/
05.14.18

Harper’s 4 Month Update + Schedule

Mon Bebe onesie

Okay, these months are flying by. I swear, I just wrote Harper’s 3 month update. My tiny baby seems like an actual person these days, she’s growing up SO fast! While Mike and I have a better grasp on this whole parenting / having a 4 month old, it’s still so surreal to call ourselves parents. Every so often we catch ourselves in awe of the fact that I grew this little human in my stomach. It’s so crazy how life works, isn’t it?

This last month has been a joy, but also tough. We experienced a lot of firsts and really stepped out of our comfort zone. We took Harper out of her nap routine more times than we wanted as we searched for a home. We had family in town on 3 different occasions, which is tough in itself even without a new baby. Harper learned to turnover, which meant we had to figure out a new system (went from the Sleepea swaddle to the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit) and she’s also going through the 4 month sleep regression. Did I mention, we had to pack up our entire house?! So as they say, when it rains it pours. We’re experiencing all the things all at once.

Crystalin Marie baby

New at 4 Months

In general, I think going from 3 to 4 months has been the biggest change we’ve seen so far. I feel like Harper went from a baby to a person, haha. She’s just so fun and happy and an absolute JOY. She’s grabbing for things and holding toys. I love seeing the hand eye coordination develop. She’s talking up a storm and laughing, which is my absolute favorite! She’s discovered her thumb. Although I wouldn’t say she a thumb sucker – it’s not consistent enough… yet. She sees the dogs now, which is super adorable. If the dogs bark while she’s feeding, she’ll stop and kinda look at me like, they shouldn’t be doing this while I’m eating, mom, lol. Now that she’s more awake and aware, she seems a lot more content when we’re out and about. If she’s not asleep, she looks out the window in her car seat or hangs out while we’re at lunch or dinner. We had some later nights while family was in town and I didn’t know how she would behave considering she was off her schedule a bit, but she was such a champ. Proud mama over here!

Crystalin and Harper

Janessa Leone white hat

Naps

The sleep regression hit us around 3.5 months and kicked us in the butt, especially when it came to naps. It was probably a combination of the sleep regression and going from a swaddle to the Merlin Suit, but there were days where she would wake every 20 minutes. It was tough going from a baby that was fairly predictable with naps to a very needy baby. We couldn’t get anything done. She still isn’t back to her normal naps (and may never go back), but it’s better. It took her about 2 weeks to really get comfortable with the Merlin Suit. Her issue was going from arms swaddled to arms out. The reason we transitioned her to Merlin Suit was because she started rolling over. We tried letting her be free while sleeping, but since she had never had her arms out, she didn’t know what to do with herself. Flailing, sucking, scratching – it was a nightmare. The Merlin Suit is a nice transition tool. She has her arms out, but they don’t flail and it’s a little more restricting on the arms than it would if they were free.

Bedtime

We still have the same bedtime routine as mentioned in this post here. But, Harper is not technically sleeping through the night anymore. I’m not sure if it’s the sleep regression or not, but she’s waking up at least 3-5 times a night, starting sometimes as early as 3am. We simply have to give her her pacifier, but it’s been brutal. Luckily, I go to bed around 8-9pm, so I’m still getting enough sleep to get by, but man, it’s been rough (especially with the move). We’ve tried things in the past to help her sleep longer, but those haven’t worked… we’ve thought about feeding her in the middle of the night, but we haven’t done that in SO long and we don’t know if it’s a good idea to introduce that again. I will keep you posted on this.

Feeding

Last update I mentioned giving Harper an extra feed during the day because we weren’t feeding her in the middle of the night. We stopped doing this at around 3.5 months. Per the Baby Whisperer’s feeding schedule (been using this pdf), at 4 months Harper is supposed to be down to 4 feedings. Since we were doing 6 feeds, we thought it was about time we cut back to 5. I don’t think we’ll do 4 feedings until around 5 months. Other than the number of feeds, nothing too dramatic has changed.

I’ve received a ton of questions about feeding in public. I actually haven’t had to, yet. The only place other than our house that we have fed Harper is my aunt’s house, which I wouldn’t consider public. We time our outings based on Harper’s nap schedule. After a nap (we usually leave the house after her second or third nap), we’ll feed her and head out. Since she doesn’t nap all that well out, we know she won’t last too long. Plus, whatever we end up doing only takes up to about 2-2.5 hours. Typically, we end up getting home around her next feeding. We’ve been 30 minutes to 1 hour late before, but since she wasn’t fussy, we waited to feed her at home. With all that being said, I have everything with me to feed in public if I had to.

Activity

Harper’s activity time has been so fun at this age. She’s doing so much and the smiling and laughing are EVERYTHING! She recently started sitting up with the assist of the Boppy. It’s a nice relief because I felt like all she did was lay down. Sitting has been so much fun. We just got her a walker of sorts. Once we get moved in, we’ll set it up. More vertical time, yay. She has loved playing with her new toys. She’s holding them and shoving everything in her mouth. She does this thing where anytime she holds her butterfly she grunts or talks. It’s pretty hilarious. Oh and she still loves her animal and alphabet cards (those are my fav!).

Harper has moved from 45 mins to about an hour of awake time. At this age she should be able to be awake for 1.5 hours, but as mentioned before, we watch for her cues. She has always gone down for naps really well, so I definitely don’t want to push anything. She likes her sleep and we so don’t mind it, ha!

Harper Gray

Bubs and Windy play mat

Favorites at 4 Months

Petit Collage Organic Baby Chime Ball – We saw a baby physical therapist a couple weeks ago (just checking on her flat head, noting to worry about) and she used a large chiming apple that Harper really loved. So you can imagine my excitement when I found this chime ball. It’s soft, safe, and super adorable! It makes a subtle chime noise when the ball rolls and the ears make a crinkle noise.

Soundbub white noise machine – We were gifted this white noise machine and instantly loved it! We were using one that only had 10, 20, and 30 minute options, but this one stays on until you turn it off. You can do so much with it (record songs, make playlists, etc.), but so far we’ve just been using the white noise. It’s adorable and small enough to travel with.  It gets pretty loud, too!

Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit – This sleepsuit is a nice way to make the transition from completely swaddled to no swaddle at all. It took her a few weeks to get used to it, but she definitely found her groove. I was worried she was going to be too hot, but so far it’s been fine. We keep her room cool and as long as she’s not fighting her nap, she doesn’t get overheated. This suit does prevent her from rolling, which isn’t great for developmental reasons, but since she was pretty young to start rolling over, I think it’s fine. We’re hoping to transition her out of this sooner than later.

Boppy Nursing Pillow (the cover we use) – We use this every time we nurse, but we’ve also started using it to help Harper sit up. It’s been a game changer!

Bitte Lovie Bunny – Now that Harper can grab things, she’s finally able to enjoy all her toys. The little knots on each corner make this super easy to grab. I’m hoping we can use this as a lovie once she’s old enough to have one with her while she sleeps.

Gap Bodysuits – We are loving these super cute and simple bodysuits from the Gap. The weather is finally warm enough to move away from long sleeves. There’s a good amount of stretch to these and they’re super soft. Harper is wearing the 0-3 and 3-6 months, although the 0-3 are getting snug. Highly recommend!

Bubs & Windy Play Mat – I couldn’t be more obsessed with this play mat. It’s so pretty in person. Not only is it safe and fun for baby, it works so nicely with our decor. You know how people always talk about putting the bright, obnoxious toys away because they are such an eye sore – yeah, not this one. The mat is super plush and soft and so are the mobile pieces. They all make different noise, too.

SHOP OUR FAVORITES

Crystalin Marie and Harper

On Me: Madewell cardigan (old), Re/Done jeans 25 // On Harper: Sparrow Designs onesie, West Coast Baby head band, Bubs & Windy play gym

Harper’s 4 Month Schedule

5:15am – Harper wakes up

5:30 am – Feed

5:45 am – activity

6:15 – Nap

 

9:30 am – Feed

9:45 am – Activity

10:30 am – Nap

 

1:00 pm – Feed

1:15 pm – Activity

2:00 pm – Nap

 

4:00 pm – Feed

4:15 pm – Activity

5:00 pm – Catnap

 

6:00 pm – Activity

7:00 pm – Feed

7:30 – 7:45 pm – Bedtime