4 Month Checkup

Emily had her 4-month checkup today with Dr. Bramwell, her pediatrician. She weighs 12 lbs, 7.4 oz now--what a growth spurt she's had! She's 23 1/2 inches long, and all of her measurements are in the 25th percentile now. So she's still on the small side for infants her age, but she's staying on track with her growth and developing perfectly.

Dr. Bramwell asked about the latest tricks Emily had mastered, so she showed all of them off--sitting up (with assistance), lifting up at almost a 90 degree angle while on her tummy, and trying to roll over. She told us we can start to introduce rice cereal any time now--I'm not sure Emily is quite ready, but we'll be trying it in the next couple of weeks, just to see what happens. She does watch more intently now as we eat, but seems to be perfectly content with just milk right now.

She also told us we shouldn't be using the Woombie any more at this point--that Emily needs to be able to get to her hands at night and doesn't need to be swaddled at 4 months. We're a little nervous about how sleeping will go without it, but we're willing to give it a try.

And speaking of sleeping, the doctor said it's time to start sleep training, and letting Emily "cry it out" some. She said she shouldn't be needing to eat in the middle of the night--Emily is still waking up pretty consistently to eat, and we've been feeding her since it puts her back to sleep much more easily than just the pacifier. Again, this makes us nervous, especially when you think about the fact that we've been working on making her stop crying for the last 16 weeks...and now we're expected to sit back and let her cry herself to sleep! This is gonna be tough.

Lots of changes to come, and I'm not sure we're prepared for all of them at once--what a week to be moving, on top of everything else!