4 Months

First, I have to apologize because I was mistaken -- Rachel's doctors appointment was today, not Friday. I am glad I discovered this before Friday, or I would have been pretty irritated with myself.

Rachel turned 4 months old on Thursday. I had been suffering from a cold since Sunday, and Rachel decided she didn't want to sleep more than an hour at a time last week, so by Thursday I was pretty miserable. I actually gave warning at work that I probably wouldn't go in to work Friday because by the time I left work on Thursday, I couldn't see straight because of the pressure in my sinus cavity. So poor Rachel and I didn't have a great week, but on Friday I got lots of sleep while she was at the sitter and I was rejuvenated by the time I had to pick her up.

Saturday was a HUGE milestone for Rachel because she ate her first few bites of rice cereal! I don't think she liked it much.

But she held it down and by Sunday I think she started to get the hang of it. I snuck her some applesauce on Sunday too, and she liked the taste of that better, so I think she is ready to be a big girl eater.

We also decided to let her cry-it-out on Saturday because she wasn't taking her naps when I would lay her down. The sitter tells me she is very scheduled, requires no swaddling, and goes right to sleep around the same time every day for a few hours. Yet for my weekends, she won't sleep when I set her down. So we set her in her crib, turned the monitor on but left the volume down (so we could see the lights but not hear her crying), and retreated to the basement and waited for her to fall asleep.

Normally I am not a proponent of letting a baby cry, but I also think that Rachel has gotten to the point where she needs to learn how to put herself to sleep. I have gotten tons of advice from tons of mothers. Nothing has worked so far, and even though Rachel is only 4 months old, neither of us is getting any sleep right now, and that isn't healthy for either of us.

Today, the pediatrician confirmed that we need to let her cry herself to sleep. Most people tell me this will take about 3 rough nights, but that at the end of the week, she will be sleeping through the night, or at least for longer than 3-hour spurts. Wish us luck!

Okay, here are the 4-month stats!

• 13 lbs 10 oz. (50th percentile)


• 25.5 inches (90th percentile)


• The doctor says she is remarkably strong. She was trying to stand on the table while he was examining her!