Norah and I went in this morning for her 4 month visit. According to the pediatrician Norah is doing very well overall. She weights 12 lbs, 6 ounces and is in the 25th percentile for weight, length and head size.
Prior to the appointment I had already shifted my approach to sleep a bit, and when I discussed this with the pedi he confirmed that I am in a good place. I have been using a book called, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" as a reference after having gained respect for it very early on, as it quite accurately predicted Norah's sleeping habits. After some rough nights over the past several weeks I started really second guessing myself and wondering whether we were making poor decisions. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like the book was putting possibilities in my head of things we were doing wrong, and of bad habits that Norah might be forming. I realized that I should be spending more energy on interpreting Norah's cues and making decisions based on instinct. I also realized I should not overanalyze one night. There could be a million factors affecting a single night of sleep, and even if we think we have it figured out we don't truly know the cause and never will.
I was ready to put the book aside for a while...and then my friend Lisa mentioned there was good 4 month information in the 5-8 month section at which point I promptly picked up the book to find the 4-month nuggets myself. We are dealing with something that is so unfamiliar that I am hungry for any information I can find. However, this time my approach was different. I was looking for information and guidance, but was prepared for discrepencies between what the book was saying and what was actually happening for us. I wasn't going to let it get me worried that we are making bad decisions, especially based on a night or two.
The the pediatrician confirmed all of this for me, which felt really good. For the past week or so, Norah has been taking very short naps - often just 30 minutes, sometimes closer to 45 minutes or an hour. Even though she appears to be quite rested when she wakes up, my fear was that it was affecting her nightime sleep. The pediatrician is not concerned at all about short naps, particularly because she wakes up rested. He said that her sleep habits are still forming and this doesn't necessarily mean that she'll be a poor napper. As long as it is not completely throwing her off at night he does not feel we should be worried.
Speaking of night - for a while she was consistently only getting up once a night, but more recently it has been twice. We have also gone through some rough nights where she is up even more often, but not necessarily to eat. Our instinct was that this was due to her being sick, or at least feeling uncomfortable for some reason. Seth would often rock her back to sleep, which works fine sometimes, but others it doesn't last very long. The pediatrician feels her more recent sleeping habits have likely been impacted by her being sick (he noted she still has some congestion from the RSV). I asked whether nursing more frequently (perhaps sometimes when she doesn't really need it) at night could form a habit and he thinks it is possible, and therefore something to be aware of. He recommended trying to rock her back to sleep when she wakes more frequently, and only when that doesn't work to try feeding her. Unfortunately for Seth this means more night duty for him since he generally takes over if she does not have to eat so I can get some sleep (my hubby rocks!).
I also talked to the pedi about solids. It's not at all that I am anxious--just curious. He typically recommends 6 months for two reasons. First, he feels vegetables can add some valuable nutrients to the child's diet. Second, it can be a good time from a developmental perspective to start training a child to eat solids. Some may be ready and some may not, but generally it is a good stage. Assuming I am still breastfeeding at 6 months (which I plan to be the case), I am not going to be in a huge hurry.
So, I there you have it - everything you ever wanted to know about Norah's sleep habits, and then some. For those of you who are parents, I'm sure a lot of this sounds familiar. And for you soon-to-be parents, this is what you have to look forward to. But don't worry - it's all worth it!
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