McKenna Baby Summary: Week 31

Schedule and routine for a 30-31 week old baby. 7 month old schedule and routine. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your day.

31 week old McKenna

This week was very smooth. I am glad we got over the developmental leap before the time change! She turned 7 months old this week! I am in denial. I still think of her as a 6 month old. She can’t be 7 months old. Maybe next month 😉

NURSING

Nursing is still going well with no problems.

PUMPING

So I kept my milk that I pumped (instead of the dreamfeed) in the fridge for a couple of days and then tried to feed it to McKenna in a bottle. We, um, haven’t done a bottle for a few weeks, so she was playing around with it and I assumed she just wasn’t wanting the bottle. Then she started making a grossed out face. So I tasted the milk. It was sour! I had read on kellymom.com that milk stays good in the fridge for 8 days. Obviously not mine! I will have to freeze it immediately after I pump I guess.

SLEEPING

She slept really well this week except for one night. Early in the week, she woke up at 11:10 PM just screaming. I went to her and she kept crying. She almost seemed scared. I have read that bad dreams can start around 6 months, but I have also read it doesn’t start until well after one year, and even that bad dreams won’t come until two years. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with her. It took about 30 minutes of me cuddling and rocking her for her to snap back to happy McKenna. Then she starting cooing and smiling at me, so I put her back to bed and she was just fine.

7 month old baby schedule Pinnable Image

ROLLING DISRUPTIONS

Remember how a few weeks ago I said we wouldn’t be having more rolling disruptions? I was asking for it! She had a few times of disruptions on her tummy, but also several times when I woke her up on her tummy. After observing, I have determined that she is now as long as the crib is wide, so she gets kind of stuck on her tummy between the slats and gets upset. Hopefully she will figure out how to avoid or get out of that situation soon 🙂


Read: How To Stop New Skills from Disrupting Sleep


SOLIDS

I didn’t start any new solid foods this week. The diaper rash went away and I am just assuming it was avocado. I won’t be giving it to her again until she is at least 12 months old.

FINGER FOODS

She is loving finger foods. She had a biter biscuit and loved it. She ate over half of it, which neither Brayden or Kaitlyn did until they were much older. They just sucked on it. She had one rice puff this week and chewed it up like a champ!

COLD

McKenna has a cold. She is still sleeping just as well. She actually needs a bit shorter of a waketime length.


Read: Surviving a Cold


DISRUPTIONS

This was a busy week with lots of activities with Halloween approaching. We had family parties, church parties, and friend get-togethers. She was great.

OUR DAILY SCHEDULE

Things moving toward the time change time faster. By the end of the week, we only had 15 minutes to go for morning time and were on with the rest of the day. So this is on old time (pre-time change) hours, but what it will be when the time changes. Yes, that is probably confusing. So we were starting our day at 8:45, which will be 7:45 when the time changes.

8:45 AM–wake, nurse, eat (prunes or peaches and oatmeal)
10:00 AM–nap
1:00 PM–wake, nurse, eat (green veggie and applesauce)
2:30 PM–nap
5:00 PM–wake, nurse eat (yellow veggie and bananas or pears)
6:30 PM–nap
8:30 PM–wake, nurse, PJs, story, bed

Babywise Schedule Week 31 Pinnable Image

HELPFUL BOOKS/WEBSITES

RELATED POSTS

25 thoughts on “McKenna Baby Summary: Week 31”

  1. Val – I have read the freshly pumped milk only lasts 48 hours in the fridge… obviously, there are a lot of different ideas out there! But I have found for my milk, it only lasts about 2 days fresh in the fridge. Freezing works out good, as I'm sure you know! 🙂 I haven't let mine go more than 3 months frozen, so I'm not sure how long it would be able to go before spoiling.

    Reply
  2. Have you considered that you may have excess lipase in your milk? I had to scald mine before freezing so it wouldn't get that funky smell and taste to it. Kellymom has lots of info. regarding lipase.

    Reply
  3. val-your blog is so great! i love it, you are such a great little mommy. all of your posts are so helpful, i am going to have to spend a while and read through all of them. also, i think i am going to use your suggestions on good toys for 2.5 yr olds for my christmas shopping list-thanks!:)

    Reply
  4. Rachel, I decided I need to freeze immediately. I know, there is always a million different opinions. Kellymom says 7-9 days…so I thought that was reliable. Ashley, no! I haven't even heard about it. Thanks! I will check into it.

    Reply
  5. I have been reading your blog for 4 months now and love it! My baby is 10 weeks younger then McKenna so I read the current baby summary and the summary from 10 weeks ago each week. My question is, does McKenna really sleep that much? From my calculations she is only awake 5 hours a day, I know all babies are different in there needs…Do you interpret babywise to say they need 2 hour naps or do you think 1 or 1.5 hours is OK?

    Reply
  6. Hi Valerie- I've been reading your blog for a few months now, especially now that I have a baby girl! She is 4 months old today! (so exciting!) It's been super helpful and I really appreciate all of the time and attention you put into helping other moms out! I was just wondering if you can remember what Brayden's waketime length was like around the 4 month age? You've mentioned he doesn't like sleep as much as your other children and I'm pretty sure my little one is following that same trend. I'm just having a hard time figuring out her waketime lengths and also when they should be extended. Also, I tried to adjust her schedule for the time change and she seemed to do fine-we still had a few earlier-than-I-want-mornings, but overall she did great. Now that the time change has happened- she's getting up even earlier.(I want waketime to be 7:30 and she's rising somewhere in the 6am hour) Is this a sign of something (i.e. I should drop the dreamfeed?) or does she just not need as much sleep like other 4 month olds? We put her down for the night around 7:30-7:45 and we do the dreamfeed in the 10:00 hour. Anyway, her rising early messes with her morning waketime and I'm not sure how to correct this–should I just feed her when she wakes early? or wait until 7:30? She doesn't cry when she wakes early, just talks in her crib. Sorry this is so long winded!

    Reply
  7. A couple of questions…we hit the 7 month mark on the 1st and all of a sudden W is crying when I put him down for naps and bedtime. Most of the time he is quiet in less than a minute but he has also learned to sit up on his own (I even caught him standing in his crib earlier today) and when he sits up he cries for much longer and he is not a crier. He has also started waking at night this week. Someone told me today that it was the full moon. I can't seem to figure it out. I'm sure it will pass but it's very frustrating. Any ideas why he has all of a sudden started crying?William is also a 45 minute napper and lately he is waking up from his 45 minute morning nap-very happy and ready to play-and then wanting to go back down after 15-20 minutes. Should I just let him stay in the bed and play and then eventually cry himself back to sleep? Will he eventually learn to sleep through both naps?

    Reply
  8. Hi there, I have been pouring over all of your posts for several weeks now, and at the risk of seeming pushy for an answer, I thought I'd post it here in hopes that you might have a minute to answer it. I did BW flawlessly with my daughter, and thus am a little frustrated because my son is taking to it quite differently and I'm at a loss. He's 4 weeks old and has taken to the feed/wake/nap cycle very well (I started at 12 days old). Until his 6:30pm nap, during which he'll only scream. I read where you said do CIO all the way or don't do it at all… but then I'm also conflicted because of the post about the Witching Hour. From 6-10pm until he finally goes to bed, is different every night and I don't know if it's my inconsistent responses to his crying (sometimes I let it go, sometimes I move him to the swing after 45-60 minutes, sometimes a family member holds him, etc). or if it truly is a Witching Hour that I can do nothing about. I'm utterly confused to the point of tears… as my daughter never did this and thrived on the schedule almost immediately. I keep my 2.5 hour schedule and haven't left the house since I started… I'm totally committed to the program but can't seem to interpret what's going on after his 5:30 feeding until he goes down to bed. I'm so afraid to assume it's a Witching Hour and create a slew of bad habits that will inhibit his STTN in another month or so. Any advice would be awesome, but I do understand you can't get to everyone! Thanks so much for this blog (I think it's a true ministry!!)

    Reply
  9. Laura, yes, McKenna sleeps that much 🙂 BW says you want a 1.5-2 hour nap, and in other places a 2.5 hour nap can be good for some.So, for a 1.5 hour nap with a baby who is happy, I would say that is fine. With a 1 hour nap, I would try to figure out why naps are short.

    Reply
  10. April,See the blog label "wonder weeks" and also the posts on 4 month disruptions. Four months old is a tricky time. I don't remember exactly what his waketime was at that age. I think it was either 1.5 to 2 hours, but I think there is a good chance it was too long for him at that age.

    Reply
  11. Anna,See the post "nap disruptions: Standing, crawling, etc."So do you get him up after his first nap and then he is ready to go back down? If so, that is fine. I have a friend who did that for a while and her daughter eventually started sleeping through.

    Reply
  12. Sour Apple Studio,My guess would be witching hour, and in that case, just put him in the swing or hold him or whatever you have to do to get him through that time. You will know it is a problem if the other naps in the day start to go bad. If it is witching hour, it shouldn't be a problem for other naps. Hang in there! Witching hour is pretty common, but only one of my three had it.

    Reply
  13. Hi Val! Thank you so much for your blog. It's helped me many times. My daughter is in her 30th week. I feel like she is never going to make it to the 4 hour schedule, and I was wondering about your input. I've been doing solids since 4 months; here's our schedule7:00 nurse/solids (2T prunes, 2T oatmeal – usually but not always finishes it)8:00 nap10:00 nurse11:10 nap – she will cry so hard if we get her down any later than this; she just can't handle longer waketime1:00/1:30 nurse/solids (2 "cubes" green veggie, 1 cube fruit – usually doesn't finish all the veggies)2:30/3:00 nap4:00 nurse6:30 nurse/solids/bed (3 cubes yellow veggie, 2 cubes fruit – she almost always eats it all)We have to feed her early/bedtime because of my DH's schedule.She almost always wakes up at the 3 hour mark, sometimes before. Lately, she's even been waking earlier than that! She's also been waking up between 5-6am again, and she hasn't done that in months! I nurse on one side and put her back down. I can't figure it out…growth spurt, maybe? My milk supply is fine, as I am pumping enough, and the dr. said she's gaining weight well. Do you have any advice? I know the 4 hour schedule shouldn't be rushed, but it just seems like she should be able to stretch a little further? It's hard not to compare when the polls seem to suggest that most babies move to a 4 hour schedule by 6 months. Anyway, I would greatly appreciate anything you can provide. 🙂

    Reply
  14. One thing to check out is the post "5-8 month sleep disrutptions" for common reasons for disrupted sleep at this age. She really is doing well. She is taking 1.5-2 hour naps which is great. It looks like the issue is her inability to do longer waketime. My girls were the same way, but super long sleepers. There is nothing wrong with her sleep. So I would say this is a time to just be patient and wait for her to be able to stay awake longer. She is doing great and there is nothing you are doing wrong. Keep watching for signs for extending waketime (read through optimal waketime blog label posts) and it will come. She will get there. But do check out the 5-8 month post for ideas on the early morning waking. See also "nighttime sleep problems revised and updated"

    Reply
  15. Hi Val,Thanks for your response. Of course, now things have changed, and I am at even more of a loss. I was wondering if you had any suggestions. I try to keep her schedule as referenced above, but she is waking up early every morning and is now only taking naps of 45 min.-1 hr. in length but sleeping 1-1.5 hours (if I let her) for what used to be her catnap and is really crabby when she wakes up from it. I know BW says this early waking and short naps is a sign that dropping a nap is coming. I've been reading Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, and she suggests it's a schedule problem and that babies need to be on a 4 hour schedule (like your recent post). The problem is that DD still can't seem to handle longer than 1.5 hour waketime. Although, she does seem to do fine if we're out and about and will sometimes actually take a good nap that way. What do you think?

    Reply
  16. Hi Val, I realize this is an older post but I'm hoping you can shed some light on rolling disruptions? My daughter started rolling back to tummy and gets stuck. She also has decided she likes sleeping on her tummy but hates being there when awake. This is causing the mother of all 45 min intruder! Instead of waking briefly and putting herself back to sleep, she realizes she is stuck and cries. I find it really hard to leave her stuck but me going in to flip her makes it worse. Any tips on dealing with this kind of rolling disruption?

    Reply
  17. Carmelon,I have a post titled "nap disruptions: rolling, standing, crawling, etc." that will give you lots of details.In short, you are going to have to either flip her or leave her.But do also spend time during wake time helping her practice flipping on her own.

    Reply
  18. Hello :)First let me say I love your blog it has been a source of encouragement and a sanity keeper. Not to mention it keeps DH and I in charge of our dear DDs (6mo/twins). We started Babywise from the beginning and things have been good however now we have a problem with DD#2. She is rolls back to belly. Mind you we work with her a lot during play time. However she can't seem to roll back. The problem is when she rolls to her tummy- no matter how long it's been since the last feeding- she barfs and of course her face gets in it and I come in and that worries me. Now this is complicated at night. She's always been a great crib sleeper however now that we have to worry about her she usually ends up in the swing. Yes, I know it's a no-no but we are heavy sleepers even with a monitor right by DH and my head. We really don't want this to become a habit. What do we do besides work with her during the day? Is there anything safer we can do till she learns to reverse flip?Thanks,A worried mama

    Reply
  19. MrsRED, I can't think of any other ideas other than work with her. See the label "tummy time" for some tummy time ideas.If this is still an issue, I could post it as a "help a reader out question" if you would like to see if other readers have ideas. Let me know. Thanks!

    Reply
  20. Hi Val, I have another question for you.What do you do about rolling over in the crib??My little guy has started rolling onto his tummy and will fuss untill I go put him back on his back. I usually have to do it once for a nap and sometime once or twice at night. Do I need to let him CIO and figure it out on his own. What do you think?… ps, thank you for doing this blog. I LOVE It. You are amazing!

    Reply
  21. Kara, You are welcome! Thanks for the thanks! I do have an entire post on that topic. It is called "Nap Disruptions: rolling, standing, crawling, etc." Good luck with it!

    Reply
  22. I've been working with my waketimes and still trying to figure out a few of them. She is a little over 6.5 months old and it seems that her first waketime is about 1 hr 10 min (I usually get several yawns at this point). I see that your little girl was also on the shorter end especially for her first waketime. My problem is that she only sleeps for 1.5 hours (don't get me wrong, this is much better than her 45 min naps!). This doesn't even get us to a 3 hr schedule. Plus,she won't eat well until at least the 3.5 hr mark. So that kind of throws us for a loop. How do I deal with this? My second question is that I see Kaitlyn's morning waketim increased by 5-10 minutes almost every week at this point. Did you just keep her up a little longer each week and see if she still napped well? I can keep my little girl up for 2 hours (so well past her 1 hr 10 min yawns) and she will be happy the whole time, but not nap well. If I want to help her stretch her waketime, do I try adding 5 min and see how she does? If so, then let's say on the first day she doesn't nap well. Do I continue to try that extra 5 min for a few more days to see if she will adjust or do I go back to my original waketime for a little while longer? Last question (sorry!) I'm still working on her 2nd waketime and according to my logs she always yawns multiple times at the 1 hr 20-25 min mark. Sometimes she takes ok naps at this point and sometimes not. That waketime seems sooo short for an almost 7 month old. Her optimal waketime at 3.5-4 months was 1 hr 15 min. It just seems crazy that her waketime only increased by 10 minutes in 2.5-3 months. Do you think I need to push past these 2 yawns?

    Reply
  23. Lenon,I would wonder if she maybe needs a shorter waketime? Maybe 60 minutes? Often times, yawning means overly tired. Just an idea to try.If that doesn't work, see the ideas on "Waking early from naps/won't fall asleep for naps"You can try adding five minutes, but if she doesn't sleep well, I would not continue to add. You can try pushing past the yawns, but if she doesn't sleep well, go with it. Respect her individual sleep needs. If she is taking 45 minute naps for some naps, then that would explain why she can't stay up as long, but also, some babies just need more sleep than others and can't stay awake as long.

    Reply

Leave a Comment