Rookie Mistake
If I’m going to brag about my baby, besides talking about how unbelievably cute he is, I brag about how awesome he is about bedtime. We have our routine- bath between 5:30 and 6:00, then if he’s home, Daddy makes a bottle and brings it in as we put on jammies. Then Grayson drinks his bottle, we rock for about 2 minutes, then I put him in his crib and he’s OUT- until about 4:00 A.M. There’s no drama or crying. He’s just a bedtime rockstar.
Until tonight.
Grayson has started rolling over to his tummy anytime he’s put on his back. During the day, he will sometimes nap on his tummy, which actually his OT encourages. Since all the experts recommend babies sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS, I always keep a close eye on G if he’s sleeping on his tummy. Tonight, I put him in his crib as usual, and he almost immediately flipped to his tummy and fell asleep. In the monitor, it looked like his face was smashed into the mattress and the top of his head was pushed against the bumper. It was making me nervous, but I could hear him breathing so I didn’t do anything.
I talked to my mom on the phone about it and she told me again that all 5 of her babies slept on their stomachs, and obviously, we are all still here. But I just couldn’t relax and kept checking the monitor every 2 minutes. Finally, so I wouldn’t drive myself completely crazy, in a moment of weakness (Ryan isn’t home tonight and he might have talked me out of it), I went in the nursery and flipped him back over. He didn’t wake up. Well, didn’t wake up that minute. 10 minutes later…
WAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Oh great. This has never happened before. I started going through my mental list of things to try, and I tried them.
Cry it Out- this one lasted 12 minutes. After 12 minutes of crying, each minute exponentially louder and more angry than the previous one, I caved.
Rocking/Soothing- yep, he fell asleep, but as soon as I put him back in bed….WAAAAAA!!!!
Bottle- “Thanks Mom, that was good, but I’m still not going to bed.” WAAAAA!!!
Finally, after an hour of Mommy Fail, I brought him out to the living room and stuck him in the swing so I could eat my dinner before I passed out from hunger. He immediately fell fast asleep, adorably sucking his thumb.
I ate dinner, took a shower, got the dogs situated, and then prayed hard that the “transfer” would be successful. Thankfully, God and Grayson had mercy on this exhausted mommy. Grayson stayed asleep, and is now peacefully snoozing away, in his crib, on his back.
I should have just left well enough alone. Oh well, live and learn.
I wish my baby was a Bedtime Rockstar! Sorry you had to go through the drama of waking a sleeping baby. I learned my lesson the hard way too. When will we learn to not be so nervous and just let our babies do their thing? ha!
A couple of things. First of all, after six months the probability of SIDS goes WAY down. Second of all, I think most doctors agree that once they roll themselves over there isn't much you can do. I mean you can't go in every hour to check on them! And the understanding is if they can roll themselves over they can get themselves out of other situations too. You might want to get him breathable bumpers though. That way if he does get up next to the side he can still breathe through them. If you google breathable bumpers you'll find them. We use them in Isa's crib and they're great.
Great story, I guess the old saying, don't wake a sleeping baby is true! I am so thankful that Hazel has been a great sleeper, it is a big blessing! We did the Ferber method at 5 mo. and she has really never woken up in the middle of the night since then. Hope Grayson keeps up the good work and sleeps well for you! Dori
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My mom had to teach me my current motto: DON'T MESS WITH A HAPPY BABY. But count your lucky stars that G is such a rock star most nights! Oh, and if it makes you feel better, some nights Larkin stays in the swing all night. We are awful with that transition thing!
put it this way, if you only have one night of what you described, LIFE IS GOOD!! blaine wakes up twice BEFORE MIDNIGHT and then like 3 times after. blah. i've tried CIO and he'll go over an hour which is very bad for my nervous system and i'd imagine his too. you are soooo lucky!!!!!! but yeah, i agree with what you learned, if they get on their belly, they want to be that way so let them sleep!