Reese at 4 months

Four months?! I cannot believe that we have had our sweet baby Reese for 4 months! She has honestly been our easiest baby so far, so maybe that is why time seems like it is flying.

This is a VERY exciting time for parents because those precious little alien blobs are becoming little people who can hold their head up and react when you do something hilarious . But because this is such a developmentally rich time, it can also be difficult as your child gets used to transitions and realizations of the world around them.

I always find it helpful to see schedules and ideas of what I could be doing with my child, so I will share Reese’s schedule and a few of her favorite things. Most days are pretty much the same for us, but since this is my third child, she just has to be on the go more than my first two were. Hence all the -ishes in her day. :)

Schedule

6:30am - Bottle (6oz) + hang out while the family gets ready for work + school

7:30am-ish - Nap #1. This nap is usually good, allowing time for me to get ready for the day and have some good quality time with my other child at home.

9:30am-ish - Wake up + Bottle (6oz). If we have things to do, this is when I try to squeeze them in before picking up my oldest from school at 11.

10:45am-ish - Car Cat Nap. She is not the best car napper and usually wakes up when we get into carline so this is brief.

11:15am - Down for cat nap in crib - hit or miss, but I like to try to get her some rest since she hardly ever gets a full nap at this time of day since we are on the go.

12:30pm- Bottle 3 (60z)

2pm - Nap #3. This one is usually the one that I try to stretch if possible to make up for nap #2.

3:45pm - Bottle 4 (6oz) + playtime. I like to get all the kids outside at this time of day since it is usually not too hot this time of year. I prop Reese up in her seat (linked below) on a towel in the backyard and we watch the boys run or we go for walks in the stroller.

5pm - Intentional cat nap. By this time, Reese is a little drowsy, but not enough for a full nap. But without rest, she won’t make it happily until bedtime. This nap is already becoming a little unnecessary so it will be the next to go.

6:45pm - Bottle 5 (6oz)

7:15pm - Bedtime in her crib. We move her from her crib to the bassinet in our room when we go to bed around 10pm. Sometimes the transition is great, sometimes we wake her up and she is not happy about it.

Reese will sleep until about 6am. She is in the bassinet in our room so if she wakes up, it is easy to just pop her pacifier in. That is typically all it takes to calm her. We are definitely lucky when it comes to sleeping. I am a disaster without sleep, so getting my children on a sleep schedule early is of the utmost importance to me and my livelihood.

Generally, I like to keep my babies on an eat, play, sleep schedule so that they don’t get overly dependent on a completely full belly to put them to sleep. Of course, being the third child (and also a human) means that doesn’t always happen, but that is my preference if I can muster it.

Eat

Have you seen this kid’s cheeks? She is a good eater. I was very nervous about not being able to breastfeed her for as long as I hoped, but she luckily took right to a bottle and formula. She does 5 bottles a day each roughly 6 oz. She doesn’t wake in the middle of the night to eat at all anymore.

In the next month or so we will likely begin the adventure that is solids with lil miss. I do that in a very intentional manner since we have food allergies in the family.

Play

Play at this stage is still a lot of look at her look at me kind of thing. But she is THE smiliest baby I have ever met. And boy is she a momma’s girl. She follows me and spots me from across rooms. She has definitely taken to a few toys (linked below) namely Peek a Boo Forest and her O ball Shaker. Her hand eye coordination is improving daily. She can now reach and grab items when she puts her mind to it. She also tolerates tummy time well but can roll from tummy to back if she is over it.

Sleep

Like I mentioned, sleep is a priority for my family. I tried to start Reese sleep training closer to 2 months, but after a few days I could tell she wasn’t ready. I tried again this past month, and it took. We are a Ferber method family. It’s not for everyone because there is an element of Cry It Out involved, but all my children have slept overnight and through naps in their 3rd month so it works for us!

Of course some naps are hit or miss, but I have gotten quite a few tips from following Heaven Sent Sleep on Instagram. She does free tips on some Fridays, and there is some good stuff there!

I am struggling the most with the thought that she will soon be sleeping overnight in her crib. Since she is our last baby, I want to keep her as close as I can. I know that we will all get better sleep once this happens, but I am just not looking as forward to it as I have in the past.

Postpartum Update

I am doing great both mentally and physically! I credit a lot of the mental clarity to the fact that I stopped breastfeeding. I have a condition called DMER that makes breastfeeding emotionally difficult for me. Once I took that pressure off myself, I was really back to myself.

I am lucky to have not experiences postpartum depression with my children, but I am an anxious person so I keep an eye on that. I haven’t felt that change in any way in the last few months with Reese outside of my typical worries.

Physically, I am back to the gym doing at least two Orange Theory classes a week at full steam. Exercising is another thing that helps keeps me in the right headspace. That and coffee. And chocolate. Balance, right?

Favorite Items

Bows | Pacifiers | Shoes | Sound Machine | Seat | Sleepsuit | Stroller Canopy | Book | Baby Carrier | Shaker | Monitor