My Virtual Baby & Sleeping In The Crib.

Last night was attempt #2 of having Charlie sleep in his crib. I always said I'd have him out of our room at 3 months and we are a few days shy of 4 months right now, but I didn't know that sometimes things don't go the way you plan when you have a baby. What stopped us from trying earlier was that we had to have him laying a certain way when he slept because he was developing a flat spot and the only way to position him correctly was to have him sleep in his bouncer seat. I wasn't comfortable putting him in his bouncer seat in the crib. We got him the noggin nest so we took him out of the bouncer and into the co-sleeper. Night #2 in the co-sleeper and we realized he was doing 180's and sleeping on his side so sleeping with the noggin nest wasn't going to happen without having a potential suffocation hazard. So, sleeping on his back again was what we had to do. I wanted to get him used to sleeping on his back again and not in his bouncer.

He hasn't been sleeping great for a week now because we also unswaddled him. He was breaking out of the swaddle and I'd wake up to find the blanket on his face which was giving me panic attacks. Also, with him moving around at night in the co-sleeper, he was waking himself up because the co-sleeper would move around a lot when he moved. The first time we tried to sleep in here he kept crying and crying. We'd settle him down and put him back in and he just wasn't having it. So attempt #1 of Operation Have Charlie Sleep In His Own Crib was a big fat failure. I decided to try again last night and this is how it went down (no pun intended - ha!)...

8:30 pm - Down in crib

10:00 pm - Mom in bed, looking at Charlie in his own crib = one happy mama. Rob referred to Charlie's monitor in his co-sleeper as my virtual baby.

11:00 pm - Charlie wakes up. I go into room, give him the paci and he is out in 1-2 minutes.

1:00 am - Same as 11:00 pm

3:30 am - Wake up to "HEADS, SHOULDARS, KNEES & TOES, KNEES & TOES!!!!!!!!!" Dang it! The stupid Laugh and Learn Puppy that is in Charlie's room is going off by itself. I run to his room and bring it to our room. Watch Charlie stir a little on the monitor and he's out by himself in a few minutes.

4:00 am - Ditto 3:30 am (WTF??). I take the puppy and put it in our closet, in the back corner, and shut the closet door. Watch Charlie stir a little on the monitor and he's out by himself in a few minutes.

5:00 am - Same as 11:00 pm

7:00 am - Look at monitor and expect Charlie to get up. He is ALWAYS up at 7:00 am no matter what time he is down for bed. He appears to be still sleeping (his room has less light than ours does).

7:35 am - Charlie is awake. Wow, slept in later than normal!

7:45 am - Charlie starts making noise. He was content for 10 minutes, hanging out, staring at the monitor in his room.

I'd have to say it was a success! For the past 4-5 nights, he has been waking up in his co-sleeper, I give him the paci then he wakes up 1o minutes later, repeat for 1-2 HOURS. I think he is going through the "4-month wakeful" sleep regression. Plus he is laying on his back which is new again, plus he isn't swaddled. A lot of new things for this little guy but I think he definately sleeps better in his own room. I really hope tonight goes as well, or better, than last night.