Schedule and routine for a 34-35 week old baby. Get info on this baby’s daily schedule and routine for each day and know how to structure your day.
Do you realize that McKenna turned 8 months old at the end of this week?!?!?!? I couldn’t believe it. Really couldn’t. I thought for sure she must have been turning 7 months and counted it out on my fingers! I am serious! My little baby! Sigh. She will forever be 6 months old in my head. Next month, I am sure I will think she is turning 7 months old again 🙂
Post Contents
NURSING
All is well with no problems.
SLEEPING
Everything went well with sleeping, also.
SOLIDS
I didn’t introduce anything new, but I did try to make some peas out of frozen peas. They didn’t really turn out how I had planned. She was not a fan of them. I think I might stick with store-bought peas and just move on to the frozen once she starts eating them whole. Which I will allow her to do as soon as she turns 8 months old in my head 🙂
I also made a bunch of sweet potatoes this week since they are on sale due to Thanksgiving! I am sending my husband to the store on his way home from work today to see if they are even cheaper.
Oh, I just remembered. McKenna had red potatoes for the first time this week on Thanksgiving. She wanted a bite, so I gave it to her. She made her classic grossed out face, but wanted more. I love that face!
FINGER FOODS
McKenna is getting quite aggressive about wanting to eat what we are eating. I call her the praying mantis. You can be holding her and she just sits totally still. Suddenly, she leaps forward and grabs a fistful of whatever she happens to be eyeing at the moment. If you eat close to her, she opens her mouth in anticipation for what you are eating. She loves finger foods and is getting better at feeding herself, but she still does the fist thing. She doesn’t have her pincer grasp down yet.
RASPBERRIES
One day, my husband was playing with McKenna and taught her to blow raspberries. He was very proud of himself. A few days later, he was feeding her dinner and she started blowing raspberries at him. I had to turn my head and hold in my laughter! He told her not to do that, but she kept ongoing.
I told him that is what he got for teaching it to her. Just then a neighbor came by to talk to my husband, so I took over. She tried blowing a couple of times. I put my finger to her lips and told her, “That’s a no. You keep your food in your mouth.” She stopped and hasn’t done it since. I am sure we will encounter raspberries in the future; I will just handle it the same way.
A great thing to do when your baby starts doing this is tell them no, we don’t do that at the table, etc. etc. and then distract them. Don’t stare them down waiting for compliance. Express that the action is a no, then start singing a song, jabbering, making silly faces, or whatever works to distract your child.
Read: Discipline Foundations for Your Baby
JUICE
I still haven’t ever given McKenna juice. I gave it to both Brayden and Kaitlyn on their 6 month birthday. Neither liked it. Brayden will drink it sometimes today, but Kaitlyn still hates juice. I really prefer it that way. I have a feeling McKenna would really like juice, and I don’t see any real need for it, so we still don’t have it.
ECZEMA
I noticed a rash on McKenna’s back. It looked strange and almost like she was being rubbed raw from being held. I showed my husband and he said it looked like Eczema. It runs on his Dad’s side. My niece has it (his sister’s daughter). My sister-in-law said she used hydrocortisone cream on it, so I did that and it cleared up in a day! But if your baby has it, be sure to consult with your doctor before doing anything.
My father in law also has eczema, and he says it is just miserable. It itches and is painful. The poor girl! She never complained, though. I also remember in the past that readers have mentioned Aveeno baby products for Eczema, so I will be purchasing that.
INDEPENDENT PLAYTIME
Continuing her bought of mild separation anxiety, McKenna suddenly started hating independent play this week. It all started one day when I walked into her room and she was across the room. I still have been putting her at her gym where she has stayed. She isn’t crawling, but she is rolling to get from point A to point B, which I find very amusing. Since she was across the room, I decided it was time for the playpen. I put her in it the next day along with her gym.
She was not pleased. The gym was a bad idea. It made things too crowded. The next few days, she protested independent playtime. I had her do it still, but for a shorter time. After a few days, she stopped protesting and went back to playing happily. I was *this close* to stopping for a few days, but this is close to the age when I did that with Brayden. It was a mistake to stop with him, so I told myself to press on, and it paid off.
Read: How To Manage Separation Anxiety In Babies
GROWTH SPURT
I think McKenna had a growth spurt this week. I have never noticed one in my kids between 6-12 months before. I know they have them, I just don’t notice. This week, she ate TONS more solid foods. After a few days, she went back to eating her normal amounts.
OUR SCHEDULE
8:05 AM–wake, nurse, solids (prunes or peaches and oatmeal)
9:35-9:45 AM–nap
12:15 PM–wake, nurse, solids (green veggie and applesauce. Sometimes mix in blueberries)
2:00 PM–nap
4:30 PM–wake, nurse, solids (yellow veggie and bananas or pears)
6:30 PM–nap
7:45ish PM–wake, nurse, PJs, story, bed
HELPFUL BOOKS/WEBSITES
- On Becoming Baby Wise: Book II
- Super Baby Food
- http://wholesomebabyfood.com/
- On Becoming Baby Wise
- What to Expect the First Year
- The Wonder Weeks.
- Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
- Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby
- The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior–Beyond the Basics from Infancy Through Toddlerhood
- http://kellymom.com/
RELATED POSTS
- McKenna Baby Summary: Week 34
- McKenna Baby Summary: Week 36
- Brinley Baby Summary: 35 Weeks {8 Months Old}
- Teaching Your Baby “No”
- Finger Foods
- Wonder Weeks
- Making Babyfood
- Growth Spurts: Everything You Need to Know
- Independent Playtime
- Juice vs. Water
- How to Teach Your Baby Highchair Manners
I tried cooking and pureeing frozen peas – worked out great. I added a little olive oil for a little flavor, and because DS gets constipated. He likes the peas ok, but my daycare provider was able to get him to eat twice as much as I did my mixing it with the pureed prunes that I sent. Just a tip in case you want to try to get McKenna to eat more peas. Super Baby Food also says not to (re)freeze frozen veggies…guess I'll just have to keep making fresh batches – what's your plan with that?
A suggestion for the eczema: use hydrocortizone 10 plus (it has extra moisterizers in it, let it dry and then apply the Aveeno lotion for eczema. This seems to work well for my son. I do it after his bath in the morning and before he goes to bed at night.
My understanding is that you can re-freeze anything that has been cooked in between freezing. So, raw frozen peas can be cooked, then frozen again. I do this for my baby and have a few friends that do, as well, without problems.
Another great thing for eczema is a cream by Derma Med, called Natural Healing cream. My son gets eczema pretty bad and putting this on everyday keeps it under control
On the eczema thing– my sister works for a dermatologist, and they recommend Ceravae (I think that's how you spell it) lotion. It's a bit pricey, but lasts forever. You have to purchase it at drugstores like CVS or Walgreens. We used it on our little man when he had a dry splotch and it cleared right up.
Thanks for all your hard work! The newborn and baby summary are great!
I use frozen peas and frozen green beans to make Oliver's food. The peas work well if you steam and them shock them in ice water. Then I pureed and use a sieve to get most of the hulls out. Oliver loves peas! He's not too fond of the green beans, though. Oh well!
I love love love your blog. My daughter will be 8 months on the 4th, it's been so helpful because her and McKenna, are the exact same in weeks! I love it. Just wondering how do I know when to start giving her whole things? like peas, etc…she has no teeth yet and I worry about choking!
I had the same issue with the peas, I put them in the food mill but the texture was wierd and William was not interested. Now I am having much bigger issues. William is 8 months today (I can't believe it either-I still think he is 6 months) and is refusing all vegetables. I started solids at 5 months and he was by no means a picky eater-ate everything that I gave him. He especially LOVED sweet potatoes and now he won't touch them or any other veggie. He will eat apples, bananas, pears, and prunes. He is also VERY excited about finger foods. I started him on puffs and have also given him whole wheat toast with applesauce, nutri-grain bar, and today I gave him some pinapple which he liked. I tried egg (just the yolk hardboiled) but he didn't like that either. I have quite the picky eater. Because he is so excited about finger foods I thought I would steam some sweet potatoes for him. He was excited and grabbed some and stuffed them quickly in his mouth and almost just as quickly spit them out. I have tried mixing foods to disguise them but he just spits it out. I just can't figure it out. I keep trying and just keep wasting more food. Any suggestions?
My son has excema pretty bad. He is a year old and we have been using steroids since he was 5 months when it flairs up. We have even been to see an allergist to make sure it isn't something with that…Anyway, we use Cerave as a body wash for my son at each bath. We also only bathe him 3-4 times a week. We only use Aquaphor to moisturize him instead of any lotions. Hope some of this is helpful
Thanks for the advice on the rasberries at the table. My 7.5month old is doing this consistently. My 1st boy never did so it is new to me. I had done the "No not at the table" but I thought I was being a bit tough on him too young but now that I know you are doing "high chair manners" at this age I will too. I feel like I am doing this much younger than I had to with my older son. They are so clever aren't they. Thanks for the updates, encouragement and blog.
I know you got plenty tips for eczema already, but we use Calendula cream and wash on our kids. It is natural and seems to work well, also dove soap and aquaphor is awesome we slather them up them up before bed and the rash is usually clear by morning.I also wanted to ask how you prepared Brayden for the surgery a while back. Our 3 year old(nov 10) is going in a couple weeks, along with his youngest brother, for a minor surgery that requires anastesia(sp) and we aren't sure how to prepare him. He is very articulate so it is easy to talk to him, just seeking some tips on how to prep him without scaring him. Any advice would be great!
i also use calendula cream and baby wash, by california baby. it's all natural and i LOVE it! the redness is gone in a matter of minutes after i put it on DD. it's a little bit more pricey than aveeno, but so worth it!! (available at target). you gotta try it!
I am currently having problems getting my 10 month DD to do playpen time. I started a few days ago (we had done it off an on, not consistent and she hated it!)and have been really consistent. I have a set time every day and it is for 12 min. Today I will move it to 15 min. I am determined to stick with it because she needs to learn how to play by herself. And I am hoping it will help her not to be so clingy to me all the time. Your post encourages me that I am not alone and that this is something I have to really stay firm and consistent with. I was SO TEMPTED to give up like you did with Brayden. But your story encourages me that I am doing the right thing by sticking with it. I hope it gets better soon!Amy
Hi, I posted a comment on last week's summary about independent/playpen playtime. My son who will be 8 months on Monday, used to be ok with it and last week began HATING it and screamed through it. I have stood my ground and kept to it, adjusting it to only 20 minutes instead of the 30 we had been used to. I also play him a Bible Songs CD during playtime to give him something to listen to (and drown out my footsteps!). It has been so hard but your post has made me think I am normal, my son is normal, and that I would be shooting myself in the foot to stop now. Thanks so much! I loved this post…it is so helpful to compare Jack to McKenna…they have a lot in common.
anna – my daughter went through the same thing at that age. we figured out for her, we could mix most veggies with yogurt and she would eat them, and she would also eat them if we served them to her on toast! pretty funny… so we were using the toast as a spoon and she didn't object. maybe one of those would work for you! 🙂
I know there are tons of comments already about eczema but well, what's worked for us hasn't been said yet and since we've seen amazing results, I thought you and your readers might be interested.It kinda goes back to what our grandparents fed their kids…we've all heard about them getting Cod Liver Oil right? well, turns out that the EPA's in Fish Oil play a huge parte in healing excema from the inside instead of all the steroids and creams and cleansers. Since about 4 months, I think, my daughter had splotches of excema that were getting pretty bad. We talked to the doctor and didn't like the idea of bathing her in the aquaphor and cetaphil products when we were already usign gentler and more natural things and she stil had problems so instead we talked to a nutritionalist(the Pastor's wife at the church I grew up in) and she said how eczema tends to be an external display of and internal allergy, which is also what our doctor said but they'd treat the external whereas the Nutritionalist(karen) recommended treating the internal. because she was only eating formula at the time, we just had to pop, one capsule of Fish Oil (adult pills) into her bottle twice a day til it healed then a couple of times a week for maintenance. if you're nursing, up your own intake and should have the same affect. it took about 3 weeks til it was all gone but considering the other things we'd tried, we were amazed. There are tons of benefits of fish oils aside from this also.the nutritionalist's website is http://karenhurd.com/concern_infants_eczema.html if you're interested.
Laura, thank you! I remember that now in Super Baby Food. McKenna really likes the Gerber mashed up peas, just not the mommy mashed up peas 🙂 But now she eats them whole, so I don't think I need to worry about it.
Thanks Janelle! Do you put the hydrocortizone on twice a day even if his skin looks good? I have heard to not put it on too much. My neighbor (an RN and has twins with eczema) says it is fine. I do trust her judgement, but I still worry 🙂
Thanks Abby and Jacob. There is always conflicting information, isn't there!?!?!
Thanks everyone for the Eczema advice! Thanks also for the pureeing advice!
Julie, what I did was give her a gerber rice puff. They dissolve really easily. I watched what she did. She made chewing motions, so I figured she was ready.I am always a bit (a lot) cautious with it. I was even more so with McKenna for some reason. I think most if not all babies are ready around 7-8 months. So I would pick something safe and go for it! See the label "finger foods" for more about this.
Anna, this can be a stressful situation for you! I would just keep offering veggies. Get what you can in him. Just keep exposing him to the taste. Hopefully he will snap back in as fast as he snapped out.Keep trying the different mediums; pureed and whole. See also the label "picky eaters"Try to be as chill as possible and hang in there!You can try sneaking it in his food (like zuccini bread) until he will eat them again.
TamPerth, one thing that is good about when they start needing direction young is that they seem to be overall easier to train as they get older. So it is harder as a baby, but easier as a toddler 🙂
likaika and Laura, I hope it isn't too late!We brought our favorite things with him. A train. A blankie. His Giraffe.It is hard to know exactly what to tell them. In general, knowledge is power. But he doesn't need to know details that he will never know about. So I would tell him, "You are going to the hospital. We will do XYZ. Then you will go with the doctor and he will put you on a table and give you a mask to wear. You can pretend you are a pilot!" etc.Then you can do role playing at home. We told Brayden to be brave, and that really helped. He was very brave. We also went to his favorite toy store afterward. We told him we would before we left, so he had something to look forward to. But he might get "the runs" afterward, so be prepared for that. good luck!
Good luck Amy! One thing, I like to set the time for something they can do successfully. It might be only 3-5 minutes. Then get them before they get upset. As they get better, add time. Good luck and hang in there!
Sarah, good luck! Good job sticking at it. I don't think you will regret it.
Hi there:) we have just turned 8 months and I wanted to check…looking at your schedule bub is sleeping almost 17hours in a 24hr period. Babywise book says 13-15hrs. I found if I’ve been leaving bub to sleep (he would happily sleep 2-2.5hrs) we woke up super early and lay in his cot babbling to himself for sometimes 2hrs. So I’ve now been waking him after 1.5hrs. But that means we still are doing a cat-nap as I wake him at 2:30pm for school pick up. His final bottle is around 7:40pm and asleep by around 8pm. But he’s still constantly waking around 5:30/6am…
I’ve gone through your troubleshooting, other pages about early waking, I’ve played around with his bedtime doing 5-10min on either side but nothing seems to be working. Any advise would be greatly appreciated:)
I would encourage you to make sure you go with your child’s individual needs. McKenna STILL needs more sleep than most kids her age. There is a chance you need more than a catnap in the evening since your afternoon is a catnap itself. But check this post out: https://www.babywisemom.com/10-reasons-your-5-8-month-old-has/