SO. Camper’s normal “big sleep” at night, the sleep where he stays in his crib for at least 3 hours, usually doesn’t start til about 1:30am. Then he wakes up, I feed him, and he goes BACK to bed for an hour, maybe three…depending on his mood. I consider it a successful night if I can get him to sleep in his crib for two consecutive 2-4 hour periods. That does not always happen. Another problem is getting him IN bed, that can be a real struggle. I put him down, I pick him up, I put him down, I pick him up. Sometime I even sit him up in his crib and feed him the last ounce of his bottle, then lay him down gently and hope he stays comfortable. Then, of course, there are the nights when he doesn’t sleep on his own at all.
My sister-in-law, Becca, called and asked if we would try something if she sent it to us. She told us about the Miracle Blanket, I googled it and found the instructional video. My first thought was, “There is NO WAY he’s going to let his arms be swaddled like that.” I read a bit about it and realized that the arms are the important part. How many times a night does Camper wake himself up by scratching his face or getting his hands or blankets too close to his mouth so he starts rooting? Lots. Lots Lots. So I tried it.
And it worked. I fed him about 11pm, which is the “goal” time. I’d love him to go to bed at 11 consistently. After midnight is too late, I get waaay tired by then, but any earlier and I might not want to go to sleep yet myself, even though I need to sleep while he does. Up to this point he has only gone to bed at 11pm one time. He ate 6 ounces (way to go Bubs!) and I changed his diaper and swaddled him up. Then I laid him in his crib around 11:30, and sleep he did. He slept soundly until 4:00am. Yes people. That’s 4.5 hours of sleep for ME. Wonderful Becca gave me the gift of an 11 o’clock bedtime, at least for last night.
He ate 4 ounces at 4am and seemed like he was wanting some awake time. I changed his diaper and swaddled him up again and cuddled him for about 2 minutes before I decided to put the blanket to the “ultimate” test. I laid him down, completely awake, and laid in the bed to see what happened. He did struggle against the blanket for a minute, but not fussing, and made a few noises and then was quiet…and next thing I know, I was waking up after 8am…so he slept from about 4:30 to about 8:15. Yeah…not even kidding. Almost another 4 hours. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT ADDS UP TO? 4.5 + 4 = LIKE A KAJILLION HOURS OF SLEEP!
Another plus, the blanket seems to comfort him so much that if we give him the pacifier to lay down it “falls out” naturally when he’s done with it as opposed to knocking it out with his flying fist. It was really funny, when I was holding him before I laid him down, he sucked his pacifier for about 5 minutes and then moved his head forward and ejected it forcefully. It was like he couldn’t use his hand, so he just spit it as hard as he could, and then settled back into sleep. Haha. Also, he didn’t, even once, do one of his sleep screams where he jumps himself awake. The second time I laid him down and then actually took the pacifier out- which is a huge baby NO NO, but he stayed asleep!
Perhaps even better, I don’t worry that his blanket is covering his face or that he’s too hot or cold, or that he’s scratching his eyes out. I really felt comfortable leaving him swaddled and then sleep more soundly myself.
I would call Night 1 a complete success. I might swaddle him for a nap this afternoon, but I might just save if for nighttime…I haven’t decided yet. I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks Becca :)
