Sleeping 101

After lots of trial and error, we have finally figured out how Halley sleeps best. (Note: I did not say how to make her sleep as much as she should.)

Here's the problem. This is how Halley would sleep if we let her.

The issue is that her startle reflex is still in full swing and she winds up hitting herself in the face and thus waking herself up. Yes, sad and funny at the same time.

Solution one: The swaddle. Halley pretty much burns her daily calorie intake while trying to get out of her swaddle. We would wrap her tightly in just a regular blanket but she would kick out pretty quickly. We ended up buying an actual swaddle blanket which is just fancy talk for "a straight jacket for babies". Her feet can kick but her arms are pinned to her side. She pretends like she doesn't like being in it (aka screams bloody murder) but after a few minutes she settles down and sleeps peacefully.

This is Halley about to go to bed.

Solution 2: We finally started putting Halley in her crib to sleep rather than the bassinette. I was kind of sad about it because I wasn't ready for her to go into her crib yet but she sleeps much better there. Plus, that means I got to start sleeping in my bed again which is wonderful!

Solution 3: We busted out the sleep positioner so she can't wiggle all over the place. (So yes, her arms are pinned down and her body is in a brace. She is virtually immobile.)

Solution 4: Lots of LOUD white noise. Dr. Karp says that what babies hear in utero is the decibel equivalent of running a vacuum cleaner. (In case you're not familiar with The Happiest Baby on the Block, click http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/. The doctor seems a little cooky but it works. I'm not sure if the babies actually settle down because the legitimacy of his techniques or if they're just so annoyed by the loud shush-ing.)

Anyway, we're still having the problem where she wakes up 45 minutes into her nap. No idea why but you could set an alarm by her precision. If anyone has any brilliant ideas, please let us know. Right now Halley sleeps about 4 to 4 1/2 hours at night and wakes up twice to eat. During the day she's still on an eat-every-3-hours schedule but doesn't necessarily sleep between meals. Her pediatrician says that she should only have a total of one hour of wake time during the day but she's probably awake five or six times that. Hopefully she'll sleep better once we get the reflux issue resolved.