Watch Me Grow - Twenty One Weeks

Kaitlin is one smiley girl lately.

She's always been a pretty happy baby (even though you might get a different impression due to all the whining I do about naps) but she is even more smiley and giggly. And I say "giggly" lightly - if you count a screeching-half laugh-half cough situation a giggle, then yes, she is very giggly.

Big new this week, I was able to get her to sit up by herself for a few seconds! She was leaning over on her hands/arms, and only last for about 10 seconds before she toppled over - but it counts! She is getting to be so strong, it's amazing. She is now reaching for EVERYTHING. Toys, blankets, cups, hair, your nose - anything you are holding she wants to hold too. She is still in the swaddle but slowly weaning herself off of it. Many times for naps and especially at bed time she gets one or both arms out and falls asleep on her tummy. The tummy sleeping hasn't done much for the length of her naps, but she is able to sooth herself a bit better that way.

I took her to the Drs on Friday to get a weight check again (the pediatrician even said - Wow! You guys must love coming to see us!) but they had me a little concerned at her last check up so I wanted to go and hopefully get some good new. And good news we got! She is now in the 19% for weight (was previously at 15%, not 20% like I thought) and weighs in at a whopping 13lb 7oz. The doctor was very happy with her weight gain and wants us to keep up the good work. Considering feeding Kaitlin is sometimes like trying to heard cats - ie, she wants nothing to do with it and only wants to play and look around - I felt pretty good. Next month we start solids!

Watch Me Grow - Nineteen Weeks

Week nineteen was full of excitement! My mom was down to visit and Kaitlin loved having her Grandma around! We started to get some more giggles out of her and she started talking more while she is pushing up on her tummy. She also started to scoot her butt up and move her legs around while on her stomach - is this a precursor to crawling?!?! Yikes!

It was also exciting because we started letting her cry it out at bedtime. I'm going to write a separate post on our experience but let's just say I am now a believer. 

Kaitlin also rolled over in her crib at bedtime while swaddled. We are still using velcro swaddles so this is scary because she can't use her arms to help roll herself back over or push her chest up. We tried going swaddle free on Saturday (might as well just rip the band-aid off and go cold turkey, right?) and that was a HUGE mistake. Personally I just don't think she's ready to be unswaddled yet, even though she is turning over. Of course I want to do what is safest for her but at the same time she can't calm herself enough to fall asleep without the swaddle. Her arms and hands are all up in her face and she hasn't figured out yet that sleeping on your stomach is amazing. She missed two naps on Saturday morning and was exhausted after being awake for six hours. But she would.not.stop.crying. And she wouldn't put her hands down and go to sleep. I finally caved and swaddled her and then she fell sound asleep for two hours.

So now I am working on slowly getting rid of the swaddle. Surprisingly, when/if she breaks one or both arms out of the swaddle when she is asleep she is fine - she doesn't really wake up that much more than when she is swaddled. The problem is getting her to go to sleep with her arms out - which so far has been a failure every time. I am trying different things now like leaving one arm out and one arm swaddled so she can get used to it, before moving on to leaving both arms out. I am also trying swaddling her with her arms at her face so she can at least try and self sooth but not have her arms flying all over the place. 

I know the biggest challenge for me is being consistent (which clearly I am not, as you can see above) and listening to her cry. I know that she needs to learn how to fall asleep without the swaddle as soon as possible. But it's hard being the only one at home during the day and listening to her cry because she can't sleep, and seeing her tired eyes. I cave too easily.

The only other solution I can think of is to try going swaddle free at bedtime (as opposed to starting with naps like I have been) and letting her cry it out. To me this just seems cruel! And I don't want her to get scared when she is stuck on her stomach and not have anyone come and help her.

Has anyone done this before? Am I crazy to think that letting her cry it out at bedtime without a swaddle is a bad idea? I need to find a solution quick - so we can all get back to sleeping better - and safely!

Watch Me Grow - Fourteen Weeks

What a happy face!

Kaitlin turned fourteen weeks old on Saturday - check out those chubby cheeks and rolls on her legs. I love it! Bring the paranoid first time mom that I am I took her to the pediatrician to get her weight checked last week. She weighed in at a whopping 11lb 7oz! She is gaining more than the recommended .5oz per day, so this worried mama can chill out now that she knows she is gaining enough weight. Her sleep has also gotten a bit better over the last week, at least a little bit more predictable/regular. We are still having a tough time getting her to go to sleep at the beginning of the night, she likes to wake up 30-45 minutes after falling asleep and then is wide awake. It has been taking a couple of hours to get her to finally go to sleep, so its a good thing we start to put her down around 6pm!

The pediatrician also thought she saw two little teeth buds on her bottom gums! I had a feeling she might be starting to teethe! She couldn't get a good look but she definitely saw something. Now every time Kaitlin opens her mouth I try to get a peak. I can feel two small bumps but honestly her whole mouth feels a bit bumpy.

We have been doing more practice sitting up and the other day Brian had her in the jumperoo and she was pushing off the the stack of books with her legs! Now she wants to practice "standing" (pushing off of everything with her legs) all the time! I have a feeling she's going to hit a lot of milestones within a really small time frame. She hasn't mastered rolling over yet but I'm not really complaining. We are still swaddling her during all naps and at night and once she starts to roll over we have to stop! Her newest way to self sooth is to stroke her face with her right hand, so I have been swaddling it close to her face. She still loves putting her hand in her mouth (another sign of teething??) but this seems to help calm her down instead of frustrate her. Hey - whatever works!

Baby Bondage (aka The Swaddle)

If you have a baby (or a child that was once a baby), chances are you have a few of these hangin' around your house: the all important swaddle. Helping babies (and parents) sleep for the last millennia. Or, however long woven fabric has been around. A really long time, ok?

One of the first things that you hear about when you are registering for baby gear are swaddles. I know I heard dozens of people tell me about the wonders of swaddling. Heck, one of the 5 "S's" (Happiest Baby on the Block) is devoted to swaddling. It was the first thing we had the nurse teach us how to do once Miss Kaitlin arrived. Doctors actually recommend that you swaddle newborns for the first few months of their lives to help them sleep as it reduces the chance that they will wake themselves up accidentally (newborns have a huge startle reflex - twitching, jumping and scaring themselves for no reason other than the fact that they are in a big wide world now and not comfy cozy in their moms tummy).

Kaitlin has always been a mover and a shaker - especially with her arms. From the beginning we knew we were going to have to swaddle her for a while since not only did she startle herself a lot, she also liked to have her hands by her face which distracted her from going to sleep. We knew how to swaddle her, thanks to the nurses who gave us lessons, but no matter how tightly we swaddled her she always broke free. Sometimes it took her a couple minutes, sometimes an hour, sometime we wouldn't find her arms out until morning, but as sure as the sky is blue her arms were getting out of that swaddle.

nice tight swaddle thanks to the nurses

We started calling her Houdini because no matter how tightly we swaddled her or what type of swaddle we used those arms would always make it out. Sometimes it caused a problem - she woke herself up in the middle of the night or a nap - sometimes it didn't. Some babies love to be swaddled and will wear them for many, many months (provided they aren't rolling over in them) and some babies can sleep fine without them after the first few weeks.

After those first few days at home and her breaking out of every swaddle we put her in (using the swaddle blankets) we decided it was time to break out the big guns. The velcro swaddlers. These are the real deal, and basically like Swaddles for Dummies (the inside of one even has picture instructions, it doesn't get easier than that). Not only does it help if you don't know how to swaddle properly but it also gives a much tighter hold, making it even harder for babies to break out. The first time we put her in a velcro swaddle I kind of felt bad. I felt like I was putting my newborn child in a straight jacket. And then she broke out of it by the time she woke up for her middle of the night feeding and I didn't feel so bad anymore, clearly she was a woman on a mission.

freedom!

We've tried a few different types and brands of swaddles - here are the ones I love the most:

aden + anais

These guys famous for their swaddles and are massively popular due to their swaddle blankets loose weave. They are lightweight and very breathable, which was important for us during this Texas summer. They are extra big, which makes it easier for newbie parents who aren't as well versed in swaddling as delivery room nurses. We don't really use these for swaddling very much any more since there is a 99.99% chance that Kaitlin is going to break out of them. Sometimes I use them for her naps, but thats about it. However these blankets are useful for a ton of other things! I use it as a blanket for when we go into air conditioned stores. I use it as a cover for her stroller/car seat to block out the sun and the outside world. I wrap her up in it when sitting her in the boppy so she doesn't slip down. I've used it as a burp cloth, a nursing cover and during one unfortunate accident on a recent plane ride back to Houston, as a diaper. I have a set of the classic muslin and the bamboo (which are ultra silky and soft...think I can use it as a scarf for me??). They are a must have for any new parent.

HALO SleepSack Swaddle

This was the first velcro swaddle we used on Kaitlin, and man do we love it. It is a sleep sack and a swaddle so you can use it in a variety of ways (swaddle arms in, swaddle arms out, swaddle one in and one out - you get the point). It also has a reverse zip closure which makes changing diapers once they are wrapped up easy as pie. Brian called this her baby burrito since she was wrapped up so snug and tight in this thing, just like a burrito! I am convinced that this swaddle helped her sleep so long at night so early. We have a few of these in 100% cotton (again, Houston summer) but they also make them in fleece for those of you with winter babies in cold climates.

Summer Infant SwaddleMe

About a month ago Kaitlin started to outgrow her HALO SleepSack and I was desperate for a replacement. Even though we use the 100% cotton HALO I was still concerned that it was a bit too thick and that she would over heat in it. I found the Summer Infant SwaddleMe collection at my local Right Start and decided to try them out. Brian wasn't a big fan of them but I liked them. They are made out of light jersey fabric and are very stretchy. They conformed to Kaitlin a little tighter but she could still stretch around in them. They are now getting a bit too small on her so I think we will be going back to the HALO, but I thought these were an excellent option.

Recently I had the thought that it might be a good time to start transitioning Kaitlin away from the swaddle. She is trying to roll over now and when she's in the swaddle it's that much easier for her. When we use the swaddle blankets chances are they come undone to some extent and I didn't like the idea of a loose blanket in the crib with her, especially if she starts to roll over. And then she discovered her hands. Like, really discovered them. Like, looks like she's tripping on acid discovered them. And that just caused more problems. I can see a big difference in the length and quality of sleep she gets when she's swaddled nice and tight, and I'm not ready to let that go yet. She fights the swaddle a lot more now when I'm wrapping her up, but after a few minutes she normally calms back down (except for this last week when, for a couple days, she was pushing furiously against the swaddle grunting really loudly).

(What a weird kid)