Hello! My DS is 6 months old. I have been swaddling him for sleep since he was a newborn. He sleeps relatively well - he usually goes down for the night around 7pm, wakes up once between 11 and 4, and then sleeps until 6 or 7. I am breastfeeding, and we recently started cereal in the evenings. When I went for his 6 month check up the doctor said I needed to wean him from the swaddle because it's a strangulation hazard. I use the kiddopotamus swaddler, so it seems highly unlikely he could get all the way out of it, but you never know. Also, he is getting more mobile and I think he might sleep even better if I could get him used to sleeping unswaddled. However, every time I have ever tried to lay him down unswaddled he starts to fling his arms around, rub his face, and generally get completely discombobulated and wide awake. I know I could probably go cold turkey and let him CIO, but is there a gradual and systematic way to wean him? I think he needs to learn to self-soothe a little bit more now, but I would rather not go the cold turkey route. Has anyone dealt successfully with this issue? I can handle a little crying, but honestly the most I have ever let him cry so far is about 5 minutes, and that was so hard! Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
i am currently swaddling my 4 mon. old with the same swaddle and plan on weaning him from it soon as he is already finding ways to inch out of it, anyway i weaned my now 2 yr old from it by letting 1 arm stay unswaddled to gradually wean him, he is also a thumbsucker. maybe try swaddling him loosely in a large thin blanket. goodluck!
hi E., your ped is absolutely right. i used the same swaddler for my daughter, it was wonderful. then out of nowhere one day at about 5 mos i walked in to find that she had wiggled her arms out the bottom of those wings and lifted her arms up so that the wings-still fastened together-were wedged across her neck - tightly! i freaked out, it never even had crossed my mind that that could happen. what i suggest is to first of all get rid of that swaddler today. then use a thin receiving blanket and swaddle your son in it, leave out one arm. when you lay him down, use a sleep positioner or just a tightly rolled and fastened towel/blanket just barely under his shoulder/butt opposite the side of his free arm. that way he is very slightly tilted, with the free arm mobile, but a little snug between him and the mattress. (be sure the towel/positioner isnt up by his face). switch sides. this is what i did with my last 2 kids, it worked really well. good luck, D.
sorry this is probably too late now! I also had the horror of finding my boy with his swaddle around his head!!!!!! But the other worse part was his sleep turned upside once he was out of his swaddle... started waking up all night. We got a sleep sack that is specifically for transitioning / weaning baby from swaddling called a Peke Moe (they have a website) it arrived really fast and he slept ALL night the first night. it was amazing. So you could always try something like that. All the best.
E., My husband and I have also discussed weaning off the swaddle and I was also thinking if there was a way to wean as opposed to cold turkey. I am trying the one arm out as suggested in a previous response and it does work. I have also tried the no swaddle during daytime nap, which did work once. I find that I am more scared to try the no swaddle bc I know my daughter is a mess when the naps are missed. We are finally getting the sleeping and napping with less fuss that I don't want to remove everything at one time.
good luck
my daughter came at 7 months old fromKorea and they swaddle until 1 yr. old. she couldn't sleep without being swaddled.. she would scratch herself, pull her hair and wake herself up.. i swaddled for a few weeks and then when she would go to sleep, I would loosen the swaddle up a little for a few days.. then loosen a little more the next week.. she finally got used to not being swaddled but it took a while.. good luck
E.,
I haven't experienced this myself but maybe if you can get him to fall asleep during the day unswaddled it might help for him to do it at night. Try to unswaddle him during his naps in the day time and just stay by him to reassure him everything is okay. And once he falls asleep or is partially asleep leave the room. Maybe just rub his back while he is trying to fall alseep. And work your way out of the room with him being a little more awake each time you leave. That way he will learn to settle himself without you. And after you accomplish it during the day, give it a try at night. Hope this helps=).. good luck!
A.- work at home wife and mom for a discount health benefits company.I have 3 girls 6,5 and 3.
