Eliza at the end of 6 Months

Here is all the info I emailed Eliza's babysitter before she started going there last week.  I wrote this on New Year's Eve.  I figure this makes for a great blog entry as well because you can see what Eliza's been up to lately.  She is having a great time with her awesome babysitter, Adina.  I will write more about that soon... 

  

Eliza’s Usual Routine

6:15ish wake and breastfeed

8:00 solid foods for breakfast

9:00 nap for 1 -2 hours

When she wakes up around 10:30-11  bottle (drinks about 4 oz or at most 6 oz. becoming less and less as she eats more solid food)

11:30 or 12- lunch solid foods

1:00 nap for 1-2 hours

2:30 or 3-  can give a couple oz of breastmilk to hold her off until I get there (by 4:00)

 

The daily routine is just to give you an idea of what she currently does on a “typical” day but of course  every day is a little bit different and her routine can be adapted.  She is pretty flexible so for instance, if she gets a short nap in the morning because we’ve been out somewhere, she will often make up for it by taking a longer afternoon nap.    

 

Meal Time/ baby Foods

These are the pureed foods that Eliza has eaten so far:

Baby Oatmeal

Peas

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Avocado

Butternut and Acorn Squash

Prunes

Pears

Bananas- seem to make her constipated so I haven’t been giving them to her as much

Peaches

 

 

 

For breakfast I usually give her oatmeal mixed with a fruit and maybe some veggie mixed in.   I make just about 2-3 tablespoons worth at a time mixed with a little warm water or formula (unless I happen to have breastmilk left-over from a bottle that was only partly drunk and not finished).   At lunch I usually give her veggies first and then after she eats some of that I give her a fruit.  If she doesn’t want to eat the veggie, I mix a little fruit in it to make it sweeter and then she usually eats it.  I read her cues to tell me when she is full.  She becomes less interested and looks away, stops opening her mouth as much, and seems happy and satisfied.  I don’t care if she finishes any set amount of solid food.  She’s eating for the fun and experience of eating at this point.  She gets all the nutrition she needs from breastmilk.   I just started giving her a sippy cup with a couple oz of water toward the end of meal time to get used to it.  She likes holding it, banging it around and I help her take a couple little sips of water to practice with the cup, not because she is supposed to be drinking water at this point.                

 

Nap Time

You can tell when Eliza is starting to get tired when she yawns, rubs her eyes or starts to fuss close to one of her nap times.   Sometimes, she also makes these noises that you probably remember from small group, like she is trying to sing herself to sleep :)  She usually loves a good nap J  I put her in a sleep sack and then swaddle her with a blanket around the outside of the sleepsack with her arms out.  She likes to be toasty warm when she is sleeping.    I read that babies are not likely to get overheated as long as their hands and heads are uncovered.  She doesn’t even prefer to be rocked to sleep or anything (unless you are out somewhere and there isn’t a comfy bed to sleep in).  As soon as she is ready for a nap, it seems like she can’t wait to get in the bed and stretch out.  I put her in the bed and tell her it’s nap time.  She will often fuss and cry a little for a few seconds or up to a minute but then she quickly turns her head, sucks her thumb and settles down to sleep.     Sometimes during her nap she will fuss or cry out, but if it’s only been less than an hour, I don’t go in to check on her right away, and she often settles back down and goes to sleep again for the rest of the nap.  But of course, if she keeps crying, then she’s not going back to sleep and the nap is over.

 

Bottle Feeding

Eliza has been doing very well taking the bottle as long as I’m not around.  She is mostly breastfed so she is probably pickier than a baby who’s been mostly bottle fed.   I use the latex nipple because for some reason she does better with those.  She seems to like it more than silicone and can get a better latch that is closer to the way she latches on for breastfeeding.   I warm the milk up in the little ameda breastmilk storage bottles by placing them in a mug of hot water and then pour it  into the Ventaire bottle.  The Ventaire has a little silicone valve in the base.  If you ever try to warm it in that bottle, you need to make sure the bottle cap/nipple are off, otherwise it creates a vacuum, and milk will leak out the bottom.  Or, if you have a bottle warmer that’s even better, but we don’t have one.       

 

Skills:

Eliza is just starting to be able to sit up on her own when you are right there to catch her falls.

She’s just recently become really interested in her own feet and grabbing them.

She has rolled over in the past but not very often.  She rolls to her side and just stays there content to be on her side.   I make sure she has some tummy time to work on strengthening those muscles.  But she’s just such a sweetheart and would rather lie on her back and smile and make cooing or other cute baby noises at you.