He’s 11 months and I’m down to one feeding a day with this guy. He takes the sippy cup like a champ and pounds the food. He had his first try of ice cream. He got more on his face than in his mouth and he was loving every minute.
He is into everything. All the time. He will find anything that is not secured shut. He does not do stairs and we’ve barricaded the staircase.
After being woombie free for 3 months, I broke down today and put him in it. We have been struggling (for over a month) with sleeping during the day – corresponding with him becoming completely mobile. He gets in his crib and immediately sits up or stands and refuses to lay down. And no, he will not cry himself to sleep. Seeing him exhausted today, I put him down for a nap and he cried and cried. After a while, I rummaged through the garage to find the box of baby clothing and I pulled out a woombie and swaddled him.
That stinker fell asleep within 5 minutes!! I was elated to have a napping child in the afternoon and then disgusted with myself that I resorted back to the swaddle. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I want to think I’m strong enough to not use it again – but there’s a part of me that can’t be trusted.
I don't know why you would feel disgusted for using the woombie to get him to sleep – whatever works. He's not going to go to university needing to be swaddled. Look at it a different way – you are using the woombie to provide the frontal lobe that he can't provide for himself. If he could use his frontal lobe he would be saying "man I'm tired and really need to calm down and go to sleep" – now the woombie does it. This too will pass.
By the way, I don't often comment, but I do like reading about your children and I love seeing what you have drawn for the monthly baby picture.
Thanks for the perspective. By the time he's a teenager I'm sure I'll be having the opposite problem in not being able to wake him up!
I've only got four weeks left of baby picture drawings…I'm a little sad to see it come to an end but at the same time it's a lot of work! Thanks for stopping by.
All of my children loved to be swaddled and I don't think it is a big deal. My oldest continued to be swaddled until he was 15 months old. It was his way of knowing to go to sleep. We used to kid around that he would be 15 years old and we would be zipping him up in a mummy bag to go to sleep. While he is 8 years old now and of course doesn't get swaddled he does like to be tucked into bed with the sheets super tight around him! I say if it works keep swaddling!
Thanks Shauna! We had stopped swaddling because he was crying in frustration in the middle of every single night. We stopped swaddling and he stopped waking up. And now that he's crawling and pulling up, it as if it's sensory overload and there's just too much going on to go to sleep. Swaddling might be his best option – his night sleeping has no problems, just those afternoon naps. Back to the drawing board as always!
I'm not sure how long you are wanting/planning to swaddle…But you should look into the concept of the Zipadee Zips. They work great for those who are transitioning from the newborn swaddle to sleeping on their own. I have used them on my little ones and they have worked great for us. It seems to be a great middle ground for those who are still needing to be swaddled, but also need to be able to have some moving room to turn over or sit up, etc. Good luck!
I've never heard of zipadee zips, but I looked them up and they look great. Just what I need! Thanks for the heads up!