Swaddling

So Lincoln started outgrowing his newborn swaddles. His legs were bent in the bottom part so I decided to research when we should stop swaddling him. Dr. Sears said 3-4 months is a good time to stop. He said that babies in other cultures are swaddled a lot longer and end up with ball and joint problems. Lincoln was 3-months old that day so I suggested we try to ween him that night. We had a sleep sack ready that I purchased at reBlossom. I was going to give it to him for Christmas (and I am still going to wrap it up). Joe was pumping Lincoln up that night as he was dressing him telling him how awesome he is going to sleep in his new sleep sack. Joe even posed him for a "3-month old picture".

I typically put Lincoln to bed each night. I laid him down like I normally do and gave him his pacifier and turned on his lullabies, the humidifier, the monitor, and night light. I don't even have to rock him. Instead of his eyes blinking slowly shut as they normally do in his swaddle, his arms were flapping around, he dropped the pacifier several times. My thought, "This is going to be a  l o n g  night!" So I step out of the room and he started whimpering. I go back in and give him his pacifier. This happened a couple more times I think. I got my shower like I do every night at this time praying that when I came out he would be asleep. He was. He woke up around 11pm and 1pm. More than usual. So I pulled his swaddle out of the clothes hamper and wrapped him right up in it. He slept until 5:30am. I put him back down again and Joe took him to school instead of me. Needless to say, I was a little tired the next day so I learned not to try new things or ween from old things on a weeknight.

So later that day I research swaddling again and saw that The Happiest Baby on the Block said that some babies like to be swaddled anywhere from 8-10 months of age. Again, there is always differing opinions out there. I went to Target after school and bought a SMALL Halo swaddle/sleep sack. The top still Velcros and binds the arms, but the leg area is like a sleeping bag with a large sack for leg movement  and exercise while he sleeps. The small is for 13-18 pounds so he will be able to wear it a while. So far so good! We are all happy sleepers.

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