Rafe's 3 month update! 

It's been a seriously tough week! Rafe has definitely been going through the infamous three month growth spurt and it's been hard work. But never the less I have finally got a spare twenty minutes just me and my laptop so I thought I would do his three month update...a mere ten days late...sorry!

Firstly I will talk numbers...Rafe's measurements to be more specific. I got him weighed and measured on the 9th of March. He is 59cm long, his head circumference is 42cm and at that point he weighed 12lb 9. As I mentioned in my last post his weight was a bit of a concern as it had dropped after he lost his appetite post vaccinations. He has been back on track with his eating recently and although I am not going to be getting him weighed until next Thursday I know he has put on because I have weighed him on my scales with me. Not massively accurate but I know that he is now over 13lb. He still fits into some of his up to 3 months clothes but he mainly wears 3-6 months now...with the trouser legs rolled up because his legs are a bit short for them!

Sleeping has been quite frankly horrendous. HORRENDOUS! It's been like having a newborn baby again recently. Gone are the nights of six hour sleep stretches. At the start of the week he was waking up every 2-4 hours for feeds! I think this was due to a growth spurt because his appetite was ferocious during the day aswell and he was avoiding having daytime naps. Thankfully things have improved, only slightly mind you. He is currently sleeping 4 hour stretches again but the last two mornings he has woken at either 5 or half 5 and refused to go back to sleep! He is back to having a couple of naps in the day though and the early starts have allowed me to be more productive during the day. I am very glad that he has been eating well again, but this week has really tested me and more than once turned me into an emotional wreck!

Rafes likes include; Bathtime, he absolutely loves bathtime and splashing his feet, planning on taking him swimming soon because I think he will enjoy that aswell. He loves music, his Fisher Price rainforest playmat, and his Sophie the giraffe teether. He also still enjoys walks in his pram and drives in his carseat both of which seem to settle him when he's cranky.
He smiles LOADS now, especially at daddy when he comes home from work, we even get the occasional giggle from him. He likes to "talk" aswell, and when you speak to him he makes noises back. He's very good at reaching for things and grabbing hold of things like his burp cloth and mummy's hair. 
One thing Rafe was struggling with was tummy time. He just tended to faceplant the ground and scream. A friend recommended a tummy time support pillow and it's worked amazingly! He's turning into a tummy time pro! He can hold his head up by himself now, he is still a little bit wobbly with it though and I recently constructed his 'Jumperoo' but he's still a bit too small for it and he needs stronger head  control before he will be able to use it. Going to give it another go when he is around 4 months old.

Rafe does suffer with a bit of separation anxiety when he cannot see me or if I leave the room. This was making showering, cooking dinner, everything really, very difficult so I have remedied this problem by filling a washing basket with pillows and popping Rafe in it when I am in the kitchen etc so he can see me. This has worked a treat, obviously I do not leave him unattended in there and he doesn't sleep in there or anything but it allows me to get stuff done...one of the biggest challenges for every mum!
I don't think Rafe is teething yet. I thought that he was for a bit earlier in the week because he was very irritable and dribbling but I think that was more down to his growth spurt.

I am currently still exclusively breastfeeding Rafe. Ideally I want to continue with breastfeeding until he is six months old if my body allows me. I recently began expressing milk so that Richard can do some of his feeds...plus this mumma needs a night out with the girls...and I do not want to be breastfeeding when Rafe starts getting teeth! We attempted to give him his first feed out of a bottle last night and he was having none of it, even when I sneakily swapped my nipple for the bottle. We gave up in the end but we are going to keep trying until he gets the hang of it. I am using the Avent electric breastpump to express. I don't really have anything to compare it to but it seems to work very well and I can get about 240ml in about an hour.

Rafe still has some mild cradle cap which I am treating with coconut oil and scalp massages in the bath. It doesn't seem to bother him at all, just looks like he has dandruff sometimes. His hair is really falling out at the moment and seems to be growing back lighter. His eyes are still blue but he has patches and flecks of brown in them so we are still not sure what colour they are going to end up. Talking of eyes Rafe now produces real life tears when he cries, he's been doing it for a while now and it just makes me feel worse when he's upset.

We are planning on re-starting a sleep routine when Rafe is 4 months old. The previous one we attempted did not work, he was too young and we abandoned mission pretty quickly. His current routine is basically to be bathed at 7pm then feed until he falls asleep, which can be anywhere between half eight and 10pm. He tends to fall asleep whilst brestfeeding which is a habit we really need to get him out of so that we can put him to bed when he is drowsy rather than fully asleep and so that we can have a bit of time to ourselves in the evenings.
Think I've covered everything. It's definitely been a challenging time, really hoping the sleep situation starts shows some signs of improvement soon or I fear I may go mad!

Jx

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