McKenna Baby Summary: Week 19

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Schedule and routine for a 18-19 week old newborn baby. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your day.

Family of 5 with a 19 week old baby

This is a summary for McKenna age 18-19 weeks, or the 19th week. For anyone familiar with “The Wonder Weeks,” you might be very interested to hear how this week went for us since it is a big week according to Wonder Weeks. During the time period of 18-20 weeks is supposed to be a very tumultuous time for the baby. This proved to be true for McKenna this week. I will just say I was happy to see it end. Let’s get on with the summary.

NURSING

There is nothing new or different to report about nursing. We are still continuing on well.

WAKETIME LENGTH

Waketime length changed this week. She started getting upset when I would put her down for a nap. She seemed like she wanted to play some more. One day, McKenna stayed at my parent’s house while Brayden, Kaitlyn, and I went to the park. She woke early from her nap there, so by the time she was home and in bed, she had been up for two hours instead of one. I figured this would be another short nap. But it wasn’t. It was a 2.5 hour nap. I decided I should try extending her waketime. I think I have it pretty well figured out. It is:

1st: 55 minutes (used to be 50)

2nd: 65 minutes (used to be 60)

3rd: 90 minutes (used to be 65)

4th: 90-120 minutes (used to be about 90). I watch her cues for this waketime. I am hoping to drop this nap soon.

It isn’t necessarily perfect yet, but this seems to be about right. I still watch her closely at 60 minutes I can be sure to get her down if she needs it.

Read: Optimal Waketime Lengths

NIGTHTIME

Nighttime was very disrupted this week. Before we went camping, she never woke before 5:30 AM anymore. After camping and vaccinations, she was waking at 4:50, 5:30, 5:35, 5:00…it was back and forth and all over. I wasn’t sure if it was growth spurt issues, disruption issues, vaccination issues, or normal four month issues. I just fed her on one side and put her back to bed.

GROWTH

McKenna had her four month doctor visit the day before the beginning of this week. She has reached 13 pounds, which is small, but she is moving up the growth curve. She started life in about the 10th percentile and is now over the 50th. She is also quite tall for her age. She is as tall as Kaitlyn was at 6 months!

Being 13 pounds means that she needs about 32.5 ounces per day. Spread over 6 feedings, that means she needs about 5.5 ounces per feeding. When she drinks from a bottle, I cannot get her to eat more than 4 ounces. I don’t know if that is just as much formula as she will tolerate or if that is about the capacity of her tummy. If it is the latter, then she definitely needs an extra half feeding to get her last few ounces in for the day.

McKenna still eats well for her first feeding of the day even after her half feeding at night (though it is a big half feeding since it has been so long since she last ate and I am quite full). For that reason, coupled with my ounce calculations, I am not concerned with her eating in the night still. I see her making progress and moving toward extending nights again. I have been down this STTN road before and know it comes. I am not concerned about it right now.

19 week old baby schedule Pinnable Image

SOLIDS

I moved her amount per one feeding a day up to one tablespoon. Mid-week, I decided I would try avocado for her. This is a recommended first food in Super Baby Food and I hear such great things about it. Well, McKenna was not enthusiastic. That night, she slept fitfully and the next day she pooped a whole lot. I decided we will stick to the rice cereal for now.

Read: How To Introduce Solid Foods to Your Baby

SWADDLING

One night this week, I decided to try one arm out of the swaddle. I then watched her on the monitor. She fell asleep without a peep, but it took her about 15 minutes to fall asleep whereas during the day, it typically takes her no more than five minutes to fall asleep. She would close her eyes and turn her head, then her arm would jerk out. Once she fell asleep, she slept just as well as usual.

The funny thing is that if I didn’t have a video monitor, I would have assumed she went down great since I didn’t hear a peep. The blessing and curse of the video monitor :). I asked people’s experiences and thoughts on the situation in a couple different online groups. I got a range of opinions. Some said to keep swaddling until it didn’t bother her. Some said for their baby, it took a couple days of crying and/or fussing, then baby slept great. Some said since she didn’t cry, keep doing it. Others said she might just need more time.

The next night, I decided to swaddle her for a couple of reasons. The first was that we went to the county fair and she had been up for nearly 4 hours. I didn’t want to leave her partially unswaddled when she was over tired. The second was that I wanted to know for sure how long she would take to fall asleep while swaddled. I don’t usually watch her at that time of night since my husband and I are busy putting Brayden and Kaitlyn to bed.

So I watched her. Even being up that long, she fell asleep within five minutes. That was the last day of the week, so more details to come next week 🙂

WONDER WEEK

For the first time ever, McKenna was fussy this week. I would lay her in my lap to get ready to feed her and she would cry. When I put her at her gym for independent playtime, she would fuss for a few seconds. She was not content much of the time. This is in line with the Wonder Weeks. And since I am writing this a few days into the next week, I can say that it really did end when she turned 19 weeks old. One inconsistency with this and the Wonder Weeks is that you are supposed to adjust age to due date, not birth date. She was 3 weeks early, so this should be week 16 for her. There is no leap at 16 weeks–though I will say that there is a fussier period.

Read: Everything You Need to Know Abou Wonder Week 19

OUR SCHEDULE

The days were pretty much the same. Most nights she ate in the 5 AM hour.

5:00-6:00 AM–eat from one side
8:00 AM–wake and eat
8:55 AM–nap
11:00 AM–eat
12:05 AM–nap
2:00 PM–eat
3:30 PM–nap
5:00 PM–eat
6:30 PM–nap
7:00-7:00 PM–eat and straight to bed
10:00-10:30 PM–dreamfeed

Babywise schedule week 19 Pinnable image

OUTINGS/EVENTS

One day early this week, we went grocery shopping as a family. McKenna was doing great. She was smiling at everyone and getting compliments from everyone. Then, half-way through the store, she started to cry. She quickly escalated and could not be calmed. It was very strange. A first in her life. Nice for it it happen at the grocery store, huh :). It was a first for me, too. Neither Brayden nor Kaitlyn ever did that. Happily my hsuband was there, so I just took her out to the vehicle and drove around town while he finished shopping. She fell asleep in her carseat.

At the end of the week, we went to the county fair. She did great. She sat in her stroller as content as could be while Brayden and Kaitlyn rode rides, the family ate dinner, and we looked at the attractions of the fair.

HELPFUL BOOKS/WEBSITES

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