The Hands!

The inevitable but terrible thing happened this past Thursday night. My wife and I were enjoying some quiet time on the couch, congratulating ourselves on how well our swaddled baby had been sleeping. Suddenly on the monitor we watched to our horror as the baby shot his legs 90 degrees up in the air and then flung them over like an olympic gymnast to roll himself onto his side. We rushed in and took him out of his swaddle for the last time and none of us has slept well ever since.

How the hell do you get a baby to sleep without a swaddle? Those mischievous little raccoon hands constantly flex and squeeze anything they come into contact with, and the arms flail around like crazy. God forbid the backs of his hands touch the mattress, because whatever shallow depths of slumber he may have been entering are yanked away.

The thing that’s worked the best is the Merlin Magic Sleep Suit, but only if he’s already pretty sleepy and we really don’t want to overplay that hand. We’ve also tried the Halo Transition Sleepsack which is also ok, but he had a four hour wake window yesterday because he fought a nap for two straight hours. We’ve tried holding his hands gently while he pulses and grasps our thumbs, but it barely helps and usually the instant we let go its back to flailing mode.

Oh and don’t get me started about the pacifier. Pacifier in? No thanks! Pacifier out? Where the hell is it?! His ideal state is to have the pacifier precariously dangling from his lips so it can get shaken off with just a millimeters head movement.

Anyway, how’s everyone else doing out there? Any advice for a baby who can suddenly exercise his second amendment rights to bare arms?