Both babies are getting better and better at finding their own hands. They seem to hold onto them (i.e. keep them in their mouths) for longer periods every day. Rebecca is even working on the more complicated maneuver of doing so while flat on her back. For those who might not read up on infant behavior and development, this is significant because I believe it signals a fading of the Moro Reflex, as well as improved sense and control of her own limbs. The Moro Reflex is also known as the startle reflex, and is why babies on their backs frequently jerk their arms out. It has to do with the sensation of falling, though the action is both a response to falling and a startle of its own.
This reflex fading away (which it usually does by 4-5 months), and increased ability to suck on their own hands, is something I look to as a potential harbinger of better sleep ahead. For one thing, the startling and uncontrolled flailing of the arms will wake them up, which is why neither of my kids can sleep longer than a few minutes if not in a tight swaddle. They also both find sucking very soothing, but the pacifier always falls out. Without sucking on something, they have a hard time self-soothing. So, my hope is that they will a) stop flailing so much; and b) be able to suck on their hands whenever and as long as they want to. Until that happens, though, they will continue to get the baby burrito treatment whenever it’s sleepy time.
For the moment, though, we’re somewhere in between. Swaddling is great and helps them calm down (Daniel also needs motion, but Rebecca calms right down), but they’re also bigger, stronger, and more aware that they have these “hand” things that they really want. So (Daniel in particular) they struggle to try to get their arms out. And if they succeed, they’re thrilled when they get that precious hand into their mouths. But seriously pissed off when that invisible force keeps taking it away (and putting it back in, and taking it away, and getting it close…).
I know there may come a time when I come back here and post that I’m so frustrated because I can’t get my three-year-old to stop sucking his/her thumb. But for the moment, I cheer them on every time they manage to get a hold of that delightful hand.
