Sweet Pea is 8 months old!!

Eating: Sweet Pea is officially on the 4-hour eating schedule now. She started not wanting to eat after just 3.5 hours so we moved to 4 hours. She drinks three 6 ounce bottles and one 7-9 ounce bottle before bed. She eats at 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 7:45pm.

Solids: Sweet Pea hasn’t really been eager to eat her solids until just recently. She has started opening her mouth and anticipating spoonfuls of food! At 8 months, she has two solid meals with her 8am and 12pm bottles. She has two veggies for breakfast and a veggie and fruit for lunch. I just introduced fruit to her on March 28th. I am doing as my pediatrician suggests and only giving her one fruit to two veggies so that she does not develop a sweet tooth. Her diet consists of: squash, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots & pears.

Sleeping: There was a time during this month that I thought Sweet Pea was ready to extend her waketime again. It was during the week where I was sick and then was out of town for 2 days, so it was hard for me to pin point exactly what was going on. Turns out, Sweet Pea was just ready to give up her paci and swaddle. When I tried to extend her waketime she started waking early from naps, so I left her waketimes as they were. Waketime stayed at 1.5 hours to 2 hours.

One day Dave laid her down for a nap and later he told me that he had laid her down without the paci and swaddle. She had slept fine! From then on, we stopped giving her the paci to go to sleep (she is now officially a thumb sucker) and we stopped putting her arms in the swaddle. She is still sleeping in the inclined bed. Next sleep transition will be to move her to her crib. I was waiting for the swaddle to be dropped first before transitioning her to the crib.

Dropping 3rd Nap: I think Sweet Pea might almost be ready to drop the 3rd nap. If we are out of the house during this naptime I give her the opportunity to sleep in her carseat. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. If she doesn’t, I put her to bed a little early. I don’t imagine this nap hanging on for much longer. If we are home I lay her down for this nap. There has been one time recently where she didn’t sleep so that also makes me think she is getting ready to drop it.

Sickness: Sweet Pea had her first cold during her 7th month. By the 10th day she was pretty much back to normal, minus some lingering congestion. When she didn’t have fever, she continued to be her happy self. She did have some trouble drinking her bottles from the congestion but we diluted her formula and that seemed to help her be able to get it down. I did give her motrin at night several nights to help her feel more comfortable.

About two weeks after the colds, we dealt with the stomach bug, but due to my mom being extremely careful to avoid spreading germs, Sweet Pea stayed well in spite of the fact her big sister was getting sick in the same house. My mom kept the girls separate, kept a pile of toys for just Sweet Pea that Little Bug was not allowed to touch or play with. My mom even covered her clothes with a towel when taking care of Sweet Pea after having taken care of Little Bug. My mom also washed her hands very frequently. I am so thankful God spared Sweet Pea (and my mom and Dave!) from this stomach bug thanks to Grandma who did everything possible to ensure Sweet Pea wouldn’t get sick.

Independent Playtime: Sweet Pea has her IP time in the pack n play for 20 minutes every morning. I set out 3-4 toys for her to play with and she sits and plays happily. The only time she fusses is if she accidentally falls over. She can’t get herself into a sitting position yet so she needs help to sit up again and then she continues to play happily.

Favorite activities/toys: Sweet Pea still loves her jumper and jumperoo. This baby loves to jump! She also enjoys siting on the floor and playing with toys. We have this soft soccer ball that Dave will roll into her belly and Sweet Pea thinks it is the funniest thing ever. She laughs and laughs when he does this. Sweet Pea is also in that stage where you can give her anything (as long as it is safe) and she will spend the longest time holding it and examining it in her hand. She will do this with toys or any common household item (like a mac n cheese box or plastic container). I love watching babies explore things at this age. Everything is so new and exciting to them.

Sweet Pea enjoys walks in the neighborhood. She sits in the stroller and just watches the world go by. She also enjoys sitting with me on the back patio swing while Little Bug plays outside and swinging at the neighborhood park.

Diapers/Clothing Size: Sweet Pea is officially in size 3 diapers. We used up all the 2s and moved on to the size 3s. I packed away 3 month and 3-6 month clothes so now Sweet Pea mostly wears 6 month, 6-9 month and…she can even already fit into several 12 month summer outfits!

Overstimulation: It is safe to say now that Sweet Pea’s overstimulation issues are a thing of the past! I have not noticed her getting overstimulated in over a month. She is just like every other baby now in this area – she will only get overstimulated if she stays up too long before getting a nap. Woo-hoo!!!!

Weaning from Zantac/ready made formula: We started the wean from the ready made formula! Right now, she is on half and half. If her naps hadn’t been off during that week, she probably would have already been switched over to the powder formula, but I didn’t want too many changes going on at the same time because then it would have been hard for me to pinpoint why she was waking early from naps.

We were told by the GI doctor that at 7 months we could decrease the Zantac dosage to twice a day instead of three times and just this last week we stopped giving Sweet Pea Zantac at 4pm!

Milestones: Sweet Pea has no interest in becoming mobile. She is perfectly content to be 8 months old and not crawling. I am not worried because I know babies do things in their own time. Sweet Pea has such a docile personality which I think attributes to her being content to be non-mobile! She is a very strong baby and loves to stand. With her stomach issues, she has had limited tummy time and she is just “behind” in this department, but I do not feel there are any threats to her overall development. She is just going to crawl and walk much later than her big sister, which is perfectly okay by me since big sister already keeps me on my toes daily!

Schedule (7 months old):

8am wake up, bottle, solids (two veggies)

9:00-9:20am Independent Playtime

9:30-11:30/12 nap

12pm bottle, solids (veggie and fruit)

1:30-3:30/4pm nap

4pm bottle

5:30-6pm nap

7:15pm bath, bottle

8pm bedtime

Happy 8 Months, Sweet Pea!!

- Elaine