Two months of motherhood, 2 months with Otto - what I've learned, and our sleep routine
Otto at 2 months
I know a lot of changes happen around the 4-month mark, and 6 months, so I haven't been expecting big changes in Otto's development so soon, but he is already getting to have more of a personality and be able to do more.
He's started "talking" a lot, even by himself like laying on his activity mat--which he can now do by himself for quite a few minutes while I do things around the house (our apartment is small so I can see him from almost everywhere). I don't think he really understands he can touch the shapes on it yet, but he's starting to look at them more.
He can hold his head up pretty well now so we can carry him around more, and are planning to take him swimming soon. He has also learned to suck on his hand, though hasn't figured out the thumb yet. Last night he ROLLED!! From his back to his side. He can't figure out how to get his arm out from under him even in tummy time when I roll him, so there he stayed, but still.
At his 8-week appointment last week, he had gained almost 5 pounds from birth (up to 13 lbs 10 oz), and 2.5" (up to 23.5"), and his head circumference was 99th percentile. WOW. I can't believe my child would be 99th percentile in anything! But Jason has always been known in his family for his big head (since birth when it caused some major issues in delivery). And my mom and dad, and I, have never been able to buy normal-sized hats. So he gets it from both sides and I guess it makes sense.
2-month-old baby sleep schedule
Sleep was our biggest issue when he was brand new and waking up erratically. I read every baby sleep thing I could find online and in books we have, but most things were for older babies so it sounded like for a newborn we were kind stuck--pretty much the main things you can do are feed them more and try to teach them day/night and use a routine.
So we developed a sleep routine, and are still doing it: below is our ideal schedule for right now. This is based on my hours of reading baby sleep resources while up in the middle of the night! Plus some feedback from our doctor. We'll fine-tune and move the bedtime earlier as he gets older, but right now we're trying to time his longest sleep stretch with my bedtime, so I have go to sleep at the same time he does. (Please no judgment; this is just what has worked for us.)
- 7:30pm: end of last nap
- 8:00pm: he nurses a little and gets sleepy but we keep him up
- 9pm: Jason gives him a bottle of 3-4 oz. pumped milk
- 9:20 or 9:30: Jason gives him a bath
- 9:35ish: I give him a very quick baby massage (he fusses during it most of the time, thinking of phasing it out)
- 9:40-9:50ish: he nurses to sleep
That has been working pretty well and he usually does 4.5-6 hours the first stretch. Once this week he did 6.5 hours for the first stretch and then almost 4 hours in the next one, and just last night he did more than 7 hours the first stretch. AMAZING. I have been sleeping so well!
The other really cool thing we've seen is that he has put himself to sleep from 85% asleep, and put himself back to sleep when interrupted in naps and even a couple 2am fussy bits. They say that teaching your child to go to sleep is the best thing you can do to help with sleep issues, since it means they'll be able to go back to sleep when the wake up in the middle of the night, as all humans do. He's still not able to put himself to sleep from fully awake, but someday.
Motherhood 2 months in
The first 2 weeks of motherhood were extremely hard for me. The first month was also very hard. The second month, also hard, but I have learned some things that have made it easier.
- I shouldn't plan to get anything done. I can try, but it helps not to be disappointed if it doesn't work out.
- It is okay if things don't go to plan. I used to be stuck to my Babytime app, carefully tracking Otto's feedings and naps, making sure he didn't go too long without either. All in the interest of keeping him from fussing too much and improving nighttime sleep. But we've had a couple of totally off days, where we were out on errands too long and he had short naps, or I visited a friend till 9:00 and he slept for an hour in the car on the way home... and guess what? He was fine. He slept pretty much like normal. I think it's great to have a flexible routine, but I have learned to let go to it when needed and stop worrying so much!
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