which is also very unlike her, typically she lays down and goes right to sleep as long as she has her paci). I told her pedi that she has cried several times in a large group of people if someone other than me was holding her. I asked if it could already be separation anxiety. She said it was a little early for her to be going through that already. After several instances of her crying after being in a large group of people, I now know she can’t handle being passed around from person to person because it overstimulates her.

Growth Spurt: Sweet Pea had a very obvious 4-month growth spurt. It started with her sucking down her 11:30 bottle in record time. (I think Dave said she downed that bottle in about 5 minutes!) Then she woke just before 3am, which she doesn’t do unless she is hungry. I fed her 3 ounces and then at 8am she took another 4 ounces. Then, I laid her down for her 9am nap and she woke up around 10am screaming! I knew she was hungry and, sure enough, she downed another 4 ounce bottle around 10am! I had never seen this baby eat so much her entire life! It was encouraging to me that her little tummy could handle all that formula in such a short time period! That was the end of the growth spurt, because after that she fell right back into her normal feeding schedule. It was after this that we started sometimes giving her 4 ounces of formula (instead of 3.5). She had another little growth spurt around the time we increased her bottles to 4 ounces.

Playtime: We are borrowing a Jumper that Sweet Pea is really enjoying!

She loves this Jumper! The first time we put her in it she sat in it for over half an hour and had a ball sitting there like a big girl watching us.

This month she found her hands. She loves to stick her finger or thumb in her mouth and chew on it! I think if I stopped swaddling her she might become a thumb sucker. That might solve our issue of the paci (needing it to fall asleep), but then I would think it would be easier to wean from the paci than from the thumb. I guess we will just have to see what naturally happens with this one. 5 months was around the time Little Bug started weaning from the swaddle with one arm out. Sweet Pea also tends to grab her left foot with her left hand.

Personality: I thought Little Bug was an “easy” baby, and she was (compared to some). However, Sweet Pea is such a content and happy little baby. She does not have the spunk Little Bug has. It is so interesting to me to see my girls develop their personalities. Sweet Pea is so mellow and laid back. I can put her under her floor gym or in the swing or in the bouncy and leave her there for a while and she is perfectly happy. She just watches the action and usually sits there talking away. Little Bug was (and still is) more high maintenance when it comes to entertainment! I think that has to do with her being the oldest, and I know a lot of it has to do with her very social, very active personality. I love seeing how different my two girls are and I appreciate the differences in them both!

Clothes/Diapers: Sweet Pea is wearing size 1-2 diapers. I still have some 1’s that I put on her if I know I will change her diaper again soon. They barely fit though! Sweet Pea is wearing mostly 3 months and 3-6 month clothing. I need to pack up 0-3 months and go ahead and pull out 6 month clothing.

Tummy Troubles: Things are still under control with 3mLs of Zantac per day. We are still giving her the pre-mixed Similac Allimentum formula, Gripe Water (in every bottle) and mylecon (before naps).

Siblings: Since I have started to put Sweet Pea on the floor for Tummy Time more, Little Bug enjoys sitting in front of her and helping her play with toys. It is precious. I know it is just a sliver of what is to come. I look forward to the day that they really start interacting and playing together every day. Sweet Pea adores Little Bug and Little Bug loves her baby sister, too. She will be the first to tell anyone that comes to our house that Sweet Pea is HER baby.

Schedule (4 months old):

8am eat

9-11am nap

11am eat

12-2pm nap

2pm eat

3-5pm nap

5pm eat

6-7:30pm nap

7:45 bath

8pm eat

8:30pm bedtime

11:30pm dreamfeed

Summary: Well, we made it to 5 months, which is when the GI doctor said we should start to notice considerable improvements with her tummy issues. While her tummy issues are certainly managed (and have been since around 2 months), I guess this means that the spit up should soon be less frequent and we could possibly see about weaning Zantac and moving to powder formula. These are all questions I will ask at her next GI check up on the 17th. I love my newborns (obviously) but…my favorite “baby stage” is right around the corner! Sitting up, crawling, introducing solids, exploring the world, sibling interaction! I love that stage and it is coming soon!

Happy 5 Months, Sweet Pea!!

- Elaine