Hellobee

I am constantly amazed these days that my sweet baby is truly more of a loud, mobile, ravenous toddler. The leaps and changes in the last two months of his first year of life leave me astounded. Kid has gone from an observer to an active participant in the world around him – and I realize that, while it may seem like an overnight change, it’s been a slow shifting of schedule, routine and habits ties to development and growth. I recently analyzed the various forms William’s sleeping and eating took over his first year of life – from his days as a newborn to the end of the ‘fourth trimester,’ up to his current forward trajectory into full on toddlerhood. Here’s what Will’s life (and thus, mine!) has looked like over the past year.

Newborn – 3 months

Typical Schedule:

• 7 AM: Wake, nurse
• 8 AM – 11:00 AM: Doze, nurse, doze, nurse
• 11:00 – 11:45 AM: Play, tummy time
• 11:45 AM: Nurse
• 12:15 – 2:30 PM: Nap
• 2:45 PM: Nurse
• 3:15 PM: Play
• 4:00 PM: Nurse
• 5:00 – 6:30 PM: Nap
• 6:45 PM: Nurse
• 7:15 PM: Play
• 8:30 PM: Bedtime, nurse to sleep
• 9:00 PM – 7:00 AM: Wake 3-4 times, nurse back to sleep

Eating: Will nursed very frequently – maximum time between nursing sessions was two hours and minimum twenty minutes. He definitely had his growth spurts where we’d nurse CONSTANTLY. My poor nipples. Overall, he averaged about 45 minutes for a nursing session until about 6 weeks, when he dropped to 15 minute sessions and, by eight weeks old, he would nurse from one side for 5-10 minutes, and maybe take the other side for 2-3 minutes. He started getting a bottle for his first nighttime wake feed, from my husband at four weeks old, and then transitioned to also getting his bedtime feed in the form of a bottle at eight weeks. At ten weeks old, he began getting three 4 ounce bottles a day at daycare when I returned to work, and nursing before work, right when I got home and for any nighttime wake ups.

Sleeping: After the first week of just regular newborn sleepies, he settled in napping 4-5 times a day, from 30 minutes to 3 hours each time. His biggest nap by far was in the middle of the day for a solid three weeks – he would pass out around 11:30/12 and wake again between 2 and 3 PM. This was wonderful as I would use this time to get my adventure on – timing a lunch out with a book while he slept! Will could stretch up to 90 minutes between naps, but it was better if we kept it to about sixty minutes of wake time max.

We loosely followed the EASY routine – Eat, Activity, Sleep, You (mama!) time, though often Will nursed to sleep for a second round of eating.  t worked for us! Will was also a champ carseat/stroller napper during this time, but he also frequently napped in my arms or the Pack n Play (but not a wink in his crib, ha!).

This was Will’s most reliable nighttime sleep period. Again, once out of the first two weeks of waking every 90 minutes to 2 hours, he settled in to three good 3-4 hour chunks. We started the bedtime routine early on, and he was usually getting milk for bedtime by 8 PM, and asleep for his first stretch by 8:30. He’d wake around 11 PM or 12 AM, nurse and go back down until 3 or 4 AM, and then wake for the day around 7 or 8 AM.

3-5 months

Typical Schedule:

• 6 AM: Wake, nurse/bottle
• 7 AM – 8 AM: Play
• 8 AM: Bottle
• 8:30 – 10:00 AM: Nap #1
• 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Bottle, play
• 12:00 – 1:30 PM: Nap #2
• 1:30 PM: Bottle
• 2:00-3:00 PM: Play
• 3:00 – 4:45 PM: Nap #3
• 5:00 PM: Nurse/bottle
• 5:30 – 6:30 PM: Play
• 6:30 – 7:15 PM: Bedtime – bath, nurse/bottle
• 7:30 PM – 6 AM: Wake 0-3 times, nurse/bottle back to sleep

Eating: Will continued to nurse 6-7 times per day until he developed his bottle preference at four months old, and has been on five bottles per day since then. He transitioned quickly from 4-ounce bottles to 6-ounces, and he had five of those per day – and maybe a little bit extra overnight when he woke once or twice. He began purees at five months old, and liked them! We started with half a jar of fruit or veggies at night, and he seemed to love pears and sweet potatoes most of all.

Sleeping: William continued his 4-5 naps per day schedule until he went to daycare and developed a solid schedule of three naps per day, of about 60-90 minutes. Sometimes he would take two, 2-hour naps, but typically fell into the three naps per day schedule. At home, we’d get our best naps in the swing, and I dreaded the day we’d have to end that relationship. His schedule in general was just more predictable during the weekdays, and his regular napping schedule helped his evening sleep and he slept through the night somewhat consistently for a good few weeks. He would maybe wake early on in the night, around 9 PM, or late, around 4 AM, and I would easily nurse him back down, or he would take a little milk and go back to sleep.

6-8 months

Typical Schedule:

• 6:30 AM: Wake, bottle, head to daycare/chill
• 8:30 – 9:20 AM: Nap #1
• 9:20 AM: Bottle, play
• 11:30 – 12:20 PM: Nap #2
• 12:30 PM: Bottle, play
• 2:30 – 4:00 PM: Nap #3
• 4:00 PM: Bottle, play
• 5:00 PM: Pick up from daycare, go home
• 5:45 PM: Purees/dinner
• 6:45- 7:15 PM: Bedtime – bath, nurse/bottle
• 7:15 PM – 6:30 AM: Wake about 2 times, bottle back to sleep

Eating: Will kept up his five 6-ounce bottles, plus an additional 5-1o ounces over night, because he was waking so often. This meant kiddo was eating 30-40 ounces per day (!!) and my boobs were working hard to pump all that milk for him. He LOVED his purees, and we began sending some to daycare for ‘lunch.’ He didn’t love solids beyond that, though, so we did all we could to get him interested. He finally fell in love with graham crackers, so those and animal crackers would prove his gateway food for other things.

Sleeping: Will solidly transitioned to two naps per day, once around 9:30 AM and again around 1:30 or 2 PM, when he was about seven months old. We also weaned from the swing around then (the horror!) and he began taking all his naps in pack and plays, either at home or at daycare. He would roll around for a while until he finally fell asleep for an hour so each time. His night sleep sucked at this age, as he’d seem to get in a rhythm and then get a tooth. And then another tooth. And then a cold. These were dark days, my friends, dark days of very little consistent sleep for all of us. But Will was as happy as ever! The lack of sleep seemed not to bother him at all.

9-10 months

Typical Schedule:

• 7:15 AM: Wake, bottle, head to daycare/chill
• 9:30 – 11:00 AM: Nap #1, bottle as he goes down
• 11:00 AM: Bottle, play
• 12:00 PM: Lunch – puree, finger foods (if he was interested!)
• 12:30 – 3:00: Bottle, play
• 3:00-4:30 PM: Nap #2, bottle as he goes down
• 4:30 PM: “Snack”, play
• 5:00 PM: Pick up from daycare, go home
• 5:45 PM: Dinner – puree, finger foods
• 7:00 PM: Bedtime – bath, book, bottle
• 7:30 PM – 7:15 AM: Wake about 2 times, bottle back to sleep

Eating: Will finally began to find solid food he liked – mostly purees and crackers with a few soft food thrown in. He would sometimes eat a bit of food that we had on our plates, but mostly kept up eating 30 or so ounces of milk per day. He found a love for a berries and black beans – and loves them most to this day! This helped him transition, and by the time he was ten months he was becoming a consistent solid food lover.

Sleeping: Will’s daytime sleep included two, 90 minute naps per day and sleeping about eleven hours per night, with one wake up on average. He’d take his bottle and then either fall right back to sleep – or decide he wanted to hang out for an hour so. This was a tricky time, sleep wise. It was hard to predict how long he’d be up when he woke at night and it was stressful! If he was up a long time, he’d usually sleep in a bit the next day to make up for a bit of lost sleep. This was also the period that daycare begin napping him alone in a dark room, with a little bit of milk in his bottle – so we also transitioned to napping in his crib with his black out curtains and music, with just a bit of bottle. Since we all transitioned to this schedule, nap time has been so much easier and we can rely on Will napping consistently. It does mean, though, that his ‘on the go’ naps are much less reliable – he likes his sleep sack, dark room and familiar atmosphere! Ha!

11-12 months

Typical Schedule:

• 7:00 AM: Wake, breakfast (sausage, fruit, yogurt), small bottle, head to daycare/chill
• 9:45 – 11:15 AM: Nap #1, small bottle as he goes down
• 11:15 AM: Play
• 12:30 PM: Lunch – a protein, carb (usually fruit), and veggie (usually in puree form)
• 12:30 – 3:00: Play, small bottle
• 3:00-4:30 PM: Nap #2, small bottle as he goes down
• 4:30 PM: Snack (cracker, applesauce), play
• 5:00 PM: Pick up from daycare, go home, small bottle
• 5:30-6:15 PM: Play
• 6:15 PM: Dinner – protein, carb, veggie, water
• 7:30 PM: Bedtime – bath, book, bottle
• 7:30 PM – 7:00 AM: Wake 0-2 times, bottle back to sleep

Eating: Will has become a CHAMPION solid food eater! He eats pretty much anything we eat, and he often gets lunch and dinner of whatever we’re having – and his lunch for daycare is usually leftovers. He still isn’t a fan of bananas and eggs, but he loves things with flavor and spice.

Since Will began eating three solid meals a day during these past two months, his milk consumption has dropped dramatically. He now takes four or five bottles of 3-4 ounces, plus a larger bottle for bedtime/nighttime wake-ups. He averages about 15-20 ounces of breastmilk per day, which has helped ease the burden on my supply – so I’ve been able to reduce my pumps! Woohoo!

Sleeping: I don’t even want to say it, but right before Will turned one (last week!), he suddenly stopped waking at night. He had slowly dropped to typically one wake up, but I was shocked when that one disappeared as well. We’ve had a few harder bedtimes, and a few days where he woke up 1-2x (which we confirmed was likely due to his molars all pushing through and moving about at the same time, eek!), but I’d rather have a harder/longer bedtime than wake up however many times a night for who knows how long! Send lots of crossed fingers and luck that his sleep has really turned a corner and we’ve actually got a kid who sleeps through the night – please! He’s still on a two nap per day schedule, but has fought/not gone down for his afternoon a few times in the last ten days or so, which may mean we’re looking at the one nap transition in coming weeks.

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I’m looking forward to seeing how his schedule and needs continue to shift over the next six months as he enters true toddlerhood and I’ll be sure to share how it goes with you all in the future!

In the meantime, I’d love to know – how did the transition to whole cow’s milk go for you all? We just started introducing it today and I can’t tell if he’s just not very interested in milk/having an off-food day (he wasn’t very into his solid food either today), or if he is really refusing the cow’s milk.   I’d love to hear your experience!