Getting Owen To Sleep In His Crib

I'm writing this post at 10:40PM, which is something that just two weeks ago I would not have been able to do. Why? Because I would have had a four week old baby sleeping on my chest. See, the only place Owen would sleep for the first five weeks was on our chests. Sometimes he would lay on his back but only after he was sound asleep and even then we had to put him between our legs so that he felt our legs next to him. The crib was simply not an option.

Last week I decided it was time to make a concerted effort to Owen to sleep in his crib. The first night took a while. I laid him in his crib four times and picked him up four times. But, finally, on the fifth try, he fell asleep. The next night it took two times, a marked improvement. Finally, by the fourth night of putting him in his crib it only took one try and he was out.

Things have gotten even better since then. At first, when I would lay him in his crib I would have to keep a hand on his chest until he fell asleep. But, the last couple nights, I have laid him in his crib and he has put himself to sleep! It doesn't hurt that he's twitching a lot less these days so he doesn't wake himself up as often after he's already sleeping.

There were three keys to getting Owen to sleep in his crib. First, he likes to sleep on his side. He hasn't taken to sleeping flat on his back yet. We have one of those infant positioners so we just prop him up on his side on that. Second, he likes to fall asleep in a position where he can see his nightlight. He stares at his nightlight until he can't keep his eyes open anymore. Finally, white noise. Right now I just put my iPhone in his crib and turn on one of the white noise apps (I use Easy Relax). Eventually we'll get a CD player and a white noise CD so I don't have to give up the iPhone at 8:30PM each night.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in comments to a previous post telling us that it was just fine to practice a little co-sleeping while he was so young. It eased our minds knowing that others had gone through similar experiences. Now we get to enjoy the hum of the baby monitor as we blissfully fall asleep in a bed, not a couch, and without a baby on our chest.

Owen Is 1 Month Old. And He Smiles!

Owen with a huge smile up at mommy!

What a wonderful day! Not only is Owen officially one month old, but he is learning how to smile and had some of his first real smiles today. Not smiles while asleep, not smiles because he's a little gassy, but real smiles! Sure, he needs some prompting by dad and mom right now to follow our example, but, wow, this is awesome!

I've posted his most recent photos including some from today in our Picasa Web Album. Enjoy!