Oh my gosh- I CANNOT believe Gray is six months old! It’s true what everyone says- they literally grow so fast…I feel like I was pregnant yesterday, so we are trying to soak up every single moment with him. These last few months have been so fun because Gray has become so much more aware of his surroundings and responsive to us! My heart literally melts each time he laughs or smiles at us.
The last three months have also brought about lots of changes with his feeding and sleeping. We started solids and I stopped pumping plus we transitioned Gray from the Snoo bassinet to his crib. Gray now has two teeth and he is learning how to become more and more mobile- pretty soon I will have a crawling baby on my hands!
If you missed it, I wrote a post about the first 3 months with Gray here– I cover breastfeeding/pumping, his sleep schedule, postpartum, and more!
*One thing I want to say is that all of us parent differently; we are all just trying to figure out what works best for our child and family. I am just sharing our journey and what has worked for us- by no means is it the right way, its just what is right for us. I hope this is helpful!
Feeding
Up first- let’s talk about how I weaned myself from pumping. For those of you who may be new, I talk more about why I was exclusively pumping here. Around the time Gray turned 4 months (late February), I went through a period where I was very frustrated. I was pumping every 3-4ish hours (including waking up each night at 2-3 AM) and I just felt defeated. I felt attached to the pump and I think I just got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt an immense amount of guilt because I felt like I was letting my baby down. Ultimately, after a few tearful days trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I decided to start weaning myself from pumping. Each week I dropped a pump session- so I went from pumping 6 times/day to 5 times/day, etc. By the time I got to pumping 2-3 times per day, I did notice some engorgement, but I only tried to pump if I became really uncomfortable. I would pump for about 3ish minutes just to relieve some pressure, but I would’t fully drain the breast. I knew that if I fully drained my breast, it would tell my body to keep making more- that’s why I would just pump a little out to make myself more comfortable.
Eventually it got to a point where I no longer felt the need to pump….and there was a HUGE difference in my boobs. This may be too much information, but dang- breastfeeding/pumping does a number on the girls haha! They are some sad puppies right now hahaha!
Obviously, I was also really worried about introducing formula to Gray. Gray was feeding 4 bottles per day (and still does!), so I wanted to do 2 formula bottles and 2 breast milk bottles. Mixing formula and breast milk was also an option, but I just decided to do 2 bottles of each per day. I had 200ish ounces of frozen breast milk in the freezer, so I knew that I would have a decent supply for Gray. After speaking to some of my girlfriends, I decided to go with HIPP Organic formula– yes, it is pricey, but it was what I wanted to feed Gray. I have absolutely nothing against Similac, Enfamil, etc- the HIPP formula was just highly recommended and ultimately what we decided to feed Gray.
Let’s talk about solids! Most pediatricians will tell you to start your baby on solids around 4-6 months old (I was always taught closer to 6 months). Obviously, all babies are developing at a different rate, so some may be ready for solids earlier in others. For Gray, I looked to see if he could sit upright (with some assistance), if he seemed interested and willing to chew, and if he had lost the tongue-thrust reflex (where babies will push solids out with their tongue).
This all seemed to occur around 4.5 months, so I decided to give solids a try! At first, we would sit Gray in this seat and I would put a baby spoon up to his mouth to practice. He immediately started opening his mouth and he seemed very interested. One thing to keep in mind is that their main nutrition at this time is still breastmilk/formula; solids are basically extra and really this is a time to introduce them to different flavors and textures.
First we started with baby cereal in the morning about an hour after his first bottle (he takes a bottle 4 times per day). After two weeks of doing well with the baby cereal, I switched over to the baby oatmeal (slightly thicker). I followed this schedule for introducing solids:
- Baby Cereal
- Baby Oatmeal
- Vegetables (green ones first, then the rest)
- Fruits
Check this website here for more information about introducing solids. One thing to remember is that each time you are introducing a new food, make sure to do one at a time. For example, when I started green beans, we gave green beans for 4 days in a row before progressing to a new food. By following this schedule, you’ll be able to easily identify if your child is allergic to a particular food. If I introduced both green beans and sweet potatoes on the same day and Gray had an allergic reaction, I would never know which food the reaction was related to- by slowly introducing different foods, it can be easier to pinpoint.
Gray has done a great job with solids and honestly he eats most of what we give him. There are certainly foods he doesn’t seem to like (carrots), but if I give a bite of carrots and then follow with a bite of fruit, he seems to do much better. Many of you already know this, but I do make all of Gray’s food (the food maker and recipe book I use is linked below!). I never thought I would be a mom who made baby food, but here we are haha! It’s super easy and cost effective!
Feeding Schedule
- 7 AM: Gray wakes up and takes a 6-7 ounce bottle
- 8 AM: Gray feeds a few tablespoons of baby oatmeal mixed with either leftover formula or water
- 11:30 AM: Grays wakes from his first nap and feeds a 6-7 ounce bottle
- 12:30 PM: Gray feeds a few tablespoons of fruit and/or veggies
- 3 PM: Gray wakes from second nap and takes 6-7 ounce bottle
- 5 PM: Grays feeds a few tablespoons of baby oatmeal
- 6:30-7 PM: Gray feeds 7 ounce bottle before going to bed
I included some of our fave feeding-related items below- we just started introducing a sippy cup! I also love this checklist and use it to keep up with new foods that we try!
Teething
Many of you asked what we have been doing for teething, so I thought I would share! Gray has two bottom teeth- the first one appeared right at 5 months and the second one popped up two weeks later. Obviously, I know there are lots of different things that can be used for teething, but we have gone the more ‘traditional’ route with teethers, teething oil, and Tylenol. We love this teething oil here- I think you can use ‘alexa15’ for a discount off the site. I also found the teething oil at Amazon and linked it below!
Sleeping
Most of you already know that we used the Snoo bassinet (more info here), but by the time Gray was 4ish months old we decided to transition him to the crib. The Snoo bassinet does have a weaning feature (will not move on level one, sound still plays), so we utilized that for about 2 weeks before moving Gray to the crib. Also during this time, we started putting Gray in the crib for daytime naps (he would still sleep in the Snoo at night). Overall, Gray did well transitioning to the crib. I don’t recall any terrible nights, but over the last few weeks we have had some trouble with him waking in the middle of the night. Personally, I think this is most likely related to teething. If Gray does wake in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours, Scott or myself will go up, put a pacifier in his mouth, and pat his bottom (he normally sleeps on his belly now). If that doesn’t work, we will rock him back to sleep which can take 15-30 minutes. We then place him back in the crib (on his back) and he does just fine.
Gray has two sleep sacks- this one is a bit more thick than this one. I do not keep any blankets, stuffed animals, etc in the crib. We always putt Gray down on his back, but he rolls around A LOT and usually ends up falling asleep on his belly. We never did any type of sleeping training- just the Snoo until 4ish months and then we transitioned to the crib. I firmly believe in having a bedtime routine and we usually start ours around 6 PM. This includes bath time, reading books, and quiet time until we give Gray a bottle around 6:45-7 PM. Afterwards, we rock Gray to sleep or sometimes we just lay him in the crib while he is awake. Yes, he gets a little fussy, but he is able to soothe himself to sleep. We have a sound machine in his room, we keep it dark, and we close his door.
Gray’s Sleep Schedule
- 7 AM: wakeup
- 9:30 AM: morning nap
- 1:30 PM: afternoon nap
- 7 PM: bedtime
Gray’ Full Schedule
- 7 AM: wakeup and feed 6-7 ounces of formula, playtime after
- 8 AM: feed oatmeal
- 8:30-9:30 AM: playtime
- 9:30-11:30 AM: morning nap
- 11:30 AM: feed 6-7 ounces of formula, playtime after
- 12:30 PM: feed veggies/fruits, playtime after
- 1:30-3 PM: afternoon nap
- 3 PM: feeding 6-7 ounces of formula, playtime after
- 5 PM: feed oatmeal, playtime after
- 6 PM: start bedtime routine- bath, quiet time, reading
- 6:45 PM: feeding 7 ounces of formula
- 7 PM: bedtime
Toys We Love!
Below, you will find a full list of toys that we have for Gray. Most of these are Amazon finds and we love every single one! I highly recommend all of these!
I hope this was helpful- I tried to include as much information as I could and answer the questions you guys sent in! As always, thank you for reading! -A
