I receive emails every so often with Hailey questions, so after a few repeats, I find myself wanting to post about it. I love talking about what Hailey is up to because it helps me remember. If I didn’t write down everything that happens, I wouldn’t remember a thing and I’m only 7 months in! I also like posting about Hailey because I know I like to hear what is going on with other babies. Basically, I write this to share, NOT because I think I am an expert, because I’m not. I have experience… as much as any other mom out there with a 7 month old. So here are some answers from my point of view…
When and how did you establish a schedule with Hailey?
Hailey’s routine has evolved every couple months. In the beginning I wasn’t concerned with scheduling. I wanted her to eat when hungry and try to go to bed at night when we did so I could maximize my sleep. After she was a few weeks old, I tried to follow the eat, play, sleep routine that Baby Wise recommends. This didn’t exactly work for us, because it didn’t follow Hailey’s natural pattern and I ended up feeding her more often, and I felt like I was encouraging snacking over meals, so I came up with my own eat, play, sleep, play, repeat pattern. This worked for us. I never allowed Hailey to fall asleep while nursing. Her naps directly after eating were always short and didn’t allow her to get quality sleep, so if she started nodding of, I’d pull her away and play with her to keep her awake. Once she played for a while, I’d put her down for a nap. We even keep this pattern today and she eats once she wakes up, not before, because when she eats before she doesn’t nap as well.
Since she was born, I’ve always written down the time she ate and how long she nursed for. After a few weeks I started recording her nap times and even wet and dirty diapers. I wanted to see if any pattern appeared. Slowly, it did. As soon as I noticed Hailey’s sleep signals (rubbing eyes and yawning), I’d get right on putting her down for a nap because waiting too long would result in a missed window of opportunity and an overtired baby. By writing down the times that these things occurred, I began to see a pattern of when she needed to nap and was able to put her down before she got overtired.
I really think that Hailey put herself on a schedule and I just paid close attention to her signals. It’s morphed over time as she dropped from 3 naps down to 2 and now from 5 nursings during the day to 4.
I have a 5 month old and I’m interested in hearing about when Hailey hit her milestones like rolling over, sitting up unassisted, etc.
Thank goodness I wrote stuff down because I’d never remember! Hailey was able to lift her head for short periods from her first week. Her first real smiles were around 4 weeks old and wow, they were amazing when I realized she was actually smiling at us. She rolled over just before 3 months. She rolled from back to front and front to back, but was incredibly inconsistent. One day she’d do it, and the next she’d lay there and scream. She started sitting up on her own just before 6 months old. She’s just now starting to overcome her hatred of tummy time and now pushes up on her arms, but is not up on all fours. She rolls and wiggles and can move in circles, but no crawling. She first ate solids right after her 6 month birthday. She started babbling a lot right after around her 7 month birthday (before that it was mostly coos and giggles), while babbling was more distinct sounds, like her new favorite, dada dada dada.
I think that’s most of the big milestones… did I miss anything?
Did you rely on any books or other resources to work through developmental stages, growth spurts, tough times, etc?
I always thought I’d read a million parenting books, but I ended up not really reading much. I loved Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and The Bradley Method. I read most of Happiest Baby of the Block and Baby Led Weaning and some of Baby Wise. I really think the 5 s’s of The Happiest Baby on the Block helped us out and I learned a lot about the stages of labor through The Bradley Method, but in all my 7.5 months of experience, I really learned to rely on myself… and twitter. Hahah. Seriously, though, I must have had some mommy instinct kick in because I feel like I trusted myself to learn what worked best for Hailey, since every baby is different. I still asked my mom, friends and my twitter friends plenty of questions, and found the support helpful on sleepless nights caused by growth spurts (shout out to the #zombiemoms!), but I try not to compare developmental stages because every baby grows at his/her own pace and if I get caught up in who is crawling or talking early, I’d drive myself crazy.
How many times she having milk now that she’s eating table foods, sleep schedule, etc.
At 7 months old, Hailey’s day looks like this:
7:15 wake up and nurse. 9 minutes on one side, 5 on the other. Change diaper, get dressed. Play in jumperoo while mom blogs and makes breakfast.
9:00 Diaper change and nap until 10:30
10:35 nurse 5 minutes on each side. Diaper change. PLAY by going on a walk or playing with her kitchen in the playroom. Read books with me. I’m very interactive during this time and talking to her constantly.
11:45 Meal time! In the high chair for the mid-morning meal of the day. Eats until 12:05 or so.
12:15 More play, sometimes solo, or running errands out of the house.
2:00 Diaper change and nap until 3:30.
3:35 Nurse 7 minutes on one side, 4 on the other. Then we swing, go on a walk, work on tummy time, etc.
4:45 Meal time! Into the high chair for the second meal of the day. I watch her and prep dinner.
6:30 Final nursing of the day. 6 minutes of one side, 4 on the other.
6:45 Bath time. Splish splash and have some fun. Get dried off, clean diaper and put into jammies.
7:00 I kiss her good night and David takes her to her room, rocks and reads her a book and puts her to bed.
I think I’ve been wordy enough for today, but if you have any questions, keep sending them my way! …or leave them in the comments
Jen says
She is so cute! Wyatt set his own schedule, too! And, yes, twitter is a new mom’s best friend 🙂
sarah (the SHU box) says
thank you so much for this post! i was inspired by you to put annabel down drowsy but awake this AM — and at the first sign of tiredness – and she’s still asleep!
LOVE learning from bloggers/twitter, too, as well as the books. and finally i agree annabel does better with eat –> play –> sleep, repeat. she always wakes up hungry anyway!
Brittany says
YAY! I hope Annabel got in a nice long nap! My best “tips” come from moms on twitter. Yay for social media! 🙂
Kelly@Runmarun says
Thanks for posting this- it’s really helpful to see what other mommas are doing with little ones the same age as Lula. I am in awe of you for keeping Hailey from napping while nursing- I never could get the hang of that and it looks like it has really paid off great dividends!
Stacy K says
This is SO helpful as I’m 5 months pregnant and have been reading a lot of your old posts from the past.
I have a question about balancing your work from home and taking care of Hailey. I know you run your own business, but approximately how many hours do you put in a day? Do you usually do it during nap time? I work from home right now and I’m trying to figure out how I will balance working from home with a baby. I imagine once our little one is a little older we’ll put her in daycare, but I’m going to try and balance it for the first year.
Brittany says
Oh Stacy, I wish I had an answer for you! Things have changed a bit around here. We reached a point where it was either I find childcare at least part time for Hailey so I could run the business, or transition out of health coaching and do smaller side projects on the side. So now I’m home with Hailey 100% and doing some small stuff on the side. It still keeps me really busy and I utilize nap times and evenings after she goes to bed. I think it all depends on how many hours you need to put in from home. Since I still do the blog and other side stuff, I put in about 3 hours a day. I can manage 3 hours a day while taking care of H, but anything beyond that would be tough. Feel free to email me if you want to chat more about it!
Muna says
Hailey’s schedule has been very helpful. Thanks! My daughter is almost 6 months old and I love reading what other moms are doing with their little ones.
When did you introduce a second meal for hailey? And how did you know it was time?
Brittany says
Aw, I love that our little ones are so close! For a while I was just giving Hailey bites of whatever I had, then I realized I probably should add more structure (http://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/2012/04/24/confusion-in-baby-feeding-weaning/) so I decided that 2 mini meals worked best for us. Lately I see that she has been eating more and maybe will add in another meal in a month or so, when I notice that she may be hungrier.
Keri says
This might be kinda personal, but do you pump during the long stretch during the day or at night between nursings? I feel like I have to a bit or my supply drops:/
Brittany says
I don’t pump at all usually, though now I am pumping after her morning nursing because I’m trying to stockpile milk for a few days I will be away for in July. I don’t notice a drop in my supply, but I’ve been a bit of an over-supplier since the beginning, so do what works for you! Also, oats and brewer’s yeast helps with milk supply. Have you tried those?
Alison says
I’m a new reader and I love your posts about Hailey because my son is a week younger than her. It’s funny, his schedule is almost identical to hers except he eats solids 3x a day. (Unfortunately he also wakes up earlier in the morning — between 6:00 and 6:30!). Like a prior commenter I love hearing about other babies’s schedules!
Brittany says
I’m glad to hear they have similar schedules! …it makes me feel like I’m on the right track 😉 How long have you been doing 3 solid meals?
Alison says
I’ve actually been doing 3 meals since 6 months… Oliver has always been really small, but at 6 months his growth rate had dropped significantly and he was in the 8th percentile for weight. We had started 1 meal/day at 5 months and he was breastfeeding an average number of times a day, so his pediatrician recommended going right to 3 meals/day. He’s still a little peanut, but at least he seems to be staying on the same growth rate. 🙂
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf says
She is so cute!! You are so right that keeping a blog is a great way to keep track of and remember all the moments as your baby grows up. If my boys didn’t have their blog, I wouldn’t remember a thing! I think that 7-8 months was my favorite age. They are so playful and their personalities start to emerge more. Enjoy!!
Healthy Living Val says
Really remarkable how you listened to her signals and followed them. She’s such a cutie!
blackhuff says
I have a question: Do you like it that so many people are interested and asking questions regarding motherhood and parenting of Hailey?
I sure would be – there’s nothing better than being a mother and loving a child (and getting people to ask q’s about it.)
Brittany says
I do! Of course I love kids, so talking about them and swapping tips is one of my favorite things 🙂
Marci says
I love hearing about Hailey since she’s just a few months ahead of us! It’s so fascinating that every baby can be so different with schedules, patterns, etc. and eventually, we all find what works.