McKenna Baby Summary: Week 24

Schedule and routine for a 23-24 week old newborn baby. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your day.

24 week old McKenna

You know what is funny? When Brayden was McKenna’s age, I thought he was so old. He had lived a long life. I still think of McKenna as a newborn! And here she is, 5.5 months old!

NURSING

Everything continues to be good. She is nursing well. The amount of time she takes to eat each time varies. For the first nursing, she takes the longest–about 20 minutes. For the dreamfeed, she is the fastest. I squeeze about 12 minutes out of her. Other times of day she is usually about 10-15 minutes. This is much slower than Kaitlyn was at this age, but I don’t mind. When they are super fast, you spend a lot of time paranoid that they aren’t eating enough 😉


Read: The Basics of a Dreamfeed


NIGHTTIME SLEEP

I continued to wake McKenna at 8:00 AM each morning.

24 week old baby schedule pinnable image

SOLIDS

This week, I introduced McKenna to carrots (remember, you aren’t supposed to feed homemade carrots to a baby under the age of 7 months. I fed her store-bought carrots). She loved them.

I also finished out my two month supply of peaches. Peaches have grown on her, and she loves peaches and oatmeal mixed together.

I am really excited because my husband’s grandparents grow butternut squash. Squash is not a hot commodity, so they will be giving us all of their extra. Squash freezes for two months in the cube method and stores for two months in a dark, cool place. We will have all the squash she can eat! I told my husband that making babyfood is very inexpensive, and when it is free, it is a lot cheaper than buying it! So far, the only food I have had to buy to make for her is bananas. Everything else is coming out of our garden or my husband’s grandparent’s garden.

ROLLING

We still have had no rolling interference with naps. Knock on wood.

DREAMFEED

We started moving the dreamfeed back in preparation to drop it. At first, I was doing 5 minutes. Then I decided to take it in ten minute increments.

OUR SCHEDULE

8:00 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T oatmeal and 2 T prunes. She now usually does eat all of her oatmeal. Some days, she loves her prunes. Others, she hates it.
9:00 AM–nap
11:30 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2-4 T veggie and 2 T bananas
12:35 PM–nap
3:00 PM–wake her up, nurse
4:30 PM–nap
5:30 PM–wake her up and she is mad to be woken up, nurse, 2 T oatmeal mixed with 1 T peaches, 2-4 T veggie
7:30 PM–nurse then bed
10:15 PM–dreamfeed

She is really ready to both drop the dreamfeed and extend to a four hour schedule. I am really reluctant to drop the dreamfeed before we move. I would not be hesitant to move to a four hour schedule before we move. I always say I prefer dropping the dreamfeed before extending the schedule, but I might just have to extend the schedule first under these circumstances. I need to do something fast. Things are getting too tight in the evening and I have to wake her up for every meal of the day.

Babywise Schedule 24 weeks pinnable image

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25 thoughts on “McKenna Baby Summary: Week 24”

  1. What kind of oatmeal are you feeding McKenna? Also, are you giving McKenna a full feeding of breastmilk before feeding her oatmeal, fruits and veggies?Thanks.

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  2. Right now, I am feeding her Gerber oatmeal. I plan to start the cereal you make outlined in super baby food, but you can't give that until 6 or 7 months.

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  3. Why is it that you cannot feed a baby homemade carrots until 7 months? I do have Super Baby Food but I also have another cookbook and it has carrots as a good veggie to start with as a first puree. I made a batch the other night and they are in the freezer but I have held off because he has been constipated for a couple of days and I read to steer clear of bananas, carrots, and apples to help with that. My William is also 5.5 months and so far he has just had cereal, sweet potatoes, and pears. I did give him some bananas the other day (just once)and he has been constipated for 4 days now. I am waiting on a call from the nurse right now but if you have any great ideas on how to relieve that let me know.I have continued with fruits and veggies as well as some pear juice. I am going to try some prune juice in a bit. He is beginning to get very uncomfortable. On a different note, I have written comments before on his chronic 45 minute naps. I am happy to report that as his "morning nap" is developing, his 45 minute naps are becoming a thing of the past. He still takes 2 45 minute naps in the afternoon but his 9:00 am nap is getting longer. Hopefully within the next couple of months he will develop a good afternoon nap.

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  4. Anna, carrots (and other root veggies) can have nitrates in the soil. If so, this can cause anemia in a baby younger than 7 months old. Carrots are fine for a baby under 7 months, but the nitrates can be dangerous. Baby food makers can afford and do test their soil for nitrates. Super Baby food says to not even feed homegrown carrots because you don't know if there are nitrates in the soil or not. I have a whole lot of carrots sitting in my garden waiting for me to cook them up for McKenna :)Yaron says that not all doctors agree that there is any real risk involved. Babywise II (the new one) mentions nitrates and carrots also. I am a type who is better safe than sorry, so I will be waiting until she is 7 months old. I will start making them soon, but freeze them.

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  5. Oliver is almost 16 weeks, and I think he is an old man!! =) I remember feeling like months 1-3 drug on foooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeer…but now I'm like, "Slow down, son!"

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  6. I read that about carrots too, but my Botanist friend said that ALL soil has nitrates in it. It's something that makes soil what it is. Causes some process to happen that makes plants grow??? What causes a problem is that the chemicals that are sprayed on most carrots increase the amount of nitrates in them.I read in the 100 top baby purees (I think that's the title, but I lent the book to a friend) that you can buy organic carrots to make for your baby from 4 months on. It was one of the first foods I gave to my LO! Her iron levels have always been fine. Not that that's proof of anything, but I thought I'd throw that out there!

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  7. Making babyfood is fun and easy! I made zucchini and summer squash the other day and froze it. Also, I have made sweet potatoes and carrots. I am buying the commercial baby food for fruits though. It seems like too much trouble to prepare those, except for bananas which my DD hates!!The website wholesomebabyfood.com also has some great recipes for seasoning the food. I am going to try some of those soon. Valerie, I mentioned in another post the little amount of solids my DD was eating (way less than McKenna) and my DD will be 8 months old next week. I called my ped who said that if she is eating only 1 jar or less of babyfood a day (which she is), then I will need to cut back her formula intake to about 24 oz to get her to eat more solids. Right now she is taking in about 28 oz of formula per day. Just FYI for you and anybody else who has babies with very small appetites!

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  8. This question doesn't pertain to baby food, but wasn't sure where else to leave it. My second girl is 4 1/2 months old and I'm nursing. She still eats about every three hours. I can't seem to strech to a 4 hours schedule because of her naps. She is consistently waking up after 45 minutes for every nap, which means that she is always up before it's time to eat again. In the evening I will feed her at about 7:30 and she will sleep until 5 or 5:30, eat and go back to sleep until 7. With our first, she was an awesome napper and I'm just not sure what is going wrong this time. It's very frustrating. I've tried letting her cry for 15-20 minutes, then going to check on her and put her back down. She's only gone back to sleep once with that method. Do I just let her continue to cry it out and she'll eventually catch on? I guess I'm just needing a little encouragement and advice. Thanks for all your time and the great blog!

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  9. The Gwins, I have a 5 month old and he is still a 45 minute napper. I feel the same way about a 4 hour schedule. He sleeps great at night 8pm-7am, but naps are another story.

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  10. The Gwins,My DD is a chronic 45 min napper. She started at about 2.5 months of age and is now 8 months old. In the beginning, I let her CIO at the transition (obviously, I troubleshooted hunger, etc first!). She would cry and/or fuss for 30-45 minutes. Then over time she learned to soothe herself back to sleep. Now that she is older, when she wakes at 45 minutes, she is very happy and content and plays in her crib until "naptime" is over. That is how I did it. Other people try getting the baby up and putting them in the swing, etc to finish out the nap. The main goal is teaching them to either sleep (this is the preferred option!) for the whole naptime, or remain happy and content for the duration of naptime. It is a training process. Most babies grow out of this 45 min nap phase in a few weeks or so. Be sure you are doing everything you can to promote good naps: optimal waketime length, block out outside noises, light, appropriate wind down, and of course making sure baby is getting enough calories! In the end, some babies just aren't great nappers and we just have to accept it.

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  11. Gwins,It might be a four month old issue. Four months is a difficult time for all babies, not just BW babies. And it is a common time for the 45 minute intruder.The first thing to do is to get her up and feed her. It might be a growth spurt. If so, feeding her more often will give her the extra food she needs.I would try that for a week (unless it stops sooner than that). If no improvement, then move on to other possibilities.

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  12. Hey there. I just started reading your blog and I am hoping for some help, please! I will recap a little bit for you real quick: my son is 5.5 months old and started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. We thought we had it made. It turns out that now, at 5.5 months, he is waking in the middle of the night screaming, will be comforted if we go in, and then does it again. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, or not, he always wakes up around5:30am and talks for a bit, but then fusses and so we go in to turn his aquarium on and leave. At this time he usually falls asleep until about 7 or so. I am just wondering how your daughter sleeps until 8!? My goodness! Please advise me about how to get over this 5:30am hump. Here is his schedule:7:30: 7oz. formula, 3T oats with fruit9-10:30 or 11: nap11:30-7/8oz. formula, 2T veggies, 1T fruit1-3: nap3:30: 8 oz. formula5:30: 2-4T veggies, 2Tfruit6:30, bath, book, bottle, bedAnything I should change? He doesn't nap nearly as long as your daughter either! How does she do that? Please help!!Much appreciation, sorry so long, Dawn 🙂

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  13. Hey Val—Thank you for your posts! My daughter is 24 weeks old and for a while now I was wondering if she was pushing herself towards a 4 hour schedule. Now I'm sure of it. Our schedule just recently transitioned itself to this: 7:00 – wake, nurse, 2 T oatmeal, 2 T fruit8:30 – nap11:00 – nurse (bottle)12:30 – nap2:30 – nurse (bottle)4:00 – nap5:30 – nurse, 2 T oatmeal, 2 T veggies6:30 – bath, bottle, bed by 7 or 7:30Here is my problem—my daughter has been a chronic 45 min napper since she was 2 months old. We've tried everything, and only recently has she started to squeeze in about one 1.5 hour nap a day—usually the morning nap…We're getting better. However, she is showing ALL signs of being ready for a 4 hour schedule…She has been sleeping 12hours consistently since 15 weeks old.So…do I let her transition slowly, or do I just bite the bullet and do it one day? Another problem/question (and I know that you primarily nurse) is that Jordyn gets 3-4 bottles a day. She is breastfed for her 7 am feeding, but I work full time and she is with my MIL for her 11-2-5 feedings, and she has always received a formula bottle for her last feeding since she was 5 weeks old. So, my confusion is with the amounts of milk. I've done a milk calculator, but it just seems like sooo much! If she transitions to 4 feedings a day, it's roughly 8.5 oz. per bottle!If anyone has any tips, I would greatly appreciate it! She has shown that she can comfortably eat 8 oz. at a sitting, but I just want to make sure she is getting everything she needs!

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  14. Dawn,Some babies are more of natural sleepers than others 🙂 She is a big sleeper. I suggest you first see the post: 5-8 month sleep disruptions and see if any of those items apply.

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  15. Lindsay, one of the signs for a four hour schedule is having to be woken from every nap. But many moms find that when they move to a four hour schedule, naps get longer. You can definitely try it and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well, you can always go back.I really don't have any knowledge about ounces per day until 12 months. The Yahoo! Chronicles group has moms who bottlefeed, so you might find answers there.

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  16. just want to say thank you for posting the weekly summaries. they're such a tremendous help! my little girl is about 5.5 months old. i'm still feeding about every 3 hours and squeezing in 6 feeds a day. i know that i need to change it up a bit because she doesn't need that many feeds, but she's my first and it's so darn fun to nurse. i don't plan to intro solids until 7 months so hopefully i can skip the puree phase completely. thanks again!

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  17. Val I love your blog!! We have been doing BW since day 1 we have the most amazing happy baby everybody LOVES!!! I am wondering how to move her schedule around and get her consistenly sleeping until 8. Right now our schedule is:6-6:30 feed 1 side back to sleep9 wake nurse Oatmeal & fruit10:15-10:30 nap12-12:30 nurse 1/2 fruits 1/2 veg (currently using purchased gerber food- plan on making mine soon)1:15-1:30 nap3-3:30 nurse4:15-4:30 nap6 nurse 1veg 1/2 fruit and past few days adding rice cereal back in cuz she loves eating and cries when I walk away with an empty bowl7:30-8 sleep- (different nights vary as to if that is bed time or back to sleep- we are involved in ministry and not always home to put her to bed but I take a pack n play and she does amazing in there9-9:30 DFI think I am trying too much at once, I walk in the am's @6 3X's a week so I go in and feed her @5:30 so she won't wake while I'm gone but I feel that is very counterproductive to what I want to accomplish by getting her to sleep later. I realize I will have to change our entire schedule if I want her to wake earlier for the day. Right now I get to take her to work with me so having that time in the morning to get ready without a crawling baby is very nice. But again I would rather her sleep later in the am and just don't know how to do it. Long winded I know but I appreciate any wisdom!! Oh my little is 5.5 mos old and we have been eating solids since 4 mos as directed by our Pedi cuz little has only gained 3lbs since birth but thriving and healthy as far as Dr's are concerned. She is always happy and eats great!Thank you!Sarah

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