Baby Development 6 Months Old

I am a little late starting this series as Baby L is already 6 months old but I thought it would be nice to document her development, if only for my memories.

Baby development is a bit like an obsession for parents. Is my baby normal? How do they compare to others? You cannot help but look at other babies and wonder when your little one will be at the same stage. I will share her milestones every month to see how she changes over time. I will also share my little worries so you can see you are not alone!

As a second time mum I thought I would be less worried this time and to some extent I am much better. I am not as bothered about rolling or crawling – I learnt the first time around that an immobile baby is much easier than a crawling/ walking baby!! However, I seem to be a bit more focused on the little details such as blowing raspberries! I constantly have to remind myself that every baby develops at their own rate and they all get there in the end.

The past 6 months have been a real struggle. From the moment she was born there has been one thing after the other to worry about (read about our struggles with reflux and cow’s milk protein allergy here). I never had any worries with Little G so I think this has made me worry more with Baby L.

So now she is 6 months, had her half birthday, where are we now?

Feeding

We are going down the baby led weaning route due to her reflux (you can follow our journey with BLW here). A couple of days ago she finally worked out how to put food in her mouth! Little G spotted it and we both got very excited!! So far she has eaten potato, rusk and some rice! She is enjoying the baby led route I think. She certainly knows how to voice her opinion, whenever she sees one of us with food she screams until we give her a piece!!

Other than that she is still on 5 bottles a day although we aren’t in too much of a routine with those now as she can go for longer between feeds.

Rolling

This is totally new to me! Little G NEVER rolled. I think it is because I always had her in a bouncer and never gave her the opportunity to lie on the floor. I made sure Baby L had plenty of free time and she took full advantage. She mainly rolls back to front but she can flip back again. She is also beginning to shuffle herself around the floor so I don’t think it will be long before she is crawling!!

Sitting

I love that she can sit unaided now. She is able to grab toys and see the world from a different perspective. Yesterday she and Little G were sitting opposite each other with Little G singing row row row your boat.

Sleeping

We are down to 2 naps a day now 10am-12pm and 3pm-4pm. She is pretty flexible now compared to even a month ago when routine was very important.

Unfortunately for me she is still not sleeping through the night. She has a 10pm bottle and will wake up at about 5am where I will put her dummy in and keep my fingers crossed that she will drift back to sleep! We are very nearly there though thank goodness!

She is however, finally free from her swaddle!! I am so thankful for this as it was becoming an absolute nightmare!! I found an amazing product called a Swaddle Up 50/50. It is a sleeping bag with ‘wings’ that hold their arms above their head. It looks ridiculous but it is actually a natural position for them. I got mine from Jojo Maman Bebe so take a look if you are fed up with swaddling too, it truly works!!

‘Talking’

She enjoys roaring and screeching. I always wondered if she might be quiet seeings as she will have to compete with her very vocal older sister but it seems she is going to go head to head with regards volume. Going back to my earlier mention of blowing raspberries- she cannot do it. I know it is a silly thing to worry about but I know so many other 6 month old babies who can blow raspberries and I worry that it is due to her minor tongue tie. I just hope it doesn’t affect her speech further down the line.

Other things to note:

No longer a newborn– I look at her now and I don’t see a baby anymore. That sounds so sad but I am beginning to see a mini toddler. She has a little personality and knows who she is as a person.
Crying genuine tears– This actually came after her last set of jabs at 4 months old. She rarely cries now unless she has knocked her head. She now uses other ways of communicating to tell me she needs something- namely yelling!
Fear of men– Her bottom lip wobbles when a man even looks in her direction. And heaven forbid any of them have a beard. I remember this clearly from when Little G was a baby. I found it very uncomfortable when she did it for grandparents- they take it so personally!

Still trying to blow a raspberry!

Time has flown by these past 6 months. I look back to those early days and I wonder where my tiny baby has gone. You feel like those first few months will never end but they do. Sadly you forget little details as you just live in the present and yesterday is gone in a flash.

Try not to worry about where your baby is in their development and enjoy them as they are in that moment.