kicking the swaddle habit...

[tzs]

...how do you do it?
i think my babe is fed up with the swaddle...but it's our major cue for sleep. and she is NOT a natural sleeper although she does well at night (well, with the swaddle/nurse/sleep routine anyway.)

i am trying to get her to sleep tonight for the first time without it (we'll work on naps later, those are hard enough as is.) so far we've been at it for 2 hours and she IS tired. fell asleep finally but now a half hour later is trying to put herself back to sleep again...or not.

how do you do this and at what age?

and a more practical question....what do you do about blankets? i had this whole SIDS class for my job and they said to tuck a blanket in tight at the bottom of the crib, but she's working her way out of it and fast. our old non-insulated house is freezing and even more freezing at night. the sleep sack and hat can't be enough. i mean, i wear long underwear, wool socks, a hat, and am still chilly with two comforters. i could layer her up but then i don;t want to overheat her and i do one change of diaper during the night.

ugh!!!!! about to give up....

[BekahMomToOliver]

My babes have both kind of kicked the habit themselves, but I've heard of some people having luck by gradually swaddling less and less of baby... like, leaving one arm out for a couple nights, then both arms out, then loosening the whole swaddle until babe is just lightly wrapped, then just a blanket.
Have you thought about getting a wearable blanket? These are supposed to be great. They can be pricey, but I see them on babysteals.com quite often (a couple times a month) and they're half-off there. They have different Tog levels too according to how warm you need them. I like them for cosleeping too.
Anyway, hope you find something that works! Good luck

[cristeen]

Definitely go with a sleep sack - fleece or wool preferably. Do you have her sleeping on a sheepskin? What about her blanket(s) - what are they made of (I'd go with wool or silk)? Rather than dressing babe in anything cotton, go with wool or silk or wool/silk blends wherever possible. It really helps with temperature control.

TBH - I never went with the "recommendations" - our 100 yr old Victorian is unheated, and once winter set in there was no way. We co-sleep, I'd put him in a wool sleepsack, wool t-shirt and something cotton with sleeves - put him to bed on a sheepskin covered with a receiving blanket, and then cuddle up next to him and share at least 1 blanket with him. When I started waking up every morning with his nose buried in my chest though, I figured it was time to go the next step... so he and I moved into the one room in the house that will hold heat, and we have a space heater. We've been camping out in here for about 6 weeks now, and it looks like we'll be spending the rest of the winter here, too. Come spring we're going to insulate the bedroom and put in baseboard heaters so we don't have to do this again next winter.

[Julia24]

My friends who have unheated sleep areas just bought a small space heater for near the babies crib. (and those who have just older homes that don't have good insulation)

We layer around here, her room is just cold! I usually do onesie, thin cotton jammie pants and socks, followed by something in a heavy fleece (and then we swaddle). BUT, when she's bigger and doesn't swaddle, we do a lighter weight sleeper on top of the under layer FOLLOWED by a heavy fleece sleepsack. The sleepsack is just her blanket, yk?

[darcytrue]

My DD only used swaddling in the first couple of weeks after she was born, if that long. I don't think she really cared for it.

I keep my DD's sleeping area very warm at night. She still sleeps in a gown that I bought used when she was a newborn. It's 0-3 months and she is slowly getting too long for it. It has a closed in bottom which is very unusual for baby gowns. I love this gown! I've been searching everywhere for one. It's my fave night time sleep wear for her, although she will also sleep in onesies, but I love the gown because of how easily it is to open in the dark.

[tzs]

well.....i gave in and swaddled her up. i think i'll try the gradual approach instead of this cold-turkey stuff. hopefully she'll be out of it by the time she goes to college...if not, then she's just on her own.

she does wear a fleece sleepsack but i might go with some layering and just deal with the extra steps in diapering.

[mkksmom]

I'm still swaddling. We have tried without it and she has only made it through the night once. It was a struggle to get her down. I have been doing more with her routine now. I nurse, read, sing a lullaby and then say a prayer before putting her down. I figured I needed to add more than just swaddling before I could take it away. I like the gradual approach. I didn't really swaddle my older dd much because she was a summer baby.

We do a onesie, fleece PJ's and jersey knit swaddle me blanket. I feel her chest and back and can tell if she is warm enough. If not, we add another knit swaddle me type blanket. It's from Target, though and comes lower than the other kind. I also have fleece swaddle me blankets. I use those with a pair of terry cloth PJ's and a onesie. She is still in my room and I am in no hurry to get her out. My room is warmer and I like having her right near me. We had to stop cosleeping and she does so, so, so much better. But dh and I jsut moved her crib to our room this weekend. Had to take one side off and then reassemble. Butit was worht it. I love having the crib right next to my bed. She did well with that transition, and the swaddling is next.

[tzs]

mkksmom:
hey! i do the same routine....minus the book...maybe i'll add it to make it more of a big deal.
you're not jewish are you?! i just ask b/c of the prayer part of the nighttime thing. we do the bedtime shema.

[ElliesMomma]

what's wrong with continuing to swaddle? and how do you know, what are the signs, that your LO is getting fed up with it?

i dress my little guy for bed in a onesie, followed by a fleece sleeper, and then i "triple swaddle" him in the three hospital blankets. i do and have always left his arms out, however. (does this still count as swaddling?) then he sleeps in bed with me. i am able to cover myself with the sheets and blankets, and only have them covering the very bottom of his swaddle, only on his feet portion. he seems to stay just fine temperature-wise overnight. we keep the house at 71 degrees, and we are in an upstairs bedroom.

my daughter is 3, and i remember swaddling her the same exact way for, i'm not sure how long. probaby until she outgrew those hospital blankets. so who knows how long, maybe a year? (my kiddos are both on the small side.)

so i guess i'm a fan of swaddling...

[confustication]

My kids have never tolerated swaddling much to begin with. I dress them in something appropriate for the temps (when it's really cold, that means a couple layers) and cosleep. I really don't give too much thought to where the blankets wind up though. This baby in particular, will not sleep for any length of time unless he's against my chest.

[tzs]

well, i just thought she was done with it, she has always tried to bust outta the swaddle. actually for a while i've been leaving her legs free and only swaddling her arms. it seemed lately like she'd been really frustrated with being confined and trying to struggle to get out and getting mad. buuuutttt, ever since the attempt at freedom she seems to love the swaddle again. hmmm......

i think we'll just leave it for a while. i do have a swaddle that is bigger so we're ok. i do sometimes wonder if it could be dangerous as they get older b/c she moves around so much, even in the swaddle. i know they say that if they can roll over then they can roll back but i'm not sure that is true, not if she is just flopping around and rolls accidentally. i don;t want her ending up facedown and swaddled. but apparently it's just not a problem.

[Lovinmum]

If her arms are swaddled it would be a pretty neat trick for her to roll over. My oldest was swaddled until 5 months and then we did a gradual swaddle wean and it worked out great. We will probably do the same this time.

[mkksmom]

I'm Christian, tzs.

My LO can roll to her side swaddled with her arms in, so I worry about her rolling over too. She is such a wiggle worm. I remember reading somewhere that you should stop at 3 or 4 months. But she sleeps sooo well, at least 4 hours, but mostly 5 or even 6 hours (I know some babies sleep longer but this is wonderful to me). I don't want to mess that up. I only swaddle at night, not for naps, and naps are kind of short these days.