Straightjacket

So (cross your fingers) I think we have found the solution to the non-napping baby who just played in his crib looking at the world all morning long:

Look, Ma! No hands!

Swaddling!! DUH! I am a moron for not doing it sooner. I mean, we swaddled. Half-heartedly. And since Dexter was VERY good at busting his arms out of our swaddles, we thought "well, he just LIKES having his hands up by his face. And he's still sleeping ok. So what's the harm?" It just took me a couple weeks when he started NOT sleeping ok to realize that perhaps those flailing arms hitting him in the face every three seconds was contributing to the not sleeping problem. Hey - nobody ever said I was smart!

So now we are swaddling much more aggressively. Like lean on those arms, strap them down by his sides, and wrap the swaddle so tight you wonder if the boy can breathe... And we have, for the past three days, a boy who naps MUCH MUCH better. Yesterday he was quietly fussing up in his crib for a bit, and when I went to check on him to see why - well, Mr. Muscles had busted out of his swaddle. So, what did we learn here? Swaddle = sleep. Not swaddle = cranky baby and unhappy Mom. And nobody likes an unhappy Mom!

Glad we found the solution, before they had to take ME away in a straightjacket!

Aunt Maria came to visit last weekend. Thanks for coming to play with me!!