Sleeping and Eating Update

Carter turned four months on September 13. That night, for the first time in over a month, I put him in his crib. It was a long night, but Carter did sleep in his crib all night. The next three weeks were very difficult. Carter slept through the night twice but was up several times during the other nights. When he woke up during the night he was mad and crying, so I usually had to feed him in order to get him back to sleep. He was like a newborn again! Things started to improve, and then Carter came down with a cold. He started out in his crib but seemed uncomfortable sleeping flat on his back. So I put him in his swing, thinking that I would only need to do it for a night or two. Well, each night got worse; he spent less and less time in his crib and more and more time in his swing. Even after his cold had cleared up, he still wouldn't sleep in his crib.

Last night was the worst! I put Carter to sleep at 9:00 P.M. He "talked" in his crib for a little while and then started crying. I let him cry for ten minutes and then went in to comfort him. He calmed down and fell back to sleep as soon as I picked him up, but he started screaming as soon as I put him back down in his crib. This pattern continued for hours. At 2:00 A.M. I finally gave in and put him in his swing. He fell asleep immediately and didn't wake up until 9:00 A.M. I really don't know what to do. I'm frustrated that after weeks of no sleep we're back where we started. I'm going to keep trying to put him in his crib, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. And I'm not going to let him cry himself to sleep. I know some people might disagree with me, but I guess I don't think there is anything wrong with Carter knowing that when he cries someone will respond. And my doctor has assured me that you can't spoil a baby...

On a happier note, we started feeding Carter rice cereal and even some level one baby foods. My hope was, of course, that a little "food" would help him sleep. That hasn't been the case, but it has been fun to watch Carter eat. He isn't a big fan of rice cereal, but he has enjoyed some of his baby food. We're trying a new fruit or vegetable every three days. So far he has liked carrots and squash the best. My mom said Alanna and I were the same way. We ate so many orange vegetables that our skin actually started to turn orange!