Three Month Baby Update
How is it possible that I have a 3-month-old? I know that everyone said it would go by fast, but it truly is! I will say, this phase is already so much fun and I am loving watching my baby grow…even if it makes me sad that he’s not so tiny anymore. Here are a few updates:
Growth + Learning
The little man is growing by the day, but seems to be carrying most of his weight in his cheeks! He’s so strong, too. He has great posture and will sit straight up without much support needed. I love watching him practice moving on his activity mat and he loves scooting his legs and moving all around. It’s so sweet to watch him grow and develop.
I can tell he is in a learning phase right now because everything is so fascinating to him. He now will sit and listen to me read a book and likes to grasp toys - he even can grab his rattle from my hand or point at objects.
He is now laughing and smiling like crazy, especially in the morning after a good night’s sleep. His little giggles are my favorite! The funny thing is, every time I try to video him - he stops! We have been working on sounds and I hope to start trying teaching signs to him. I hear the sooner you start, the easier it is for baby to communicate with you!
Sleep
Sleep is going so much better! I was getting worried that we would never get sleep again, but we decided to move him to his room around 11-weeks after he started regressing and he’s been doing so well - and progressing - ever since. Ford now (typically) is sleeping a long stretch from 7pm to 4am, waking up for a quick feeding (around 15-minutes) and then sleeping until 7am or so. Of course, we still have our nights where he needs more comfort or when his schedule gets thrown off.
We’ve been working on minimal CIO method in hopes to teach Ford to put himself to sleep without getting overly stressed. He’s starting to put himself to sleep after 5-minutes or less and isn’t waking up frequently in the night anymore. I think part of it is not being in our room and that he’s starting to realize how nice it feels to sleep. We’ve been using the Hatch Baby sound machine and have been transitioning out of the traditional swaddle. We’ll have to transition out of the swaddle soon, but he does sleep longer stretches when he’s all tight and cozy. He wakes up in the morning with a big smile and it’s the sweetest!
Naps are still hit or miss. He’s starting to sleep more during the daytime and will typically do 3-4 naps, but they are not consistent quite yet. He is ready for a nap after 90-minutes of being awake, which is a big deal. Before he would fight naps so hard. The struggle is that he’s not consistent in how long he naps. Some are as short as 40-minutes and then some days he does a 2-hour nap. We are still using the Love to Dream swaddle (now in the medium size) for daytime sleep.
We like to get out of the house now and he is getting better about napping in his carseat or in the stroller when we are out. He does the best when we are at restaurants and I think it’s because the background noise is soothing to him. For longer outings, we’ve started to bring his bassinet with us. It may seem excessive, but the one we have is fairly lightweight and folds up for travel! When we had a daytime family event, we brought it with us so that we could enjoy being with everyone and he still could get a good nap in. I think it’s important for us to take him places or to leave the house at least once a day - even if just for a walk - for him to experience new things and for us to stay sane. We are social people and hopefully he will be, too!
Favorite Things
Ford is still loving his activity mat and spends lots of time playing on this in-between naps. He’s starting to get better about playing on his own and loves reaching for the dangling toys! I now move them around so that he can experience them in different ways and to keep it exciting. It’s fun that he is now more interactive and to watch his expressions change when we play!
I’ve loved the SkipHop line of toys and recently bought a few (this, this and these) to add to his carseat and stroller for him to look at. I love that they are colorful, but still neutral and have different textures and patterns without being obnoxious.
He is officially taking a pacifier for soothing around bedtime or during fussy hours (5-6pm). He loves the PATpat because it’s soft and the handle makes it easy for him to hold on to. We also use the Wubbanub and he loves holding onto the little elephant. I’m glad he is now taking the Paci (instead of using my nipples) but also like that it’s not something he needs 24/7.
We are still loving our daily walks, especially now that the weather is cooler. I am taking turns between his carrier and his stroller now. This car seat cover has been a life saver! He likes staring at the stripes and it makes him feel cozy and secure.