It is no secret that I love a good swaddle. It stops all flailing, keeps the baby warm, and is comforting... especially when they are brand new. All of these things mean a good long sleep and who is not a BIG fan of that?! Emily was swaddled until she was 6 months old. I thought that I would have to start swaddling her in a twin sheet and possibly teach her hubby my swaddling technique WAAAAY down the road. But, she did give it up at 6 months so I was able to avoid all of that. Everett, however, has had a love hate relationship with his swaddle for a while. Okay, so maybe it's more that he LOVES his swaddle and I HATE that I have to re-swaddle in the middle of the night because he breaks out - loose blankets are no good. I mean, really. The second he was swaddled up he would calm down and drift off to sleep in no time. Exhibit A... a nice tight swaddle.
But at some point (or multiple times) during his sleep he would wriggle around so much that his swaddle would be completely destroyed and I would find it in shambles. Exhibit B... the annihilated swaddle (and big sister making a funny face so he would smile - nothing says "good morning" like a funny face!).
(The picture above was taken when I still had his co-sleeper mattress raised on one end. So in all of his movement he slid down a little... he started out with his face on the blue part of the cloth diaper. Once that happened I leveled his mattress out.)
So, on September 7th I decided that Everett was ready to spend the night in his crib AND, since his swaddle was unreliable, was also ready to move to a sleep sack. Well, he went to sleep just fine but woke up several times before I had even gone to bed. So, I changed my mind and determined that he would sleep overnight in his crib IN a swaddle! I just had to add a little something to ensure that he wouldn't get out of the swaddle and be in his crib with loose blankets. He looked very happy on the monitor, had a great night of sleep,
and was all smiles the next morning when my "secret trick" was revealed.
Well, that worked great for two nights but on the third night he was awake a lot and in the morning I found him with the Ace bandage wrapped securely around his body but both arms out. So, on the night of the 11th it was time to revisit the sleep sack. Again, he went to sleep easily...
(before I went to bed and stopped watching the monitor I took away his lovey since he likes it ON his face)
and was in really good spirits the next morning!!
"Mama, did you see me? I slept ALL night in my sleep sack and only whacked my face a few times!"
"Plus, I wore jammies! I never got to wear long jammies in my super warm swaddle!"
It has been a process and there has definitely been a learning curve, but all is well. I even captured on camera a little something that Everett has learned to help himself fall back to sleep now that his swaddle is gone.
*Everett LOVES his lovey and, as I said, wants it ON his face or right up against his face as much as possible. For that reason, he is allowed to have it to go to sleep and during naps but I take it away when I am going to bed or otherwise not going to be checking that he is clear of it on the monitor. One day you will get to have it all night, sweet boy, just not yet.
She is very protective of him too, having to check out any visitors before allowing entry.
He likes to watch her dance,
get his hands on her when she comes near,
and listen to her read stories.
There are a lot of things he will want to ask her one day. But for now, he has just one burning question... "Was it heavy when you hung the moon, Emily?"
