Sample 6 Month Old Breastfed Baby Boy Schedule

I have a big, healthy, growing baby boy and he still eats A LOT. Here's just one example day in our life.

2:00 am - wake to nurse
7:30 am - wake up for day and nurse
8:00 am - breakfast - 2 ounces baby food
8:45 am - nurse to sleep
9:00-9:45 am - nap
10:30 am - nurse
11:50 am - lunch - 3 ounces baby food
12:00-1:30 pm - nap
2:00 pm - nurse
3:45 pm - nurse
5:15 pm - dinner - 2 ounces baby food
6:30 pm - nurse to sleep
7:00 pm - bedtime

Yes, I still nurse Calvin to sleep. We always nurse to sleep at bedtime and sometimes for nap time. If he seems to be getting tired but fighting a nap, I'll nurse him to sleep. If he seems to be getting tired and starts humming to himself or talking to himself, I know he can probably fall asleep on his own and I'll just put him in the crib. I know there is some controversy surrounding the topic, but this works for us. To me, I don't see it as any different than giving a baby a binky for naptime and I am fine with being Cal's binky for the time being. And he is great about going to bed at bedtime. Even if he nurses but is still awake when he finishes, we can put him down in his crib and 99% of the time he's asleep within 10 minutes, no crying or fussing. He really is a great baby about bedtime, naps can be hard some days, but bedtime is awesome.

At this point, we probably could feed him larger amounts of baby food and perhaps he wouldn't still be needing to nurse every two hours, but we're working our way up to the 3-4 ounce mark. He seems to get restless in the evenings and doesn't like to eat more than 2 ounces for dinner. If he's in a good mood for breakfast and lunch, he'll eat 3 ounces or more.

When he was a newborn I loved to Google "how often does a ___ month old nurse." I was so ready to be done with nursing every two hours, but Mr. Calvin is still at that every two hour mark most of the day. Really the only nursing times we have given up since he was a tiny newborn are one around midnight because he only wakes up once (usually between 1-3 am) in the night to eat, and another feeding around 5-6 pm because we have replaced that one with baby food instead of nursing because it is quicker and easier during our dinnertime. I used to immediately come home from work and have to feed Calvin while Justin made dinner. I'd end up either eating my dinner cold or trying to maneuver it to eat over Calvin. It was relaxing to get to immediately come home to that most days, I'd think about it after a long day at work, how I just wanted to be home nursing my little baby boy, but other days I just wanted to eat my damn dinner! Lol.

So Calvin still nurses around seven times per day, for 20-30 minutes at a time too, longer if he's tired.

Now don't get me wrong, every baby is different, I kept hoping we'd have significantly reduced our nursing sessions by now, but that's just not the case with us personally. I just wanted to put this out there for any moms who are in the midst of the newborn stage wondering if it's ever going to be better. It does get easier, it does get to be part of your routine. But don't keep hoping for the future, enjoy the moment you're in and get used to it if you want to be in it for the long haul. :) It's true when they say time flies.

Love,
Alaina

A Random Little Update - Where's the makeup?

Some of you may be wondering what the heck is going on? I haven't posted a makeup look or review of a makeup product or really anything not mommy related in soo long! And I have to be totally honest, during my pregnancy I never would have predicted I'd get so far off course after Calvin's birth. I was doing okay while I was on my maternity leave (for 8 weeks): YouTube allowed me to have a little something to do during the week. But since going back to work, I just don't feel the urge to film or work on any of that stuff.

I only work four days a week. I spend most of my day off doing laundry and making baby food, in addition to hanging out with Cal. When Cal is awake, I want to spend time with him and while he's sleeping I have other stuff to do. On the weekends I like to relax and spend time with my husband while Calvin naps. So it's partially not having the time, but more so just wanting to spend my time in other ways than before.

At his 6 month check up

I used to film every weekend. I'd film a tutorial or GRWM video while I put on my makeup, then film another random video afterwards, and finish it off with my weekly pregnancy update. Then later on I'd edit or wait until the following day. That's when I had two videos per week. On maternity leave I felt that one video per week was reasonable and I accomplished that for awhile. But ever since returning to work I would just rather spend my time doing other things. And I know that it's a rut and I'll get back to it in good time, but it is hard to get out of a rut like this. It's hard to get back into filming and editing after being very inconsistent for a long time. But I want to! I want to get back into it, I just need to figure out how much time is reasonable and when I can take advantage of my time.

And let's be honest here, I haven't even hunted for makeup or browsed the makeup aisles in a long time either. That's a thing I just don't have time for. I don't have the time or patience to run to half a dozen stores searching for a new product. I'm not about to get Calvin in and out of the car that many times for a couple hours lol. Calvin is a big boy, he's been in the 90-something-th percentile for his weight and height since his first month check up. And I'm not as strong as I could be ha. Not about to lift that car seat and carry it around just to walk into Walgreens and not find what I'm looking for ten times lol. Don't get me wrong, I still do my makeup six out of seven days a week, but I just don't feel the desire to spend a ton of money on it anymore. I still love applying my makeup, I love wearing bright lips, colorful eyes, or just the bare minimum. It's a very strange thing for me. I just feel guilty to be working on YouTube stuff when I could be playing with Calvin. Plus I just plain need some inspiration. I think that's part of it too. I need to find a new product to test out or something to get me back into the makeup world and report back to you on.

Anyway, I know this was random, but I just wanted to give a little update, maybe guilt myself into some kind of inspiration or motivation. Hopefully I will see you guys soon!

I love you guys,
Alaina

6 Month Baby Update : Calvin Lee

I feel like this month went by a lot slower than previous months, which is a good thing for a mom who doesn't want her baby boy to grow up too fast!

For me and my postpartum body, I have not been working very hard at getting back to normal. Not watching what I eat very well lately... Therefore, I am still stuck with 10-15 pounds to lose. My pants are still continuing to get looser, which is a good sign. I might not be losing weight but something is happening.

Calvin's Stats at his 6 month check up: weighs 20 lbs 1.6 oz, 28.5 inches tall

Movement

Mr. Cavin, is trying his very hardest to get up on his hands and knees. He gets up on his tippy toes and most recently his knees, but can't seem to get up on his hands at the same time, but he's trying his best! And he isn't army crawling yet either. But he is doing super well at sitting up on his own. Sometimes he does fall over, but more often than not he's sitting up for quite awhile and when he lays down it looks like he's doing it intentionally, not just flopping over. Lol.

Eating

He moved from the Bumbo to the highchair. He just kept trying to reach for things and bending in all directions, not to mention trying to kick his heels and escape from it. He's a big boy and his chubby little thighs sometimes get stuck when you pull him out, so we just retired that item before he got hurt.

We've been practicing with the sippy cup a little bit and he's very interested in it and cries if he drops it out of his reach, but I'm not sure if he really understands it because I'll put a little bit of water or breast milk in it (less than an ounce) and by the time he's done messing with it, there's hardly any gone. I was going to ask the pediatrician about what brand she'd recommend but totally forgot, so it's time to look up reviews! Feel free to leave any suggestions below.

He still nurses 6-7 times per day. He eats 2 meals of 2-3 ounces of baby food (usually lunch and dinner on grandma days, and breakfast and dinner on mom and dad days). He loves pretty much every food he's tried except squash. He's not a big fan of squash, but he doesn't super hate it or refuse it. And for our 6 month check up, I asked our doctor all about food and she told me that Cal can eat whatever (except raw honey) as long as it's not a choking hazard, so I can't wait to start making more baby food. The freezer is currently pretty full so I have to wait til we empty out some containers before I can make new baby food lol.

First Sickness

Calvin had his first sickness at the beginning of the month and that was so sad. It was just a little cold, but as a tiny baby whose main source of food is a liquid, it was hard for him to eat due to the stuffy nose. That was so sad. And he hated when I used the booger sucker device. But it didn't last too long, maybe a week overall and only 2-3 days of the sad little stuffy and runny nose.

Sleep
He rolls everywhere in his crib! You put him down on his back and as soon as you leave the room, he is on his belly. He used to love sleeping on his side but ever since he's learned to roll over it's like he cannot figure out how to just be on his side. He either has to be all the way on his back or all the way on his belly, there is no in-between.

He seems to gravitate toward two naps per day, but sometimes he takes three smaller ones. His average nap is 1.5 hours.

We've been much more consistent about reading bedtime stories this month and having an actual bedtime routine. It's not fancy but Cal is really good about going to bed. Bedtime is 7 pm. If it's a bath night, we'll start that at 6, then read a bedtime story in his room, and head downstairs to start nursing at 6:30. I'm not sure if that's totally due to the routine or him just being a good baby. Sometimes I nurse him to sleep and sometimes he stays awake through the last nursing session of the evening and he still goes down really well. Just plop him in his crib and turn on the mobile and in less than 10 minutes he's out like a good baby. After our terrible 4 month sleep regression, I never would have guessed he'd be such a good night time sleeper. He still wakes once in the night usually sometimes between 1-3 am. And about once per week he'll sleep all the way through til 5 am. I always get my little hopes up that perhaps he's going to start sleeping through the entire night consistently, but that has yet to happen. Lol.

Overall, Calvin is growing so fast! He's a big healthy baby and we are so grateful and thankful for that. He's learning so much so quickly, I can't wait to see what the future holds for our little boy, but at the same time I want him to be little forever. :)

Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina

More Baby Food Adventures! Minty Peas, Spiced Apples & Green Beans, & Banana Mint Oatmeal!

Here are this week's baby food concoctions!

Cinnamon Applesauce
6 apples + cinnamon = 11 oz
Peeled and cored apples sliced into quarters. I put these in the crock pot on high for 4 hours with no additional moisture. They pureed perfectly and made the house smell delightfully like fall.

Banana Mint Oatmeal
3 bananas + 3 oz milk + 3 Tbsp oatmeal + 2 sprigs mint = 9 oz
I have noticed the greener the bananas the more liquid you may need to add to the blend. Then I had to add oatmeal because I added too much milk at once and it got too runny.

Spiced Apples & Green Beans
4 apples + 10 oz frozen green beans + nutmeg + cinnamon + cloves = 8 oz green beans + 12 oz apple/green bean mix
Peeled and cored apples sliced into quarters. I used frozen green beans. I cooked these all together in the crock pot for about 2.5 hours on high. Then I separated out all of the apples with some of the green beans for one batch, then did the remaining green beans separately. The green bean/apple mix didn't need any additional liquid, but I did use the remaining liquid from the bottom of the crock pot in with just the green beans.

Minty Peas
10 oz peas + 3 oz milk + 2 sprigs mint = 12 oz
Cooked the frozen peas in boiling water for 10 minutes, drained liquid.
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total $12.57 for 52 ounces = $.24 per ounce
(not counting oatmeal, mint, or spices)

So this week's average was a little higher than usual, but still under my $.25 per ounce goal. Plus this was all organic, whereas in past weeks I bought a mixture of organic and regular, so that could explain the cost difference.

Hope this was helpful!
Love,
Alaina