Well, we’ve made it past the 6-month mark and moving onto first! I have to say the first couple of months are a lot to figure out and depending on the character of your child there’s a lot that happens and changes just within that time frame. But by 6 months you usually have a hang on things and get into a good schedule/routine and have navigated through the toughest part of the newborn stage. That being said, I wanted to share with you first-time Mamma’s or even just other fellow Mamma’s what’s worked, what hasn’t and what to expect from 0-6 months just based on our experience. And also, some encouragement, cause as a Mamma we ALL need that! Can I get an AMEN?
Disclaimer: Now before I had my son we had already fixated that I was going to breastfeed. Whether you do or not is the parent’s decision. I encourage it, as a mom who is breastfeeding to try it due to the immense nourishment and protection it gives your baby, but I respect every mom’s choice in this matter, and I know from experience it can be tough! (I had mastitis 2x in 3 months).
Newborn
First. Word. Grace. Seriously Mamma give yourself some grace over what you can and can’t do, you just birthed a baby. If you’ve read my postpartum healing journey blog post attached HERE. You know it was a rough one with a capital R! And one thing that I’ve learned from it was to be patient and let your body do its work to heal in its timing. The first month is hard! Sleepless nights, your body in pain, and taking care of you and your baby is a lot and for me, it kind of all ran together. In that first month, if you breastfeed you’ll start to notice what does and doesn’t affect him in your milk. For me, I found out that tomatoes, beans, peppers, and too much spicy were a “no-no”. It upset his poor tummy like crazy! But once I took it out, he seriously had no more tummy troubles! It was wonderful. Another part of this is when they have spells of just crying! And mamma I had a couple of those. When Hudson was a little over 1 month I remember one time I had tried for about 45 mins to get him to stop crying and nothing that normally helped before worked. I was so upset. So I called my mom and she came over and was able to calm him down and help me too. Point is, don’t be afraid to ask for help! I knew I was just as upset as he was and babies sense it. Having a calm person to help can sometimes be the difference you need at that moment. And your not a bad mom for asking for help. We ALL NEED IT. This first month is a big period of learning just what your baby wants when they cry and connecting /bonding with them. God gave moms a unique ability to be able to care for their child like no other and he equips us for their every need! It still amazes me how he created this all to be like that.
2-4 months.
By 2 months you may be starting to get into a little routine and be healed up for the most part. But if not. It’s okay!! You’ll notice little characteristics of your child are starting to develop, and they may be even starting to sleep better at night (just maybe). But you’ll also notice around 3-4 months a lot of new motor skill developments. With this sometimes comes something called a sleep regression. And this Mamma knows all about this… My son went from waking up 1-2 times at night by 2-½ months to waking up every 1-½ hours to nurse or just want to be held. It was horrible. I felt it like I had a 1 week old on my hands again. This went on for us until almost 5 months and was so tiring and frustrating. Some things we did to help was to have a very concise time he went to bed and also began real food purées/rice cereal right before bed. This helped him stay full longer at night so as not to wake up as often to eat. And the routine helped with knowing when bedtime was. But honestly, he was such a happy baby during the day that it didn’t make sense considering how horrible he slept at night. The best part around this age though is they start sitting up in strollers, rolling over, and can even start to entertain themselves with toys. And not to mention the adorable coherent gibberish they start saying. During this stage, my son was more clingy to me and new people scared him a little as well as loud noises. But, I didnt mind the extra snuggles! So yes, this stage has some challenges with the sleep regression and all, but the developments that happen are so precious and definitely worth it! (And hey not every baby goes through sleep regression so you might be off the hook!)
5-6 months.
To me, this was the golden mark. By this time we’d had a good grip on life with a baby. We finally got into a good sleep routine and during the day he had good nap times. Granted around this age they start getting rid of some day naps but it also helps that they can do more on their own- Johnny jump, walker, sit-up in the boppy, and tummy time/crawling. Since Hudson was very active and starting to eat foods himself (blog post about introducing foods to come), I decided to add the foods that gave him tummy troubles back in slowly to my diet one at a time to see how he did. (Note: I added them NOT when he tried a new food so as not to confuse if he had a reaction.) And this Mamma was overjoyed to find out that he did just fine now- no tummy troubles! By 6 months they are more in tune with everyone and everything around them which makes it a lot of fun as they react to their surroundings.
Whew, if you made it to the end of this post, girl you get a star! I hope this is helpful in any way that you may need it. Just remember, every baby is different, has different needs, and your mom intuition and gut instinct that God gave you is very keen on what your child needs! He equipped us to take care of the precious human he placed in our womb and hands.
Our 0-6 month Essentials!
