Motherhood: Willow at 6 Months

I see other Mothers writing this all the time, but it is SO true… How is my little newborn 6 months old? It’s been the most intense, but amazing & rewarding 6 months of my life so far. I couldn’t be more proud of our little family and the beautiful baby that we have, she makes our lives so much more full! As much as I love clinging on to my tiny newborn, I’m so excited to be watching her grow into a little girl too.

Height/Weight:

Willow was weighed at 24 weeks and was 16lb 10oz, she’s growing really well despite a little blip where she wasn’t taking her milk too well. Just look at her chunky legs!

Routine & Sleeping:

This month we have really stuck to our routine and it seems to be working *touch wood*. We have our days where she simply refuses to nap, or when we are out and about she naps as she pleases, but we have our guideline that we follow.  She has 3 naps a day, which can range from around 40 mins – 2 hours, this changes daily. We still attend swimming & Baby Sensory classes and have also joined some playgroups at our local children’s centre. Even though it’s got much colder (and often wetter) in the UK, we still get out of the house everyday, even if it’s for a short walk.

Eating/Feeding:

This month we started weaning, I was incredibly nervous about starting but I know that it was the right time. Willow was becoming incredibly fussy with her bottles and I was struggling to get enough milk (and therefore vitamins & nutrients) in each day, so I started to make my own vegetable purée and would blend these with some of her formula.  For the first 4 weeks I just gave her vegetables (peas, carrots, swede, sweet potato, parsnip, spinach, broccoli, avocado and cauliflower), she would have a few spoonfuls each evening. Now that she is 6 months I am introducing fruit and mixed vegetable purée, eating twice a day. Her favourites so far are peas, sweet potato and avocado. Towards the end of this month, she has got so much better at finishing her bottles too.

 Sizes:

Willow is comfortably in size 3-6 month clothing and I have started to add in a few 6-9 month bits, mainly because it’s so cold and she needs more winter clothing options.  She is still wearing a few 0-3 month pieces… which is crazy but every shop differs with their sizing and some can be quite generous. Most of her Christmas clothing is in 6-9 months, but it still looks quite big for her!

Milestones:

Weaning was our big milestone for 5 months. Willow is still teething, but I don’t think we are anywhere near to her having anything pop through at the moment! She can now roll both back-to-front and front-to-back, she still gets stuck occasionally but she has done it quite a few times now and I can’t keep her still lying on her playmat… so I think I can do the milestone card picture now! She can sit up un-aided but is still quite wobbly, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sitting her up without someone sitting with her close by to catch her. We’re still practising and at our classes and groups I try to have her sitting up as much as possible, so I’ll wait a little longer until I make it official!

Willow is making lots of sounds now and babbles away constantly… she now makes ‘b’ sounds lots and ‘m’ sounds (it sounds like she’s saying ‘mum’ when she is crying but I know she’s not haha).  She’s taken to blowing raspberries lots! She also does some lovely singing type noises, which are SO cute, even at 5am.

We’ve also been teaching her to clap and wave, she’s definitely trying to wave, so hopefully she’ll soon be waving at everyone from her pram! She also hugs back now, which literally just makes me want to die, it is the cutest and loveliest thing ever!

It was also her first Halloween & Bonfire Night whilst she was 5 months.

Loves: 

Willow is very inquisitive, as most babies are and she is constantly grabbing and picking up EVERYTHING she can get hold of. Her favourite things to try and grab at the moment are the TV controls, our phones, labels and baby wipes.

She’s really started to get into playing this month and has even chosen her own ‘comfort teddy’, Foxy Loxy the jelly-cat Fox.  Her Nonna bought him on a trip to Wimpole Hall and she immediately snuggled him, he’s not left her side since! Her other favourite toys are still Sophie La Giraffe, a slightly different soft/crinkly Giraffe toy (for some reason all babies are obsessed with it!) and the Baby Sensory tummy roller. She also recently got an Iggle Biggle soft toy and she was SO excited by it. She also LOVES being in her jumperoo and literally bounces constantly, even when she’s not in it!

I can’t wait to give her lots more toys at Christmas!

Willow is also getting more and more ticklish, she really laughs when you kiss or blow raspberries on her neck and is getting more ticklish when you tickle her tummy! She also loves sucking her toes haha, she’s very flexible.

She still loves the TV and her favourite things to watch are Waybuloo and In The Night Garden. But she also really likes Bing and Baby Jake. I try and put on some movies occasionally too and she seems most engaged with Tinkerbell and Tangled, but I think the bright colours and music of all the Disney films seem to capture her interest.

Her favourite nursery rhyme is ‘Row Row your boat’ and her favourite book is Owl Babies.

I mentioned last month that she hated her carseat, but she has been SO much better since we switched her into her Joie Stages carseat. She still HATES getting dressed though, which is quite hard now she needs to wear a lot more layers, through the winter.

My Body: 

I haven’t really felt too good in myself this month, especially as I felt quite positive last month. I’ve decided to take control though and am really working on my diet to help me feel better about my body and get me back to a happier weight and body image, I’ll maybe do a separate post about my journey for this.  My skin is SO much better, I’ve made a concerted effort to look after it and got some new products for my Birthday from Estee Lauder to help with this.  Now that I’m not focusing on my acne and breakouts, I can actually focus on preventing my skin from ageing (those 2am and 3am wakeup’s are going to catch up with me!). I’ve been really suffering with postpartum hairloss, so I hope this stops soon!!! Mentally, I haven’t felt 100% this month and it’s something I’m fully aware of. I suffered with anxiety way before I got pregnant and also during my pregnancy. It’s just something I need to keep an eye on and give myself the time to combat. Having a routine and getting out of the house though, definitely helps with this, as well as talking with other mums.

Baby: Willow’s Bathtime

Bath time has always been an important part of Willow’s routine, she loved the water from the get-go (even being born in the water) and as well as being a practical part of our day, it’s also a fun time for her to get out the last of her energy before bed.

We usually start bath time at around 6pm and play/wash for around 10-15 minutes, before getting out and ready for bedtime. We play with her toys, she usually kicks and splashes lots and sing songs, she loves to hold (chew) a sponge, whilst I wash her. At the moment Willow is in the Angelcare bath support which we have loved but she’s getting a bit too wriggly in it now and also trying to sit up, so we’ve purchased a new seat to start using soon.

I mentioned in my 0-3 month post (here) that we first used the Burts Bee’s Baby Wash, not only does it smell amazing but it is 98.9% natural and super delicate on her skin, which was super important to us.

Once this ran out, I picked up the Weleda Calendula Baby Wash, which is also 100% natural but has a more creamy texture; however, I’m not sure if it was this product or that Willow started swimming at the same time, but she started to develop a few dry patches on her skin (tummy and arms). After speaking with our Health Visitor I bought Oilatum Body Wash for dry skin & Child’s Farm Baby Wash, both of which helped to clear up her skin super quickly. The Child’s Farm products smell AMAZING and I love using them for Willow, they’re also super affordable, 98% natural and suitable for sensitive skin; I’ve since purchased the Apple & Blackberry scent and the After Swimming wash too. Willow has lot’s of hair, so we wash this every evening with the Child’s Farm wash, this leave it lovely and soft.

After Bath

I still love to use coconut oil on Willow’s skin & in her hair, it’s a miracle worker and I credit it for helping to clear up her baby acne and dry skin on her face in the early newborn days. It’s also useful for when they are scratching themselves with those teeny nails, it helps to heal those up quickly too. However, since we experienced her dry patches we purchased Oilatum Junior Cream for Eczema, alongside her bath products this has helped when in need (I’ve since learnt that this can be put on prescription by the GP too). It’s quite thick, so you only need the smallest amount and so I think this tub will last a while! This will probably come in more handy during the colder/harsher winter months.

Prepping Willow’s nappy before bedtime is really important, as I don’t want her to get nappy rash over-night. Before she was born, as a clueless first-time Mummy, I stocked up on pretty much every different cream I think! We have Sudocrem, Bepanthen, E45 Nappy Cream and Metanium Nappy Rash Ointment. I tend to alternate between a few these, (we have Bepanthen in our nappy bag and usually use E45 Nappy Cream on her changing table before bedtime) but if she is looking quite red, I usually reach for Sudocrem and if this still doesn’t work then Metanium soothes it straight away, it’s bright yellow which freaked me out at first!

For wipes, we have tried a few different brands (Huggies Pure, Pampers Natural, Aldi Sensitive and Water Wipes*) and they all do the job, but by far my favourite to use are the Water Wipes. We bought these for when Willow was a newborn and had them in our hospital bag, as we were recommended them by friends and I think they were advised by Midwives because they are so pure, with no chemicals; being 99.9% water and 0.1% fruit extract. They’re as close to cotton wool and warm water that you are going to get, but FAR more practical and much quicker for those 2am nappy changes. They are much wetter than any other wipes that we have used, which is really useful for a number of things, as well as being cool (which helps to soothe their skin, if they are suffering from nappy rash) and they are also gentle/soft in texture too. We usually stock up on them from Boots when they are on offer and I’ve also bought them in bulk from Amazon before too. So far, Willow hasn’t had any awful nappy rash (*touches wood*) and I definitely think that it’s from using a combination of these products to keep on top of it.

After her bath and skincare, it’s time to pop on her PJ’s (currently a long-sleeved vest and a sleeping bag) and start the rest of her bedtime routine.

*Water Wipes very kindly sent me some samples to review, however, this is my honest opinion; as I mentioned I have been using them since Willow was born & loving/purchasing them prior to this post. I always ensure that any products mentioned on the blog are tried-and-tested and that we genuinely love 🙂