Bye-Bye Swaddle

This week we started to realize that maybe it was time to say goodbye to the swaddle.  I had not planned to do this anytime soon but we faced a challenge.  We have used two kinds of swaddle blankets that we’ve loved.  We started with the size small SwaddleMe and LOVED it.  It worked great and was easy to use. 
But then Cason started to grow, grow, grow and he out grew it.  I bought the large size and they were HUGE so they wouldn’t keep him wrapped up. 

We already had two of the Halo SleepSacks Swaddlers so we gave those a try.  They were bigger than the small SwaddleMe but smaller than the large.  It worked great for the past couple of months.  For the past two weeks, we’ve noticed that it was just too short for our tall boy.  He couldn’t stretch his legs out -- which isn’t a big deal when he’s asleep since he sleeps with his legs bent, but you could tell it bothered him when we put him down for the night and he was still awake.

We decided to try the Large SwaddleMe again and though it fits a little better, it’s still too big and Cason was escaping most mornings.  He was woken up by his barking brother once this week at 5:00am and I watched him wiggle around and make a 180 in his crib until he was wide awake and I finally got up and reswaddled him and got him back to sleep… only to learn that Ryan found him like this after I left for work.  (He was so proud of himself, can’t you tell?)

I finally decided that it was time to break the habit, or at least give it a try.  I was so scared he’d be up after a couple of hours because he’s still got a little bit of a “startle reflex” and can easily wake himself up.  I’ve REALLY gotten used to sleeping all night again and the thought of a 3am wake up makes me tired.

But, I can’t swaddle him forever.  So last night, we only wrapped his body, not his arms.  He definitely didn’t sleep as sound as he normally does.  We heard him wake up a few times but I guess he found his thumb and sucked himself back to sleep.  He woke up “talking” at his normal 7:45ish time this morning. 

Night two and so far so good.  I guess its time to buy some more PJ’s!