Well, the first week of the New Year has certainly been eventful! Between an ant infestation (seriously THOUSANDS of ants in our kitchen on the night of January 1st), Richard and I fighting off a NASTY cold and trying to get our 4month old into new sleeping habits, 2011 has started out very hectic!
Over Christmas break, Richard and I came to realize that we had gotten Walker into some pretty bad sleeping habits that needed to be fixed ASAP! So over the past week we have been working hard to get baby boy into a new routine!
Bad Habit 1:
During Christmas break we realized that Walker needed to learn to self soothe and be able to fall asleep by himself. Why did baby boy need to learn this? Well, he had become so accustomed to us walking/rocking him to sleep that he COULD NOT fall asleep without it...which would be fine other than the fact that it got to the point of taking OVER an HOUR to put him down each time. Yep. Over an hour for 4 naps and at bed time. Not only was it taking over an hour to put him down, but he was unable to soothe himself back to sleep when he woke up during naps/night. It was turning into craziness! Richard and I were exhausted and Walker was tired! We really felt like he would be able to get more sound sleep if he was could teach himself to self soothe.
Well, starting Sunday we let him "cry it out" for 5 minutes, would go and soothe him, then wait 10 minutes, soothe him again, wait 15 minutes...etc. He did great! The first nap was rough but after that he caught on very quickly! He only made it to 10 minutes once and by day 2 he was going down without a problem!
Bad Habit 2:
Walker is/was absolutely ADDICTED to being swaddled. After his 4 month check up, the pediatrician said that he was just going to have to get use to not being swaddled. He does NOT need to sleep that way anymore. Well, let's just say this is a work in progress. Friday, he was up for about 7 hours straight during the day. He could not fall asleep. We broke down and swaddled him Friday night. Saturday, he screamed for...oh...a good 2.5 hours and ended up taking two 30 minute naps...and one of those was in his car seat! Poor baby. By last night he was so tuckered out he could barely smile!! POOR GUY! After he finally fell asleep last night he did very well. He woke up at least once an hour but was able to get himself back to sleep pretty quickly. Today, he actually took a hour and a half long nap and it only took him 10 minutes to go down! YAY! Progress! :)
Walker also had his 4 month check last week. It went great! He did so well with his shots and has gotten SO big!
Weight: 15lbs 10oz (Just below 75%)
Length: 25.5inches. (75%)
I talked to the pediatrician about his eating. He has been eating like a champ. Every 2-3 hours during the day and has gone back to eating every 3 hours at night. So the pediatrician told us that we could start him on rice cereal! YAY! He also said once he gets use to this, give to him 2x/day then we can start baby food! Not only did he give the green light for baby food...BUT...he recommended starting with meats! I was completely shocked when he said this. Being a dietitian, I had never heard this recommendation before. We were taught vegetables and fruit first, then meats at 9 months. But, I guess, according to recent research, no adverse side affects have been seen from starting meats early and actually is good for the baby since meats are high in iron. So I guess in a couple of weeks he will be on some meat! Crazy!
Some fun things:
~Walker has amazing head control and is super strong.
~ Baby boy still can't roll over from back to tummy, I think this is partly because he does not really like to be on his back anymore. He would rather be up where he can see what is going on.
~ He has been getting tickled very easily and it is SO funny! His laugh is so goofy and it cracks me up!
~ He DOES not care for rice cereal...but will hopefully grow into it.
~ His favorite books are "We're going on a bear hunt" and "God made you noes to toes"
~He really, really likes his exersaucer and jumperoo.
~Baby boy gets a kick out of attention. He will smile and ham it up for just about anyone who talks to him...I wonder what side he gets that from :)
~Walker would rather chew his hands than suck on a paci.
Baby boy in his new toy...his Jumperoo
Yes...he likes to watch things upside down
HAHA...not a fan of the rice cereal..and this was probably the happiest face he made the whole meal! :)
2 comments:
What a big boy! I love, love his whale outfit. MA had it with a pink bunny and it was always one of my favorites. I hated sleep training my kids but remember, it is so much harder on the parents than the baby...and the end result is so worth it! I love you!
Carter was not a fan of rice cereal. We checked with our pediatrician and she said oatmeal would be ok. He LOVED (and still does) that. Just an idea if he continues not to like it. Hang in there. I promise this does pass and you will all get to sleep one day very soon!!! You are a wonderful mother (and dad, Richard)! Walker is so blessed to have both of you! Hang in there and know love and prayers are being sent your way! Love you lots!
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