See her home birth story on my YouTube channel here.

Small disclaimer

This is just what SHE is up to, in case you were wondering, but every baby is different and has their own developmental timelines. For example, her oldest sister was sitting up on her own at this age and trying to stand up on things. Her oldest brother was army crawling! Glad she’s taking her time! I’m not sure how she’ll ever feel the need to walk as she gets carried around everywhere by her adoring siblings.

Olivia’s 6 months milestones rundown:

• Rolls over from her tummy to her back, and back again- although not as willingly, albeit not consecutively. (i.e. haven’t found her under the couch yet. HAH!)
• Sits up on her own for short periods of time
• Scooches backwards on her back
• Eats solids: we are just having her eat a bit at dinner time once a day currently
• Says “ba-ba” ‘da-da” “ma-ma” practice sounds, but not knowingly. Although her Daddy thinks so!
• Holds her paccy and can turn it around the right way and takes it in and out herself
• Puts her self to sleep while snuggling her bo-bo (blankie) and sucking her paccy in her own bed
• Is on a regular feeding and sleeping schedule- finally!
• Sleeps through the night most nights

Mobility

I have laid all of our babies on their stomachs, and they have all been solid sleepers. Because of this, I don’t really need to give my babies intentional tummy time. They have strong backs and neck muscle development from either being held upright or sleeping on their tummies a lot of the time. But Oliva, for some reason prefers her side or back. Once she started rolling over, when I lay her down she gets herself into her comfiest position on her side with her blankie snuggled up by her face. It’s so precious to watch!

I ended up splurging and buying her a little wooden jungle gym on Amazon. I had hoped to make one just like this but ended up breaking down and just purchasing one. It was exactly what I wanted so I did splurge more than I ever have, but it’s pretty much the only largish purchase we’ve made for her so far. Even her little bassinet we bought inexpensively used. I love how this little jungle gym provides a safe place for her to play and be entertained without too much stimulation. I can also fold it up and tuck it away easily, yet it looks cute while it’s out.

Just this week she began to be able to sit up on her own and balance. If she is not distracted by something she is holding, she will tip when she forgets to balance, so we only put her on soft surfaces. She balances the longest if she is holding something she is interested in.

When she is on her back playing she will also scootch backwards in kind of an inch worm movement and spin walk herself around. Thankfully, she doesn’t get too far yet- I haven’t discovered her under the couch! He he.

Eating

Currently she is on a 3 hour eat-wake-sleep schedule. Most days she is awake for 1.5 hrs and than sleeps 1-2 hrs. I let her go a bit over if she’s asleep, but I try not to feed her before that 3 hr. window. I make all of her baby food and she loves to eat! We started her on one feeding of solids a day when she was 5 months old. She gets this little meal about an hour or so after her evening nap and feeding, usually around dinner time. Either I blend some veggies from our meal or thaw some frozen fruit or veg from a previous meal I made for her. I will make another post all about how I make our babies’ food and what I start them on.

Self soothing

Although I have never been against pacifiers, and have even tried them with a few kids, none of them have ever really taken to them. Olivia, on the other hand, took a paccy readily and it was very helpful for our nursing relationship. Thankfully, I realized fairly early on that she was nursing for comfort but then getting over full and uncomfortable. I was able to give her the paccy and she could settle down, burp and fall asleep much easier. This was not the case with my other babies. She just really loves to suck! I also cracked and bled for the first time as we didn’t get her latch quite right at the beginning. She was such a vigorous sucker! Ouch! I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! Hehe

We have a little sleep routine where I will give her the paccy and blankie take her back to our room where she sleeps, rock her, read and sing to her and then either continue rocking her or lay her down. She snuggles her blankie and puts herself to sleep in her bed or is rocked to sleep in just a few minutes. Sometimes she gets squirmy when I’m rocking her and just wants to be laid in her bed and then falls asleep shortly after.

If I keep her up, however, and don’t rock her or lay her down she gets overly tired and over stimulated and has a much harder time falling asleep. So I keep her paccy and blankie in her bed and when she starts getting tired eyes, fusses or yawns I get it and start the sleep routine.

Sleep

While she has been sleeping through the night (at least a 6 hour stretch) since she was pretty tiny, it did take her awhile to find her current nap rhythm. Once I got her on a more strict time schedule with her feedings, however, she adjusted and found her natural sleeping pattern within her eating parameters.

Her 6 months sleep schedule

Currently she naps 3 -4 times a day and sleeps through the night for the most part. Some nights she’ll wake up twice, but here is what an average day might look like for her current eat-wake-sleep rhythm.

8 am Wakes up

9:30- 10:30 naps

11 feeds and plays

12 pm snuggles and does a nap routine with me

12:30- 2 naps

2 wakes, feeds and plays

4:30- snuggles and goes back down for a short nap

5:30 wakes, feeds, plays

6:30 has some solids for dinner

7:30- bath and bedtime routine

8pm- goes down for first long stretch

3-4am- wakes for a feed and is back to sleep until 7-8 am.

This does vary a bit. Sometimes she sleeps until 5, or wakes at 1 and 5. But she usually only wakes 1 or 2 times a night currently. I didn’t do any “training” to get her in this rhythm, she has just fallen into this pattern on her own. Usually I nurse her, feed her dinner, and then nurse her again before her nighttime sleep so she gets a good bumper of food. This helps her last that longer first stretch at night. I also try to avoid caffeine after 12pm.

Such an unexpected blessing

This little one was an unexpected 2020 surprise, and although it was not easy going through a pregnancy while packing, remodeling and moving, I wouldn’t have chosen it any other way, knowing this sweet girl is now a part of our family! God is so good to not leave the planning all up to us! Heheh!

Thanks for joining us on this journey, friend!

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