Ain't Nothin' Gonna Hold Me Down...

Ryan and I have swaddled Henry from the very beginning.  And let me tell you, it has been a challenge.  Henry can break out of just about every swaddle, but unfortunately, swaddling was the only way we could get him to sleep.  We would rock, bounce, walk the little man around until he fell asleep.  But lately, it seemed to us that Henry was also getting tired of the swaddling.  He would put up a fuss when we tried to swaddle him for nap time and bedtime.  He'd also wake up throughout the night during his attempted escapes.  Very.  Annoying. 

So I called our pediatrician's office to speak to someone about his sleeping.  And of course I was told what I expected to hear - we need to teach Henry how to fall asleep by himself.  I realized that I must now face what I had been dreading...our first unswaddled and "put down drowsy but awake" bedtime attempt.  It was all or nothing for the three of us.  He cannot go to sleep without being swaddled, and if we put him down "drowsy but awake" he would just get mad and break loose.

Our Dr.'s office said to give him time to figure out the sleep process.  Don't go in once you hear him cry.  Give him 20 minutes or so, then go in to calm him down.  I just knew he would scream for 20 minutes.  But the first night, he cried for 15.  The same for the second night.  Last night was a bit more difficult and Ryan had to go in after the first 20 minute round of crying.  Ryan, by the way, has been amazing during this process.  If it weren't for him, I'd cave in after 5 minutes to "rescue" Henry even though I know that we are currently doing the right thing for all of us.  Its not perfect.  We've had to swaddle during the middle of the night on Monday and Wednesday, but Henry is doing wonderfully.  And so are Ryan and I.  I'm so proud of all of us.

Besides, I'm super excited about putting Henry in some really cute jammies!  And I think Henry is too...