Case of the baby snatcher

Someone has snatched my baby and replaced him with one that naps. One that sleeps in his crib. One that is calm. One that coos and smiles all day long. And it is awesome.

We have been fighting what I thought was colic for the last several weeks. Jonas was having a hard sleeping regularly, especially if he wasn't in my arms during the day or right next to me at night. When he was actually awake, he was fussy and gassy - I was miserable. I tried gas drops, but they just weren't working so I resigned myself to lots of walking, baby wearing in the Moby and bouncing on a yoga ball all evening long. It sucked hard.

Two days ago after his two-month appointment, I decided to buy some gripe water. I'd heard from several people that it worked wonders so I thought I'd give it a shot. I started using it on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning, I swear he was a new baby. The day was amazing (although his napping was still not regular), but by the evening he started to get fussy again.

Instead of fighting him all night, I decided at 7:00pm to just start with his bedtime routine - bath, snuggle, nurse, sleep. What do you know? He was ready for bed! We had been putting him to bed later, around 8:30pm, and I knew at some point we needed to move up his bedtime, but hadn't been sure he was ready yet.

Here's the best part - not only did he go to sleep earlier, he actually slept in his crib, in his room until 11:30pm. Woke up, nursed (we fell asleep in bed), woke up at 2:30am, nursed, back to crib until 6:00am.

This is going to be shocking, but it gets better. This morning at around 8:00am, he went in his crib for a nap. He is just now starting to wake, I can hear him on the monitor. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but for the last 8 weeks, I've fought him to go down - we've done the swing, tried the bassinet, the couch, but most times I've had to sit with him on me so as not to risk him waking up. The trick? I just did what I do at night. Swaddled him, nursed him, turned on the noise machine on his mobile and put him in his crib. You'd think I would have thought of that sooner, right?

I hope that I'm not jinxing myself by getting so excited, but I'm just so happy that he's sleeping! It makes me feel a little guilty to think that he's been so unhappy because I've failed to respond to his sleep needs, but hopefully my efforts to keep him on schedule will lead to a happier, well-rested baby (and mommy!).