Constantly Questioning

When he was first born, my son - like most babies - was perpetually sleepy. From what I recall, he slept all the time. Yes, his nights were a bit interrupted, but he was a newborn and that was expected.

Now, my little man is on the go all the time. When he is awake, he is AWAKE. Having perfected his crawling skills, he is getting into everything. Yesterday, he even started following me ... it was so cute! I love it that he is more mobile now and is exploring the world around him.

That said, he is no longer the drowsy little guy I first met. Gone are the days where I could easily lay him in bed awake and know that he would eventually get to sleep. Now, if he is awake, consider him a cross between Columbus and Sherlock Holmes; everything must be explored and inspected.

So I will confess: I have been doing the bad mommy thing and putting him down already asleep. I know better, but at the same time I don't know what else to do. If I let him explore, he bonks his head on the crib slats and gets onto his tummy and forgets how to get back (and pretty much refuses to sleep on his stomach). If I put him down asleep, there is at least a chance he will stay that way. I haven't tried letting him cry it out, but I'm not sure that would work with him; we tried it once and his screams just got louder and louder until he was absolutely beside himself.

Our ped told me not to "anything him to sleep". Which means I'm not supposed to feed, shush, rock, etc. him to sleep; he's supposed to do it on his own. But it seems like he can't; he's just too on the go.

Am I not giving my son enough credit? Can he do it himself? Do I need to teach him drowsiness? (I am drowsy by nature, so I am familiar with the feeling; I could almost always use a nap.) Will letting him cry it out breed a sense of distrust within him? How can I avoid scarring him for life?