What are babies like at 5-6 months

[rhye]

@thomasleonard No advice but wanted to say thanks for posting and for everyone who is sharing! My baby and I will be in the same boat as OP’s and this is so helpful!!

 

[autumnstarnes]

@thomasleonard Starting solids really changed our LO and made looking after her more fun - she loved food!!

She was also sitting which was really cool as you don’t have to hold them the entire time.

 

[jansenstawer]

@thomasleonard At 6 months we had a pretty set schedule. He slept approx 7pm-7am and napped at 10AM and 2PM. Each nap about an hour. The two naps per day can be restricting, but we tried to be flexible with one nap on the go if we wanted to do things. We took him to see Santa and he did really well—no tears etc.

 

[karisa4christ]

@thomasleonard 5mo. Still doesn't sleep more than three hours in a row, usually, and barely sleeps during the day, which seems to be hereditary in this family. Has started new foods and loves them, though his intestines, which have never been great, are complaining. Tolerates the car seat better (until now, he always screamed while we strapped him in). Is starting to amuse himself with toys and other objects for short periods of time, and we get half an hour extra of blessed sleep in the morning while he does this, though we have to open the window for him to be happy (blindfolds are amazing). Enjoys going to the grandparents' and staying the night once a week. Notices the cats and focuses on their tails (they have no idea what awaits them). Laughs a lot!

 

[regineverzon]

@thomasleonard Way better, babies are very poorly designed, as they get older that wears off

 

[mightymatt]

@thomasleonard My baby went through intense FOMO around the 5-6 month mark and cried and wailed every single time we started to rock and walk her for a nap/sleep.

I don’t miss that at all!

Barring the sleep however, it was pretty chill and fun! She was more of a person, was social but definitely easily bored and didn’t want to just sit at one place, especially if we went out.

 

[jandurako]

@thomasleonard We traveled to Aruba (from ny) @6months. It was not great but also not terrible.

 

[servant1021]

@thomasleonard Sleep is a complete toss up the entirety of the child's life lol It comes and goes in waves and only some of it is up to you. We were able to transfer to pack'n'play naps by 6months. They will want to be engaged more while they are awake so make tummy time a priority and make it interesting. Ours hated the car until right around 6 months. Now we can plop him in and go for a while before he fusses. He was a lot more talkative and smiley around that time. They start practicing rolling over, sitting up and doing things with their body more. Wake windows had extended so we were finally able to get a consistent bed time going. It was a good age for our LO.

 

[greyareagcu]

@thomasleonard This is the note I made for myself to remember my now 13-month old at 6 months:

-Can sit up on his own for a little bit
-Wants to be mobile but isn’t quite there yet
-Still sucks his thumb, but likes to play with pacifiers while falling asleep
-Squeals and makes noises like he’s working really hard
-Loves his dad
-Loves warmed up chicken purées
-Wants to feed himself so badly, but misses his mouth a lot
-Still sleeps like a dream
-Gives the best snuggles
-Wants to chew on everything but no teeth yet
-Sleeps with his knees up under himself to sleep, but not much yet during play
-Moves his hands all over the place when he’s drinking his bottle, sometimes grabs onto you really hard or scratches
-Still loves bath time
-Miss him sleeping on me
-Likes watching the cats
-Laughs when you headbutt his tummy or kiss his neck
-Likes when his dad talks to him in a funny voice
-Favorite toy is the green finger teether, but the colorful caterpillar is a close second
-Discovering his feet
-Size 3 diapers during the day, 4s at night
-Eating 32oz of formula per day and has purée/cereal twice a day
-Down to 3 naps and 4 bottles
-Loves to “Superman” on the floor to build his back muscles
-Almost always sleeps on his tummy, but sometimes on his side
-Learning to blow raspberries

 

[katrina2017]

@thomasleonard at 6 months i had a horrible napper but good overnight sleeper lol he never wanted to nap and if he did it was a short contact nap, he was newly mobile(crawling) so wanted to be on the go and explore . hes a very happy baby tho we never have to worry about taking him anywhere even early on , still was needing to nurse alot since solids were so new he didnt eat too much of those yet

 

[allison328]

@thomasleonard From what I remember, the naps got worse. Nighttime sleep was better. But trying to keep him down for long naps was impossible.
Teething becomes a source of anxiety around that time (as in, is he fussy because he’s teething or because he’s just going through something developmentally? If it’s the former does he need Tylenol?)
They also start to sit up around that time but also fall back a lot. So it is the start of your child potentially hurting themselves, which doesn’t go away until … well I don’t know when. We have a 2 year old. That’s still a risk although not as risky as it was at 1.
I also remember thinking that if babies were born as they are at 6 months that the first year of parenting would be a lot smoother.

 

[wwahhmpreneur]

@thomasleonard My life started getting way easier around 3 months, sleeping longer at night waking up way less if at all. Napping easier, and more time between them. And then they gradually start to be able to sit up and interact with the world around them so they will be curious about going and doing things. Every baby is different but I’d venture to say by that time going out and doing things should be much easier than it would be at this age. Still not easy haha but way easier

 

[calico55]

@thomasleonard I have a 6.5 month old. It’s fun! We’re eating solids and purées, she’s sleeping well at night, she’s very aware of her surroundings, she laughs a lot, she does get some stranger anxiety, and it’s been great overall!

 

[thanksyoueel]

@thomasleonard It's so individual. Just like adult humans run across a huge spectrum of sleep habits and eating preferences, so do little humans. My baby will turn 1 next week and honestly I don't feel like she sleeps much better than she did at 2 months. Needs co tact and support not only to fall asleep but to stay asleep as well. And that's every bit as perfectly normal as babies who sleep for 12 hours straight alone in their crib by 1 year.

She also cries like she's being tortured after more than 10-20 minutes in the carseat still.

By most standards I guess my baby is "not easy." But she's almost always happy, she'll play by herself just about indefinitely as long as I'm nearby, when she cries a quick breastfeeding session always soothes her right away if me simply picking her up hasn't already soothed her. Do I wish she slept better? Sure. But I wish I slept better too, lol, and I was a poor sleeper long before she was born. It is what it is, and my baby delights me and I don't consider her a difficult baby at all.

 

[aliannghia]

@thomasleonard From 2-5 months, my son continued sleeping the same at night (blessed with a unicorn baby don’t downvote me for this), finally learned to nap around 4ish months, ate all the time, & really started showing more of a personality.

I’m a FTM mom too and as much as I loved his potato phase and how low key it was, having him learn his voice, move around, and start showing interests in things around him was worth it.

 

[ancientbrotherbass]

@thomasleonard Mine was way easier at 2 month than at 5-6 months.

Her cognitive development was way ahead of her physical development so she was bored all the time yet couldn’t do anything to entertain herself. We couldn’t even have a 5 min conversation cause someone had to be amusing her at all time.

The car didn’t get easier till she was about 10 months and out of the bucket seat.

She’s 15 month now and super easy. It got easier around 9 months

 

[jesuslivesjesussaves]

@thomasleonard 5/6 months is THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!! It was my favourite age (although every age has been my favourite age)

I took my baby away at 5.5 months and it was the best holiday ever