Kate turned 5 months old this week and I cannot get over the developmental explosion that has occurred in her over this past month! Who knew so much happened at only four months old?!?
We decided to make a few–fairly major, in my opinion–changes once Kate turned four months old, starting with moving her to her crib. Prior to this point Kate had been sleeping in a bassinet next to our bed. I loved being able to just open my eyes to see her and know that she was okay, but we couldn’t keep her there forever. She was starting to outgrow it and we were concerned that the longer we waited to transition her to her crib the harder it might be. (On me.) Well I’m happy to report that we all did great and Kate has successfully transitioned to sleeping in her own room in her own crib!
The next transition was weaning her from swaddling. We had planned on doing this slowly, and a few weeks after the transition to her crib because we didn’t want too many changes at one time, but when I was getting Kate ready for her second night of sleeping in her crib she pitched a fit like I have never seen when I was swaddling her! So I made a deal with her: “If you bust out of this swaddle tonight I promise not to re-swaddle you.” She busted out of it within ten minutes, and I kept up my end of the bargain. As I expected she didn’t sleep as well that night as she usually does, but we made it through. And once we made it through one night without swaddling we decided to go for it and quit cold turkey. Each night got a little better than the one before it and it didn’t take long at all before she was sleeping like her usual self again.
Now that we were no longer wrapping Kate up in a baby straightjacket each night, she embraced the opportunity for movement and almost instantly turned into a side-sleeper. We couldn’t believe it! All these months of sleeping on her back and the second she had the option to shift positions she went for it. Who knew? Shortly after this, Kate rolled over for the first time on purpose (she had an unintentional roll-over at 3 months old during some too vigorous tummy time which may or may not have traumatized her for life–we’re putting money away for the therapy bills just in case). But this one was a REAL roll over! Of course I had to grab the video camera to try to capture it on film for Grandma Pam–and here it is:
Once Kate figured out this skill–and how to roll from her front to her back–she quickly went from being a side-sleeper to a tummy sleeper!
Kate’s hand coordination has also grown in leaps and bounds over this past month. It seems like every day Greg and I are going nuts over some new, amazing, and incredibly talented thing she is doing with her hands. “She just reached out and grabbed that toy! Did you see that?” or “Kate just hit the button that makes the ‘moo’ sound! I bet she did that on purpose–she’s brilliant!” or “OH MY GOD SHE JUST PICKED UP HER PACI AND PUT IT BACK IN HER MOUTH! I’m adding that skill to her college applications.”
More “firsts” this month include her first trip to the dog park (she loved it) and her first time being transported in a baby carrier instead of her stroller–she really loved that! G walks with her forward-facing in the carrier and she is all smiles and laughs (not to mention lots of spit-up–it’s a bouncy ride) the entire time! We also introduced Kate to her Exersaucer, Bumbo chair, and Jumperoo this month and it is like a whole new world has opened up for her! She just LOVES her Exersaucer
Additional Kate 4 Months Posts:
Things Loved in May
Reading all your Kate updates makes me so excited for our little one to arrive! Just 10 more weeks (give or take). We have the same Jumperoo, and it will be so fun to see if our baby likes it just as much some day.
It’s so helpful to hear things like when you stopped swaddling and when you moved Kate to her crib. I know every baby is different, but it’s great to hear what other people are doing. Enjoy your beautiful 5 month old!
yeah we stopped swaddling at 4.5 months and moved to the crib at that time. Pics are so cute!
Oh my gosh those faces are too much!
she is absolutely adorable!!
Kate is SO sweet!! Haha, makes me question how such a sweet little thing can ‘pitch a fit’ 😉 You gotta catch THAT on video for proof! Just kidding, I have 3 sweet daughters too…I know they are capable of many not-so-sweet things!!
Happy 5 month birthday Kate!
Seriously, she is adorable! Glad she is doing so well! Keep posting those cute pictures!
Wow she is one seriously cute baby. So exciting to have all those changes going on
Hi, Dusty!
I’ve been following your blog since right before you had Kate. I came across it one day by accident, actually! Anyway, my husband and I had our first baby back in October – a boy! – so he is just a little older than Kate, but everything you have been writing about has just been experienced by us (and him!). He is almost eight months old and, boy, it only gets better! We have that same bouncer for him and he STILL loves it. It’s so funny to see how they change, even in the bouncer. He used to do what Kate did – check things out, jump a little, etc. – and now he is full on heaving himself up in the air! It’s too cute. Oh, and we had the same weaning of the bassinet and swaddling, although our transition was much harder. The milestone we’re at is standing. Our son pulls himself up and balances himself on anything he can get a handle on – me, my husband, the couch, furniture. It’s just so neat. I wish you and your family only the best and I look forward to reading more. Your daughter is absolutely beautiful! Congrats to you and your husband.
All the best,
A fellow first-time mom!
smohap@hotmail.com
Aw that’s awesome & amazing. She’s just sprouting right up before our eyes!
My daughter is just a month younger than Kate! I love following your blog! Could you do a post with a few more details on transitioning Kate to her crib, as well as unswaddling her?!? We are getting close to this soon…and would love any tips!
Thank you so much for your comments everyone!
@Dee–Congratulations to you! These next 10 weeks are going to fly by and your little one will be here before you know it!
@Anonymous–Congratulations on the arrival of your son! I’m happy to hear we’ll be getting a lot of mileage out of the Jumperoo if your son is still enjoying it at 8 months–that’s great! Thank you so much for your sweet comment!
@Frances–I don’t really have a whole lot more to say about the transitions. The transition to the crib was seamless. It didn’t phase her one bit! Weaning her from swaddling was a little bit more of a challenge, but still not too bad. I had this elaborate plan for how we were going to slowly wean her but as you read in my post, we ended up just going cold turkey. Kate’s biggest problem was her pacifier. She doesn’t have a strong enough suck to keep it in her mouth just by sucking. When we were swaddling her we’d use a blanket tucked in at her sides to help her keep her paci in her mouth, but once her hands were free that was no longer safe. She needed to learn how to hold her paci herself and until she mastered that skill there was quite a bit of us running into her room to pop it back in for her until she fell asleep. Luckily once we stopped swaddling her hand coordination grew in leaps and bounds and it wasn’t long before she was able to control her paci pretty well herself. And once that happened her sleep was back on track. I hope that helps, and I wish you the best of luck with your little one’s transitions!
I have a 3 1/2 month old son and I so enjoy reading about how Kate is doing. Thanks for keeping us posted. She is just adorable. I love all the different expressions!