It's Gonna be a Long Night

Robert was sleeping great around the 2-3 month mark. I was consistently getting 7-9 hour stretches out of him at night. Well, the last couple of months have been less than stellar. I usually get 3-5 for the longest stretch, 1-2 for the second stretch and then he comes to bed with me where he nurses on and off until he wakes for the day sometime around 7:00.

He's also been swaddled this whole time. I knew it was getting close to time to unswaddle, but frankly I didn't particularly want to think about that transition. Every time I've attempted it, it hasn't gone well at all. Last night he made up my mind for me. When he woke around 2:00, I found him on his stomach, still swaddled. He used his neck muscles to hoist himself over. Little toot.

So he's obviously no longer safe in a swaddle. At naptime today I tried (unsuccessfully) for two hours to get him down unswaddled before I finally gave up. Bedtime is going on one and a half hours now. We're on attempt number four. Actually, he's been quiet in his crib for a few minutes now, so maybe he's asleep.

I'm not a big fan of crying it out (at least not at this age), so I picked up a copy of "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" and put into place some of the author's suggestions tonight. So far so good. I'm thinking I won't follow it to the letter until he gets used to being unswaddled though. I really don't think he can put himself to sleep right now with those wild appendages of his. The kid is freakishly active. He can be almost asleep, or sometimes even completely asleep, but when I put him down, his eyes pop open, legs start kicking, arms start flailing and he furiously whips his head back and forth.

Anyway, my point is, it could very well be a long night. Wish me luck!