Sleep, Baby, Sleep

Ford is learning how to sleep.  Not very well, but we've at least started somewhere.

Without getting into too much detail (because I'm not in the mood), I'll just let you know he's been sleeping in our bed since the move.  Long story short, he's used to falling asleep while nursing, and nursing whenever he wants throughout the night.

Honestly, it worked pretty well for both of us until recently.  He (and I) likes his own space, and there's just not enough space in our queen-sized bed for all three of us.  So, two nights ago, I decided to cold turkey start putting him in his crib to sleep.  We have a Moses basket that I could have put him in, but I didn't want to have to deal with another transition (from Moses basket to crib) a few weeks down the road. 

So here we are.

He did alright two nights ago.  Woke up about every three hours to eat and went back to sleep each time, waking up for good about 9:15 a.m.  A small problem was that we still swaddle him at night, and he rolled over from his back to his tummy (still swaddled) several times.  I think that may be why he slept so well, but I'm just not comfortable with him sleeping on his belly swaddled.  (I can deal with him sleeping on his belly unswaddled though.  The only problem is, he can't get there on his own...the fact that he was rolled up like a burrito and on a firm crib mattress is the only reason he was able to roll all the way over onto his tummy in the first place.)

So last night I decided to test what was truly important to him: being swaddled or sleeping on his belly.

He's not ready to sleep unswaddled.  I tried putting him to bed earlier than usual (around 7 p.m.) unswaddled (but still wearing his Halo Sleep Sack).  He would not have it.  Even on his belly, he hated it.

Since that option was out, I decided to place him on his side (a position he likes) within the sleep positioner (to help him stay on his side, because he does not seem to prefer sleeping flat on his back).  He woke up every two hours all night long, and would only go back to sleep after nursing.

I was frustrated, to say the least.

Babies are hard to figure out their entire first year of life.  They change so quickly, and when they do something "out of the ordinary," you have no idea if it's because they're teething, going through a growth spurt, or just plain crazy.  Yes, babies are crazy. 

So, at 4:45 a.m., when I was up feeding Ford for the third time, I bought him his very own Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit.  And because I was so desperate to have one as soon as possible, I paid the $8.99 in shipping to Amazon for a guaranteed delivery of Saturday night, and ordered him...the pink one.  Because they were out of blue and yellow, and Mama will do anything to help you learn how to sleep as soon as possible.