I have a 5 month year old son who is getting to be to big for ANY swaddle (he is either off the charts of in the 95th%) and I can't afford to keep trying new ones that he can wiggle out of. I am trying to do the one are out at a time weening and when I go to put him down he'll start to fall asleep but once the bottle is empty or he is full he fusses and gets into this huge fit and he hits his head, rubs his eyes, and try's to pull my hair. Is there any good tips out there?? Please help!
Thats what got us started on swaddling but he is a really strong boy and can break through every swaddle I've tried. I haven't tried the miracle blanket, but I just don't have the means to keep trying all kinds.
He hates his woombie. He has used it for many months now and now just hates it!
I put my son in a sleep sack and pinned the arms shut. That way he could move around a little, but his hands wouldn't fly in his face. Eventually, I kept the arms opened but still started him out with the arms inside the sack. If one (or both) wiggled out, it was fine. Once he was ok with that, we were able to use the sleep sack normally. The entire process probably took a couple of months.
I made my own swaddling blankets for about $3 a blanket and they worked really well. I just got 45" fabric cut in a square and hemmed them up. The video "The Happiest Baby on the Block" teaches really effectively how to swaddle. You could also get 60" blankets, if you needed them that big very easily. Of course, you can do more cutting and get any size you wanted. My middle son was a huge swaddler! At 6 months, we just started wrapping more and more loosely until he was only sleeping on the blanket.
However, I do agree with the other mom who said it sounds like the bigger issue is the bottle. I liked the book "On Becoming Babywise" for getting my kids to learn how to sleep without all the other helps. Just lay them in bed, and they go to sleep. (You miss some of the sleeping snuggles, but you also avoid the tough sleep issues.) Not sure it would help at this stage, but for next time. I'd say work on the bottle issue and the other will take care of itself. GL!
5 months seems kind of old to try to keep swaddling him. He should be rolling over soon if he hasn't already. I am concerned that you wrote "when I go to put him down he'll start to fall asleep but once the bottle is empty". Are you putting him in his crib with a bottle? Even if you are holding him with the bottle, that is actually your problem. The bottle is helping him fall asleep. Run, don't walk, to a book store or library and read Secrets of the Baby Whiperer to learn how to put him to sleep without feeding him, and why it is soooooooooooooo important to learn how to do that!!
Can you just wrap a baby blanket all the way around his arms? you put your son at the very end or the blanket and them wrap it all the way around and under him. You lift him up on the opposite side and tuck the blanket under him and his weight will keep the blanket in place. It's been working for me. It keeps her legs free because you don't want to swaddle his legs but it keeps her arms by her sides. She sleeps much better that way.
My daughter really enjoyed being swaddled for sleeping and when the little 'hospital' or recieving blankets were too little, I just went to the fabric store and bought a some soft 't-shirt-like' material in a bigger (more like 5'x5') square to use.
But we only swaddled until about 6-7 months anyway since she could roll even tho she was swaddled.
Take 4 of those small receiving blankets that you have and some thread and a needle and sew the 4 blankets together to be one big square (or plead a friend who is good at sewing or owns a sewing machine)...that might be big enough for your son...also look in the fabric section of the store and they always have cheap remnants of soft fabrics that might be big enough to make in to an inexpensive big blanket...
While this won't help wean him from the swaddle it might get you through the night for now - or at least naps - I don't know if it would still fit him...he sounds pretty big
we started by swaddling with one arm out, then eventually both, then none. I agree with Jae that a sleep sac might be good.
On the other hand, we just bought the larger sizes of the SwaddleMe ones from Babies R Us and swaddled till she was 9 months old. She was sleeping through the night and we didnt want to mess with that by stopping the swaddle before she was ready.
They all out grow swaddling after awhile. Some sooner than others. My son didn't like it after 6 weeks. If I tried to swaddle him up to 5 months I would have had an all out rebellion on my hands. He was a thumb sucker since before he was born and anything that kept his thumb(s) away from his mouth made him very unhappy. Babys like to explore and grab and try new muscle movements. It might be time to phase out the swaddling. Make sure feeding is over for awhile before you put him to bed. Mine had to be burped a long time after feeding otherwise he'd have bad gas pains.
