Friday, March 9, 2012

The Whale Tail


Emmett has learned a scary new trick. He has been very active in his crib lately and loves to raise both of his legs up in the air and slam them down on the crib. It reminds me of a whale flopping its back fin down on the water-hence the name "whale tail." (Side-note: don't look up the definition of whale tail on urban dictionary. I didn't realize my clever name had a dirty alternate meaning.) Anyway, so last night we put E to bed with no issues. I peeked in to check on him a few hours later and I nearly had a heart attack. He had completely rolled over on his stomach and was turned sideways in the crib and his little legs were hanging out through the crib slats. He was sound asleep and seemed to be perfectly comfortable, but I was freaked out that he was "stuck" and wouldn't be able to roll back over on his back. I moved him back to the normal crib position, but all night long he proceeded to do the "whale tail" move to scoot himself back in that same position. Face down, legs through the crib slats. I finally gave up an let him sleep that way, but I didn't really sleep because I was busy obsessing about him suffocating.

Here are some pictures (I admit these photos are part of a staged reenactment):


He has good head control now-so I guess its okay for him to be sleeping on his stomach. Not that I can do anything to prevent him from rolling over to his stomach at night. But, the legs through the crib slats issue makes me worry. Should I go buy a breathable crib bumper to restrict his ability to get his legs through there? Thoughts?

3 comments:

  1. We have a bumper (it's not the breathable kind) and Colin still puts his legs over it and sticks them through the flaps. I have heard that once they can turn over both ways, you don't need to worry about them sleeping on their stomach. Stressful stuff thought! I would maybe try the breathable bumper:)

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  2. Oh my gosh Lisa - that's so funny, but I'd be freaked out too! I'd probably opt for the breathable bumper.

    I'm curious when you stopped swaddling...and how that went.

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  3. Thanks guys. I think I am going to try the breathable bumper. Sarah-I think you're right that he will probably still put his legs through the slats over the bumper. Oh well, it's worth a try!

    Jenna-We stopped swaddling him when I went back to work, so at like 14 weeks. It was getting really hard to wrap him because he was getting so big! He kept breaking out of the wrap and getting all tangled in the blanket, so we figured it was time. I thought the transition was going to be way harder than it was. I think he likes to be free and stretch out at night. I miss seeing him all wrapped up though. I love a good swaddle! :)

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