Sleeping unswaddled!

For the past week, Oliver has been sleeping without his swaddle blanket. Yay! You may remember this post and photo from last month:

Taken May 13, 2010

After this experience, we realized it was time to try and let him loose. Well, we tried and it was HORRIBLE. For every nap that day and bedtime at night, he woke up every couple of hours, freaking out with his arms flailing around, scratching his head and rubbing his eyes until his entire head was red. It was sad, he was exhausted and we were losing patience. After several failed attempts, the next morning I gave in. I swaddled him, put him down in his crib, and he slept peacefully (on his back) for a few hours. I felt like a failure, and was worried that I was creating a really bad habit by continuing to swaddle. But as I started researching online, I read several places that some babies need to be swaddled longer, and they'll let you know when they're ready to go without it. The next couple of weeks he stayed on his back, so at least he wasn't flipping over and getting stuck on his belly!

After his 6-month check up with Dr. B last week, I asked his opinion. He said it was probably best to stop since he doesn't truly need it anymore. The point of swaddling is to comfort new babies who've been wrapped up nice and tight in the womb, and by 6 months he's forgotten all about that. So that day, we put the blanket away and vowed to never use it again. This time, Oliver was ready! His first nap didn't go so well, and he woke up a few more times than usual that night, but since then he's done great. He's figured out how to get comfortable, and really likes to sleep on his belly.

He looks like such a big boy, doesn't he?!