McKenna Baby Summary: Week 27

Schedule and routine for a 26-27 week old newborn baby. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your baby’s day.

6 month old McKenna

This week was another good week. Highly uneventful, though 🙂 McKenna is now 6 months old! I cannot believe it. I cannot believe that in another six months, she will be one!

NURSING

Nursing is still good. Nothing new to report.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP

Nighttime sleep is still good. Nothing new. I still wake her each morning.

27 week old schedule pinnable image

SOLIDS

This week, I didn’t introduce any new foods to McKenna. I still have some I want to introduce, but I just didn’t do any this week.

DREAMFEED

We are still having the dreamfeed. I have decided to wait until after the doctor appointment to drop it completely, but I also really want it gone before the time change. Feedings were at 10:10 this week.


Read: When To Stop the Dreamfeed


FOUR HOUR SCHEDULE

Things are still going well.


Read: The Babywise Four Hour Schedule


READING STORIES

I keep forgetting to mention McKenna’s great love of stories right now. She especially loves touch and feel stories.

SIGN LANGUAGE

I also keep forgetting to mention that I have started showing signs to McKenna. I just sign “more,” “all done,” and “please” to her.


Read: How To Teach Your Baby Sign Language


SIPPY CUP

I also keep forgetting to mention that I have introduced McKenna to the sippy cup. She has gotten the idea that you suck from it from the start, which is much faster than Brayden or Kaitlyn were. She gives the sippy cup a weird look after she gets some water from it.


Read: Baby Whisperer Tips for Introducing a Sippy Cup


OUR SCHEDULE

Our schedule remains pretty much the same.

8:00 AM–wake, nurse, eat 2-3 T prunes and 1 T peaches mixed with 3 T oatmeal
9:10 AM–nap
12:00 PM–wake, nurse, eat about 4 T green veggie and about 4 T banana
1:30 PM–nap
4:00 PM–wake, nurse, eat about 4 T yellow veggie, 4 T peaches or pears, and then 1-2 T oatmeal (sometimes she eats one bite only of oatmeal).
6:00 PM–nap
8:00 PM–wake, nurse, change into PJs, story, bed
10:10 PM–dreamfeed


Read: Babywise Sample Schedules: The Sixth Month


27 week Babywise Schedule Pinnable Image

HELPFUL BOOKS/WEBSITES

RELATED POSTS

32 thoughts on “McKenna Baby Summary: Week 27”

  1. How do you make her prunes? In Super Baby Food it says (in the chapters) you can introduce prunes but when you flip back to the fruit-making index it says wait until 7 or 8 months (I cant remember specifically)?!?!

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  2. I haven't made her prunes yet. I just do store bought prunes right now. One reader says that she buys prunes, then puts them in the blender with water and gives them to baby. I have purchased some prunes to do the same thing, but haven't read about it in Super Baby Food yet. Thanks for the heads up on the age 🙂

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  3. I found a great product for storing solid foods in the freezer and wanted to share it with you. I know that ice cube trays work well too but I have found these to be great, especially if I need to take the food with me. They are called Stay-Fresh baby food containers and I ordered them from One Step Ahead. They hold about 2oz and come in a set of 12. The only problem I have with them is there is not a great way to label them. For now I am using masking tape and this seems to work just fine. I also started my William (6 months) on a sippy cup this week. I am using the Nuby cup. He holds it in his mouth well but mostly chews on it. I'm sure it feels good on the two bottom teeth that are coming in. Is it a problem for me to allow him to "play" with it or should I take it away if he is not actually drinking from it?

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  4. I don't know how many times I've searched for answers on your blog and re-read BW books. I have struggled with my DD's daytime sleeping for too long now. My mind is becoming preoccupied with what to try next to get some sort of regularity and the amount of sleep she needs. I can see that I'm being so consumed by it that I'm not enjoying the moment. I've told myself a few times that I just give up–I can't figure her out. But then I get another idea of something to try and I'm back to thinking and experimenting. I want to enjoy my DD's infancy better than I am (she's at such a fun stage now). BW worked so well with my DS, but we have really struggled with my DD. I really thought we followed BW closely: always eat/play/sleep; mindful of sleep cues and too much waketime; she was practically asleep for her first 6 weeks and I woke her every cycle–even at 5 hrs in the night; we're doing indep playtime, etc. I quit nursing just before 7 mo (I wrongly attributed her sleep problems to eating b/c supplementing w/formula and now exclusively bottles has not helped her sleep). A couple questions I have are1. Where do I start? If I were starting BW late at 8 mo where would you advise us to start? She consistently sleeps 10-10.5/night. Nighttime is great–no problem. Would like it to be longer, but not sure we can change that. We have experimented with 2 or 3 naps/day. One is usually short (20/40/1:15) and one is usually long (2-3hr). Should I go back to a strict 4 hr routine? When she wakes early, this gets thrown off. Plus, shouldn't her day become more like 3 meals soon instead of hrs/cycle? Should I do strict 2 hr waketime, despite (lack of) cues? Funny, too, I get lots of comments about how happy she is.2. Could reflux be a problem? I brought her to the MD several weeks ago to check for an ear infection. No infection, but her throat was red (no strep). I had never considered reflux before. I know it is supposed to get better with age; could we have missed it? She cries hard for 5-10 min EVERY time we put her down for the past 2 months. Or is this simple protest or separation anxiety?I'd appreciate any thoughts you have. Thanks Valerie!Jenny

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  5. I am so glad you posted your current routine. My baby will be 7 months on 10/8/09 and we've recently run into a problem with my milk supply. I took her to the pediatrician today and she's lost a pound! I'm taking Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. Any advice???

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  6. Valerie – I also have a question about milk supply. Adelaide is 9 months old (tomorrow) and I am taking her for her 9-mo visit on Friday. She isn't really gaining weight anymore and we have been on 4 nursing (3 with solids) feeds since she was 6 months old. I feel like she isn't satisfied after the last 2 feeds of the day. I'm just not sure how to get it back up. She sleeps more than 12 hours at night, so I don't have time in the day to have her eat anymore but I could pump before I go to bed, which is about 4 hours after her last feed, and 8 hours before her morning feed. How do I know if she is getting enough milk? I would like to nurse for the next 3 months until she is a year, but am a little concerned with how much my milk seems to have slowed down. Thanks for any advice you have!

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  7. Thanks Anna! I will look into that. I just put the cubes into freezer bags, but I will check to see if those would be better or a good addition. I am always on the lookout for great baby stuff :)With the sippy, I would just let him play with it. You might try "Showing" him how to use it by you doing it (or pretending to) so he knows what it is intended for, but unless he starts throwing it or something, I think it is fine for him to sit and chew on it.

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  8. Ben and JennyIf you were starting right now, the first thing I would recommend is just getting the pattern down. Eat. Play. Sleep.At that age, I think most are able to just do X amount of time awake and X amount of nap time. Basically, you would have naptimes. So say naptime starts at 9:00 AM. It starts at 9 pretty much no matter what (unless you have strong reason to do otherwise, like sickness or something). 2. Yes, reflux could definitely be a problem. I think any medical condition would be a problem and is worth investigating to be sure. Most babies outgrow reflux by 12 months, though some basically have it forever.

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  9. Kina, Has she lost a pound since her six month appointment? I would take her back to a 2.5-3 hour routine (or straight 3s) if you are on a 4 hour routine. If she just isn't hungry at 3 hours. I would pump between each feeding. So if you fed her at 7, pump at 9, then nurse her at 11 and feed her the extra milk you pumped (after she nursed), then pump at 1, etc.

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  10. Rachelhockey, I would definitely pump before you go to bed. BW says some moms need 5 nursings to keep up supply. Since your baby is sleeping more than 12 hours at night, that means you have more than 12 hours between each nursing, which isn't a good idea. See what your pedi says about her weight gain. She might be gaining normally for her age (it slows down as they approach a year).Since she isn't satisfied, though, I would work on your supply. Also watch her wet diapers to make sure enough is coming out. Also, be aware that as time goes by, your body basically makes what it needs to and no more. The only time you should really have excess is the first feed of the day. I don't want you to not check into your milk supply, but that could explain the less milk.

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  11. Valerie,I wanted to mention something about the dreamfeed, since I read that you are dreamfeeding longer than you had with your other kids. I actually continued it until my son turned 1 year old to help delay the return of my period. Delaying the return of my fertility via breastfeeding really sounded appealing to me, but doing demand feeding to achieve that goal did not sound so great! So that's why I still followed the Babywise schedule with my son since birth, but kept doing the dreamfeed for so long. By continuing to dreamfeed and thus allowing only about 8 hours maximum to pass between feedings, my period did not come back until I was 15 months postpartum. (I should mention I was monitoring other fertility signs during this time as well, to make sure my fertility had not returned before my first postpartum period).I just wanted to mention this as an example of Babywise can be adapted. Although I know every woman's body is different, demand feeding is not the only way to achieve breastfeeding amenorrhea–it is possible with Babywise!Also, Rechelhockey–maybe you wouldn't want to do this, but you could always start doing a dreamfeed again. Just an idea, because pumping was no fun for me! That would probably help your milk supply and the extra snack might be a good boost for baby.

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  12. Hi, Valerie. I read in BW II that you should start solids by nursing a bit and then doing the solids and then nursing again. Do you still do it that way with McKenna now that she is doing well on solids? Or do you do a full nursing before solids? Thanks!

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  13. Thanks Erin! I actually started my period a couple of days ago :(. I have always gotten in 6 or 7 months postpartum. My LC friend says you have to nurse EXCLUSIVELY to prevent ovulation, which means no solids and no bottles (not even pumped). Who knows how true that is, but that is what she says the literature says.

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  14. Kristy, I actually never did it that way with McKenna. I always just nursed first.I did it that way with Brayden and Kaitlyn, but at most only for one month.

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  15. Thanks. I'm thinking I might do it that way, too. Either that or put five minutes or so in between each type of feeding.

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  16. I used to read your blog all the time when my girls were infants and hadn't realized I'd been away so long… long enough for you to have another baby. Congratulations on McKenna! It sounds like everything is going well with her. Now I'm looking for advice on dealing with toddlers… so I will start searching. Just wanted to say 'hi'.

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  17. In response to the fertility/pumping: I have been pumping once a day in the middle of the night (I work 3rd shift) for my LO's milk supply while I am at work. I have been doing this for 3.5 months (he is 5.5 months) and have not had my period return yet. So you must be able to pump and have it hold off. Just my 2 cents. And Valerie, I love your blog! I have not been able to do BW successfully (working 3rd really makes it difficult, plus I have a baby who hates to sleep) but I still find your blog so informative. God bless!

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  18. Oh, Victoria – how blessed are you! I was exclusively breastfeeding (around the clock) and got my period back when my LO was 5 weeks old! Such a bummer… she was still eating every few hours day and night at that point. No solids, no bottles… just me 🙂 The doctor said at my visit that I just seemed to be 'very fertile' and that may have been why it came back so early. Enjoy it while it lasts! 🙂

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  19. Hi Valerie! I have said it before, but I am so grateful for your blog. I have been following BW ever since our son came home from the NICU (2 weeks old). He is now in Week 23 and I have been reading your summaries with McKenna since they are only a few weeks apart (just excellent!). For a while, I had him on a 3 hour schedule. Then, we moved to a 3.5 hour schedule for the first feed. However, I thought he was old enough to drop the last nap and about two weeks ago, I changed the schedule to the following: 7:30 Feed, 8:30-11 Nap, 11F, 12:40-2:30N, 2:30F, 4:10-5:30N, 5:30F, stays up until 7:30 when I feed him and put him down until his DF at 10 or 10:15. I have been having some problems with some of his naps during the day and sometimes he wakes up early in the morning (5:30 or 6:30 although he will fall back asleep). Some background info is that he has pretty severe reflux and dermatitis. As a result, the ped wanted us to wait until 6 mos before starting solids so his systems would mature a bit more. The BW II book states that waking early could be signs of wanting to start solids, ready to drop a nap or teething. I here is where I get lost. I am not sure if the abrupt change in schedule may have triggered some of the waking early although he seemed to do well with it at the beginning. I also noticed that you have not dropped the 3rd nap with McKenna although BW recommends at 5 months. Was that the case with your other children as well? I would be so grateful for your insight. God bless!

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  20. One last question about the dreamfeed since BW recommends that this be dropped around 4/5mos of age. How will I know if my LO is ready? He still takes about 5oz at this feed although he is not awake at all and I always have to wake him. Is this something we sort of wean a baby from or do we wait from indicators from them? Thanks again.

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  21. Elaine, if you look at "best toys for baby" blog label, you will see specific books I like for different ages. I like the ones by DK Publishing. I also like ones by Baby Einstein. There is also a kind I have seen at the library that I think is awesome, but I can't find it online. I will check there next time and do a theme post on touch and feel 🙂

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  22. Rachelhockey, that is so sad (in one way)! I have a friend like that. I think it is sad because you don't even get a break! You deliver, you have your post-delivery bleeding, then you start your period! But on the bright side, you should be able to get preggo easily 🙂

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  23. Johanna, BW actually recommends dropping the third around 6 months in one book, but all other books say the average is 8 months, which means some are younger and some are older. Just follow baby's cues on this.If I were you, I would first bring the nap back and wait a week or so and see if that fixes it. Problems with sleep deprivation take a few days to creep up because it has to build on itself before being a real problem.

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  24. Johanna, waking baby for the DF is one sign of dropping it. See the blog label "dreamfeed" for lots of info on it. There are lots of ways to drop it, and no one right way for all babies. Good luck!

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  25. Hi Valerie! Thank you so much for your response. Update since then is that he is sleeping really well now like he used to. I am not sure if the strange behavior was due to the developmental leap that occurs around weeks 24 to 26. He also had his two bottom teeth come in at the same time. I decided at that point not to change the schedule because he was going through so much including 6 mos vaccinations. One thing you mention frequently and so do the BW books is to try one change at a time. I am going to introduce him to solids this week. After a couple of weeks, I think we may drop the dreamfeed. Possibly after that we may move to a 4 hour schedule because things are pretty crammed for him at the end of the day. We will see if he is ready. 🙂 Again, thank you so much and I will look at the DF blogs for the different ways to drop it.

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  26. Hey all—just wanted to leave my 2 cents on the 'no period/exclusive breastfeeding'I exclusively breastfed for the first 6 weeks, then introduced 1 formula bottle for the last feeding of the night at 7 weeks and have continued that on through the present. My little girl is 6 months old today and she is on a 4 hour schedule. She goes to a sitter 5 days a week, so I breasfeed her in the morning, pump 3 times during the day and again before I go to bed…I'm still used the 5x a day feeding schedule…..and I am happy to report that there isn't even a hint of a period! Just an FYI!

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  27. Hi there. I am not sure where to leave this question, but I really need some advice. My baby just turned six months, and our schedule seems to be reversing. He isn't taking a very good morning nap, 30 min. quality napping and the rest is in and out of sleeping. Plus, he has started to need the fourth nap again?! Do you think this is a phase? I am just not sure why we seem to be back tracking.

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  28. Ericksons,I would guess that it is either the 6 month wonder week (see that blog label) or he might need a bit longer of a waketime before his morning nap. But also see the post 5-8 month sleep disruptions.

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