Saturday, August 23, 2008

Swaddle No More

I've been dreading this day...

The day we decide to stop swaddling Chloe.

That day came yesterday.

Chloe has a nighttime routine. She gets a bath about 30 minutes before her last feeding of the night. Then we do baby massage with lavender scented baby lotion, read her a book, nurse her, then swaddle her in a miracle blanket and lay her in her crib. This routine works very well for all of us and Chloe goes right to sleep on her own.

Well, we woke up Friday morning and she had done a complete 180 in her crib. I don't know how she managed this, especially while she is all swaddled up. That was enough to make me consider giving up the swaddle. (I was going to stop around 12 weeks anyways, so I guess we are just a week early)
I've read that when they start to roll over or move around, you need to keep their arms free so they can move their head if they get flipped over to their belly.

I was so scared. She sleeps so well all snug as a bug in a rug.

I was going to mess up her routine. I was just hoping that the bath, lotion, story and nursing would be enough for her to realize it was bedtime. Oh, the thought of those flailing arms and legs scared the crap out of me. They wake her up every time.

Everything was going fine (except for the puddle of pee that occurred while she was diaper-less on her way to the bath). I finished nursing her and got her all zipped up in her sleep sac.

Oh, I decided to use a sleep sac for the swaddle transition. Figure that way at least her legs don't have full range of motion.

I thought I was home free. She went to bed. Or so I thought. She gave me enough time to wash my face and go to the bathroom before she started whimpering. I waited. The whimper turned to crying. I went to her crib, picked her up and rocked her for 5 minutes. She went right to sleep. Laid her back down in her crib. About 10 minutes later she was fussing again. I can't stand to let her fuss, so I rocked her again, this time for about 10 minutes. When I laid her down this time, she stayed down (and asleep!) until 7:00 this morning!

Tonight is the second night in her sleep sac. So far, she hasn't woken up.
Keeping my fingers crossed on my way to bed.......

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nitey Nite Chloe...

Love Grandma & Grandpa!

Three Girls and a Daddy said...

Sleep sacs are great! Neither Caroline nor Sarah Anne liked to be swaddled...ever. It frustrated them for some reason. We used sleep sacs with both right from the beginning. Both girls like to sleep with their arms above their heads...I guess that's why they didn't like to be swaddled. :) Chloe will do great with her new found "freedom"!

Alexis Jacobs said...

Sounds like she did well. Hope night #2 was just as easy.