Perfectly sleeping baby....what happens when you remove the swaddle?!
You know that happy feeling you get when you look at the clock and realize its almost bedtime! Well, if your a mom, then you know that moment. However, when I looked over to the baby monitor and saw she was on her stomach while still being swaddled, I knew it was time to cut the swaddle... but how do I do that?!
I wish I could say that I waved my magic wand and she slept like an angel every night since... but my wand is broken and I'm a bit rusty on my spells so lets explain the hard way.
It makes my blood pressure rise when I think about the endless nights I had during this time in her life. I thought she'd be happy being out of her baby straight jacket.. but that was definitely not the case.
For me, I had no choice, she rolled over and that was it. I had to go in there in the middle of the night, unswaddle her and walk away... haha yeah right!! She cried like I had just murdered ottie in front of her (her favorite stuffed otter). What the hell do I do now?! I figured she could come lay with me and maybe I'd be comforting but then the fear of me rolling over or her falling off the bed kicked in so that idea was out. I first decided to half swaddle her or swaddle her with her arms out. Ok, her arms are out, I walked out and stared at the baby monitor to see what she would do. Bang, she slammed her head against the crib, and then she got her stuck through the slats of the crib... ahhhh omg, I ran in there like they were handin out free pumpkin spice latte's at starbucks. Shit kid, are you trying to escape me?! I had no bumpers on her crib because I read horror stories on those things... but after you see your child stuck through the spaces of her bed the bumpers didn't sound so bad. The next day I headed out and bought those bumpers. I installed them, stuck her in her crib while being swaddled with her arms out, walked out and watched on the baby monitor again. Now.... let me remind you this baby is 6 months old. She grabs on to those bumpers and pulls them off!!!!! I had them bastards tied tight! Ok Baby 1 Mom 0 .... So I go in for the second time, double knot them, told my daughter goodnight, I love you and good luck escaping moms love. Started watching her again, she pulled on them but they wouldn't budge so eventually she gave up. Now... I was soooo happy I won that battle but then a knew fear set in... she laid flat on her belly with her face in the mattress?! the fuchhhh.... come on baby, make mommy happy. I instantly panicked went in there, flipped her around and of course... she woke up! Baby 2 Mom 1... she is good at games. So I'm a first time mom, wanna know what I did?! I called the emergency line at her pediatrics... yepp I sure did. Ummm hello?! Yes, I mean no this isn't an emergency but I have a question that could be very important.... is my child suppose to sleep face down?! I got silence for a moment and I instantly regretted my decision to call. Mrs Ashton your baby can sleep face down, if she was strong enough to roll over she can move her head if she needs to. Just like you do when you sleep, if you can't breathe, then you find a different position where you can breathe.... ok makes sense, thanks doc! It was still very uneasy for me to see her face pressed against the bumper or the mattress. So I barely slept for days until I got use to the idea of her rolling around her whole crib and being destructive with her bumper haha.
She is now 8 months old. I have purchased the halo sleepsack!! that thing is heaven sent... let me tell ya!
I wish there were somewhere out there that would of prepared me for this moment because it really did freak me out and made it very uneasy for me to go to sleep. But she does know what shes doing and she has proved that to me with all those crazy positions she gets herself into. Follow your instincts and have some trust in your baby :)
