Time for another baby update, we’re on 7 months! I think I forgot how busy babies can get once they think they’ve found their independence. Khumo has been sitting up by herself for about 2 months now and she is quickly heading towards the crawling and standing stage, she’s constantly on the go. It’s exhausting but also fun to see her fascination with the world.
She loves:
“Standing” against the couch
Being outdoors, in our garden and busy spaces like malls
Music and dancing
The sound of her own voice – Gosh this girl can screech, it’s so cute. Sounds like she’s shouting at us most of the time
Being chased by her brother – I hold her and he runs after us
Playing with my earrings
Blowing bubbles – still no pearly whites though, I was convinced we would see teeth earlier based on all the drooling but it’s still early days
Eating:
She is still enjoying her solids. If you are thinking of starting your baby on solids, here is a guide to introducing your baby to solids. I’ve noticed that she becomes constipated when she has mash or sweet potatoe, despite the fact that I puree them into a very soft blend and add lots of breastmilk. I’m going to stop them for a little while and focus on giving her more fruits and vegetables that are high in fibre. If you’re wondering which foods/drinks can help, they are:
- Breastmilk
- Water
- Prunes
- Plums
- Peaches
- Broccoli
- Pears
Last night I boiled dates and gave her the water, she loved it and they did bring a little relief. I’ve read that this is only safe from 6 months onwards, so please don’t try this any earlier.
I am still breastfeeding and loving it. A LOT of people have asked when I’m stopping and I try not get annoyed with them. I thought I would have stopped by now and maybe I will soon; but I don’t feel that I need to explain this to anyone. What I have stopped is expressing at work, it’s just been too busy and stressful so it’s been difficult to take the time out to eat, let alone pump. I keep my breastpump in my boot for emergencies, I do have days when I feel engorged.
Sleep:
This girl makes 360-degree moves in her cot, which means she ends up hitting the sides and waking up every hour. So, for the sake of sleep and sanity, she has been in our bed for the last 2 weeks. It’s not ideal at all because I’m the one that ends up awake all night, checking up on her. I’m getting the parts to expand our Stokke Sleepi soon and I’m sure we’ll be back to peaceful nights.
Oh getting her to stay asleep is still a big issue. I’ve kept bath and supper time consistent – she will have a meal, bath, nurse then fall asleep around 7:30/8pm, but then she always wakes up again before 10pm?!!
In my heart, I know that the problem here is that she has not mastered self-soothing yet and I acknowledge the part I’ve played in this. Ideally, she should be able to get herself to fall back asleep again but I’m so scared to do sleep training. I’ve read that there are more gentle ways to go about it and I think it’s time that I give it a try. I will keep you posted on this and share if/what worked. The crying-it-out method is definitely not an option for me, I personally think it’s harsh. My heart would just break.
Clinginess:
If there was ever any doubt that Khumo is my daughter, her clinginess settles it. My family teases that I’m getting a taste of my own medicine. She loves being held and is completely attached to me – she often cries or moans when she sees me walk away. I wrote a post on helping your child with separation anxiety last year – I didn’t think I would need to read my own advice so soon again. I see the worst of it when I come home from work, she refuses to be put down or have me out of sight. It’s strenuous when I’ve had a tough day, but I can imagine how much she has missed her mommy so I just give her as much love and affection as I can.
My body:
At this point, I’m more concerned about the way I look and feel than the number on the scale, so I haven’t weighed myself in the last few weeks. The fact that I bought a defect scale also doesn’t help much 🙂 Finding time to work out is still a challenge, but this month I have done the PicknPay Women’s Walk for Cancer, you would have seen it if you follow me in Instagram. I used it as an opportunity to honour my late grandmother, be outdoors with the kids and to get my first breast examination. I also did a 7,7km hike at Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve with friends this past weekend. Having had a baby before, I know that with time, my body will respond to the healthy eating and exercise. I have also accepted that I won’t ever look the way I did before having my children and I’m okay with that.
On a personal-note, I am in a much better head-space than I was when I wrote that being a mom of two is harder than I thought, although the facts don’t change, I’m feeling less overwhelmed.
All in all, I’m loving her personality, bubbliness and curiosity. Oh and the dressing up, being a girl-mom is so much fun, I can’t get over it.
Love,
Modern Zulu Mom
7 Comments
I know from a previous post that you were havihaving some milk supply issues. Is it better now? What helped? Is baby girl in formula feeds during the day? Love your blog by the way ☺
Hey Mmapula, thanks so much. I appreciate that, I found that Fenugreek tablets helped. Yes, she is on formula during the day and I breastfeed exclusively in the evenings and on weekends.
We used Sleep Sense when it was time to sleep train. I don’t like cry-it-out methods, so I found Sleel Sense helpful.
My little guy also had that pattern of waking at 10pm for a feed, like clockwork. I just let him be as it was a chance for us to get snuggles in as well. Now at almost a year, he wakes around 11pm but I’ve left his bottle in his crib so he just reaches for it and helps himself, no more issues.His separation anxiety was definitively heightened at 8 months, but he’s getting much better and more independent now. He eats everything and is getting braver when it comes to trying to walk, we better start child proofing properly now lol. Enjoy your lil one.
Hello,
Thank you for this post in fact blog. I am particularly appreciative of the sleeping issues part of this post cause I am still struggling at 16 months! I have just downloaded a copy of sleep sense and I didn’t know about it before, I am already learning a lot and can’t wait to get started thank you Mmapula. I am also not a fan of the cry it out methods so I have been rather struggling. Thanks to you all for sharing.
I meant to say Thanks Melanie for sharing about sleep sense 🙂
I definitely am also to blame for not teaching him to self soothe. Going to give that sleep sense a try as well. Thank you Melanie