A Day in the Life ~ 5 Month Old Baby Routine

Before seeing Ysis Lorenna's 7 Month Update video and reading her 'Day in the Life of a 5 Month Old' blog post I hadn't thought to research 'baby routines', let alone write about our own. Where. Have. I. Been. 

I don't know if it's a 5 month thing, but since we hit 20 weeks, getting Harry into some kind of routine has become our goal. Perhaps it's the prospect of having more than 5 hours sleep in a row or maybe even some time of an evening to do something non-baby related. Either way the dangling carrot of predictability has caught our eye and finding the best way to a) get some time to ourselves and b)not have to begin our day at 5am are things we've been gradually working towards over the past month.  

If you read our 5 Month Update you'll see that Harry has begun on most occasions to sleep through the night. Whilst this is of course great news I don't want to make out like we have a perfectly regimented routine established, or like we don't still have nights sitting stroking his head through the cot bars trying to get him back to sleep. We do. Hence this post is in no way a 'how to', it's simply a log of an average day in our lives that we hope you find interesting :) I wonder what it'll look like in a month's time... 

07:35 WAKE

Harry wakes and I hear him through the baby monitor having a good shout. I go through to his room and bring him back into my bed for his morning breastfeed.

08:00 BREAKFAST

We go downstairs for breakfast at 8am. Harry has this Heinz Creamy Oat Porridge and half a mashed banana. I have the same. Well kind of. I have normal porridge.

08:34 GET READY

Takes a while this bit, but after breakfast I get Harry ready and attempt to get ready myself and keep Harry occupied. Hanging the bouncer on the bathroom door works a treat. His hoodie and joggers are from F&F and his 'Raa' T-shirt from M&S.

09:33 MORNING MILK FEED

After about 2 hours of being awake and before he takes his morning nap, Harry gets in another milk feed.

10:15 MORNING NAP

It's usually around 10am-11am that Harry will take a half hour nap. Today we're running errands, so he falls asleep in the car.

10:44 OUT AND ABOUT

Harry wakes as the car pulls into the garden centre car park. I pop his Maxi Cosi car seat onto his pram wheels and we head inside to pick up some crafty bits and ingredients for this blog post.

12:07 HOME

Errands run we head home in time for lunch.

12:30 LUNCH

For lunch we go for something quick. These Heinz Multigrain Dinners are fuss free and great if you're too busy to make homemade 100% of the time. For pudding he has home apple puree. He loves a fruit puree.

13:08 AFTERNOON MILK FEED

I always offer a breast feed after Harry's solid food in the afternoons.

13:20 PLAY

Play time consists of anything from time on his play mat to reading a book. I find I have to do quite a range of different things with him to keep him occupied. He hates tummy time and can't sit on his own so it's engaging business working together to keep him smiling and having fun :)

14:30 PRE-NAP FEED

You know they're tired when nothing you do pleases them. Their eyes go all puffy and red and they let out a good three or four yawns. It's at this point in the afternoon that I know Harry needs a sleep. If I miss his cues he doesn't know what to do with himself and ends up feeling a bit destitute.

15:00-16:48 AFTERNOON NAP

This is a relatively new development, but this long, late nap in the afternoon is good news for both of us. I can get on with things round the house and Harry wakes up ready for his tea and with enough energy to get him through bath time and in bed by 8pm.

17:30 TEA TIME

Sweet potato and some pureed mango for tea washed down with a little water from his weaning cup. Tea time depends on nap time, but it's not usually later than half five.

19:00 BATH TIME

I wait it out till seven for bathtime otherwise I've found Harry falls asleep too early and wakes up at about 05:30 in the morning ready for the day. Props to those of you who can handle that. Pre-sunrise I'm no use to anyone so I like to eek out bath time until about half seven. After that I get him ready for bed and offer his evening feed at about twenty to eight.

20:10 BED TIME

9 times out of 10 Harry falls asleep whilst feeding. Either Ed or I take him up to bed, tuck him in and make sure his dummy is next to him in case he shouts for us in the night. On this occasion he does at around 5am. He falls back into a deep sleep instantly and we see him at 07:30 the next morning.

Kathy
xx