Ollie: Five Months

I'm a little late with this update this month because... two kids... but here's a recap of Ollie's development as he turned five months old. 

Weight: 6.8kg (21st percentile)

Height: no idea! Will have to wait for a doctor’s appointment next month for an accurate measurement.

He's still packing on the weight at a pretty good pace and seems absolutely huge now compared to when he was born. 

Sleep

Well the four month sleep regression definitely hit us, and it’s lasted pretty much all month. Gone are the days of Ollie waking only 1-2 times a night, sleeping a glorious 6-8 hours stretch at the start of the evening. This month he consistently woke up three times every night, usually once around 10-12, then again about 3 hours later, and then the last time between 5-6am. I've tried to not  feed him during that last wake up if it is after 5:30am as I don't think he's really hungry. But that means I have to try and ignore his grizzles for about half an hour before he falls back asleep. Sometimes I am too tired to listen to this, and give in to a quick top up feed before putting him back to bed for an hour or two. I know I should be more consistent and ignore him as he’s not actually crying, but sleep deprivation means that I don’t always make the best decision at that time of day!

We moved Ollie from his bassinet to his cot once we got back from Phillip Island. He spent that holiday sleeping in a port-a-cot, so I figured it was a good time to move him since he was out of routine anyway. The move didn’t seem to impact his night sleep at all, he continued waking three times per night whether in the bassinet, port-a-cot or his cot. He is still sleeping in a room with me, and I really wish our house had a better design so I could move him to his own room!

This month Ollie's naps were almost always 40 minutes long (one sleep cycle), occasionally two cycles for his first nap in the morning. On the days I am home without Ella I usually take him for a walk in the pram when he wakes so he can rest a bit longer as he is clearly still tired. Sometimes he falls asleep again in the pram, but often he is just awake and quiet. The positive side of this is that I walk A LOT nearly every day and as a result have pretty much lost all the baby weight, whoop!

In other news, Ella is sleeping really well at the moment, so at least there is that!

Feeding

Ollie is still exclusively breastfed although he has started showing signs that he wants some real food. He watches intently when we eat and has even started grabbing at my drinks or food. We have a bit more of a routine when it comes to feeding, and his day kind of goes like this:

7-8am wake up and feed

(9am nap)

11am feed

(1pm nap)

2/2:30pm feed

(4/4:30 nap)

5/5:30 feed

6pm bath

6:30 feed. This pre-bed feed is taking AGES at the moment. Ollie often has 120-140ml of expressed breastmilk, plus I will have to top him up with more on the actual boob. I think he just likes the mummy cuddles before bed. But it often takes me over an hour to do this feed, whereas previously it was a quick and efficient half an hour. 

7-8pm bed

And then as mentioned above, three night wakings where he feeds anywhere from 15-30 minutes. At least they are quick night feeds and he normally goes back to sleep very easily.

Development and Play

This month Ollie has become a tummy time LEGEND. After writing last month’s update I felt a bit guilty that I hadn’t been putting him on his tummy enough, so started making an effort to do it much more regularly every day. And, surprise surprise, he has quickly improved. 

Ollie rolled from front to back for the first time this month, about two days before he turned five months old. He did it about four times in a row and we were all pretty excited watching him. Ollie was completely nonplussed each time he landed on his back, looking at us like “what? I do this all the time”. 

I’ve started putting Ollie in real clothes now, rather than just keeping him in a onesie all day. He looks so much older when wearing a proper outfit! 

Ollie moved out of his baby bath this month and now has a bath with Ella every evening. We got this bath support which helps keep his head above water without having to hold him all the time. Bathing a baby at this age, before they can sit unaided, can be pretty awkward (not to mention back-breaking). He loves it in there and is constantly kicking and splashing around, genuinely seeming to be very excited to be the in bath with his big sister.

We took Ollie swimming a few times this month. His expression has been pretty neutral the whole time he’s been in the pool, but he doesn’t cry so I think he likes it. He hasn’t started any formal lessons yet, at our pool the earliest you can start is at six months.

I started taking Ollie and Ella to a music class at Ceres on Tuesday afternoons. It’s called The Rhythm Tree and is for children aged 0-5 and I absolutely love it! The atmosphere is so relaxed, the expectation is that parents participate in the singing and actions and the kids do whatever they want. So if they want to join in that’s cool, if they want to run around the room and do their own thing, that’s also cool. I love how it’s a class that both Ollie and Ella can get something out of and it’s pretty much my favourite thing to do when I have both kids. We also got a CD/downloads of all the songs so I’ve started playing them at home as well and Ella is learning a lot of the words.

Ollie and I also joined a mums and bubs yoga class at the studio around the corner from my house. It is soooo lovely! The studio is open half an hour before class starts for a chai and chat where you can get settled in and talk to the other mums. I wasn’t expecting the actual yoga to be that challenging but it was actually a good level and Ollie was pretty calm the whole hour. It’s only a six week course unfortunately as it’s another highlight of my week at the moment!

Ollie has become a lot more interested in toys, books and Ella this month. He grabs his favourite toys and mainly tries to eat them, he is focussed when we read him a story, and he regularly laughs at things his sister does. He’s become so much more interactive this month and I’m loving the giggles and playtime we have together.

Well as I finally finish up this post Ollie is nearly 5.5 months already and things have already changed from when I initially started this update! I can’t believe that the next update will mark Ollie’s first half year of life… where is the time going?!