Lucy's pediatrician recommended we stop swaddling her at night...he also recommended that we try to put her down at night and for naps while she's still awake. The idea behind the second one is that if she wakes in the night, as she's bound to do, she'll remember where she is and how/when she got there and be able to soothe herself back to sleep. The idea behind the first one...torture? For us and for Lucy!
She had her 6 month shots on a Friday and he suggested not starting these new rituals until the following week to allow her to get over the shots...Dave didn't want to start on Monday so I went for it on Tuesday night. I always feed her and "bundle" her half way through and she falls asleep eating. On Tuesday night, I did not bundle her and I fed her a little earlier than usual. I took her upstairs while she was still awake and put her in her wearable blanket (kinda like the swaddler but the arms aren't confined and the legs are much freer, as the wearable blanket is quite loose). She was drowsy and I put her in bed. I walked away...and she started to cry...I tried it several times but gave in relatively quickly and nursed her to sleep. I finally went down to bed about 30-40 minutes after putting her down the first time. Dave got up with her quite a few times before losing his cool so I headed upstairs...she would not stay asleep for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. I'd surrounded her with bubbies but she wasn't reaching out for any of them...around 4am, I was losing it, too, and bundled her. She slept through until we woke her in the morning...
Wednesday night: I took her up to bed drowsy and put her in the wearable blanket, this time with her arms inside it. Again, it's much looser than a swaddling blanket so while she was technically confined, she still had a little freedom. I put her in bed still awake and she was okay with it...she slept for nearly and hour then woke up crying (so much for soothing herself back to sleep!) I tended to her several times before caving and bundling her by 2am.
At this point, I consider what the doctor told us mere suggestions...and I choose not to follow the no swaddling suggestion! Haha...Lucy just does not seem ready to do without. I have, however, continued to put her down for naps and at bedtime while she's still awake (her sitters have also agreed to work on this at nap times at their houses). Last night, though, she was very tired (so was I!!!) and cried every time I put her down...I ended up nursing her to sleep again...but overall, we're focusing on putting her down awake and once we have that mastered, maybe we will revisit the no-swaddling plan...
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