Wow…5 months already! Even though I know how quickly time flies, it’s still hard to see that in the moments. These monthly posts help me to remember and try and take everything in each day with my sweet kiddos. Especially hard to remember after an especially sleepless night!
Sleep – Man the 4th month sleep regression has been a bit rough! Some parts of her sleep are definitely better, some are worse. She has been falling asleep on her own at bedtime very easily with little to no crying which has been amazing. And most naps is the same however we’ll still get a really rough nap here or there where she’s really upset. We’ve been transitioning her off the swaddle. She’s swaddled with arms out at night now and just one arm out at naps. She started getting close to rolling in the crib so it was time. We’ve also been trying naps in the crib and not using the swing in the morning anymore. She has gone back to sleep a few times in the early morning in the crib on her own which has been great! Her biggest regression still though is we’ve lost her longer stretches of sleep at night. Her first stretch of sleep used to be anywhere from 5-7 hours but over the past few weeks it’s been 3-4.5 which has been hard. Sometimes her second stretch is 4-5 hours which lets me get a little bit more sleep but this doesn’t always happen. She’s been waking up happy in the middle of the night trying to roll around so hopefully once she’s more efficient at rolling her sleep will lengthen a bit. I can dream right?
Breastfeeding – Going well. Only issue is distracted eating still, especially when Enzo is around. He wants to chat with her when she gets up so I have to try and convince him to do something else while I feed her or she just wants to play with him.
Milestones – She just rolled from her back to tummy yesterday. She’s been practicing for about a week or so and getting stuck on her side. She especially likes practicing in the middle of the night and early morning! She’s not super efficient at it yet so she’s not rolling all over the place, but it’s only a matter of time. Enzo didn’t roll like this until 6.5 months so I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon!
Mental Health – This has been a constant prayer for me and I credit my decreased anxiety to God. Even though Emilia’s sleep hasn’t been great, I’ve felt much less anxiety over the past few weeks and have noticed I’ve been able to roll with whatever is happening so much better. If she took a short nap or skipped a nap I would get super upset, but I’ve been able to not get stressed and remember that this is a short time in her/our lives. Sleep will get better, than might get bad again and then we’ll have a toddler like Enzo who sleeps through the night with no issues. Trying to hold on to all of that.
Exercise – Still doing my at-home workouts as often as I can squeeze them in. It’s especially amazing when both kiddos are napping at the same time. If so, I almost always try to get a short workout in unless I’m feeling extra tired. When the weather cools off (October?) I would like to try running again. I was running quite a bit before getting pregnant with Emilia and did my first 5K right before as well. It’s not easy for me but that makes me want to work a bit harder at it. Hoping I can get back into it soon.
Food – Emilia hasn’t started any solids yet and we’ll hold off until she’s over 6 months and can sit up by herself. We’re planning on doing baby led weaning again (what we did with Enzo) which means we’ll skip the pureed food and let her feed soft foods to herself. Looking forward to that! I’m also still eating mostly vegan (some eggs now and then) and it’s been going really well. I saw a nutritionist the other week and that was really helpful in making sure I’m feeding my family the right nutrients. Joe is still eating some meat, eggs and cheese and Enzo still has cheese and eggs occasionally as well. Planning a “What I Ate Today” post soon!