to the fullest...: Cameron: 7 months

(Late once again...)

Size (at 6 month checkup): Weight- 7.12 kg/15.66 lb (16 %ile), Length- 68 cm/26.8 inches (55.9 %ile).

Sleeping: After he started eating solid foods, Cameron started waking up later for his early morning nursing session (4:30 or 5 AM) and then was waking up for the morning (7-7:30 AM) not very interested in nursing since he had just eaten. I guessed that this was an indicator that he was ready to be able to sleep through the night without nursing anymore. So about 3 weeks into solid foods (6.5 months old) I tried clipping his pacifier to his pajamas again and left him to CIO during any night wakings. He made it all the way from bedtime until morning without nursing and was able to put his pacifier back in by himself so I never even heard him wake up or cry at all. From that point on he has slept through the night, although he always uses his pacifier to go to sleep and sometimes wakes one or two times during the night, but falls back asleep within minutes after popping the pacifier back in.

Eating: Breastfeeding every 3-4 hours during the day, solid foods 2-3 times a day. I introduced solid foods the week before Cameron turned 6 months old and he was waaaaaay into it. Like scarfing food down while his eyes asked me, “Where have these bananas been all my life, mama?!” After the first week of eating solids I was feeding him 3 times per day and his early morning nursing session got later and later until he was waking for the morning uninterested in nursing. He also started refusing to nurse sometimes during the day at his usual times so I scaled back to 2 meals per day during the third week of solids, his nursing went back to normal, and he started sleeping through the night. I thought I was going to lean heavily toward a baby lead weaning approach and encourage self-feeding of soft table foods right away, but since he turned out to be acting so hungry and always seemed to be pining for more solid food during meals, I decided to start by mostly spoon feeding mashed foods to make sure he was getting enough to eat.

New This Month: Lots of new solid foods, started sleeping through the night, started to pull up to his knees using baskets and shelves for support and could “sit up” without support on his knees, but still unable to sit well on his butt— too busy to stop moving and sit still to practice!

Likes/Dislikes/Habits: Again at his 6 month checkup, the doctor kept remarking about how Cameron was so active and strong. He kept trying roll away and crawl off the table while she was examining him and ever since he could roll has never laid still for a diaper change! Cameron also didn’t like and wasn’t very good at sitting up at this point (case in point, his slumped over seated position in the photo above). I think it’s somewhat uncommon that he started moving/scooting before he could sit up (?), so whenever I’d try to have him practice sitting he’d just crawl away. (We didn’t have a bumbo to use with him either, and I think it made a difference in the slower development of his core strength.)