Ollie: Six Months

And just like that, Ollie is six months old. I’m not going to lie, it has been a tough month in our house. Seems Ollie thinks he is still a newborn and wakes multiple times a night, every night. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired in my entire life! Luckily he is super cute, so when he smiles at me when I get him out of bed in the morning as if nothing is wrong, all is forgiven. Here’s an update on that, and everything else Ollie has been up to this past month.

Weight: 7.6kg (35th percentile)

Height: ? (I will update this at our next appointment in a few days)

Ollie continues to stack on the weight! He’s a long way from the tiny 2.7kg baby we brought home from the hospital six months ago. He just about still fits in to size 00 (3-6 month) clothing, although his chubby thighs are starting to really stretch out his pants!

Sleeping

As mentioned above, it has been a rough month in the sleep department for us. Ollie slept pretty well at night from 3-4 months old, however as soon as he turned four months he started waking three times a night pretty consistently. Then, at the five month mark he started waking every two hours, pretty much every night, all night. I’ve resorted to always feeding him to sleep which I know means he will just keep waking up, but I’ve been too tired to try and settle him any other way. After a few weeks of this I was so tired I thought I was going insane. The nights just seemed relentless and I was finding it hard to have patience during the day, especially with Ella. Andy started getting up with me to try and settle Ollie without feeding, but most of the time he would just keep crying so we would give up and I’d feed him anyway. There were a few nights where he only woke once or twice and I would think we’d turned a corner, only for him to return to the two-hourly wake ups the next night.

I ended up going to see my doctor who gave us a referral for sleep school. Yes, sleep school! This is a thing in Australia (I have no idea if it exists in other countries). Basically Ollie and I will stay in a hospital for five days in a “mother baby unit” and the midwives will sleep train Ollie, while also teaching me how to settle him. The technique at the particular hospital I chose is called “responsive settling” and as far as I can tell it involves a lot of patting the baby. We are scheduled to go a few days before Ollie turns seven months old, so I will report back next month.

On a positive note, Ollie does usually go down easily for his naps and his night sleep. I’m able to put him down awake, tell him it’s time to sleep, give him a kiss and walk out without much complaining from him, as long as I time it right! He is generally awake for about two hours between naps. His best nap is in the morning, where he usually sleeps for 1.5-2 hours. After that he tends to have two “catnaps” of 30-40 minutes in the afternoon and early evening. At sleep school they will probably try to get him on more of a 2 x 2 hour nap routine (which I’m all for!).

Feeding

I tried giving Ollie a few bottles of formula this month, mainly so I could have it as a back-up in case I wanted to be away from my darling boy for more than 2-3 hours at a time. It has not gone well my friends! We have a very picky baby and he has refused the first two brands of formula I’ve tried. I’ve even just mixed a small amount in with breastmilk to try and ease him into the change, but no deal. (That was particularly sad as I meant I wasted breastmilk which always sucks.) Andy and I are starting to feel a bit lost and have no idea what to do. I know I shouldn’t compare babies, but Ella pretty much ate/drank anything we gave her so this is a new problem for us. 

I started giving Ollie some pureed vegetables and fruits about halfway through this month. His first taste was squash, and Ollie practically ripped the spoon out of my hand and tried to feed himself. I thought, ok, he is definitely ready for food, but since then it’s been pretty hit or miss. I offer him something to eat once or twice a day, and sometimes he is interested, sometimes not. So far he has tried squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini, peas, green beans, potatoes, porridge, apples, pears, strawberries and watermelon. I’ve had the most success with the orange veggies and of course the fruit. Now that Ollie is six months he can apparently eat anything except honey (and added salt and sugar should be avoided of course) but he can’t quite hold himself up in his highchair yet so I’ll probably stick to purees until he can do that. 

Development & Play

We have teeth! The first popped through just as Ollie turned six months, and the second about two days later. They are the two front bottom teeth and I think they have caused him quite a bit of pain in the lead up to their appearance. I’ve been using Weleda teething powder which seems to help, along with some good old panadol.

Ollie seems to have forgotten how to roll this month. He rolled front to back for the first time last month, and did it consistently for a few days, and then stopped. No idea why! He hasn’t rolled back to front yet, although in the last week he’s been rolling over to his side more frequently so that might be coming soon. He does shuffle around a bit, lifting his bum and using his feet to move around when he is on his back. He often turns in a circle when he is on his tummy if he sees something that has interested him. 

Like most babies, Ollie is in love with his own reflection. Showing him himself in the mirror is sure to result in a huge smile. 

To Andy's delight one of his favourite toys currently is this stuffed football. 

Ollie is desperate to sit up and can get frustrated if he is lying down for too long. However as mentioned in the feeding section he’s not strong enough to sit by himself, and even if I prop him up he usually falls forward. I think he is pretty frustrated with this and is sick of lying down all the time!

Ollie loves the music class we attend with Ella. He is just so happy watching the other children and hearing the songs. Whenever I sing the songs from the class at home he gets a huge smile on his face. This class is one of the highlights of my week with the two kids, and I have certainly improved my repertoire of “children’s songs with actions” that I can bust out when he’s being fussy.

We’ve discovered this month that Ollie has eczema which has flared up in the heat. It’s pretty mild but mostly on his back which was really irritating him. Consistent moisturising has calmed it down but it is something we will have to keep an eye on, especially as summer approaches. 

Ollie loves going for walks in the pram. When he has had a short nap in the afternoon we often go out for a long walk so that he can have a rest. We have this big butterfly toy that hangs from the bar that he just loves, it keeps him occupied for ages. I still use the baby carrier often if I want him to sleep, it’s a lifesaver if we are out for the afternoon as he loves it in there and will always fall asleep in there.

Ollie finds Ella much funnier these days. I think initially she scared him, as when she tries to play with him she can be quite energetic! But now that he is older he doesn’t get startled by her the way he used to. Ella loves holding his hands, I think she has learned that this is the most effective way to keep him from grabbing her hair. I'm loving the sibling connection that has formed between the two of them!