Swaddling Issues

We have a 6 month old and we stopped the swaddle about 3 weeks ago. She was doing the same thing... wriggling her arms free. And then my husband did a little reading about the swaddle and learned that once they can roll over they shouldn't be using it anymore for safety reasons... that was enough reason for us. The first night was a little ugly. She woke up a lot. One bad habit to another, but it worked... I'd go in there and nurse her back to sleep (I'll work on the nursing her to sleep later - one hurdle at a time!). We just knew that eventually she'd learn to go to sleep w/out her arms stuck to her side if we didn't cave. It only took a few hard nights for us, but it was worth it. I actually still use the swaddle. I wrap her up with her arms free. We are ready to graduate to a sleep sack.

Good luck. It may take a few sleepless nights, but he'll get it.

Just tuck him in tight with a regular blanket??

I see you already got a lot of responses, but here's my 2 cents!

I swaddled my baby for about 3.5 months but he always fought his way out of it. By 4 months I decided to stop - plus I had heard that it is good for babies to sort out how to deal with the moro reflex. The first night, he woke himself up from startling and hitting himself in the face a few times. Probably four times between 9pm-midnight (cried but fell asleep within 20 min each time). Then he fell asleep and was fine. So, he was able to get over the startle reflex pretty quickly.

Plus, having his hands free allows him to work on self-soothing via sucking his thumb (though you could also swaddle one arm out to encourage that).

Every baby is different. My SIL swaddled her baby for naps and nighttime sleep for 5.5 months because that worked for them. I use the Halo sleepsack - he is such a blankie boy. He also has an Angel Dear lovie and I recently bought chamois (basically velour) sheets that are super soft and blanket-like.

My guy slept way better with a swaddle as well, but also grew out of it fast, even the Kiddopotmus one. I stuffed him in it anyway, knowing he'd wriggle out of it, but would fall asleep anyway. (I threw on little mittens so he wouldnt scratch his face) and checked in on him so i could put a blankie on him. A few times, when he was just too cramped in the kiddopotomus, i used the swaddle and just wrapped it around his body (like a rolled sushi instead of a 'burrito'). Eventually though, your husband is right, he'll just transition to sleeping without it as this is about the age they start moving around the crib and become more mobile in general. It sounds like the start of a transition for your son! Fun times, huh?

My daughter LOVED to be swaddled...in the beginning. Then after she was a couple months, she would work that arm out...then the other. We actually stopped swaddling her around 3 months, but fortunately, she slept just fine without it. It wasn't a size issue either, she was really small since she was a preemie, but we took the wiggling out of the arms as a sign she was done with the swaddling.

When your son gets his arms out in the middle of the night, what happens? Does he wake himself up and can't get back to sleep? Maybe you can just let him work those arms out and let it be for the rest of the night?

Good luck!

L., I swaddled both of my children. Usually once they start breaking free of it there is no going back. It's perfectly normal and takes adjusting for all of you. When my kids started getting loose I would swaddle them and put them to bed and let them do it. Your kid just has to get use to not being bound and he will, trust me. Good luck.

My son was swaddled until about 14 months and he too was big. We ended up cutting sheets in half and using them to swaddle him. You can buy flannel sheets if you need them warmer. Hope this helps. Good luck

My son didn't want to be swaddled anymore at 4 month of age and would kick loose anything that was used to wrap him. However he couldn't sleep well without the swaddle because he kept having moro reflex/falling sensations. I put him in Carter's sleep sack (because it has long sleeve) and just let him learn to sleep through his startle reflexes. The first few days were a little difficult, but after a while he got the hang of it and slept better.

With our daughter, who was swaddled until she was 5-6 months, we put the swaddle on and then wrap her with a larger blanket sushi style.

An alternative is to try on the Miracle blanket. It has longer fabric and seems like it may work well. I've read good reviews about it. I was going to buy it but then our boy started sleeping okay without the swaddle.
http://www.miracleblanket.com/

Good luck!

We used the same swaddlers and tranisitioned by swaddling with one arm out for a few nights, then both arms out for a few, then switching to a sleepsack. I thought my child would need to be swaddled until kindergarten, but he did great with the slow transition. He was about the same age as your little one.

Ahh I love the totally in love statement!

I have twins and one was swaddled for about seven months and the other only five. As they got older, one hated it and the other (although fought like a wet tadpole to be swaddled) seemed to sleep much better and enjoy it once bundled up. Someone gave me a "Miracle Blanket". I could not have swaddled her without it as she got bigger. They aren't cheap, I think about $30, but I could be wrong. So if you don't plan to swaddle longer I wouldn't invest. My babies are 50 - 60% in height in weight. My sister had five babies all 98% and up and she swaddled them with regular blankets for the whole first year. And another stopped swaddling around four months. I hope something in our experience can help you be at peace with whatever you decide!

I swaddled my older two children and they loved it. My younger wouldn't have it! We swaddled my oldest until about 3-4 months, then he was too big for the receiving blankets and this was before they had the swaddler products. We stopped when he started wiggling himself out, or protesting too much - once he could roll over, he was really far more interested in having his limbs free. It wasn't really that hard because he was naturally ready to stop being swaddled. Good luck with your son!

Hi
We swaddled our son and every time, he kicked out. to this day, he still kicks out of his covers. :) We eventually just stopped one night as we knew it was futile.... we did however, put him in warm p.js as we knew he was going to kick out of the covers... I guess it's something you have to just do, he might cry for a bit (our son did not) you could also hold him in your arms until he goes to sleep.. some might disagree with that, but we did it and when our was asleep, we gently placed him in his crib and he continued to sleep.
best of luck

my first son was swaddled until he was 8 months old. He busted out of the swaddled 2 nights in a row and we knew that he was ready to be done, but he loved it until then. I used the miracle blanket. My mom also ended up sewing a bigger mircle blanket for him at about 6 months.

As long as he seems to need the swaddling when going to sleep I'd continue doing it. If he works his arms out during the night, that shouldn't be a problem. He'll figure out on his own when it's time to stop and you'll know when he doesn't let you do it any more. We have even found that sometimes our daycare children (ages 2-6) all like to be put down for nap swaddled in their blankets. They call it being in their cucoon. They usually work out of it but it seems to be a fun and comforting thing when they want it.

L.
You could try an Aden & Anais swaddling blanket. They are designed to be swaddlers and they are really long and so they can be wrapped all around your boy. Although he is probably a pretty good escape artist and will work his way out of that.
You might also try just moving to a sleep sack? We have a sleep sack for my youngest and love it. But she also didn't need to be swaddled.
Good luck!
B.
The Giggling Green Bean
Eco-Friendly baby store in Denver.

Hey L.-
I understand your concerns. By your son's age my son had outgrown the swaddler as well and it took us multiple times to try to put him in his baby straight jacket to get him to sleep. Sad to say he is now 9 months old and I know that I should have weaned him off of it by now but he's not a good sleeper as it is and will flail around all over his crib without being swaddled. So now at 25lbs I use a homemade cotton knit baby blanket that is stretchy. It provides enough snuggle factor to get him swaddled to sleep, but it is loose enough for him to get out of to soothe himself if he needs to or to turn over or pull himself up. I know most folks have weaned by now but I have used kiddopotomus from birth to about 7 months so I will continue with this blanke technique until I find something better. I know some moms swear by muslin blankets too, like Aden and Anais. If you go to thier website they have how to info. adenandanais.com
Good luck!

My younger daughter stopped needing to be swaddled when she could roll over. She seemed to prefer sleeping on her tummy at that point, so I stopped swaddling her. As I recall, she was probably 6 months old.

A friend of mine swaddled her son until he was 9 MONTHS old! Finally she had to stop (even though he still liked it) because she just couldn't find a receiving blanket big enough!

If your son seems to like being swaddled and prefers to sleep that way, just get a bigger blanket. Perhaps for naptime you could start leaving one arm out of the swaddle, then both arms, to acclimate him to sleeping without being swaddled. At some point he'll be too big to wrap up very well, but for now, there's no harm in letting him be a burrito-baby. =) If he has something else that is comforting to him, like a binkie, maybe start letting him have that at bedtime to ease the transition.

Hi

I have the same problem with my second. I am thinking of looking for a bigger one. I was lucky with our first she was little but my second was a big 10lbs. We swaddled our first for 10 months!
She so needed it. We co slept so i would put her to sleep as usual and then put her down and when she woke in the night i just held her arms down until she went back to sleep.

good luck

Hi L.,

Have you tried the Halo Sleepsacks? I used to swaddle and then switched to the Sleepsacks (when my child got too big) which worked out great. Although it's not exactly swaddling, Sleepsack is similar to a blanket that you zip up. I've never had my child come out of it and it also kept him warm through the night. Finally, the sacks go up in pounds. Here's a link to Amazon where you can read all the reviews: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&...

Best of luck! J.

We stopped around 4-5 months old. First we transferred him from the bassinet to the crib around 3.5 months old and kept up with the swaddling. Then a few weeks later (after he was comfortable with the transition) we weened him off the swaddling. We first started with one hand out for naps and then a few days later both hands out for naps and then no swaddle for naps and finally no swaddle for night time. We had (and still have at 2.5 years old) a crib toy that hangs on the inside of the crib that has soft lights and music to help soothe him to sleep. We also switched to the sleep sacks which keep them from kicking off sheets and also don't have any risk for SIDS like a loose blanket would. I also felt this was a little like swaddling since they would still have the feeling of the fabric around their legs even though it is not tight. We used the sleep sacks until he could walk.

Hope this helps. I am a huge fan of swaddling but I think your son is old enough to begin the transition to sleeping without it. PS, if your son can roll over he may begin sleeping on his stomach, I was told this is fine as long as he is rolling over on his own. My son started sleeping on his stomach shortly after he could roll over.

I swaddled both my kids and this was the life saver for us. They slept very well at night and still do (they are 3 & 1 years old now). First one was ready to sleep unswaddled when she was 4 month, and second one was ready when she was 7 or 8 months. I knew they were ready by trying to put them unswaddled, if they woke up every 5 mins because of it, then I swaddled again, if they were fine without it, then I stopped swaddling. I used the Miracle Blanket for swaddling and it is the best.

If your son still needs to be swaddled, then do it! I swaddled my son until he was about 8 months or so. He was small, so the kiddopotamus one worked for a long while. When it didn't, I went to the fabric store and got a couple of yards of stretchy cotton in fun kid prints. Way cheaper than buying one! All you have to do is stitch a hem on the sides or, if you don't sew, buy a bottle of Stitch Witchery and "glue" down the hem so it won't unravel.

When we finally decided to wean him off swaddling, we went for a couple of weeks of just one arm out, then with both arms out, then with the blanket tucked in very tightly around the sides. Worked well and he still sleeps with one of his swaddling blankets! Good luck!

This happened to me about the same age. At that point, I quit swaddling him and I switched him from his cradle to his crib so when he got an arm out it didn't hit the side of the narrow cradle and wake him up. He will wake himself up a little more with his arms flailing but I don't think you need to swaddle him anymore. I covered him with blankets and in the cold months I put him in those footed pajamas as he would kick off his blankets but would still stay warm. By the way, the stretch blankets from the Gap and Osh Kosh are great especially in the summer. Hope that helps.