Guess Who’s Rolling Over!

Marcus!….’s son. I placed Emrick on this blanket, on his back and a couple of minutes later he was like this:

Maybe we’ll grab the video camera some time this weekend and tape the rollover in action. Still shots don’t show much, I guess!

The rolling over wasn’t really a surprise, though. One night this past weekend, I discovered when I awoke in the middle of the night that Emrick had rolled over onto his belly. I gently rolled him back onto his back and went to sleep. On the one hand, it was exciting to have him reach this milestone. On the other hand, I knew after that night that his swaddling days were over, which meant that for a time, my days of a good night’s sleep were over too. See, I’ve read that once a baby can roll over onto his stomach, you don’t need to worry about him sleeping that way because if he’s strong enough to roll to his tummy, then he is strong enough to adjust his body to a better breathing position, if such becomes necessary. But he cannot do that if he is swaddled. And that’s why I rolled him back to his back the other night. But the next night, we were done with the swaddling.

And that’s a crying shame because for the past two and a half months night time swaddling has saved my life. Last May, my fellow English teachers threw me a small shower at school, and someone gave me the swaddleme. We tried wrapping Emrick in it when he was just a few days old, and he was so small he swam in it. So we abandoned it and went back to swaddling in blankets, but Emrick was able to break that swaddle within an hour most of the time. So the next four weeks were filled with night wakings and feedings, after which Emrick would NOT go back to sleep. During those weeks my “day” typically began at 3 AM. If I was lucky, he would be ready for a nap at 8 AM and then I would nap, too. I was sleep-deprived and blue. But then in the middle of October, when Emrick had filled out a bit, we decided to try the Swaddleme again one night before going to bed. And OH MY LAWDY LAWD LAWD! He slept for over 6 hours the first night, over 7 the second, and had a handful of nights where he slept for nearly 9 hours! I wondered why the Swaddleme didn’t cost like $1,000 instead of $10.

But all (good) things must come to an end. Actually, the Swaddleme started to lose its effectiveness a couple of weeks before Emrick first rolled over. In mid-December he started waking up at 4 AM, squirming like crazy to break his fleece and velcro straight jacket, and needing me to cuddle him back to sleep. I think he was just growing tired of it.

Then the rollover happened. But rather than abandoning the Swaddleme altogether, I decided to close the swaddle under his arms instead. That way, he still has the warmth and comfort of being covered in a blanket, but his arms are free to push himself into a breathing-friendly position. Sounds like a great plan, doesn’t it? And it is. His first open armed night was Sunday or Monday, I think, and he rather delightfully fell asleep quickly when put in his crib. It was no different from when he was fully swaddled. BUT two things have become obvious to me in the past few nights since he has been mostly unswaddled. One is probably not a problem, the other most definitely is. First, the boy is a side sleeper. He looooves himself some left-side slumber. And it’s cute, too. His left arm lies out in front of his body like you would expect, but his right arm rests on his face. Yes, his face. He brings it up, stretches it high, and then brings it down to rest on his right temple, with his chubby little fist floating just above his head.

Second, and this is the one that worries me, he does not keep his head turned to the side when sleeping. He squirms and moves his head all around until it comes to rest, FACE DOWN INTO THE MATTRESS. Call me paranoid, but I think if he slept with his nose against the mattress for more than a few minutes he would not survive the night. Am I wrong about this? On Tuesday night I kept getting out of bed to move his head, but he would promptly move it back. Once I decided to just wait and see if he adjusted his head on his own — I went to use the bathroom and washed my hands, giving him about 2 minutes with his face in the mattress, and when I came back it was STILL that way. So, starting last night, I have him in the co-sleeper. In the co-sleeper, not only does he have less room to twist and contort himself into a face down position, but I also don’t have to get up in order to tend to him in the middle of the night, when all he usually needs is a little pat, a “shhh”, and a binky. That’s how we slept last night, and for the first time since the weekend I managed to get a few hours of continuous sleep.

Emrick’s 4-month check-up is on Monday, and I plan to talk to the doctor about all these sleep issues. I don’t think he should be out of his crib for more than a few nights, if possible. Meanwhile, we’re making sure Emrick gets some extra tummy time so that maybe he can improve his head and neck control — control which he seems to have less of when on his belly or side.

Anyway, more info than anyone needed, I’m sure, but well, there you go…