One of those days I'm such a worrier

charmedgrl517

And DH is tens times worse worrying than me which adds to everything! DD was off today just not herself not sure if its just a bad day for her, teething, not feeling well, or just overtired but she just was different. She was fine after waking up this am, took her bottle fine,6oz. Then it was fight for her morning nap which is unusual and she spit up a lot, I dunno if she was just worked up or not feeling well but she has no temperature. She hasn't had much of an appetite today, she on average takes about 27oz a day but today only 22oz so of course I worry about dehydration. She has normal wet diapers, etc just decrease appetite and fussy. She has been drooling for awhile now and recently started chewing on her finger in the right side of her mouth but no teeth. I hate not knowing what she is feeling! I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight knowing that she wasn't herself today.

Also, what are your schedules like for LOs? I'm a schedule type of person but follow DDs cues which is starting to drive me crazy cause it seems all over the place lately. It seemed like we had a good routine going of 8am wake up to 8pm bed with every 3 hr feedings and 3, 45 min naps but now it seems like she could go longer between feedings but worried she wouldnt be eating enough cause it would take her from 5 bottles a day to 4.
And i feel like her feedings are all over the place with no consistency and i end up having to feed her less than 3hrs if thats how it falls before bed and i feek like thats not good to food her so soon!
Also I let her wake up every morning on her own unless we have to go somewhere which is rare. And her usual time is between 730am and 9am. So my questions are do you wake your LO up same time everyday even if you don't have to? And how much of a routine do you follow?! I think I'm driving myself crazy over this but don't know how to just relax!
I'm really sorry this is so long! I just need your ladies' thoughts smiley face, mobile!

Junebug060609

With teething...D slobbered and gnawed on his hand for four months before teething started in earnest.  He'd have fussy times like you described, often I think it was just the teeth working their way up.  Generally when their gums swell, it's not far off...and when you see a white line beneath the gum things are about to get real. 

At 5m I was (still am at 16m) a follow cues person.  His was erratic around then as well.  They are starting to really notice the world around them...and figure out they can do things.  So exciting, too much to do to sleep, lol.  I came across this link the other day on pinterest.  It seems pretty accurate from my experiences thus far: https://www.thealphaparent.com/2013/01/timeline-of-baby-and-toddler-sleep.html

To answer your specific questions: He wakes up on his own at the same.exact.time every day.  At 5 months he wavered a little more...and let me sleep in more.  I'd let him sleep more if he'd do it (he's up at 5am, I'd be THRILLED!).  Our routine developed over time.  It's fluid, but pretty established.  I follow his cues for naps (always have)...he's currently in the nomansland between one and two naps per day. 

bmv1980

We still follow cues. DS seemed to put himself on a schedule, and G is all over the place. I am on the fence about weather or not to plan her day out more. Am I creating a difficult child? For now I'm putting it off, figuring you can't spoil a little baby. If things are working for you, then it's right :]

charmedgrl517

Thanks ladies! I always feel better after reading your responses! Sometimes I just need that reassurance/advice!

adoxyinherear

I totally understand! It's so easy to worry. DD has days where she isn't herself sometimes, too, and I just try to remind myself that babies are people, too... just like us, they have good days and bad days, days where they're more tired or hungry or needy, and days where they're more relaxed and happy. It would be so much easier if they could talk to us, but I've heard that comes with it's own problems

I follow DD's cues most days, though she's pretty predictable in the morning and for her first nap. She gets up around 8 a.m. every day, and usually goes back down about an hour, hour and a half later for a long nap, usually an hour or two. After that, she may take two naps or three, and they can be short or long, she can fight them or not... and we nurse whenever she's hungry, or if I can't figure out what's wrong and she's crabbing :P At night we try to give her a bath anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30, and we like to have her in bed between 8:30 and 9. We've tried to focus more on routine than schedule... some days she's tired earlier, or isn't ready to go to bed yet, so we just make sure we do the same things every night to cue her that it's bed time soon.

Missa_g

It could be a growth spurt.  My boys always get super sleepy and don't eat much for a few days, then are absolutely ravenous for a few more, then their clothes are a little more snug.

I say we have a pretty set routine, but it's one our boys set and mostly stick to.  Wake up at 8am-ish [we'll wake them at 9 if they're still sleeping] and chug an 8oz bottle.  They're up for about two hours then take a nap [40 minutes to 2 hours], eat another 8oz bottle at noon-ish, nap around 2pm [1-2 hours], 8oz bottle at 4ish, potentially a nap around 6pm of 30 minutes but they're working on dropping it, and then 8oz bottle at 8pm for bed.  We do snacks after naps and a BLW meal around 6:30pm. 

Whenever we drop a bottle we go up in the amount offered.  When we were doing 6 feedings they were 5oz bottles, 5 feedings of 6oz bottles, then 4 of 8oz [they went through a growth spurt and wanted a little more anyways]. I always say it doesn't hurt to try something for a few days.  If its a fail, no big deal just switch back to what you were doing before.

MickeyM04

This sounds a lot like DS when he was teething, although 5 months is a smidge on the early end of normal.  Also it's possible she may just be having an off day.  DS is usually a super happy, easygoing guy with a great appetite but there have definitely been days where he eats less and is kinda cranky.  Maybe tummy related, maybe just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, who knows. 

I keep DS on a schedule but am a little more relaxed about it on the weekends.  We have a nanny but I still wake him up every morning at about 6:15 so I can give him his bottle and play a bit before I go to work, because otherwise he would not wake up until after I was gone.  On the weekends we let him sleep in.  We also have him on a bottle schedule of one when he wakes up, then one at 10, 1, 4 and 7 (bedtime).  We will vary a bit and sometimes do like 10:45, 1:45, 4:45, depending on naps (which I will never wake him from a nap unless it's starting to get close to bedtime) but I try to stick with those hours.

 When he was much younger I used to just feed on demand but he ended up with really bad habits of like snacking all the time at the boob bar.  He'd just eat a little bit, then an hour later be hungry and eat a little bit.  So we started to space it out 3 hours apart (first when I was nursing and now on bottles) and he eats much better that way.  Plus no one is losing their mind trying to feed him every hour.  That's just me though.  Lots of people just follow their babies' cues.  The cool thing is, once you get them on a good schedule, their cues match the schedule.  DS always starts rubbing his eyes at his usual nap times, and getting hungry at bottle time, etc.  We're just all a little happier on a schedule in my house.

orangegoggles

No advice as I am just starting the journey but hope things are going better for you!