When to Stop Swaddling?

Until she doesn't want to be swaddled anymore.

M.

1 mom found this helpful

I stopped using the Miracle Blanket (equivalent of swaddling) on my 5 1/2 month old when he turned 4 months. He is still swaddled with the arms out for naps. At night he wears a sleep sack.

We stopped when my daughter was around 3 months old. She would wake up in the middle of the night and wriggle her way out of it. One night when she wore pajamas to bed (separate top and bottom, with feet), I woke to find her in just the top and her diaper. She'd managed to kick off the swaddling blanket and her pants. I figured we should stop swaddling her if she didn't want to be swaddled any more.

My pediatrician recommended swaddling until six months, but she doesn't have any kids.

Try it out one night and see how she does. The swaddling isn't a problem for my daughter; waking up when put down in her crib has been a much bigger issue.

Hi C.! Well, we swaddled all 3 of ours until they could break free! If we didn't swaddle them they would flail around and wake up real easily. For us, they slept better, but once they were able to free themselves and still sleep, we decided it was time to stop. I think that was somewhere around 6-7 months for us! I think we even swaddled one from the chest down (let arms be free) until he was about 9 months. He just seemed to really like it! Good luck to you!

when did you stop swaddling your 3 year old?

we stopped at 3.5 months, she started to escape anyway and it didnt seem like her hands bothered her that much anymore, so i'd say stop it for now and see how it goes, she might not even notice.

5 months seems kinda "old" to me, for swaddling.
I can understand the hesitation to stop it, since you say she sleeps so well. But, by this age, they are so mobile... I imagine she must not "want" to anymore?
Does she resist it? That may be a sign....

No matter what with any change in sleep routine, there will probably be some kind of transition.

try give her a "lovey" or something to snuggle with. At that age, my son "adopted" his stuffed cow to sleep with. It was and still is his "pal" to sleep with. Won't sleep without it.

Good luck,
Susan

I stopped at 4 months and just started by taking their arms out first for a couple of nights, and then switching to a zippered sleep blanket. You'll be fine - don't worry!

I saw the doc yesterday for my four month old & she said he probably wouldn't take a swaddle anymore-he would just break out & create a suffocation hazard. But if you could get something like swaddle me, it might still work. My son sleeps better with a swaddle too.