Unswaddling Mission = Completed

I'm ecstatic! Oliver did it; he slept at night unswaddled for the first time, ever. It wasn't even that difficult.

At 7:30pm, Oliver started to fall asleep in Andrew's arms. Rather than push him to 8pm, I took him upstairs, nursed him, and put him down in the crib at my parents' house. It took a minute for him to start crying. Once I heard his first cries, I set the timer for three minutes. When it went off, I came upstairs, walked to his crib, patted his tummy, and I told him how proud I was of him and how much I loved him. He quieted for a moment, but when he realized I wasn't picking him up, he started crying again. I told him good night, and I left.

I set the timer for five minutes. Oliver's cries would intensify and then turn to only whimpers, intensify again, and then start to quiet. At five minutes, I went upstairs, I patted his tummy, I whispered to him and told him I loved him. I whispered good night, and I left again. Ten minutes later, I repeated the same process. I set the timer for another ten minutes, and right before it went off, Oliver fell asleep. It took 28 minutes.

I tip-toed upstairs to peak on him. Was he OK? Yes, he was! He fell asleep with his arms straight out like a cross. I giggled and left.

Oliver only slept for an hour for that first stretch. He woke up around 9pm. I waited three minutes before going up, patting his tummy, and whispering sweet words. I left. I waited five minutes and repeated the process. Then, right when the timer was about to go off for the ten minute period, he fell back asleep. It took only 18 minutes for him to fall asleep that time!

For the next couple of hours, I'd hear him fuss just a little off and on, but no cries. He didn't cry again until 1:15am, when I decided to feed him and change his diaper. He cried a little when I put him to bed, and so I waited three minutes before coming back and soothing him. When I left the room after that 3 minutes, he fell right asleep.

At 2:30am, he woke up again. This time, Andrew got up to calm our little man. I heard him over the monitor whispering, "Shhh, we love you, shhh." He came back downstairs. We heard Oliver continue to cry for about five minutes. Right when Andrew was about to go back upstairs, Oliver stopped crying and went to sleep. It took 8 minutes.

Oliver slept until 6am. Hurray! I couldn't believe how successful the night was. I sprinted up to Oliver's room, flipped on the light, and announced proudly, "You did it!" Oliver smiled and cooed. My mom came in and cooed to him as well. We changed his diaper and smooched him. He was so happy! I was so happy! Oliver slept unswaddled!

At 8am, Oliver fell asleep in my mom's arms. She laid him back down in his crib, and he went to sleep with no fussing. It's currently 8:38am, and Oliver is still napping. Actually, he's napping like an X, arms and legs spread, enjoying his new freedom.