Swaddle

Like most of the others have said, your baby will outgrown it on her own. We swaddled my son until he was 9 months (he started breaking free and rolling onto his tummy to sleep), and are still swaddling my daughter (at 6.5 months). She's in no hurry for us to stop, as she also really likes it and sleeps better wrapped up.

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Keep swaddling her, there is no age limit, there is no harm. Eventually she will start refusing it, probably once she can sit up and crawl. You won't have to worry about slowly stopping, one day she will just boycott the swaddle and it will be over, be prepared for when that happens (probably anytime in the next 2 months or so), you may have some new difficulties putting her to bed. You may need to have your back up bedtime routine planned out and ready. She may not know when it is time for sleeping because she has associated the swaddle with sleep, you will have to come up with a new item or activity for her to associate with bed.

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Oh, wow! I can't believe that she liked to be swaddled that long. My first started kicking the swaddle off around 3 weeks; my second around 6 weeks. It sounds like she feels really safe in a swaddle. I don't really think it is a bad thing. Eventually, she will start growing out of it on her own once she starts moving around more. In my opinion, I don't think it is a bad thing. If you do want to transition, maybe try naps without swaddling. Then transition to night time. Good luck!

I swaddled my son as long as he would fit! We kept having to get bigger blankets. But I had some friends who swaddled their daughter until she was 12 months! So I know you can keep doing it for a while!

I swaddled my daughter until she decided she was done, about 10mo. I would wake up and she would have wiggled her arms out of the swaddle blanket (we used the "swaddle me" blanket). I started putting her down for naps without the swaddle first. At night I kept swaddling until she started to fuss when I swaddled her. Since she napped without it the transition to bedtime without it was not hard.
Good luck!

They generally outgrow it on their own. What about transitioning to one of those zip up wearable blankets? She'd still be somewhat confined but not as tightly.

All my kids all 5t worked themself out if it when you see tht they are nolonger swaddled whenthey wait you should be able to just start outting her down without it BUT most babies like to be wrapped tight even my 8 year old still wants to be wrapped tightly esp. when she is sick

Just be sure her leggs are free, otherwise it can lead to developmental issues. Talk to your doctor.

I swaddled all three of mine until they were strong enough to wriggle out of the tightness OR the blankets got too small! I think this is something that just resolves itself. My recommendation is to NOT change anything that is working! You need your sleep.

We basically did the same thing swaddling until 6 months or more, then we switched to a Halo Sleep Sack and she did great! We just took her out of the sleep sack (we bought bigger sizes as she grew)and she is over 2 years old. Good Luck!

I swaddled my son for a while, eventually I left his arms out and he did ok with that. Then I quit doing it all together and he was fine, but this was during the summer when it was warmer. He is very independent and I've not had problems with him falling asleep on his own since he was about 2 months old. Hope you find something that works for your daughter!

My daughter loved to be swaddled as well. She went way over 5mths., so I finally decided to stop doing it, and she hated it. I then started swaddling her a little looser every time, to a point where is was just a blanket in the bed. She is 2 1/2 now, and she still loves to have a bunch of stuff on either side of her. She feels safe this way. Good luck to you.

We just had a Grandbaby and the Hospital said they are no longer recommending it. Not sure why ? I did all three of mine that way. Just start gradually not doing it at naptime until she gets used to a different concept, it is just a comforting habit for her.

We swaddled until 9 months and then swtiched to the zip up blankets without sleeves until 20 months. Larger swaddle blankets with velcro and the zip up blankets are both available at Babies R Us. They make them both in cotton and in fleece.

Wow! I can't believe your baby would stay swaddled for so long. Both of mine kicked out of their blankets by 6 weeks max.

I wouldn't change a thing. My doctor said to swaddle my son until he could wiggle out of it. She will let you know when she is done being swaddled but if she is still comfortable that way I don't see anything wrong with it.

As far as nighttime goes, I'm not sure if you are putting her in her bed before she is asleep if not, then try that so she learns to go to sleep on her own, if you are doing that then keep it up.

If she is starting to fill the swaddle try using a bigger blanket. Another idea may be a sleep sack. My son loved those when he was younger.

My daughter was a terrible sleeper and the only way I could get her to sleep was when she was swaddled in a Miracle Blanket. I love that product!! She was 9 lbs. 14 oz and 22 inches and she was able to get out of receiving blankets even at birth. She outgrew the Miracle Blanket before six months, but we swaddled her arms and kept her legs out. One day she didn't want it on her arms. Like everyone else has said ... children will just start refusing it one day. I think my daughter was around 8 months old when that happened.

my daughter was swaddled for 6 months or more, she eventually stopped on her own when she kicked herself out of it. no need to force her to stop, she'll grow out of it when she's ready. (i also worried that we'd be swaddling her as a 5 year old one day-- but i was wrong,
thankfully :-)

Hi S.,

I also swaddled both of my baby girls and only just weaned my 3 month old off of it. First of all, it sounds like you're already doing great on her sleep routine if she can put herself to sleep. I also worked and am still working on sleep with my girls because I think sleep is so important to their health and development. For me, the goal was to elimate any sleep aids as soon as possible. I tried a couple of times also with removing the swaddle but she wouldn't settle well. Finally, at three months - I tried a gradual retreat - I didn't swaddle her for nap times but still swaddled her at night time. And then I took away the nighttime swaddle but immediately replaced it with a wearable blanket - which still lets her fill somewhat wrapped. When she outgrows the wearable blanket, then I'll move her on to a regular blanket. My next move is the pacifier but I think I'll give it a couple of months. The earlier you can eliminate any sleep aid - the easier it will be. Best of luck,
D.

I swaddled my daughter till she was 9 months old. One day she just got frustrated with it and ever since she hasn't been swaddled.

My kids also were swaddled at least 6-7 months. I swaddled the arms and let the legs stay out with just a blanket draped over them (pull the blanket between the legs for the swaddle). Slowly doing this allow them to acclimate over time. They are still great sleepers. I hope this makes sense.

Hi S.,

Don't worry! I swaddled my daughter till she was like 8 months. I did it till she was ready, not me. Eventually she got too big and her arms would come out and she slept fine. So I began to swaddle her with her arms out and she started to roll onto her stomach and found that very comfortable and slept fine. I stressed out about this for so long, and my friends kept telling me she'll wean herself from the swaddle and I didn't believe them. Well, she did! If your daughter sleeps better swaddled, keep swaddling her! She'll break the habit later. Good luck

I sewed the arms shut on a sleep sack after she outgrew her swaddles and that worked great until she eventually was able to get her arm through the neck hole of the sleep sacks. We swaddled until 5 months and did the sleep sack with arms shut until about 8 months. Then I took out the stitches and we used the sleep sack with arms free until about 15 months.

You may need to try a few things and see what works for you. I agree that you don't need to rush the un-swaddling. If you need a bigger, light blanket, you can always cut a big square from an old sheet, and use that. By 6 mo, my DD like to be swaddled under the arms--so her arms were free, but not her legs. This allowed her to learn to replace her own binky, too. GL!

You can start by having her sleep swaddled with one arm out. After she has been successful with that for a week, try to take the other arm out.
Good luck!
A.