It's like I have it out for myself... (ICLW June)

Welcome June ICLW'ers! For a quick recap--I am a first time mom with a 3.5 month old little boy (my Little Monkey!).  This blog is where I share the milestones, frustrations and random musings that come from my sleep-addled brain! Please check out my tabs for more info! I'm so glad you're here! I'd love to have more followers!

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I decided to listen to TH about LM and his sleep.  Now, he is a fabulous father and I love that he does crazy love LM things--like sleep on the floor of his room next to the crib because they're "camping out". But, the man hasn't researched a damn thing since the pregnancy mood swings :-) So, a lot of the decisions we make involve me sharing with him the research I've gathered from books, blogs, message boards and various websites (I have a lot of time on my hands in the middle of the night!). Then, we discuss the options and arrive at a decision---usually the one I would've picked all on my own, but hey! we're a team here.

Now, this is all well and good...up to this point. TH decided that he was going to chime in his thoughts about LM and being swaddled. You know, that fabulous burrito baby look that saves my sanity by getting LM to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time? LM is beginning to become more wiggly (like that time he rolled over) and has been busting out of ALL of his swaddle blankets. He also is getting too big for his H.alo SwaddleSack.  So, TH suggested that perhaps it was time to transition out of swaddling--both at night and naps.

I really appreciated his proactive interest and it did seem logical at the time (it was early in the morning, I'll admit). So, we tried a couple of naps without being swaddled. It wasn't perfect but with just a few paci replacements, we made it to the 30-45 minutes we usually get out of the average nap.  We even *gasp* got one 1.5 hour nap--though it was after he was down for only 10min on the previous nap. So--Sunday night, being Father's Day and all, I agreed to try a night without the swaddle.  It took him awhile to settle and his sleep was restless, but it didn't suck totally. He woke up for his middle of the night feed early....and then added another one around 5. But, I figured that it was all the result of restless sleep and a big change. So, I tried it again last night.

I'll pause while you all chuckle to yourselves for what you know is coming.

Let me tell you....what an awful night. He was up so many times just fussing and cranking. I shushed, I patted and replaced the paci.  Everytime I fell back asleep, it started up again. AND of course, the time I finally sent TH in to do it...LM was hungry and I had to get up anyway.  Being exhausted, I broke the cardinal rule of trying something new....I gave up. I gave up and swaddled his cute little self up.....and got four hours of sleep in a row.

I know I probably should've tried it for more nights...I hate giving up.  But, I just couldn't take being exhausted. I knew in my heart that it was too early to give up the swaddle. He still startles himself when he's sleeping that way.  What good is reading, observing and learning about LM and his cues if I'm just going to ignore them for the sake of domestic teamwork? We need to wait longer and now we know. Perhaps we'll try again when he's four months or maybe focus on mastering no swaddling during naps first.

I'll take it as a learning experience....a tiresome one....and next time, I'll make TH back up his ideas with research :-)