The Start of Something Wonderful?

Yesterday, Jaxon took a two hour nap at a normal time (1:15-3:15). That's unheard of for him. If I get him to take an afternoon nap, it's usually later in the afternoon and never for 2 hours. So this was great. More importantly, he woke up in a fabulous mood. Then, to make things even better, he went to sleep last night at a decent time (around 8, maybe?). I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but I wish I had taken better notes on exactly when he fell asleep. I was able to lay him down in his crib (that's a big win, too). While he woke up a little later, around 9:30 or so (normal for him), he immediately nursed and went back to sleep (not normal). In the past, when he has fallen asleep around 8, he is back up around 9 and up until 11 or later. I was able to lay him back down in his Pack 'N Play in our room, where he slept for several hours before I had to bring him into bed with us. It was really nice.


Then, this morning, around 10:30, he wanted to nurse. He went right to sleep, let me lay him in his crib, and then he slept for almost 2 hours! He also took another nap this afternoon (though that one was in the car, so I don't rank it as high). 


I am so happy that he is napping and sleeping better. It's also been so great to be able to lay him down while he naps. It's nice to be able to get a few things done while he sleeps! He also seems to sleep better when I lay him down and he's less likely to get woken up by his siblings. It's only been two days, but I truly hope that this is the start of something wonderful! 

The Invisible Umbilical Cord

Sometimes I think that someone forgot to cut the umbilical cord that connected Jaxon to me. Jason assures me that he did, indeed, cut it. However, even he has to admit that there is still something that connects Jaxon to me. It's almost like some sort of sixth sense that Jaxon has. It allows him to know when I'm about to eat or go to sleep so he can react appropriately. 


Jaxon has a rather erratic sleeping schedule, so knowing when he is going to wake up is always a guess anyway. I can usually count on a morning nap around 10:30-11. That morning nap may be 40 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. It typically ends when I sit down to lunch. Before I can even take a bite, I hear him cry out. He also takes an afternoon nap. The length of the afternoon nap depends on how long the morning nap was and what time he lays down for the afternoon nap. The afternoon nap will usually end if I try to take a nap. Or if I say anything like "I'm going to try to do <insert activity here> while Jaxon is asleep." It doesn't matter if I'm going to clean toilets or eat ice cream - he'll wake up for it.

I'm awake!

At night, he goes to sleep anywhere between 8:30-10. Here again, the length of time he sleeps is very much determined by what I do. If I haven't had supper, and lay him down at 8:30, then start to eat at 8:45, it doesn't matter how exhausted he is, he will wake up and want to share my food. 


He also wakes up when I go to bed. He will take 3 hour naps in his crib during the day. He will sleep for 4-5 hours in the crib in the evenings. But as soon as I go to bed, whether that's at 9:30 or 1:30, he wakes up. He cries out, wanting to come in the bed with me. I'm not making noise as I get ready for bed that tips him off- his room is on the opposite side of the house, down a long hallway away from our bedroom. So there's something else that alerts him. 


He can actually sleep through a lot - he has three older and louder siblings. He often sleeps in his pack and play in our bedroom while we watch movies, do laundry, shower, etc...all without stirring. I'll come to bed after a shower and he's still sound asleep. I read a few chapters in my book. Still asleep. Awesome. I think to myself, "I better go to sleep so I can get a couple of hours of sleep without him sucking on me." So I turn over and pull the covers up around me and start trying to go to sleep. If I'm really sleepy (most of the time) this happens quickly and right as sleep overtakes me, Jaxon wakes up. If I'm not as tired or my mind is racing and I'm having trouble calming down, sleep takes longer to come. It doesn't matter if it takes me 5 minutes or 55 minutes to fall asleep, right as sleep comes, Jaxon wakes. 


That boy really loves me. Isn't it so sweet how he doesn't want me to have to do anything without him? 

Tummy Sleeper

So this is Jaxon's new thing:

Yes, he is sleeping on his stomach. Here's what happens. I lay him down. On his back, of course, because who hasn't heard of "Back to Sleep"? I was even given a sleepsack that says "Back to Sleep" on it. I'm appropriately terrified of SIDS, as I'm sure many of you are. 

So anyway, I lay him down. And then he flips. Almost immediately. He's like a little sleeping acrobat - he's so fast. Here's the worst part. He not only flips to his stomach, but he usually buries his face in the mattress. 

So of course I always fix his face so it's at least turned to the side. But last night when I did that, he just kept burying his face back in the mattress. 

And so I flipped him back to his back. And he flipped back to his stomach. And I turned him back to his back. And he flipped back to his stomach and then lifted his head and cried because he was tired of me messing with him. So then I brought him into bed with me. At least in my bed, he's nestled in the crook of my arm and there's no way he's getting to his stomach. If he can't flip to his stomach, he can't bury his face in the mattress, right? 

So here's my problem. I want him to sleep in his bed. I don't really want to co-sleep. I just can't sleep when he's constantly trying to suffocate himself! We bought one of those baby monitors that detects movement. But when I went to set it up, I discovered that it won't work on the type of crib we have (which is a pretty standard crib, but it has springs and the movement monitor only works on cribs where the mattress sits on a flat surface, not on springs). Ugh.

And honestly, I don't sleep too well when he's in bed with us, since he seems to wake up and want to nurse more when he's right next to me. 


We're looking for the right video monitor to buy but I'm not sure that will give me the peace of mind I'm looking for. I was scouring Amazon reading reviews on video monitors today and found this Snuza Halo Baby Movement Monitor: 

It's a little device that clips to your baby's diaper and works as a movement monitor. It vibrates after 15 seconds of no movement (to try and rouse the baby) and after 20 seconds it sounds an alarm. It looks like it would be helpful.


I think I'd still need a regular monitor to be able to hear him (or see him), but this could at least keep him from suffocating himself (or alert me if he started to). Have you used a movement monitor? Or do you have any tips for me on how to keep my baby on his back?