Finny Babe: 5 Months
Finn turned 5 months old on February 18th. It’s unbelievable to think that he’s almost half a year old! These five months, as I’ve said multiple times before, have flown by but also felt like the longest months ever.
When Finn finally got over all his colds and coughs, we decided it was time to sleep train him. With Eva, I was able to let her cry it out and it worked amazingly fast and ever since she’s been a wonderful sleeper. So, I’m 100% for that method. BUT it turns out I’m a complete softy for this sweet baby so at first, I had planned to just close the door and let him cry to sleep but I couldn’t do it. I don’t believe it’s going to hurt him or make him psychological problems or anything, I just wanted to grab him and snuggle. But one day he wanted to nurse like seven times or so through the night and so I realized something had to be done. I had a friend who said to try the method where you go in every three minutes, then five, the ten, etc, until they finally go to sleep. I tried that with Eva and I felt like it made it worse going in to check on them but not picking them up (she didn’t take a binky though, Finn does). But I figured I’d give it a shot this time around too. It actually has helped a lot. I think it’s more for me so I know he’s doing okay, make sure he’s swaddled up tight with his binky, I try to shush him and soothe him and if it doesn’t work, then I leave and come back in a couple minutes. Each time I’ve done this, he falls asleep within 30 minutes and finally is starting to learn how to go back to sleep by himself. He’s doing pretty good overall, and now that we’ve established this pattern and put enough work into it, I’m not going back. And thankfully it’s also helped with naps. He sleeps in his crib for most of his naps unless we have to take Eva to school, and will sleep swaddled in there for at least an hour. Oh, the joy of sleep. It’s amazing how it makes life SO much better. I’m not a constant hot mess any more and life is finally feeling back to normal!
Moving on, that sleep stuff is boring to read about, I know, but I like to have it written down so with the next baby I can remember what helped/didn’t help! Finn at five months has now started rolling around. I’ll put him on his play mat and he’ll end up across the room somehow. He also can scoot out of his swing, so I’ve got to buckle him. He loves his jumper and his exersaucer, and loves playing with some toys. He’s got a couple rattles and a car that is easy for him to hold. He sucks on them and shakes them up and down pretty vigorously. He also LOVES his Sophie the Giraffe. What is it with those expensive giraffes that babies loves so much? It must be the texture because he gnaws on it constantly. He’s still a big binky sucker, which I love because he rarely whines or cries, especially compared to Eva.
Finn has started eating solid food, as I posted about earlier. He tried and loved avocados and yogurt this week, and still loves bananas and crackers mushed up. He doesn’t love baby food, so for now I’m just mashing up foods and going that route for now.
This baby is just so content and really easy going. He doesn’t mind being in his car seat, which Eva used to hate at this age and would scream her head off whenever we were in the car. He loves being held and doesn’t care if he’s in the baby carrier which faces inwards. He adores his sister and all little kids, for that matter. He finally will take breast milk out of a bottle but still loves nursing. Finny babe is such a sweet heart but is growing up way too fast! He’s wearing 9-12 month clothes, hates for me to change his clothes, but blows out his diaper everyday still so lots of outfit changes still occur.
Click here for his photos from this month.
Hooray for sleep!! Max didn’t like baby food either so I just fed him what we ate from about 6 months on. I love how much Finn and Eva look alike!! So cute!