When to Stop Swaddling Baby?

My baby is almost 5 months and we still swaddle him, he's really grown to like it, he sleeps really good when swaddled. We'll probably start to wean him off the swaddle in the next month, my friend said to loosen it a little bit every night until he doesn't need it anymore. In regards to how active they are, i don't think it stunts any development. My son is very active, he's weight-bearing, rolling over and scoots when on his stomach, so i wouldn't worry about that. Personally i think swaddling is the best, and i tell all my new mom friends about it.

Hi J., I have twin boys and I swaddled them till they were around 7 months old. They slept so much better that way and loved it. And trust me, their leg development was not hindered what-so-ever! I can't slow them down these days.

Hi J., I have a 18month old girl and we swaddled her until she was about 3 months maybe. We stopped swaddling her when she started "escaping" the blanket. she would kick her little arms and legs and we just tried not swaddling her one night and it seemed to work. she then sleeped better for us. so I really think its up to the parents and when the child is ready to be "free"

I am still swaddling my 7 week old baby as well (Dec 10). I have heard 2 months is when their startle reflex starts to disappear. I think that's what awakens them. I have started to swaddle less tightly and my son usually breaks out. I feel that if he can do this, then that is okay, if he can still sleep. Maybe try to cover him lightly for his naps and see how he does and still keep him swaddled better at night. Good luck.

your son will tell you when he is done being swaddled.. he will fuss and protest and kick out of the blanket.

I swaddled my daughter for a couple of months.. but my son slept fine with just a blanket on him.

If he is kicking out of the swaddle then he is ready to go to a blanket or a sleep sack.

I really doubt that the swaddle will stunt the leg development. as long as they are free to move their legs when they are awake.

I have two kids (ages 2 and 4) and for both of them, they went through stages when they NEEDED to be swaddled to sleep, around 3-4 months, even after they seemed too big (had pretty strong leg development, etc). I don't think there is an age when you shouldn't swaddle, especially if he has plenty of time to move around and exercise during the day. If it helps him sleep and get good rest, than you should be fine. My son grew out of the small blankets from the hospital and I made him a blanket out of flannel from the fabric store and that was a godsend, so in answer to your question, swaddle as long as you need to :) Good luck!

My first daughter was swaddled until somewhere around 4 months but my second daughter is almost 6 months and still LOVES to be swaddled. I know this is a lot longer than most but she hasn't started rolling over yet so she isn't in any danger and loves the cozy feeling of being held. I have a larger swaddle blanket and it keeps her perfectly wrapped. Sometimes, I leave an arm or two out but most the time she is completely wrapped. However, I am about to take away the swaddling because I know she is going to roll over any day. I do leave the bottom of the swaddle open a bit so her legs aren't bound but I had never heard of swaddling causing a stunt in leg development. I would swaddle him as long as he lets you.

I think that every baby is different when it comes to swaddling. We swaddled our baby until she was three months, but if your's is kicking out of it at two, I would stop.

A little about me:

I am a 28 year old first time mom. My daughter was born on Aug 28th, 2007. I have been married for 3 1/2 years.

I agree with Lisa's response. I wouldn't worry as much about stunting their leg development. Your baby will let you know when he is okay without the swaddle. Does he wake when he kicks the swaddle off? With my daughter, I swaddled her and it was comforting and helped her sleep but she would kick and wiggle out of it--but she didn't wake so I didn't worry about it as long as she was warm enough. KWIM? But since she was very active, I stopped swaddling her around 8 weeks old...I don't think she was deprived. :)

Hi J.,
I have a 6 week old and I wondered the same thing when I came home from the hospital. In my "What to expect First Year" book, it says that once they start kicking around they really don't need to be swaddled. I did it for a couple of days, but my baby seemed content to just have her blanket over her waist. It said if they are "breaking out" of the swaddling, then they are probably done with it. HTH!
A.

Just dress him in a onesy, swaddle him loosely and if he kicks the cover off, so be it. He'll be warm, and doesn't need to be covered if he's dressed properly for the night time temp in your house.

I think it's totally up to you and your little one. You may find that now that he's been kicking it off, you may not be able to keep him swaddled at all anymore anyway! With both of my children, I would stop when they would no longer stay in it. There were some tears involved at first, but it didn't take long for them to get used to it since they were constantly trying to free themselves from it already. I wouldn't worry about doing it for too long or not long enough; your son will let you know his opinion and when it is a good time! God bless!

I think our situations are very very similar. My daughter is now 11 1/2 weeks old and we've been using a sleep sack for about the last 2 weeks. My daughter liked to be swaddled until 2-3 weeks ago (she kept kicking it off, so I felt that was a clue).

Here is what we did...
I started by leaving 1 arm out of the swaddle. She slept okay that way for 2 nights, so I figured she was ready to go without a swaddle (especially since she was trying to get at her fingers and suck on them). The first night in a sleep sack, I gave her a pacifier and she fell right asleep. She doesn't always want the pacifier, but I now know she doesn't need a swaddle.

Good luck!

My advice is to swadle as long as you possibly can. Even when they start kicking out they like the swadled feeling. Use a large enough blanket so you can wrap him up tight. My daughter is 3 mos and I still swadle her every night. Just make sure he is not too warm.

My daughter NEEDED to be swaddled to sleep. She was, and is still, at very high maintenence sleeper. Meaning the conditions need to be just right for her to sleep. I swaddled her until about 5 months using the larger size "Swaddle Me" that has velcro. By 5 months she was tearing herself out of it in her sleep and waking up. But it worked. We only used that for night time sleep by around 4 months. She just loved that tight cuddled feeling. My daughter just turned one and is still high maintenence when it comes to sleeping!! Good luck. With it still being so cold out the swaddling is probably needed even more.

P.S. It didn't stunt her legs developement at all, she is ahead or on time for all her milestones.

Ohhhhhhhhhh...you so need to check out this site:

http://www.cozycocoon.com/

These are sooooooooo worth it. The ones made from organic cotton run a little bigger. We had 2 and used them until dd was well over 6 mo. She'd sleep the best in these!

We had a leopard print one (too cute on) and the Sweet Pea type...the Sweet Pea style ran bigger.

I swaddled my kids every night for 6+ months. They normally would kick out of it as they got older, which was fine, they just slept SOOO much better if they started the night that way. I'm a firm beleiver in putting the baby to bed awake so if nothing else, it helped make them more sleepy trying get out of it.
Definately talk to your doctor and see what she recommends, I've never heard any professional advise on when to stop.

My daughter slept much better swaddled -- I think it just made her feel more secure, even though she did wiggle out of it. We tried a few nights without swaddling around 8-10 weeks, but she didn't sleep as well. Then I found a better solution, and got her a pea pod sleep sack (sie large) at Tree City Diapers. First I swaddled her in a blanket, and then put the sack over the top. It kept the blanket on, wasn't too tight, and she didn't wiggle out of it. I don't remember exactly how old she was when we stopped this, but I think it was around 3-4 mos. My older DD didn't like swaddling at all... just depends on the babe, I guess.

I don't know that there is a magic date to stop swaddling a baby , but at 8 weeks I would use swaddling as a 'comfort' at the times you can see that Baby needs it . Perhaps during a fussy period or restlessness at bed time.
You sound like a wonderful caring mother !

The Halo Sleep sack is still your best bet. If he's escaping from the swaddle while he sleeps, he may get tangled up. We actually took a heavier receiving blanket and laid it over the sleep sack to cover their legs for the extra weight. It worked for us.