How old was your babe when you stopped swaddling?

[lemontree]

I have recently brought back the swaddle and am wondering if it is safe for my just about 5mth old. He is rolling more and I'm wondering if the swaddle blanket becomes a suffocation risk if he loosens it? I use the muslin aden and anais blankets (I think that's what they are called)

He sleeps better swaddled but if its dangerous then I will have to figure something else out!

When did you stop swaddling and why?

[4myfinn]

We still swaddle and DS will be 6 mo on Wednesday. We've tried to stop several times, but it just doesn't seem to work. He just likes being swaddled. I was worried he was getting too old for it, but my very dear friend who is a pediatric nurse told me not to worry about it. She said that she knows toddlers that still need to be swaddled sometimes.

The past few nights I've been swaddling him with a blanket instead of the Kiddopotamus swaddler (which keeps him wrapped very tight). The blanket allows him to get his arms free in the middle of the night, which he's fine with. He really just needs the swaddle to fall asleep. I haven't worried about the blankie as a suffocation hazard because he brings his arms out of the top and the blanket still stays wrapped around his chest.

Is there any way you could swaddle your baby to sleep and then remove it without waking him up?

[staceychev]

DD was swaddled at least until 6 months, although she hated her legs being trapped (just like her mommy ), so we did a hybrid swaddle: wrapped up top, legs free down below.

[hakeber]

About six or seven months here until we started weaning from the swaddle, he was almost a year before we were swaddle free.

For safety we secured the swaddle with a scarf tied around his arms quite firmly, immobilizing his elbows and hands. I have also tried the double swaddle with dd and it is very secure. There is a you tube video someone linked to here that was really clear.

I use a twin sheet cut in half for a swaddler so it's bigger than most blankets and when turned diagonally has just enough bias stretch that it works great, but holds firmly.

[kirstenb]

DS1 was probably close to 7 mo when we stopped swaddling. We gradually weaned him from it. DS2 is 4 mo and still needs to be tightly swaddled.

[Llyra]

Extended Swadlders Anonymous Meets Here
:nana:

DS was 14 months when he finally learned to take a nap without the swaddle.

I did manage to convince him to sleep at night without it, at about 12 months, but it took two more months to get him to take a nap without it.

By that time, he was in a Miracle Blanket with holes cut for his feet, and a big cotton afghan folded into a strip and tightly wound around the whole thing, and secured with a diaper pin.

Without it he would flail and cry and wake up every ten minutes. With it he'd settle right in, nurse a bit, and go straight to sleep and sleep several hours at a stretch.

After hearing from a million people that it was "terrible" how I "tied him up" every night, I decided to just follow his obvious cues and let him learn to sleep without it when he was ready, and he did.

So yeah, I think five months is fine. Choose a light, breathable blanket. Blankets like the Miracle Blanket might work well if you're swaddling a bigger, stronger infant, because they don't really come loose.

(The funniest part about swaddling-- DS is 3 now. He goes to sleep on his own, in his own bed, without nursing. But he still sleeps with both arms pinned to his sides-- he begs me to "tuck him in," by which he means that I tuck his quilt in tightly all around him. And he stays that way all night-- even if the quilt comes loose, his arms stay at his sides.)

[maptome]

6 months. Dd was rolling on to her tummy and waking up. We did it cold turkey. It was no big deal and she sleeps better now. She wanted to move around a lot.

[hakeber]

Originally Posted by Llyra

After hearing from a million people that it was "terrible" how I "tied him up" every night, I decided to just follow his obvious cues and let him learn to sleep without it when he was ready, and he did.

My MIL was horrified, she still holds a grudge against me as a mother for "tying him up". I decided not to even mention we are swaddling dd at night.

I figured anything that made my kid that calm and smiley couldn't be a bad thing. Swaddled he slept for 12 hours at night, unswaddled for 3 hour stretches tops...and he woke up for the day cranky and beastly.

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by Llyra

Extended Swadlders Anonymous Meets Here
:nana:

DS was 14 months when he finally learned to take a nap without the swaddle.

we swaddled DD until 14 months and are still swaddling DS at 9.5 months. DS is a bit better, I swaddle him to go to sleep but once he wriggles his arms free he likes them spread out as far as he can reach them and he doesn't flail and wake up any more. So, he's outgrowing it and soon maybe I can put him down without swaddling, but not yet or he freaks, unless he is in a dead sleep already, which I try not to do so he is used to falling asleep IN BED.

[hannybanany]

My 15 month old still gets swaddled. It's a little ridulous to be swaddling a toddler, but certainly not dangerous.

[tzs]

it's freaked me out when a couple times my babe has gotten free and had the swaddle up around her neck. she's 6 months and we do the double swaddle from you tube. not only can she not get free but if she did it wouldn't be up there tied around her.
i would love if she could just be free but i really don;t feel like waking up extra at night when she's flipped over to tummy and screaming and awake, which she does with one arm free when i try to wean. i'm scared there's no end in sight.

[mum23boyz]

we swaddled till about 5/6months, adn when they start rolling it does become a danger. Our LO was addicted to the miracle blanket, but we went in one night and it was up around his head/neck as he was moving around so much.. not safe!! we ended up using a Peke Moe sleeper, which was for swaddle weaning and it was definitely safer than any loose blankets in the crib. That is what worked for us! good luck!

[Mal85]

DD just turned one and we just got rid of the swaddle. I think she'd still like it, but we've replaced it with a sleep sack and it's working! I really thought I'd still be swaddling my 3 y/o down the road she was so attached to it for sleeping.

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by tzs

it's freaked me out when a couple times my babe has gotten free and had the swaddle up around her neck. she's 6 months and we do the double swaddle from you tube. not only can she not get free but if she did it wouldn't be up there tied around her.
i would love if she could just be free but i really don;t feel like waking up extra at night when she's flipped over to tummy and screaming and awake, which she does with one arm free when i try to wean. i'm scared there's no end in sight.

I tried this, DS was free in about 30 seconds. I would agree though, that it is probably a "safer" swaddle because the blankets can't ride up because they are tucked through the crotch and doubled back.

[ladyleah]

I am so glad I just found this post. I was getting freaked out that my 14 week old still reallllllly likes to be swaddled (he gets frustrated and angry and chokes himself sucking on his fist and fingers without it!!!)--- thinking that he should be "over" the swaddle thing by now since he likes to play with his hands so much.

Without the swaddle he will rarely fall asleep, and if he does he wakes up within an hour or so. With the swaddle we get at least 5 hours straight and he falls right asleep with a little nursing or a few sucks on the paci.

So, I am glad to know that this is ok to keep doing!! (he doesn't roll yet--) I will just continue to test without every few weeks and see what happens!

PS- I use the Dream Swaddle which is a fairly new product made by Mums 2 Mums (sp?) out of New Zealand. I HIGHLY recommend it-- google it and check it out. They are hard to find in person, so I had to order my large one directly from the US distrib.

[tzs]

update:
we are now at 6 months able to roll to tummy in the double swaddle (and actually, it's a triple cause i do another arm swaddle on top of it to keep it tight.)
in fact....we are doing it all.the.time.
i'm not worried, a chick who's strong enough to roll in a triple swaddle over and over and over again can keep her breathing safe but i guess it's time to go cold turkey.

[MaddieMay]

I think we weaned from the swaddle around 4-5 months. We went cold turkey. It was a few rough nights, but he's fine now. We just have a blanket we "tuck in" around him. That way he still has the "cocoon" sense, but can easily get free, which he does.

[jacobsmom813]

We just stopped for good last night! DS is just past seven months. We started at six months doing just one arm/body for a few weeks, then just swaddled his body, and last night nothing. He just started rolling a couple weeks ago...