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I cannot believe Camden is already 5 months old! Where does the time go? He’s really just the sweetest little guy and Mike and I feel like the luckiest parents. He’s an overall content guy, just happy to be with his family. He has the sweetest eyes and the best smile. He’s SO edible. I feel like 5 months is the start of babyhood versus infant/blab life, lol, and I’m 1000% on board for this. Once the weather starts to get better, and we’re not sick every other day, I’m excited to get out more as a family of 4. Camden is at a great age where he can go with the flow and just be awake a lot more.
New at 5 Months
5 months is so much fun. It’s the start of the fun baby stage if you will. Cam is so much more mobile and aware. He can hold his head up and is starting to sit with some assistance. Baby boy is getting so aware and it’s been so fun watching him. He watches Lola and gets so excited when she walks past him. He’s been reaching for and grabbing his toys. We started putting him in the Joovy walker, which he really likes. This has helped him with his hand/eye coordination and reaching for toys.
We’ve moved up to 100 minute wake windows. I tried to push it to 120 minutes, so that we could extend the time between feeds, but he was over-tired and not napping.
Naps
Cam has definitely struggled with naps the last couple of weeks. It definitely felt like the 4 month sleep regression because at the 40 or 50 minute mark, he’s up crying, almost forgetting how to put himself back to sleep between sleep cycles. We always give him some time to figure it out and most of the time, and thankfully 95% of the time he puts himself back to sleep. Thankfully, we have a great foundation, so he’s been able to work through this on his own, but it never feels good when you’ve worked to get a great sleeper and naps are great, and then they regress. He’ll nap for about 90 minutes.
We are still in the Merlin swaddle, but we’ll be transitioning him out of it soon. We’ll go with a standard sleep sack. Cam is all about the hands, so I know freeing them up will take some time to get used to. I’m expecting the transition will affect sleep, so maybe we’ll get used the to the sleep sack at naps versus going cold turkey at bedtime.
Feedings
We are still exclusively nursing every 3 or so hours. I will start pumping in the mornings to have Cam take a bottle once our nanny starts. Crossing my fingers that all goes well. I do think we can extend the time between feedings, but with Cam’s recent struggles with the length of his naps and his awake time being 100 minutes, the 3 hour interval works best for now.
We are starting solids, per the doc’s recommendation. With Harper we did mostly baby led weaning, but this time around I’ll do a combination of purees and baby led weaning. I’ll share more in my next update.
Awake Time
With 100 minutes of awake time it feels like there’s actually enough time to be awake with Cam, lol. It’s not like changing diapers, feeding, a couple cuddles, and then back down for a nap. We’ll have him do tummy time, play on the floor with his toys, he’ll hang out in his walker and play with his toys or watch Harper, we’ve been putting him in the BabyBjorn carrier (front facing) and going for walks. We’re also diligent about reading books before every nap.
Bedtime
As mentioned in my last update, Cam goes down for bed really well. After his last nap we’ll keep him up for about 2 hours. Instead of a catnap, we’ve extended his final awake time a bit. More on his new schedule below. He’ll go straight to sleep and sleep through the night until 6:30-7am. At about the 80 minute mark of being awake, I’ll start his bedtime routine, which includes a feed before bed. We’ll change his diaper, get his pajamas on, put on his eczema creams (we’re on a new regimen from the Dermatologist), then start his feed. After he’s done eating, we’ll do a couple of books just so he has some time to digest his milk. I’ll turn the sound machine on, put him in his swaddle and into the crib, and turn off the lights.
Favorites at 5 Months
Joovy Spoon Walker – This is Harper’s old walker. We loved it with her and are loving it with Cam. It’s a great way to have him vertical without one of us always holding him. He hangs in this mainly during dinner. Having his toys propped on the tray has really helped his hand eye coordination.
Music Ball – The only loud toy we have and of course Cam loves it. We actually put tape on the speaker since it’s so loud.
Activity Ring – Now that he’s grabbing for things, this is perfect. Love the neutral colors too.
Merlin Sleep Suit – Transitioned Camden at 2.5 months to this sleep suit and it’s been amazing. He fit the weight minimum even though he wasn’t 3 months, so keep that in mind. Fighting the normal swaddle and having lots of gas, it just made sense to get him into something less restricting. Soon transitioning him out of this into a regular swaddle.
Mesh Bumper – This made the crib transition seamless. It mimics his bassinet, so it worked perfectly.
Green Sprouts Bibs – These are our favorite for feedings. Big, absorbs spit-up well, and aesthetically pleasing.
Green Sprouts Burp Cloths – We still LOVE these! Fit on your shoulder well, large, pretty, and handle spit up so well. We love these.
Wee Gallery Black and White Cards – Camden loves these! We use these a lot during his awake time. I’ll show him the cards in my lap or we’ll put them standing up for his tummy time.
Charlie Crane Rocker – This piece is SO beautiful – more of a rocker versus a bouncer. We’re still using this rocker. Just to put Camden down to get something done or he’ll sit in here when Harper wants to play or read him a book. Highly recommend this or something similar.
Schedule
6:30-7am – Wakes, diaper, changes clothes
6:50 am – Feed
7:10 am – Activity
8:00 – Nap 1
9:40 am – Wake and Feed
10:0 am – Activity
11:20 am – Nap 2
1 pm – Wake and Feed
1:20 pm – Activity
2:40 pm – Nap 3
4:20 pm – Wake and Feed
4:40 pm – Activity
6:20 pm – Feed and Bedtime
*this schedule is on the early side. Oftentimes Cam will wake up at 7am or 7:15am which will push bedtime closer to 7pm.
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