I've recently realized that while Melody falls asleep really well when she's swaddled she doesn't STAY asleep very well swaddled. She likes to put her hands up on/near her face and so if she starts to stir in her sleep and realizes she can't move her hands she will get angry and wake herself up crying mad. But if she can move her hands a little she's fine. of course if she has no resistance her moro reflex wakes her up.
I found today that if I put her in one of the sleep sacks that I have and instead of putting her arms in the sleeve I leave them in the sack with it mostly closed but not all the way she sleeps pretty well. Then she can start out with her arms like she would swaddled, but when she wants to move them she can.
There's a product called the zippity-zip that is designed to be a transition from swaddle and it's supposed to start around 3 months but I might get it and try her with it now just to see if that does the trick for her.
Jezika - Thanks! The coordination with the rocker (it's like the cheap version of a rock'n'play that was given to us) was complete accident.
Hopefully one of the bottles you have works, or you can find one that will! If those don't work, I really do like the Munchkin Latch. I've also heard that Nuk is pretty good - it has not just one hole but 2-3 in the nipple so it's supposed to be more like a breast nipple that way. Sometimes Melody just plays with the bottle in her mouth. I try to make sure we put it in her mouth in the same way we did when starting breastfeeding to teach her how to latch properly. I also "tricked" her once into thinking she was going to get breast by putting the bottle up by my breast and holding her just like I would while breastfeeding and got her to latch on that way. Not sure if any of those will work for you.
Now a days she takes it no problem but at the beginning it took a little trickery sometimes.
The playgroup sounds great. I need to look for one.I have several friends with kids only a few months older than Melody and a few others with babies due soon but none live near me.
Star - Thanks!
Kat - I've been trying to decide when to try the "put down drowsy but awake" thing and start to wean off props, but I think that M won't be able to do that until she's older and can self-soothe. She's not there yet and probably won't be for a few weeks at the least. Some literature says you can start the drowsy but awake thing as early as 6-8 weeks but I don't think that Melody can handle it yet. She gets herself too worked up, and I'm not a fan of CIO methods at this age. I'll let her cry 2-3 minutes because sometimes it's just her settling herself but more than 5 minutes and I can't do it any longer.
When do you think you'll move him to his crib? (what does he sleep in now, a bassinet?) I use her bassinet for most naps, but usually can only get a 30-45min nap in that. But in her swing she'll nap for 2-4 hours! So, while I don't want her to get used to the swing and rocking for sleep I let myself put her in the swing for 1 nap a day so I can get more things done and she gets a decent nap.
RE: Alexander's gruel - if you have to add to afternoons can you make it up in advance ? Maybe when you make the evening one make double and refrigerate it and use the left overs the next day?
I think moving Alexander to his room at 5 months shoudl be fine. I know they recommend until 6 months but the person who did our birthing class said that even though they recommend 6-12months, if you can go 3-4 months it's usually fine, especially if you have a camera or monitor or something.
PS: He's ADORABLE!!
drjo - So cute! Thanks for sharing!
).
