6 Mo. Old Will Not Sleep Without Being Swaddled and a Pacifier

Hi A.,

My son is 10m old and still being swaddled during nap times. He is put to bed for night time without it.

I do this for different reasons. One is his safety as he is not in a crib during nap times (i am a nanny and he sleeps on the little girls bed). Second, it helps him calm down. Otherwise he plays, gets up and crawls and will NOT settle down unless he is swaddled. Most days he falls asleep within 5-10 minutes if I catch him at the right time for his naps.

Babies love to be warm, tight and cuddled. Swaddling is very similiar to how they were in your belly. I would continue to swaddle until your daugther tells you its time to stop. Now as far as it being healthy, ya i would say it is, as its allowing your daughter well needed rest during the day to help her grow and be a strong healthy baby.

Also keep your daughter an the same schedule every day. Sometimes its difficult but until she is at one nap a day, keep consistant with her schedule. You will notice a big difference in your daughter during the day.

My son has to deal with a very screwy schedule of mine and its taking a toll on him daily. I see it in his behavior. Poor guy!

Good luck to you and do what you feel is best for YOUR family. Also, I have learned through all my issues, this soon too will pass and its a NORMAL phase of a young childs life. If you read a lot of requests here you will see you are not alone with your issue(s).

I have learned to just go with the flow for most of my problems. And stick with what works best for my family, as what may work for me, may not be suitable for you. I.e. CIO, which I am totally AGAINST! My son crys for a reason and that need of his will be met.

Hi there!
My daughter loved to be swaddled until 9 (!) months...so don't sweat if this is what makes your little girl happy. The only problem I had was that my kid was really big for her age and so, I ended up having to make some blankies myself to accomodate her size...
I can also imagine that swaddling probably keeps your little one nice and cozy at night! Good luck!

P.S My daughter "graduated" to sleeping blankets after 9 months and now, at 24 month, sleeps fine with just blankets!

Hello!

Most babies will outgrow swaddling by 12 months. Being swaddled is a comfort measure and more importantly it helps babies get their needed sleep. You will know when your daughter is done. Keep it up as long as needed and she will be fine. Just as an FYI Dr. Marc Weissbluth says it is just fine to swaddle.

Good Luck!!

Hello! My daughter also could not sleep well unless she was swaddled with her pacifier. By six months she began breaking out of her swaddle and ending up on her stomach. I was worried about her being tangled up in the swaddle so I decided to start putting her to bed without the swaddle and with just her pacifier and lovey. It was pretty miserable for a few weeks, but she got used to it and now rolls herself over to sleep on her stomach. If your daughter is sleeping well with her swaddle and she is safe and comfortable, I would leave well enough alone. She will let you know when it is time to lose the swaddle. Good luck

I think you should continue to swaddle her if it makes her happy.

A.,
Seems like you already got your answer. I just wanted to add my experience w/ swaddling. It was a life saver for us. My daughter would not stay asleep unswaddled either. I actually kept her swaddled till she was 2. At that point she did have one arm out. I probably started w/ the one arm out off and on when she was around 15 months. I was afraid to mess with success to some extent. Thinking if I try w/o no one will sleep - but at 2 she was ready. I read that the child could have hip or leg development problems from extended swaddling but that never happened!
Good Luck