Five months! I think I am in denial because I am still trying to fit her in 3 month clothes and I finally just put away her 0-3 month stuff. She is the happiest little babe who is always smiling, laughing and as Harrison says, “making funny noises”. Lots of successes to share today in her 5 month update.

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Big Brother

When you are thinking about having a second baby, there’s the million dollar question – what’s a good age gap between the two? Harrison and Evelyn are 29 months apart so almost 2.5 years. Obviously there is no right or wrong answer here, every stage of life is going to be different. This is most arguably the hardest time when they both still require ALL of your supervision.

Harrison is getting more independent and I can trust him to play in the playroom by himself for a little while. I can even trust him to be with the baby while I run the laundry upstairs or go to the bathroom. Small wins. Lately there’s been lot of crying, screaming and saying “no” when it comes to silly things like getting dressed. Welcome to the three’s.

Eat

In my 3-month update, I shared some of our nursing struggles. I found that it helped to feed her in her room right when she wakes up in order to avoid distractions. Now, with a toddler sometimes this is not feasible and I have to give him the phone to keep him occupied. I also moved her to a 3.5-4 hour schedule at 18 weeks and dropped from six feedings to five feedings. This solved a lot of our problems with eating AND sleeping.

Here is her current schedule at 5 months:

• 7:00am wake & feed
• 9:00-10:30am nap
• 10:30am feed
• 12:30-2:30pm nap
• 2:30pm feed
• 4:30-5:30pm nap
• 5:30pm feed
• 7:30pm feed and to bed

Sleep

She started sleeping through the night around 12 weeks (at Thanksgiving), and in her crib. I ended up dropping the dream feed a week or so later. With Harrison, once he slept through the night he never woke up again. Evelyn was a different story. Over New Years she was struggling with another cold so we had some wake ups here and there but around 18 weeks after I moved to the 5 feedings she started sleeping through the night again.

We were struggling a lot with the 45-minute intruder during naps and extending her wake time seemed to do the trick. I also heard about this amazing app – Huckleberry. First of all, it’s free. There are some paid options but I didn’t need any of that. You log baby’s sleep for 3 days and then it starts to alert you of their ‘sweet spot’ – the best time to put the baby down for a nap. Of course you still want to watch for sleepy cues but we have had success with naps at least 1.5 hours long since using this app.

Below is a screen shot that shows her sleep summary over the last 14 days. Some days I forget to log a nap, especially if we are on the go and she’s napping in the car but overall it’s nice to see how much she is sleeping. At 5 months your baby should be sleeping about 13-16 hours with 3-4 naps a day.

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Favorite Things

Baby Bjorn Bouncer Bliss – This bouncer is great, I love how portable and lightweight it is. We have the pink mesh, because I just had to get something pink now that I have the chance! Their new soft sprinkle collection is too cute and comes in pink or blue. You can also buy replacement covers if you ever wanted to change the color or size. They have great resale value as well so you could sell it once you are done with it.

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Minnie Mouse On The Go Soft Book – We already had a ton of these crinkly books but this one is very light and easy for itty bitty Evelyn to pick up and hold onto. This was a gift from a friend for Christmas and it’s become one of her favorite toys that we always bring with us.

Sophie La Girafe Teether – Everyone knows Sophie. I like this one because water can’t get inside, it’s easy to hold onto and hook onto the carseat or stroller.

Lollipop Smart Baby Camera – I already had the infant optics camera for Harrison and to purchase the additional camera was $100 so I decided to get a separate Wi-fi camera for Evelyn. I actually like having two separate cameras because I can have one monitor upstairs while Evan can work in the garage and have Harrison’s monitor. I’m loving this one and you can read all about the great features in my friend Emily’s blog post at gettingchicdone.com.

If you’re looking for other monthly updates or schedules you can find them here:

• 1-month update
• 3-month update