How Do I Break the Swaddling?

Swaddling is the best thing in the world! To end the swaddling, just start doing it a bit looser every night until he outgrows it. After a few weeks, he'll be done with it.

Good luck!

My babies both loved heavy swaddling until they were 8 months old-ish. They slept much better that way. When they were ready to no longer be swaddled they freed their own arms and slept fine. In the summer they slept in onesies and were swaddled with the thinest blanket we had and they were fine. I see nothing wrong with continuing to swaddle a baby who likes it and sleeps better for much longer. I do not see the connection you are making with swaddling and motor skill development either. I say swaddle him and let him sleep.

S.: I also used the Halo Sleepsack when my son outgrew his swaddles. He absolutely loved to be swaddled and that is the only way he would sleep. So when he outgrow swaddles we switched to the Sleepsack and he used it until he was around 18 months old. He transitioned fairly well to just plain old blankets after that. Good luck! A.

Swaddling your baby at night is not going to harm his motor skill development, if he loves being swaddled so much just keep doing it! It will not hurt him and it makes him happy so why do you want to stop? Try buying (or sewing) bigger blankets to swaddle him in. Don't try to break this habit, it is a perfectly healthy way for your baby to feel soothed and happy.

Our daughter also LOVED to be swaddled. We swaddled her until she was about 15 months old, wrapping both arms up long after she was able to break the swaddle -- she just preferred to be tightly wrapped. I bought a nice flat flannel sheet for a crib, and just used it when she got too big for her little swaddle blankets. I read about the motor skills stuff, and just kept an eye on her to make sure she was developing properly -- she had no problems whatsoever. I wouldn't worry too much about the "motor skills" development. Just think how many babies have been swaddled for how many centuries, long after they are 4 months!

On the other hand, if you're keen to stop the swaddling, it should only be a week or so before your little one gets used to his new "skill" of breaking the swaddle. We've found with both our children that they seem to get a bit restless for a few nights every time they learn something new... rolling over, sitting up, pulling up to furniture, crawling and walking. After each new development, it seems like they get so excited about their accomplishment, they want to "practice" and can't sleep well for a few nights. But then they get used to it and they get back to normal sleep habits. Good luck with yours!

I never thought of it much and just stopped when mine both kicked off the swaddle. Then, it was winter anyway so we put them in gowns and a fleece sleeper sac. Since it is summer, put him in a gown (yes, even a boy). It makes diapers so much easier to change and you aren't worried about a balnket getting caught around him at night. He will adjust. do be careful of starting the nursong to pacify him. If he was already sleeping a long stretch and you think he is waking for comfort reasons, don't nurse him. send in your husband if necessary to settle him back down and to sleep.

We swaddled dd #1 until she was about 6 or 7 months old... It was the absolute hardest thing to break. I was having to get up every couple hours to give dd her paci back because she would drop it and couldn't get it back into her mouth... Finally one day I had enough and took the swaddle away completely- COLD TURKEY, she cried for about an hour at her first nap, with me going in every 5-10 minutes to calm her down and give her paci back, but the next nap she only cried for 20 minutes and that night she slept all night long without waking up at all! It was heavenly!
It's hard, some kids take getting rid of the swaddle better than others- it just depends on the kid. DD wouldn't sleep at all if we left an arm out- so the gradual weaning didn't work at all for us!
Best of luck!

Use a Halo "Sleep Sack." They work great, give that swaddled feeling, but don't limit motor development (when my son was a toddler he could walk up and down stairs IN his sleep sack!). And they can't cover their heads, so it reduces risk of suffocation or SIDs. We loved ours.

We used Ultimate Swaddling blankets for quite some time with our little guy. They are a little bigger than others on the market and so he couldn't break out of them at first, when he did start being able to, we started double wrapping him (without any clothes underneath) with a kidpotamus Swaddle Set blanket on top. These are stretchy knit and so they let us keep him snuggled up tight. They both are available online...

As for motor development, my little guy is about 13.5 months and just started walking a little today so I think you'll be okay! :)

Good luck!

We had to deal with the same thing with my son when he was about that age. It was frustrating because he LOVED to be swaddled and would throw his arms up in the air and cry if he wasn't. I just didn't see how he could sleep without it. The reason we had to stop was because he started to roll over while he was sleeping while being swaddled. So there he was, this little burrito, on his stomach, face planted into the mattress, and no arms to rescue him.

The first few nights were rough, but he eventually got used to it more and more. He also woke up frequently. This probably doesn't help that much, but just consistency and time. I found that if I swaddled him again whether during naps, in the swing or at night at all, we were starting over because he got used to it again. Good luck!!

3 of my 4 weaned themselves of swaddling. I don't remember how old they were, but all of them at one point or another started kicking off their blankets. I don't see the harm in continuing to swaddle unless it becomes a problem when he starts rolling over and becoming more mobile. If he still insists on swaddling even after he can roll around in his crib, you probably should actively wean him (but don't go cold turkey). Otherwise, he'll keep waking himself up rolling out of a swaddle and you'll keep having to go in. He probably didn't sleep very well because you changed from a cozy warm swaddle to nothing at all. I totally agree with the other posters about nursing him back to sleep, too. Don't nurse him for comfort or you'll have a cycle you won't want and won't be able to break easily. Good luck!

i turned up the heat to 72 degrees, and worked my way down to no heat or air conditioner at night

i wouldn't worry about it, it's just a change that he needs to get used to. You may lose some sleep for a few nights but then he'll be use to it.

I agree, they will break the habit when they are ready. With our daughter, she only swaddled the first few weeks (maybe a month at most). Then she always wanted her legs swaddled, but had to have her arms free because she liked to sleep with one of her arms by her face. By the time she was four or five months, she was done with the swaddling all together. Your son will let you know. Best of luck!

You have to slowly wean him from the swaddle. My daughter loved to be swaddled and around 5 months of age I started to wean her from it. I would swaddle her with one arm out for a few nights, and then swaddle her with both arms out. I would just swaddle her legs for about a month and then I tried no swaddle and she has done great ever since. They get so used to being swaddled that going cold turkey is very hard on them. Good luck.

I am so glad you posted this question -- I'm having the same issue with my 15-week-old daughter. We use the Miracle Blanket, and I swear it works TOO well. I think eventually we're going to let her off it cold turkey.

I was interested in what another poster said about babies liking pressure on their stomachs. I noticed that my daughter sleeps fine in her carseat (sometimes for 2 hours just sitting on the floor at home), and in there she isn't swaddled. She is harnessed in, so there might be something to the fact that she wants pressure on her tummy. Hmm...

Continue swaddling him only leaving one arm out...just so he gets used to it. Do this for a week, and then swaddle leaving both arms out for about a week. Then swaddle loosely. etc.

There is no reason to break the swaddling habit. He will naturally grow out of it. Just get a bigger piece of thin fabric and hem up the sides so he can't break out of it. My children were both swaddling for quite some time and they did fine.

We swaddled until 6 months with DS #2. He wasn't at all delayed for having gone so long. Around 6 months, we started swaddling looser. We had left one arm out at around 3 or 4 months, and eventually both arms, and then just looser and looser until the blankets came off. If he's not sleeping without being swaddled, he's just not ready yet. It'll happen. I say, get the sleep if he'll let you. Dr. Harvey Karp, who's been on Oprah or Dr. Phil, I don't remember, says they outgrow it between 3 and 6 months. Enjoy that new little guy!

S. -- I had the exact same problem with my big boy.. at 4 months he was 19 lbs! I also used the Miracle Blanket because it was the only one he wouldn't wiggle out of. But yes, by 4 months he was done with it, and he wouldn't sleep well without that security. The only way I could find to get him to sleep through the night was to re-train him to not need that crutch. I would nurse him before bed, sing to him, and then put him into bed very tired but AWAKE, give him his little blankey to snuggle (it is a 12" x 12" travel blankey). One thing you may also try is a Sleep Sack. Halo makes them, I'm sure there are others, but I think it helped my son to think he was still wrapped in something even though it wasn't swaddling. It took him several nights but finally he was able to sleep without needing to be nursed or swaddled. He slept through the night by 5 months and still does to this day. Good luck!

Hi there! My daughter loved swaddling... and would wake up screaming when the burrito came undone. We switched to sleep-sacks. They're sleeveless and zip up over jammies. They have big giant bottoms - like sweet pea from Popeye. They come in warm fleece and cool cotton... i'm sure we got ours at Babies R Us... and they come in boys & girls colors. It took 2-3 nights of crying (which is never fun - but necessary) before she was over it. The sleep sacks are also worry free in terms of baby rolling around and suffocating on blankets.
GOOD LUCK!

Hi S.,

I had the exact same issue with my son around the same age. He is five months now and swaddle free! It sounds like what you're doing is perfect, just keep trying. I took the advice given on this list, which was to let him take the lead and start to slowly ease him out of the swaddle. My son was starting to break out of the miracle blanket and would wake himself up. I would try wrapping him in the miracle blanket with his arms out. It didn't work at first but then all of the sudden he just started sleeping fine with his arms out. Shortly after that, we put him in a sleep sack and he's been sleeping fine with or without it ever since.

We used the Miracle Blanket for 8 months and it was a hard habit to break. I feel your pain! What worked for us was slowly weaning away the blanket. As in not swaddling as tightly as the night before. After a few weeks, they get used to not going to sleep swaddled, etc. It is a hard few weeks to get through. A lot of crying, fussing, etc. Good luck. Don't you just wish that you could just swaddle them forever? :)

We went through a phase (when my guy was breaking out of his swaddle but would not sleep without it) when we used a miracle blanket and then put a swaddle me over it (we called it "Operation Straitjacket") He wasn't ready to be without a swaddle because he would startle and wake himself up. He was swaddled until he was about 7 months old. When I observed him startling a lot less during the day I started breaking the swaddling habit during naps. Then,when he was able to roll onto his belly during naps, I took a long weekend and "broke" the swaddle habit cold turkey. I think being able to sleep on their belly really helps swaddle addicts break their habit (there is some theory about the pressure on their bellies) The first night was a little rough but then his sleeping was better than before (I think because he was not struggling against the blankets)

Hey there!
My son wouldn't sleep well without the swaddle. He was a big boy so he outgrew the blankets fairly quickly. I went to Walmart and bought some fabric big enough to keep him swaddled. Just cut it to the size I needed. They weren't the prettiest things, but they worked great and that's what mattered. Sleep! I think he finally outgrew the swaddle around 6 months. Some kids just "startle" more (the normal Moro reflex) and that's what would wake him up if he wasn't swaddled. He finally outgrew that reflex and was able to wiggle out and stay asleep. That's when I knew we didn't need it anymore. Best of luck.
K.

OH, enjoy swaddling. Kids grow up so fast that you will miss that soon enough. Don't rush it. I loved that stage and now I have to force my baby to give me "loves" He thinks he is too big. Makes me sad.

I've had the same issue with my little boy who is almost 6 months old and almost 20 lbs. We swaddle him from the waist down so he still has the comfort of the swaddle but his arms are free. He loves it and is now sleeping even longer. I would do your own swaddle though - the Swaddle Me blankets are meant for smaller infant/babies.

When my son started rolling over I decided to stop swaddling. We stopped using the swaddle blankets and started using another blanket, which he now holds to go to sleep. My one suggestiong would be this: if you decided to stop swaddling, don't make it a habit of nursing him back to sleep every time he wakes. He needs to learn to self-soothe, you don't want him to depend on nursing to get back to sleep every time.

We had the same issue with our baby - he loved being swaddled AND being on his tummy (I know, naughty). Around 4 or 5 months I started being worried that we were still swaddling him, but the doctor asked if he was using his hands fine during the day and said not to be worried about it. I think I started by only wrapping the Swaddle Me around his chest so his lower half was still in it, but leaving his arms out. He got used to it. Good luck, I remember being really stressed out about this exact same thing!

Hi there! My daughter was the same way...she loved the swaddle blankets! Once she got too big for them we realized we needed to "wean" her off of them. I started not swaddling her during her naps, and after a few days I stopped doing it at night too. It did take a few rough nights, but she began sleeping even better than she had previously! Good luck!

Hi S.- my daughter (now 3.5 yrs old) loved to be swaddled especially by her dad. When he wasn't home or otherwise not able to swaddle, we looked and found a great "alternative" in the sleep sacks - these are a soft square sack of fabric, zips up the front and leaves arms free, but legs "secure" - which means they are safe, warm, somewhat "held" and at the same time allows movement - my daughter loved hers - sometimes I wish they had them for her age now! :) They can be found online or even at Target - they are sized according to weight I believe. Every baby shower I am invited to - that is a must included gift.
Good luck!

I don't think that you should be trying to break a swaddling habit so soon. I think that breastfeeding to sleep is probably a bigger problem.

We just went through the same thing with our son. He is 5 months old and we decided to stop swaddling him because one night we woke up and he was able to roll over on his tummy and he still had his arms confined in the swaddle (usually he would get his arms out first and then roll over). Anyways, he loved being swaddled but we saw this as an indicator to stop. So what we did is just still use the swaddle me but we just left his arms out. I would then rock him to sleep and try and keep his arms down so he could go to sleep faster. It was rough for about 3 days but once he got used to arms being free and not covered he is fine. He sleeps through the night again. So I would suggest to just keep at it and in a few days it should improve. it's been about 2 weeks now and were still using the swaddle as a cover for him but continue to leave his arms out.

My son was big into swaddling as well, tho I never had any of the nice blankets (not sure how they work) . We "weaned" him off by just leaving out one arm at first.. for a few days i think, then the other arm, etc... seemed to work pretty well.

S.,
For us, the best way to break out of swaddling was to allow the baby to have one arm out at first, then both arms out and eventually, the baby would not need to be swaddled; our daughter still liked to be swaddled until she was 9 months old, especially when we were out, away from her crib and she was very tired. But a gradually is better than cold turkey.
J.