McKenna Baby Summary: Week 36

Schedule and routine for a 35-36 week old baby. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your day.

Nate, McKenna, and Valerie

I really enjoy this age. I really do. It is kind of like she is my little buddy. She is just adorable and likes to come with me wherever I go :).

NURSING

All is still well. We are still nursing four times a day.

SLEEPING

Everything is good with sleeping.

SOLIDS/FINGER FOODS

I am now meshing these categories together because they are coming to me more the same. Yes, I have finally decided to allow McKenna to be 8 months old :). I started letting her have lots of different finger foods this week. I gave her cheese. When she took her first bite, she looked at me and shook her head no with a disgusted look on her face. But she made a perfect chewing motion, so I felt more brave about giving her things. The second day she had cheese, she loved it and ate quite a bit for her size.

She really wants to eat everything we eat. One night, we had a Mexican food night, including Spanish Rice. She really wanted it, but it is kind of spicy so I was hesitant. However, I decided I needed to just let her try it. I gave her a spoonful, and she loved it! She ate a lot.

I also gave her homemade bread this week. She really likes peas. I am just letting her try anything she can easily gum if she shows an interest.


Read: Finger Foods Basics


ECZEMA

This is our second big thing this week. I have been researching and trying things for her eczema. Thanks to all of the many wonderful tips! Once I have dealt with this for a while, I will do a post just on eczema, and I will be sure to include all of the reader tips. My neighbor is an RN and has twins who have eczema, so I have also been getting tips from her.

As in all things childcare, eczema is something that has lots of varying opinions on how to treat. Traditionally, it has been believed it is not good to take many baths. There is new research suggesting daily bathing is actually best. One thing “they” agree on is that lukewarm baths are best, not hot. My thought is that you just need to try out both ways and see what is best for your child. I have really dry skin (not eczema, just dry. I even need lotion in Florida and Eastern Texas!). For me, a daily shower is best. Daily lotion right after a shower is a must. Lotion without a shower just doesn’t cut it.

As I mentioned last week, hydrocortisone cream works well for her. If there is a flare-up, that will get it down right away. There are lots of different kinds of lotions/creams/washes available for eczema. I decided to start with Aveeno. There was a good one recommended from Target, but I live 45 minutes away from a Target (yes, sad!), so I wanted to get something right away. I also have lots of Aquaphor, so I will try that, too. So far, I am very happy with Aveeno. It’s good stuff. I got both the wash and the lotion.

One reader suggested fish oil capsules. She suggested I take one pill each day. There are many benefits with fish oil (Omega 3), so I have no problem doing that. I took it while pregnant and usually do, but haven’t since McKenna was born. One study I found children who eat fish lower their eczema. It is too soon to know what if any effect this has.

McKenna has her nine-month appointment this month, so I will be talking to her pediatrician about it all then.

Read more on eczema here.

Babywise Schedule 36 Weeks Old Pinnable image

INDEPENDENT PLAYTIME

I wanted to point out that McKenna is back to her great self with independent play. I am glad I didn’t stop doing it 🙂

OUR SCHEDULE

I have shifted her schedule back a bit to make mornings a little less hectic.

8:15 AM–wake, nurse, solids (prunes or peaches and oatmeal)
9:35-9:45 AM–nap
12:20 PM–wake, nurse, solids (green veggie and applesauce. Sometimes mix with blueberries).
2:00 PM–nap
4:30 PM–wake, nurse, solids (yellow veggie and bananas or pears). Finger foods.
6:30 PM–nap
7:45ish PM–wake, nurse, PJs, story, bed

36 week old baby schedule and routine pinnable image

HELPFUL BOOKS/WEBSITES

RELATED POSTS

17 thoughts on “McKenna Baby Summary: Week 36”

  1. Tracey, My daughter didn't really start eating babyfood until she was 9 months old. I was constantly throwing away containers of babyfood because she wouldn't eat it by the end of the three days. Then at 9 months, she starting eating and eating a lot. I was running out of food for her! Hang in there. Kelly

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  2. Kelly,My 6 month old is not really enjoying solids either. Some days he will eat sweet potatoes and some days he won't. He is strictly breastfed at this point. When your daughter wasn't taking solids, how often would you feed her? Did she wake in the middle of the night? If so, what would you do? Just curious…Thanks,Heather

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  3. Thanks so much for all your work on this blog! You have gotten us through a lot of rough times. I just wanted to throw something out about eczema that we had to learn the hard way. Sometimes eczema is a sign of an allergy of some sort. My son had very bad eczema and the Aveeno really helped, but once we realized that he had multiple food allergies and stopped giving him all the stuff he was allergic to, the eczema almost completely went away. Now that it's winter his eczema is back again, but not too bad unless he accidentally eats something he's allergic to. He doesn't break out in hives, it's just his eczema that flares up. Just thought I'd let you know. We had to learn the hard way! Hopefully this isn't the case for you, but it's something to keep in mind. Good luck!

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  4. I am seriously not trying to spam you.I do not have a lot of eczema knowledge, but, I do know that many products will continue to irritate, making matters worse.Using a soap or lotion without detergents does help some cases of eczema.Always see your physician first, but when trying a new remedy or product, begin slowly and carefully to ensure there are no adverse reactions. Try one remedy at a time, in small amounts.Best wishes!

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  5. Heather,I tried feeding her babyfood two times a day, each after a bottle. It was very rare that she would eat anything substantial. She is still on a three hour schedule, so 5 liquid feedings a day. She did not wake in the night, so I don't have any advice on that situation.I hope this helps,Kelly

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  6. I posted a question about independet playtime on your week 34 summary. My son Jack, who is a week younger than McKenna, was really having a tough time with playpen time after being okay with it for a while. You suggested that I take it down to 5-10 minutes and I am SO HAPPY to report that he PLAYED in the playpen for 12 minutes today with no screaming or crying! I've seen improvements each day, little by little…but he has just started playing again, instead of just sitting there and crying, or just sitting there! I took him out before he had a chance to get upset today and will keep working back up to 30 minutes, each day going longer than before. THANK you for your encouragement. I know without it I would probably have just stopped, which would have been awful! Thank you again!

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  7. We love Burt's Bees for baby (soap, lotion, & shampoo) to help with eczema–as soon as we switched to it, we've had no problems for our daughter! I get it at Target, but I think some grocery stores also carry it. 🙂

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  8. Janelle, Thanks for bringing that up. I don't think it is an allergy thing. The reason is that 1-It didn't show up at all until winter and 2-It is now totally gone with just our diligent lotioning3-1 and 2 are true without any change to dietSo I *think* it isn't an allergy thing, but I will be sure to keep that in mind and talk to her pedi about it next week. If it sounds like it could still be an allergy thing to you, let me know. Thanks!

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  9. Be & Rebecca, oh thanks! I might try that shampoo. Her skin is doing great (you will see in tomorrow's post), but her scalp is getting really dry. I will see if my grocery store has it. I know they have some burt's bees stuff, but I don't know exactly what. Target is kind of far for me, but close to my MIL, so she can get it if I can't find it.

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  10. i would like to be more liberal with feeding my 8 month old, but am a little parinoid about the 3-4 day wait rule. How do I balance that and having my baby explore many foods (especially finger foods.)

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  11. Ericksons,I like to wait 3-4 days even with finger foods. Over time, you build up the foods you serve. There are some that your baby may have had in other forms. One example is rice. McKenna had rice long ago, then had spanish rice when she was older. So it is similar to rice and maybe didn't need to wait.Just take it slowly and you will find that before you know it, your baby will be eating a large variety.

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  12. Hey Val! Thanks so much for this great resource. I always come here first before I make changes to my daughter's schedule. Ok here's my problem. My daughter is gonna be 9 months old in a few days and she is still not sleeping through the night. She has slept through the night off and on since she was about 3 months old but its mostly off now and its driving me crazy. I still have her on a 3 nap schedule because she really seems to need it…I tried going down to a two nap schedule and it was just SO hard for her in the evenings…she would fuss and be so unhappy. She still has no teeth and isn't crawling yet and I don't think she's teething…no redness or swelling on her gums that I can see. I have done what you have recommended to weaning down the feedings by a little bit each night and it normally works AMAZING. Once I get her down to about a minute of nursing she will just stop waking up for the feedings. Well we've been at 30 seconds of nursing for the last week and she's still waking up each night! What would you recommend? Should I just let her CIO because I know she doesn't need that feeding? She goes down for naps and nights like a dream…no issues at all since I've laid her down to sleep in her bed only since day 1. She just still wants to wake up at night and I'm getting tired of it. Let me know what you would recommend! Thanks so much!!

    Reply
  13. Kelsey, I think your next step is CIO. You can either just not go in or you can go in and tell her it is time to sleep, or you can go in and sing her a lullaby and tell her to go to sleep. The best course of action will depend on her personality.Good luck!

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