Swaddle Weaning

Trying to wean a baby off of being swaddled has got to be one of the most challenging things I have EVER dealt with.  First of all it involves sleep, which we all know is something I am very particular about.  I NEED (not just want) an uninterrupted 5-6 hours of sleep minimum to not be a cranky bee-yotch. 

Having said that, going from Eleanor sleeping through the night (at least 8 hours) to having her wake up every couple of hours like a newborn is NOT in my plans.  Alas we come to the dilemma of swaddle weaning.  We started swaddling Eleanor in the hospital and when we got home we moved to the amazing Halo SleepSack Swaddle.  This. Thing. Is. Awesome.  It wraps our little sweetie like an amazingly delicious baby burrito and not even her super baby hulk strength can break out of it.  According to Halo, you're supposed to use the swaddle sleep sacks until the baby can roll over and then discontinue use.  DISCONTINUE USE.  And how do we just discontinue the use of this magical device Halo?  HOW?  (Can you tell I haven't been sleeping?) 

I tried just going cold turkey, but when you have a kid that takes two amazing naps (1.5-3 hours each) and sleeps for 8+ hours a night, why would you ever want to prevent this sleeping pattern from happening?  Night one: Ellie slept for 3 hours and then was up (and wanting to play) so Mommy gave up and swaddled her again.  Naps the following day: First one I didn't want to even fool with her not napping because I had lawn guys coming that I needed to speak with so I swaddled her.  Nap 2: No swaddle = nightmare.  She refused to nap for longer than 30 minutes and I KNOW that girl was tired.  She was fussy and not her usual happy self and that was not fun for mommy.  So nap 2 was basically nonexistent.  Luckily she got a quick snooze in on the way to dinner and for a few minutes at the table so she wasn't fussy at dinner (Thank you Jesus!). 

Last night (AKA Night 2) I decided after reading some recommendations from some Facebook friends that I would swaddle her with one arm out.  Genius idea - why didn't I think of this?  Well I'm happy to report that it worked!  Ellie slept for 8.5 hours with one arm hanging out!  YAYYYYY!!!!  

Here's to hoping that she keeps this up and slowly but surely I can let the other arm out.

Couldn't find any photos of Eleanor in her Sleep Sack that weren't from the monitor, so here's a picture of a much less cuter baby in the Sleep Sack Swaddle: