How it happened: I was late coming home a few nights in a row (music night for Trey's class, school wide Sock Hop), so Joe put Eli to bed. Joe's swaddle never lasts all night, but both times Eli slept all night. So we, ok Joe, decided it was time to try no swaddle. And since Eli was perfect, he went down fine and stayed asleep all night. Swaddled every night of his life, then completely fine when he didn't have it. I never expected "breaking the swaddle" to be a complete non-event!
I read somewhere recently that we do a good job celebrating "firsts," but just as important are the "lasts." The last time giving a bath before a kid moves to showers, the last bottle, the last diaper. You don't usually know when it's the last, and probably are happy at the time to get past that stage, but then you realize one day something that was such a big part of the kid's life for a period of time is no longer there. I feel that way about the swaddle. I'm trying to remember the last night I swaddled him, but it already seems like a long time ago. It's bittersweet.
For a baby that was used to being bound up, it didn't take him long to discover the spread eagle position!
