Dominic // 5 Months

Age

5 months

Size/Stats

 16 pounds 15.5 ounces.

Feeding Schedule

He is still nursing every 3 hours. I send 3 5oz bottles to daycare. Some days he finishes them and some days he doesn't. His pediatrician said we could start cereal if we want but I would like to wait until closer to 6 months.

Sleep

The weekend after he turned 5 months old he took a 2 hour nap in the swing! Other than that he is held for all naps. He did have 2 nights where he slept a 5 hour stretch...one night in his crib and one night in the swing. After those stretches he was up every 1.5 hours and all the other nights he's up very frequently wanting to eat or be held.
He is still taking 3 naps each day. 2 at daycare and one in the car on the way home.
We are inconsistent with swaddling lately. He seems to want to be out of it but he constantly startles himself awake if I don't put him in it. We are still using the Halo sleep sack swaddle when we use one.

Milestones

He likes to grab at the toys hanging from his play mat.

He loves chewing on Sophie the giraffe.

He can hold toys in his hands and get them to his mouth to chew on.

He's big enough for the jumperoo at the lowest setting.

He babbles so much and so loud!

He likes chewing on my fingers too.

He's trying to roll...he can get to his side but not all the way over.
He can sit up for short periods of time if he leans way forward.

Favorite Things

He loves jumping in the jumperoo, playing on his play mats, being worn in the Solly wrap, and being outside.

 

Least Favorite Things

Being set down and sleeping without being held.

Favorite Gear/Products

Both play mats. We have an Infantino one with cute toys and music, and the piano one that he kicks for the music.
Halo sleep sack with swaddle.
Solly wrap.

Health
He had a belly bug this month! I picked him up from daycare and they said he wasn't feeling well. On the way home I had to pull over and get him out of his car seat because he was vomiting and choking. So scary! The bug only lasted about 24 hours but it was awful.

We are still doing Zantac for his reflux.
His eczema has really flared up this month. He has large patches on his arms and legs, and a few spots on his back.

Sibling Interaction
Rocco is still being super sweet to Dominic. He loves checking on him and bringing him toys. He thinks it's funny when Dominic tries to watch his videos with him, but doesn't think it's so funny when he tries to take his ipad.

 

Dominic // 4 Months

Age
4 Months

Size/Stats
16 pounds 13 ounces and 26 inches long. Still wearing size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes.

Feeding Schedule

Still breastfeeding on demand. He is eating pretty consistently every 3 hours since starting daycare. Some days he does eat a little more often. He is doing much better with bottles at daycare. They say he still takes quite a while to finish each one, but he has been eating more and more. At the beginning of the month I was sending three 4 ounce bottles and he was eating 3 ounces from two of them and a little less from the third. At the end of the month he was finishing all three bottles consistently, so I started sending 5 ounces in each bottle and he usually eats 4.5-5 ounces from each one.

Sleep

He is taking 2 naps a day at daycare. The first one is usually about an hour and the second one is anywhere from one hour to two hours. At daycare he is swaddled in a regular swaddle me swaddle with his arms down and sleeping in a crib with a pacifier. It's crazy how different my babies are at daycare than they are at home. At home he screams as soon as I set him down for naps so I mostly hold him if I want him to get any sleep while at home. He usually falls asleep in the car on the way home for a catnap and I try to make sure he is awake by 6pm.
He did have one night this month where he slept 7 hours straight, just like last month, but other than that night, sleep has gone downhill for us ever since I went back to work. As soon as I went back to work he would not stay asleep no matter where I put him or how I swaddled, or didn't swaddle him. I tried the bassinet again, different swaddles, no swaddle, and I even moved the crib to our room thinking he would want to lay flat like he does at daycare. He WILL NOT stay asleep. I feel like we took a huge step backwards by having him sleep in the moving swing again, but it was the only thing that would work for the first 2 weeks that I was back at work. After that he was ok to sleep in the bouncy seat without any movement. Regardless where he sleeps, the longest stretch besides the 7 hour night, has only been 3 hours. Most nights I'm lucky to get 2 hour stretches. There have been several nights where he has been up every hour. I'm not sure if this is considered the 4 month sleep regression, but it's brutal whatever it is.
We are using the Halo sleep sack swaddle with his arms down.
He did get his 4 month shots this month and that was our worst night yet. He slept a combined total of 2 hours and that was only if I was holding him.

Milestones

He can't sit up on his own quite yet, but he loves sitting in the bumbo!
He makes a real laughing sound now and is so happy most of the time.
He chews his hands all the time.

 

Favorite Things
He loves singing. Any song will do, he just lights up whenever I sing to him.
He loves watching his brother play and act crazy. We usually kill time in the evenings by watching Rocco jump on his bed and make silly faces and Dominic belly laughs watching him.
He loves being outside. He is totally content to just sit in a baby seat in the driveway or under the tree and watch his brother play.

Least Favorite Things
Besides sleep, there really isn't much he doesn't like this month.

Favorite Gear/Products
He has decided that he likes pacifiers again. We use the Mam brand. He doesn't take it all the time, mostly just in the car and every now and then at night.
We brought the jumperoo upstairs after seeing a friend with a baby the same age using hers. He absolutely loves it! Sometimes he jumps and other times he just hangs out in it putting whatever he can reach in his mouth.
We love the Boppy Lounger. I drag that thing all over the house to set him in while I get things done.
 

Health
He caught his first cold this month after being in daycare for 3 weeks. I knew it would happen since Rocco was the same way, but it's still sad to see him sick. He was grabbing at his ear a few times, but both ears were clear at two separate visits this month.
I had stopped his Zantac right after starting daycare. Initially it was unintentional, it was just because I was in such a hurry in the morning and I would forget to give it. But then the ladies at daycare said he was never fussy during the day so I figured he maybe didn't need it anymore. The first weekend after he started daycare he refused to nurse. The only times I could get him to latch on was if he was already asleep. He was arching his back and crying a lot while awake so I started thinking that maybe he really did still need the reflux medication. I started him back on it and after a few days he was back to nursing like normal. It definitely could have been a coincidence, but we haven't had the feeding issues since, so I'm assuming it had something to do with it. I did ask his pediatrician about when a good time would be to start trying to wean off his meds and she said usually around 6 or 7 months, so we will wait until then to try again.
 

Sibling Interaction
Rocco adores his brother. He is always trying to give him high fives and pound its.
We were all sitting in the living room one day and Rocco ran to his room and came back with 3 toys, one for each of us, and he gave the best toy to Dominic.
Rocco is always checking on him and always talking about teaching him things when he gets bigger.

This month has been so hard with the lack of sleep but it has been so great to watch him become a happier baby during the day.

Much Love,
B.

Dominic // 3 Months

Age
3 months old

Size/Stats
15 pounds 15 ounces and 23 inches long. Wearing size 3 diapers starting at 12 weeks. Wearing size 6 month clothes starting at 11 weeks. He definitely had a growth spurt this month, right around 10 weeks. He gained 1 pound 4 ounces in 4 days!
 

Feeding Schedule
Still breastfeeding on demand. Most of the month he was still eating every 2 hours during the day. I slowly started stretching him to every 2.5-3 hours later in the month anticipating the start of daycare. I remember Rocco was eating every 3 hours by 12 weeks, and while obviously every baby is different, I assumed Dominic could go every 3 by then too. And sure enough, right before starting daycare he was at the every 3 hour mark.

During maternity leave I hadn't really thought much about bottle feeding. There was really no reason to give him a bottle so..I didn't. And then 2 weeks before starting daycare it occurred to me that we should probably try. I've read on mom facebook pages about babies refusing bottles and all the stress that causes, but I never really thought it would be an issue since Rocco did just fine switching back and forth from breast to bottle. I was so wrong. Dominic refused. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. He would scream and scream any time I came near him with a bottle. I would spend 10 minutes calming him down just to try again and have him start screaming all over again. If I got the bottle anywhere near his mouth he would push the nipple out with his tongue or clamp his mouth shut all together. I started asking friends for advice and several people suggested trying different types of bottles. We started with what we already owned and when those didn't work, I bought more. And then I bought even more. We tried every kind of bottle I could find in the store. I tried regular nipples, orthodontic nipples, faster flows, slower flows, anti-colic bottles, I even ordered pricier bottles from Amazon. People also suggested having others try to feed him as he may just refuse it from me. I tried, Joe tried, my friend Kelly tried, my MIL tried, and my sister-in-law tried. It was really stressful and I cried so many times thinking of sending him to daycare with the possibility that he wouldn't eat all day. Over time he did slowly take a few ounces here and there. My sister-in-law (and BFF) came over the weekend before he started daycare to give it one last effort to try to ease my mind...and sure enough...he sucked down a few ounces without a single peep. That first day of daycare was still stressful since I knew it would be all new faces to him. I called to check in and they said he really hadn't eaten but that they cared for babies before that had the same trouble and that he would be fine. It did take a few days, but by the second week he was doing much better.

 Sleep

He is pretty consistently sleeping a 4-5 hour stretch at the beginning of the night and then up every 2 or so hours after that. He is sleeping in the bouncy seat with the Swaddle Up. He did have one night where he slept 7.5 hours! He still loves being held for naps at home, but will sleep swaddled in a crib at daycare.
 

Milestones
He definitely found his voice this month! He loves to babble and does so very loudly! He's almost laughing too which is so cute. He opens his mouth really wide and makes a squealing noise that's almost a laugh, but not quite. He also loves to blow bubbles.

 Favorite Things

He still loves being worn in the Solly Wrap. He will only sleep at night in his bouncy seat/swing. He loves listening to the music and watching the toys on his play mat, and he loves baths.
 

Least Favorite Things
He still dislikes his pacifier, at least from me. He takes it at daycare, but not at home. And he really hates his car seat. He screams every time he's in it almost as soon as I buckle him in.

Favorite Gear/Products
Solly Wrap, Infantino play mat, bouncy seat/swing, boppy pillow.
 

Health
Right at the 12 week mark he all of a sudden stopped screaming for hours every evening. It really was like a switch was flipped. He's still crabby in the evenings, but it's nothing like it was up until this point. Praise Jesus. That was stressful.
We are back to just giving Zantac. We give him 2ml 2x/day. This seems to be helping with the reflux. He's definitely much happier during the day too.
 

Sibling Interaction
He is always watching Rocco and smiling at him, it's the cutest thing. Rocco is always worried about where he is and what he's doing. He often gives him hugs and kisses unprompted and beams when Dominic smiles at him.

Going back to work was definitely the hardest part of this past month. I love my job, but I love my boys more and wish I could spend all of my days with them, no matter how stressful those days would be. I know it'll get easier with time though, just like it did after Rocco.

Much Love,
B.