Sleep. We all need it. And especially want our babies to get it (so we can get ours too!). Ivy was SUCH a good sleeper. Such a scheduled baby! She was amazing and would sleep from 630pm – 630am right at 3 months. I was kind of the freak mom who was on a strict schedule with her and always made sure she had the perfect sleeping environment (dark, white noise, comfy blanket, swaddled real tight…goodness). Well now, with Leo, I vowed to not be that psycho sleep Mom. He’s barely on any schedule at all (more like Ivy’s schedule) and I wanted to get him sleeping in all conditions, because let’s face it, he would have to sleep around Ivy’s NONSTOP talking and running around the house. And Leo’s done well. He’s been good at falling asleep anywhere and at anytime. But nighttime? Different story. He’s hardly come even close to sleeping through the night! And that’s where it gets tough.
Now is it because he’s bigger, a boy, or just the way he is? Or perhaps it’s because he’s not really on any schedule or routine? We transitioned him to the crib and regressed a month ago, then he got a cold for 2 weeks and regressed a little, and now this week, I have been determined to trial and error a few things to get this whole nighttime sleeping situation better for the both of us.
I am convinced a schedule and routine is key like I had with Ivy, and I’m putting in better effort at getting him to sleep during the day and night at a consistent time and including a nighttime routine. I’ve pushed for a bedtime around 730, give or take a little, so that John is putting Ivy down and I’m putting Leo down at the same time. We take a bath every other night, and he LOVES the bath!! It’s so cute! I’ve almost got him giggling, I can’t wait for that! And he gets in his pajamas, I turn off all the lights, snuggle him into a blanket, and nurse away. I’ve made sure to not let him get TOO tired before bedtime because there were a few days he would fall asleep the second he hit my nipple, and then he’d wake up not long after and starving. So I’ve made sure to start the bedtime routine before it’s too late.
Also, he kept breaking out of the swaddle so I thought that was a problem too. I bought one of the SwaddleMe tight swaddle wraps thinking that might help to keep him all bundled in, like Ivy loved. Well it did a little, but he would still SOMEHOW get his arms out. I decided to try keeping his arms out since he’s really loving sucking on his hands, plus it could calm him back down if he did wake up, and it worked! So arms out it is!
Sooo, between the bedtime routine and figuring out his best sleeping situation with arms out, he’s been consistent all week at (finally!!!) just getting up once at night, around 330am, so we are all getting happier at this house. Especially me. He would get up between 1-4 times a night before. So this just once, is MUCH better. Fewf. It’s quite difficult figuring out your baby wants and needs for sleep. Leo has been so different than Ivy, so I’m glad I gave in and realized he’s different and tried out some other methods to figure out what LEO needs.
Meanwhile, I’ve started looking for some sleep sacks because Leo is always kicking out of his swaddle, even with his arms out. I want something to keep him warm and cozy in bed, without having the scare of a loose blanket. I never used a sleep sack with Ivy because she did fine with a swaddled blanket, but Leo is definitely going to need a sleep sack. And there are SOOOO many cute ones out there!!!! I’m a sucker for a cute swaddle blanket, but now all these sleep sacks might have me obsessed too! I had heard of the Halo Sleep Sacks, but there are so many more out there now!!! Even Aden and Anais has cute ones (like this and this!)! I bought Leo this adorable bear print one from Gap!
So here’s a roundup of some of the coolest and cutest ones out there!
That mermaid one?! Come on!!! :)
1st row L to R // 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 //
2nd row L to R // 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 //
What are some of your secrets to getting your kids to be good sleepers?!?!
