Seeking Advice for Transitioning Out of Swaddle!

use a larger blanket

buy a premade swaddle blanket (they velcro in those)

swaddle him, then put him so his feet are at the bottom of the bed, then take a blanket and lay it on top of him so the top edge is at his chest level. Now tuck that blanket into the mattress. This will prevent him from getting out of the swaddle.

Oh, and I swaddle until the kids are about 10 mos old here at my daycare. I find naps are so much better when they are consistently swaddled.

N.

T.,
My 5 1/2 month old son is also a little Houdini - has been since the day I brought him home from the hospital! I just decided to swaddle him with his arms out. He loves to suck his fingers or thumb to soothe himself to sleep, so I don't fight it. He does end up with some battle scars, despite my constant nail trimming. His flailing has become less and less but he used to wake himself up all the time. I would help soothe him back to sleep by rubbing his head or his little nose or by placing my hand on his chest and gently jiggling him. Once his is out for good, he will sleep. The swaddle has become a bedtime ritual and even one that if he should wake in the middle of the night (very rare), I can go in, reswaddle him and he will fall back to sleep. I say keep the swaddle for as long as you can, he will work out the flailing very soon. Just be patient, I know how hard it is!

Hi T. -

I can tell you what worked for us, having just "deswaddled" our daughter (4 months old) this week. So far so good, she's waking during the night just as much as she did when she was swaddled (2 times). In fact, it's been easier to get her to go back to sleep, because I think she was spending so much time wiggling out that it was waking her up. Anyway.....

1. Try letting him nap without the swaddle, so he can at least get used to the idea of going down without it. Our daughter's naps are pretty short/erratic, so for us, there wasn't too much to lose here.

2. We have her sleep in a sleep sack so that her legs are still bundled up as they would be in the swaddle. For naps, we wrap her in her swaddle blanket from the hips down.

3. When we put her to sleep, we put her down and give her 5 minutes to fuss it out a bit. Then we pick her up, rock her for 5 minutes to soothe her, then put her back in the crib. We let her fuss for 5 minutes (maybe putting our hand on her and ssshing her). If that doesn't work, we pick her back and up and repeat the 5 minute routine. This was suggested by our pedi as a sort of modified sleep training (since she's too young to really cry it out)

4. We put up her crib bumpers (I know they say not to use them because of SIDS, but at this point, we feel like our daughter can semi roll/turn her head) and we put her in a corner, so that her head is making contact with the bumpers. The pedi suggested that this can help her feel more secure vs. being along in the middle of the crib.

The first night that we put her down unswaddled, she looked at us like "Something's missing!" and fussed a bit. Last night we put her down and she didn't fuss at all, so it only took a couple of nights. Hopefully some of the suggestions will work for you - I know every child is different so you have to experiment and see what works. Good luck!

Honestly, if he likes being swaddled keep him swaddled. Fortunately by keeping him swaddled you're not delaying any growth or development and you're allowing him to get the sleep he needs. If you're insistent on weaning from the swaddle, then wrap it more loosely or wrap it toga-style with an arm out so he still has the comfort of the binding but the freedom to move. Gradually make it looser and looser, until one day it is done.

Hi T.,
We used the Miracle Blanket to swaddle our daughter until she was 6 months old. At that point we took out her legs, and kept arms swaddled. Eventually she was swaddle free. She is a fantastic sleeper at 2yo.

Hi T.,

Could I suggest to you that perhaps you might want to keep swaddling him? There is really no reason to stop and if he sleeps better...

We have 4 children and one in particular was a big swaddler. We called her the "burrito baby". She was swaddled until 9 months! We had to find a bigger blanket to fit her, but if she slept well, then everyone slept well. The others we transitioned out by "half swaddling" (arms out). Hope this helps!

I honestly cannot understand why you would want to take swaddling away. If he is strong enough to get out of it, he is strong enough to not suffocate from it as well. If it makes him feel comfortable and safe, then why take it away?

We swaddled our preemie daughter until she was 6 months old - she told us when she was ready to not be swaddled.

We started the transition by only swaddeling his arms...we left his legs out (he'd kick out of it anyway!) Then we moved to one arm out, and then stopped using it at all. We always made sure to wrap it tightly so there would be no suffocating hazards. We also did what the other poster suggested...we stopped using it at nap time to get him used to it. Good Luck! :)

My daughter is 8 months old and we were swaddling for all naps and nights. We use the kidopodomus (sp?) wrap with the velcro. They are available at Babies R Us. About a month ago we started swaddling with just one arm out and did that for a couple of weeks. Then we wrapped her with both arms out and now she sleeps without the wrap. Now we just us the zip up blankets. Good luck!

ok. i am not recommending this- I am just telling you what we did...but...we had the same issue with our first son. he was about the same age and still sleeping in the swaddle. we started putting him to sleep on his tummy. it was the only way he could sleep and not wake himself up with his arms.

I use to love to swaddle my son (now 5 1/2 months) for the same reason - he stayed calm and didn't hurt himself. I bought a stuffed animal finger puppet that he could hold onto and I used a pacifier to help calm him. Sometimes he had a pacifer in his mouth, one in his hand, and the puppet in his other hand. I still use the pacifer to help calm him, and the puppet is a distraction to help calm him. Once he falls asleep, I make sure the puppet is out of the crib and he usally drops the pacifier on his own and I move it out of the way.

Hi T.,

I would actually suggest you keep swaddling. We swaddled our daughter until she was about 6 mos. I recommend using something other than a receiving blanket -- Halo Sleep Sack Swaddles are really good, the SwaddleMe (by Kiddopotamus) is okay, too. These tend to stay on better than just a receiving blanket. However, if you don't want to spend the extra money, I would suggest you work on your swaddling skills. It's not a problem to swaddle tightly (and your son might have a more difficult time breaking out of it). You might want to check out Dr. Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block DVD for a demonstration of a different way to swaddle (the DUDU wrap). My reading, etc., has indicated that around 5 mos. is the best time to start sleep training, so if you can keep swaddling and hold off until then, your son might be more receptable. We started letting our daughter cry around 6 mos. (because it was impossible to get her to sleep) and she was surprisingly receptable at that age.

Whatever you decide, best of luck!
R.

Hi I am totally with you on this. My son was born in August and he too would only sleep when swaddled. I was never too keen as it was so hot i was worried about him over heating. After a couple of months he still wanted to be swaddled, however he is a really big strong baby so i couldn't keep him wrapped up tight so i put him in a sleeping bag that was a snup fit and put socks on his hands, and what do you know? It worked just fine. The bonus is now that it helps to keep his little hands warm too. I also put him in his crib at the same time. He now has adopted the regular sleep position ie arms in the air and sleeps all night as he isn't waking himself up when he comes undone.

Good luck with this i'm sure he will be a non swaddled baby before you know it.

We did naps with one arm out for a while, swaddled looser so our baby would be out during the night (and hopefully not wake up), and eventually transitioned to just swaddling the feet but leaving the arms out. Eventually, we took away the swaddle and had a few bad nap days / nights.

Have you tried the kiddopatumus (sp?)? It is a swaddle type blanket with velcro tabs to keep the babies arms inside of it. Jokingly, it looks like a baby straight jacket. They're about $15.00 at Babies R Us. My kids never liked them, but I know parents who swear by them!

I think you can keep swaddling as long as it is working. At 4 1/2 months your baby is at an age when they organize their sleep cycles and it is an important time for you to try to instill good sleep habits. I wouldn't make it unnecessarily difficult right now just b/c you feel you must stop swaddling. If you really want to be done swaddling, you got some good suggestions from others on what to try. Just try to be really conscious of creating good sleep habits now.

My kids were swaddled beyond this age and then just gradually worked their way out of it. No harmful consequences (so far)!

Good Luck!

We swaddled our son until he was almost 9 months old, at which point he kept breaking free. My mother-in-law made me receiving blankets out of flannel that were quite large and perfect for swaddling. The receiving blanks you buy in the store are worthless in my opinion and only good for spit-up cloths because they are so small. The flannel kind of grips to itself and holds well too unlike crocheted or knitted blankets. If he likes it keep doing it.

T. - I share your question/concern/agony.....my 5 1/2 month old daughter is currently being swaddled as well. She only wakes up at night if she comes unswaddled. I am preparing to transition her out of the swaddle as well. (Howewever, she is currently battling congestion and a cold, so I am waiting until that is over). I have sought advice from other "swaddling mommies" and they say you can try 2 ways. (1) start slow, leaving one arm out, than 2 arms, than the legs, etc OR (2) just go full board and deal with a few or more than a few crying nights until the child gets used to not being swaddled. Best wishes with your new adventure. I know when I start down that path, I am not looking forward to it........