Friday, April 9, 2010

I Need Advice

Okay, mommies. If you've ever swaddled your baby, please keep reading. I need your expertise.

Problem #1: Megan's doctor said she should be sleeping on her back (lowers the risk of SIDS, right?) but Megan would always wake herself up when her arms would jerk around. Hence, I started swaddling her. She's been swaddled for every sleeping period since she was about a month old, and sleeps like an angel.

Problem #2: In addition to being swaddled, Megan has taken all daytime naps in her car seat since about a month old. (The car seat is in her bedroom when she's sleeping in it). It is not what I preferred, but I needed her to sleep for extended periods of time when I taught piano lessons. It worked like a charm! She would sleep 2 1/2 - 3 hours in her car seat, whereas she would only sleep 45 minutes in her crib.

Long story short: Megan takes all naps swaddled in her car seat.

Now comes my dilemma. You see, it is getting hot here. When I get Meg up from her naps she is really hot, even if I strip her down to a short-sleeved onesie under the blanket. I haven't found a thin blanket that works for swaddling. She does have a ceiling fan in her room, but that doesn't change the fact that she's still really hot under that blanket.

So, I'm forced to think I should wean her from the swaddle. In fact, I tried today. At first, I just held her like I usually do before a nap, and put her on her back in her crib. Crying time: 20 minutes. Then I went back in and mock-swaddled her (just from her armpits down, so she'd still feel the tight comfort). Crying time: 1 hour 5 minutes. Then she was screaming so loud and crying so hard I swear she was going to choke on her own saliva. So, I gave in, wrapped her in her swaddle, put her in the carseat and she was out like a light.

I now realize that I may have made a little Sleeping Monster with Megan. She is an angel and sleeps 18 hours a day- but only if she's swaddled. I just don't feel comfortable keeping her swaddled during the day when it's so hot. Plus, she's 6 months old, which is probably old enough to stop the swaddling, right? I'm afraid one day she'll decide to roll over in the middle of the night (she's swaddled at night in her crib), not be able to move, and then I have no more baby.

Note: I still need Megan to sleep during piano lessons. So, if I can't make this work then I guess I'll just keep swaddling her & hope she's not too hot...

Another note: I teach piano lessons Monday-Thursday, so that only leaves me, basically, three days in which to wean Megan before she has to be back on a schedule.

Any suggestions? Have any of you weaned your babies in this way? I'll take any words of wisdom I can get...

Thanks, ya'll.

11 comments:

Jenny said...

The Miracle Blanket is what we used on Gabe till he was five months (he was HUGE by then) and it is very lightweight. I would imagine you could use that with a onesie and she would be fine. Or you could just bite the bullet and wean her. I wish I had some great advice for weaning, but I don't. We just started not swaddling at nap times and then graduated to night time, too. Good luck!

Gunnell Family said...

another thing you can use is just a piece of light fabric from the fabric store, like a seersucker, we used that on our boys when it got hot and it worked well

Sarah said...

First, don't worry! Your baby is unique and there is no schedule for her except Megan's schedule. Carly slept and sat and played in her infant car-seat literally until she was too big and mobile to do it anymore. Try to swaddle her and put her in her crib at nap time so that she gets used to it. Let her fall asleep in the car seat and then move her to the crib if you can. It's not like sleeping in the car seat is dangerous or anything, she feels safe there and babies sleep best when they feel safe (hence the swaddling also). Eventually, she is going to get mobile and move around when she sleeps. She will flip to her stomach and be perfectly fine. Babies that die of SIDS typically can't control their neck enough to open the airway. Not to mention, when I was a baby (and probably you) women were advised to lay babies on their stomach. And some babies with acid reflux sleep better on their tummy too. Long story short, once SHE can flip to her stomach while asleep, she will probably be able to flip to her back/side also and unless you plan to sit and watch her all night you are just gonna have to get used to the idea. Do you have bumpers in your crib? If so, take those out. Those are more a danger to her than rolling to her stomach.
As for being hot when swaddled, we always used a receiving blanket for swaddling Carly...if there isn't one big enough lying around then make one, easy peasy. Just find the right weight material and hem up the sides. Who cares if it's not perfect as long as it WORKS. If it's way to hot, crack her door if you can and put a fan somewhere to keep air moving around in her room (obviously not pointing right at her). If she is uncomfortably hot, she is going to let you know or kick out of the blanket herself.
Finally, trust yourself! You're already a great mom and she's healthy, strong and loved. Don't sweat the small stuff (haha I'm so funny).

Amy said...

I have no baby advice for you, but if you want to make a blanket like some have recommended you can use my machine! It might be a little far, but it will give you an excuse to come visit me some Saturday or Sunday. I'll even help you sew it if you want ;)

Tami said...

Here is my opinion for what it is worth. I would keep swaddling her for as long as it works! When she can get her arms out she will wean herself. Try a sheet. They are light weight and big. If it is too big you could just cut it (get an inexpensive one or a used one from DI). Of course you don’t want her to get too hot but she doesn’t seem to mind the heat if she is sleeping well still. Better to have her a little warm than not sleeping good I would say. Also, is she able to roll over when she is swaddled? I think that even if she did she would be okay still. As long as she can lift her head and turn it from side to side. I think she would cry and let you know if she did that and was uncomfortable.
If you do decided to stop swaddling her, I have found that for my little guy, breaking a habit or doing something new makes for a few hard days but usually wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be in the end.
Also, I think it is great that she can nap in her car seat because that makes it easier for you to have her nap when you are not at home!
Good luck! Let us know how things turn out!

p.s. I haven't talked to you for a long time! Hope all is well. We should get together soon!

Pam said...

With my first 2 babies I was afraid to put them to sleep on their tummies because of the so-called risk. The last 3 however I went with what the baby told me and they were all tummy sleepers and non of them died. If swaddling is what she likes then trust her and swaddle her. I swaddled all our babies. They will let you know when they are done being swaddled.

Desirée said...

Tommy's first night home he was swaddled on his back, wriggled out of it and cried. The second night I slept him on his stomach and he slept great. I do advise Healthy Sleeping Habits Happy Baby. Great book to read, in fact, that may have been one I gave to you. Good sleeping habits lead to happy baby and happy mommy. I just laid Tommy down and it literally took less than a minute. Train up a child in the way he/she should sleep... If you want to break her then be consistant, if not she'll grow out of it. I've seen Tommy in some pretty funny sleeping positions. Highly amusing. Don't worry though, this isn't going to leave any scars.

heidizinha said...

aden and anies blankets. they're worth their weight in gold. i loooove mine. you have to buy them in a four pack, but i go through all four in a week. i sometimes forget i have any other blankets. if you want to see mine, let me know and i'll swing by. they're super lightweight, and gigantic. penns gets swaddled every night. pick them up here:

http://www.diapers.com/Product/SearchResults.aspx?FreeText=aden%20and%20anies&QueryFrom=Search

free overnight (m-f) shipping with orders over $49. and if you put my email as a referal, you get $10 back if your getting diapers.

(btw, diapers.com is my favorite site).

xoxo

mikensi said...

I like Desiree's comment! I'm a fan of that book! Love, love it! I don't have any bright ideas since we stopped swaddling Jae once he grew out of his swaddle blankets. (On to his 2nd month). Well, I think I used his bath towel since it was bigger and fairly light material. Anyway, good luck! I hope something cures the car seat dilemma!

Lisa K said...

Definitely read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. Awesome book!

Also, don't beat yourself up over it. I let Colton take naps in his swing every day for 5 months and thought I was the worst mom ever. It's not that big of a deal and just keep doing whatever works!

Joanna said...

Ditto on the book recommendation. And again, don't feel bad if the whole sleep thing is hard. Hyrum had crazy bad sleep habits for almost a year. I learned a lot, though, and it was much easier with Eli.

I swaddled Eli for his first summer in a really cheap, thin receiving blanket that was $1 from, I think, Maceys. Kind of a weird place to buy a baby blanket, but try there or a dollar store to see of you can find something.