Noah at 6 weeks old

6 weeks. God, how that time has flown by but at the same time, I feel like he’s been in our lives forever and I can’t remember life before he arrived. It’s been a tough 6 weeks, with adjusting to parenthood and all the different issues and concerns we have had with Noah. But all in all, it’s been an amazing start to our adventure as a family and I can’t wait to see how he changes and develops over the next coming weeks, months and years.


Weight

He currently weights 4 kg or 8.8 lbs and is still in newborn clothes (up to 7.5 lbs), but is almost starting to fit into some up to 1 month clothes. He is on 4 oz of milk every 3-4 hours, so should keep piling on those cute little pounds.


Routine

He’s really settling into his routine and is getting to know it well. Only a few days ago, his feeds were a bit all over the place and he fed at 6 pm, but actually cried for his food at 7:30 pm after his bath because he knows that he usually has his milk at this time! (And mummy wasn’t going to give it to him…Oops) So, at the moment his routine is based loosely around this:

• 7-8am: We wake up, have cuddles, put on fresh clothes and feed
• Nap time (while mummy has a shower and tidies up a bit)
• 10:30-11 am: Feed
• Play time
• Nap or out and about
• 1:30-2 pm: Feed
• Play time
• Nap time (usually in baby carrier if won’t settle)
• 4:30-5 pm: Feed
• 7 pm: Bath time
• 7:15 pm: Baby massage, fresh clothes for the night and swaddle
• 7:30 pm: Milk and bedtime story
• He usually wakes up between 11-12 pm for a dream feed and then another at around 4-5 pm, but it's obviously not the same every night at this stage!

Sleep

I’d love to sleep he’s sleeping amazingly, but he’s not. He seems to battle with himself to stay awake some nights and refuses to lie on his back. I end up having to cuddle him to sleep in the early hours of the morning otherwise he just screams the house down. He usually has his best streak after bath time and settles really well. But really, it all depends at the moment, there’s no “usual” sleep behaviour. The last few days, he's been really bad and seems to wake up crying, or I should really say, screaming, and nothing we do seems to settle him. This means he's very ratty during the day and just wants to be cuddled. I'm hoping it's just the growth spurt he's going through or maybe reflux, which we've got some new medicine for. I'm not too sure yet!

During the day, he usually naps really well in the morning in his rocker while I shower (apart from the past few days, where he's been bad at this time too). After that, we’ll either go out or he’ll go in the carrier for a little while. I’ve found putting him on his belly for some naps has helped a lot because he can sleep happy and I can closely monitor him.

He usually naps for anywhere between 20 minutes to 2 hours on his belly and anywhere up to 3 hours in the carrier.


Milestones

• Smiling a lot more and starting to giggle
• Make noises other than crying – like cooing as if we are having a little conversation
• Looking around at bright toys
• Looking at me when I’m talking to him
• Reaching out for his rattle, grabbing it and shaking it
• Recognising different voices
• Putting his hands in his mouth
• Lifting his head off the floor and looking around when on his tummy
• Stepping a lot of his feet and bearing quite a bit of weight on them

What he likes (in my head anyway!)

• Warm baths! He absolutely loves bath time
• Bum massages – even lifting his bum so you can provide a really good massage (I know, it's a weird one?)
• Cuddles and being held - by literally anyone, which is a good sign that he isn't going to be shy like mummy was!! 
• Being bounced - either in his rocker or in my arms
• When the muslin goes over his body (because he knows milk is coming!)
• Sitting up and playing with mummy
• Reaching out and holding mummy's hands
• His dummy (occasionally)

Photos