Ava had her 4 month appointment last Friday with Dr. Emm. She is doing great! A healthy 13 pounds 11 ounces and 24 inches long. Her head is still in the 90% :-) She is a happy baby and is really getting into a nice routine at Jeanne's - taking two 2 hour naps a day. She also takes a little catnap at about 5pm each day. Dr Emm said that since she has had formula (I'm still pumping but I can't quite keep up!), we can continue the rice cereal but also start solids. Fun!! We started with peas----the first night she actually seemed to like them but every other night since she literally gags when I put them in her mouth. Too funny! Travis and I both hate peas.
I am still awaiting the night she sleeps THROUGH the night, however. I'm in such total debate about what to do about it. Is it an issue?, I don't know. When I mentioned it to Dr. Emm, he asked "Are you feeding her?" I said, "Yes." He said that she is old enough and big enough (he said he would not have said this at 2 months) to not have a middle of the night feeding. He also said if I want to get more sleep in the long run, I should not feed her in the middle of the night, however, it is my choice and he can't tell me what to do. The getting up doesn't bother me because she nurses and is back in her crib quickly. I just don't want her to be eating out of habit so the real question is "Is she hungry?"
She has also been going to sleep much earlier - in her crib asleep around 8pm, which is still going great. She goes to sleep on her own with her blanket and paci. Anyway, for example, last night she woke up at 1:45 (almost 6 hours!). They say that sleeping through the night for a baby really means 5 hours but I'm not sure what age that is referring to. A book I was reading also said that some babies may need a middle of the night feeding up until 9 months (and maybe even 2 feedings), however, you shouldn't feed them if they are not really hungry (duh!) and awake because all babies have a period of partial awakening and if you go to her during one of these, you could cause night-waking or night-feeding habits. A little confusing!
I let her cry it out when she woke up at 1:45, and she did finally go back to sleep (Yay Ava!) after almost 45 minutes or so. THE CATCH----she woke up about an hour later at which time I fed her. I figured it had been 8 hours since she had last eaten and I just felt she was truly hungry.
I'm in limbo about what to do. I understand the cry it out method for older babies or for when it is at their bedtime, but I am not sure what to do in the middle of the night considering she is only 4 months old. She nursed like crazy at 4am and went right back to sleep. I've explored some possibilities: dream feeding=getting her out of her crib right before I go to bed and nursing her to make her able to go a longer stretch; feeding her the first time she wakes up and then letting her cry it out the second time if necessary; or just feeding her both times she wakes up (if she does...and no more than 2 times) and hoping she is ready to sleep through the night soon!
I've just heard from so many people that 'my kids were still up in the middle of the night at 1 1/2'---OUCH! I think for now I might try the dream feeding or the other option of feeding her the first time and seeing how she sleeps after that and letting her cry it out. Not sure if that is the right decision or not but after one night of getting no sleep, Travis and I both are zombies, and not to mention we both overslept until almost 7am this morning! And really, I'm hoping if I do feed her once in the night, I can focus on weaning that out soon. She's adjusted so well to everything else (no more swaddling, going to sleep on her own) that I'm just praying for the best!
Any of you moms out there that have any advice, feel free to fill me in! :)
