One Month

Our first month with baby has been quite the learning experience.  I mentioned before that our little dude is kind of fussy, and that has made life very challenging.  We're slowly figuring out the best ways to soothe him, and things are improving, but he is far from an easy, low maintenance baby.  We're definitely learning a new normal in our household.

In the interest of keeping these updates simple and easy for me, I'm going to fill in answers to the same prompts every month - here they are for month one:

Nicknames: Squeak, Yum Yum, Yummers, Tiny Daddy, Little Love, Bright Eyes, Peanut, Monkey, Little BuddyStats: 21.5 inches, about 9 lbs, in 0-3 month outfits, using size 1 diapers


Feeding:  baby is exclusively breastfed, with the exception of the one day he received a few bottles of expressed milk.  We are working on weaning from the nipple shield, and actually have had pretty good luck with it so far.  It still isn't consistent, but it's progress. I'm hoping to wean him off by 6 weeks, and it seems like we're on track with that goal.  I need to work on his latch though, because sometimes it's shallow and hurts.


Sleeping:  we're starting to get a 4 hour stretch once a night on occasion.  Those nights are my favorite. He is getting better at napping during the day - when he's held.  He's getting better at sleeping in the Rock n Play, especially on nights when he's wrapped in a SwaddleMe straight jacket.  I'm trying to start a loose routine so we can have easier days and sleep longer at night, but his random feedings and my trouble following through, along with other factors, are making this a little difficult.  I'm hoping to get somewhat of a routine going by 2 months - I have a feeling it would be easier on everyone.

Likes: boobs, farting, being held by mom, outside

Dislikes: not being held, hiccups


Milestones/Tidbits:

• gained back birthweight at 2 weeks
• had newborn photos taken
• first 4th of July
• blew out of diaper twice
• first Braves game (they won!)
• first overnight stay (with mom) at grandparents house

Mom Achievement: breastfed in the car in parking lots and park and in the lounge at baseball game

Recent Google Searches:

• is it possible to overfeed baby
• average weight gain in 1 month old baby
• nipple bruised by breastfeeding
• how to use nipple shield
• baby nurses to sleep
• baby will only sleep when held
• infant reflux with no spitting up
• how to soothe colicky baby
• newborn sleep and feeding routine
• how to correct shallow latch
• how many poops should a 1 month old have daily

So we've survived the first month (some days it felt like just barely).  I'm slowing down on the Google searches because I'm accepting that there's no magic fix and I need to trust my mom intuition more.  A lot of my experienced mom friends (and mom blogs) have told me it will get easier, and the 6 week mark seems to be magic. I love my tiny baby, but I'm definitely looking forward to easier times.