Might as well face it... you're addicted to swaddles.

When Jon Jon was 6 weeks old, the novelty of sleep deprivation was wearing off. He was certainly not sleeping through the night, and we were experiencing the "Witching Hours" - where he was fussy from 6-10pm. At my wits end, I did what any looking-to-be-informed mom would do - I Googled.

At this point we were not swaddling Jon Jon. The receiving blankets just weren't cutting it, and the velcro style swaddles were no match for his wiggling hands. He would pop them out and start scratching and rubbing his face, thus waking him up. But during my internet search about swaddles I came across the Miracle Blanket. I watched the demonstration video on the companies website, and thought that this straight jacket style swaddle just might be on to something. And then it occurred to me, I had seen this strange, bat-winged piece of blue fabric somewhere before. It was in my closet! My sister-in-law Jill had included it in a box of hand-me-downs from her son Jack. When I first saw it, I had no idea what it was! But I quickly ran upstairs and pulled out the wadded up piece of mystery fabric and could hardly wait to try it out on my little guy.

The Miracle Blanket was a miracle for sure! Jon Jon started sleeping better right away. I was in love - with the swaddle that is. Fast forward to this past week. We had been swaddling Jon Jon consistently every night, and occasionally during naps, and the affects on his sleep quality, and ours, were wonderful. But as he has grown, the little bugger has started to bust out of his swaddle. First one foot, then one arm, then all limbs - which basically left him with a wad of fabric wrapped around his belly. Sadly I thought we had reached the end of our swaddle days. So we attempted to put him to sleep without the swaddle, and once more he scratched and rubbed his face awake. In a panic of - how will we all ever sleep again?! - once more I Googled, this time, "sleeping without swaddles", to see how other parents dealt with this challenge.

What I found surprised me. On parenting chat boards people were consistently talking about their babies being addicted to swaddling, and unable to sleep without it. Jon Jon addicted to swaddling?? And here I thought he was trying to break out of his swaddle because he didn't like it anymore, and it was I who was addicted to his swaddle, or rather the side effects of the swaddle - a good nights sleep. People talked of slowly transitioning their baby out of their swaddle, first one arm, then the second. But others talked of just swaddling their babies arms, so that they wouldn't wake themselves with their twitchy hands. Bingo! So last night when he woke up at 1am, I broke out the swaddle once more, and wrapped up those arms nice and tight, but left his legs dangling out the bottom. Jon Jon slept like a rock once more. So maybe he was addicted to this blue, cotton miracle.

But when will our addiction end? Will he ever sleep without his swaddle? I suddenly have visions of swaddling a teenage boy. I know it won't come to that, and at some point he will sleep soundly without the aid of turning into a little burrito. But for now I will continue to swaddle Jon Jon and hopefully it will once again bring back our sleep filled nights.

Talking In Your Sleep

At about 12 weeks old, my precious Jon Jon started sleeping through the night. And I'm not talking about the baby books definition of 5-6 hours. He was sleeping a blissful 10-12 hours a night! I was in heaven. Finally, the bags under my eyes and the fog in my brain started to lift. I was basking in the glow of my "good sleeper".

Last night Jon Jon quickly passed out at his normal sleep time of 6:30, but soon he would be changing the rules. A couple times I could hear (and see) him on the baby monitor crying early in the evening. I went to check on him, and he appeared to be crying in his sleep?! I did not even know this was possible. I left him alone and just as fast as he had started crying, he stopped. Then, during American Idol (grrr), he did it again. And at 10pm he was awake for real and wanting a bottle. Well that was not all - he woke again at 1am talking to himself in his crib for 20 minutes until he finally started to cry and we fed him again. At 3:30 I heard him once more and when I turned in bed to look at the monitor, there was my little angel, completely escaped from his swaddle and playing with the toy attached to the side of his crib. But he was also yelling at it. Kind of funny, if it was at 3 in the afternoon, but not at 3 in the morning. I fed him another bottle and he went back to sleep but only for another 2 hours, and then he was up for good.

Well, this was totally unacceptable! I have gotten used to sleeping again. This just would not do. So when Jon Jon went down for his first nap, instead of taking that much needed nap myself, I went straight to the internet and Googled "baby night waking." Good ol' Baby Center had some ideas. Temperature change? Nope. Change in nighttime routine? Guess again. Developmental milestone? Hmmm - he has been talking and yelling, umm I mean vocalizing, a lot the past few days. Could this be the answer? Could all his daytime chatting have left him wanting more?

So if this is the answer, what can be done about it? Should I "talk" to him nonstop during the day, so that he's all talked out by bedtime? Should I ignore his ooos and ahhs? Well obviously this would be a horrible thing for a Mommy to do! I am supposed to be encouraging his development. In fact all his talking has even led me down the Mom fantasy road of: Will he be saying his first words by six months old? Maybe he'll become a great singer! Or a fabulous public speaker! Maybe he'll travel the world on the lecture circuit and always thanking his Mom for her fabulous mothering and encouraging him from an early age. But I quickly see where all this mom-tasizing could lead, and reel myself in.

What will tonight hold? Will Jon Jon be talking in his sleep once more? Only time will tell. But for the moment I will enjoy the ooos and ahhs, even if they come at 2 in the morning, and spend my extra waking hours thinking of all the great things he may do with his amazing oratory skills... like saying Mamma.