So Soothing

Grady gave up pacifiers when he was three months old. He figured out he could spit stuff out and that pacie was persona nongrata after that. During heavy teething times he would chew on the ring, edge part of these but he never sucked or soothed himself with one again.

He's never cared for traditional lovies, the cute blankets with rattles (we have one that was a great gift from his Aunt and Uncle), or the little stuffed animals that are baby fist size. So I just went on thinking my kid didn't need traditional soothing objects.

And then I realized ... the kid has a soothy. It's his silly sleep sack. His Dad was commenting that the sleep sack looks gross from where he chews on it, and I said something like yeah he chews on the seem / zipper area as he's going to sleep.

This has it's advantages and, like all things soothing, disadvantages.  First, as mentioned, the sack gets wore out and gross.  Which equals lots of washing, which means I need a spare so I have one for wash and wear.  But lots of washing also equals a threadbare, worn out garment.  So I bought a new one (in the larger size so it will last a bit) and he went straight to chewing on it.

There was a period of maybe 36 hours when he was fussing at me a great deal before bed time.  I thought he was just going through something.  Well then I saw that the new sleep sack had some threads loose, and he was getting them caught in his mouth.  So I got the scissors out and cut the new one, we sit back down in the chair, I put him against my shoulder to pat his back, he lets out a big sigh, end of crying before bedtime.

Those threads were really bothering him!

I am a huge proponent of sleep sacks.  Huge.  Don't buy SIDS monitors, just follow the rules.  No bumpers, no blankets, just baby and a tight fitting crib sheet.  Now clearly my kid is old enough and mobile enough to move his head and get to breathing properly.  But I continue to use the sleep sacks for numerous reasons; first, he likes them and he's used to them.  I abhore changing sleep situations if at all possible.  Second, it now appears it's his soothy.  It's going to take some creative thinking to move on from them.  Third, it's like a straight jacket for his legs, where his excema is the worst.  In the sleep sack he has a harder time itching.  The clever fool has figured out how to use his feet to itch, but, I think the damage is mitigated because his pesky fingers (with the nails that grow at the speed of light) can't reach his legs.

I'm a rule follower, and I have a very low risk tolerance.  I sleep easier because I know he can't get any blankets around his head.  And apparently, he sleeps easier in the sleep sacks anyway!