How did you know when it was time to stop swaddling?

[P.J.]

...and how did you do it? Was it a gradual weaning or just cold turkey? And how does your baby stay asleep if he or she is flailing about?

My DS is 3.5 months and lately he seems to fight the swaddle towards the middle of the night. So I usually unwrap him and it's not a big deal. But he also sometimes fights it when he's getting wrapped for sleep. Of course as soon as I get him to the breast and then he falls asleep, he's fine, so I guess it's not a problem. But I was wondering if maybe it's soon time to wean him from swaddling. I can tell you it would make our life simpler as it's sometimes a hassle to wrap him up when he's sleepy...but the few times I haven't, he seems to wake up sooner. In fact just last week I experimentally swaddled him with arms out, and he woke up after just 5 minutes~ he always has those flailing arms. So I guess it's too soon to wean him from the swaddle.

But it made me wonder when other babies stopped getting swaddled. I know some recommend at 3 or 4 months, or when they can roll~ which my baby can, but we use sleep positioners to keep him on his back when he sleeps without us right next to him, so for now that's not an issue here. And I've also heard of some people swaddling until almost a year.

So, what was/is your experience with this? TYIA

[spmamma]

My general rule of thumb has been to wait until they can bust out of it immediately every time. At that point, they simply don't need it anymore and are ready to sleep without it.

DD was about 8.5 MO when she could do that... DS is 10 MO and still being swaddled although I usually take him out of it after I get into bed with him.

[Knitting Mama]

Cecilia is 5 months (next week) and is still swaddled for all sleeps unless they're when she's being worn. I can't even imagine her sleeping without it right now; every time I try, her sleep is drastically reduced. I think that if your child sleeps alright without the swaddle then you can go for it, but if he still sleeps better with it, there's no rush. I foresee Cecilia being swaddled for a long time coming, when she naps for 3-4 hours swaddled and 30 minutes unswaddled!

[jsh7809]

Yeah, I spent most of this last month with terrible sleep because of all of the wiggliness, and finally went back to reswaddling and she seems to be fighting it less again. I have to wait until she's pretty sleepy, and sometimes I do have to unswaddle her in the night, but it seems to have made a big difference in helping her stay asleep in the past few days. She's almost 5 months.
So I would say, just keep trying it and be prepared to go back and forth. My DD won't nap longer than 45 minutes even with the swaddle, so we go unswaddled during the day, and I feel like that gives her enough time to practice being unswaddled... Hopefully once she can really find her hands and legs and everything she wants even in her sleep, she'll not need the swaddle anymore.

[taramoon13]

we swaddled ds (with arms out) pretty much until he didn't fit the blanket anymore then i moved to a really cute organic sleep sac from ebay that zipped. he loved that as well and it was a great transition.

[SilverFish]

we are at just 6 mos and swaddle about 85% of the time, and i usually regret it when i don't. the times i don't are usually when i'm too tired or distracted to do it (like when errands or travelling coincide with nap or bedtime) and it generally leads to less sleeping time. however, there are times when i don't swaddle and she sleeps well, so i think we are slowly moving in that direction. today for example she napped for 2 1/2 hours with only only one re-settling which is pretty close to how long she'd sleep swaddled.

swaddling is nice because it's part of the sleeping routine... it helps both of us know what's coming next... i especially find it helpful when we're feeling a bit chaotic or fussy. on nice calm happy days, i find we need it a lot less. i will keep swaddling as long as we need to.

[CherryBomb]

I'm surprised people are swaddling so long! My babies have never tolerated it for more than a few weeks after birth, so that's when I stop.

[RiverandJulie]

We swaddled at night until he was 7 months old. He really liked being swaddled, although he always fought his way out. Then one day, he fought me putting it on, we stopped, and he slept fine.

[ladyleah]

Perfect timing for this post...

My DS started sleeping like crap with his swaddle at 8 months (yep-- a looooong time, but before this he wouldn't sleep for more then a hour or so without it!!!!)....and we began the transition about 3.5 weeks ago to stop.

We tried a regular sleep sack with arms in for a few nights and it wasn't great- Then we tried the sack with arms out and it wasn't great, but he learned that he liked to sleep on his belly now (after 8 months of back sleeping)-- which was fine.

What we have had to do for now is buy one of those stretchy organic cotton (because they are softer and thinner) swaddle things from Kiddopotamus and put one arm in (we alternate the arms each nap and bedtime)-- then we lay him on his belly. He can get the arm out if he tries...but he prefers not to until the middle of the night usually.

He sleeps like CRAP if both arms are out-- as he starts to crawl around crying and pull himself up in the crib at every single awakening and can't settle himself at ALL. When he has brief awakenings with one arm in and one out he grabs for his blankie or paci and goes right back to sleep. When he really wakes up its because he wants to nurse- which I do- but its only once a night on average now with the new sleeping position.

I guess we will try both arms out again at 9 months and see what happens?

Our doc told us that both arms should come out so that he can learn all this cold turkey and let him CIO to get used to it.

Um. Yeah. No thanks. I guess next time she asks we will lie about the sleeping....lololol

PS- To those who might worry about lenghty swaddling on development- my DS hit all his physical milestones for his age on the early end and has no delays at all....so don't worry!!!!!

[Knitting Mama]

I've never heard of developmental delays with proper swaddling (e.g. not swaddled when awake). In fact, something I read at one point suggested that swaddling actually may help with muscle control, since it helps the baby keep their muscles still while sleeping, thus they actually get some rest.

[Snapdragon]

I am kind of wondering this too. We stopped swaddling ds at three months or so- and now, for the past few weeks we have been swaddling him for sleep again. (he is 5 and a 1/4 months or so) I have mixed feelings about it. We do it because he started rolling over from back to belly all the time. He sleeps in a sidecarred crib next to me.
If we put him unswaddled on his back he rolls right over to his belly- then can't really get back yet and gets unsettled. He also kicks his legs straight up and kicks off the covers, and grabs at his paci (which sucking on helps him to sleep) and pulls it out, and generally flails around- not unhappy but not sleeping! When we swaddle him he groans about it while we swaddle, but then does settle into sleep (with the usual stuff required to settle a baby to sleep, lol)
the thing is- yesterday the swaddle came undone so that his arms were out and when i went to check on him (daytime nap) he looked so cozy all lounged out on his side with his arms free. I thought- maybe he prefers not to be swaddled. but I tried it a # of times today and he just could not settle.

So I feel like it is the right thing to do as it helps him to sleep, but I would prefer if we didn;t have to as maybe he would be more comfy?

[Snapdragon]

I copied this form the miracle blanket website:

"When should I stop swaddling?
There are many differing opinions on this. We, at The Miracle Blanket, think 3 ½ to 4 months is a good time to stop. A good rule of thumb is, the baby will begin to let you know he's had enough of swaddling after a few months … this is the best time to stop. If your baby loves to be swaddled after 4 months, studies show that it's fine. As a matter of fact some cultures swaddle beyond 12 months; however, the chance of problems with "loose bedding accidents" increase when the baby is old enough to struggle free of the blanket and turn over on his/her own. "

This makes sense and this aspect is a concern- breaking out of the swaddle and getting it tangled.
so then- what is the option for a 5 month old who turns over unless swaddled when put in bed?
He is sleeping up in his bed right now (with dh) and I am tempted to go unswaddle him and see if he stays asleep.

added- okay- I just did it and so far so good. He turned onto his side and looked much more comfy! sO I think we weill use the swaddle to get him to sleep and try to take it off when he is sound asleep.
sorry to hijak your thread for a secon PJ- back to you now. It just came at a good time as I was wondering about this today.

[mimie]

We're going through this with my DS. He is almost four months old, but big (17 lbs.). He busts out of the Miracle Blanket and I worry about it getting tangled around his face/neck. Also, when swaddled, he wakes up more frequently and is very cranky when he wakes up - I think he gets uncomfortable from not moving around while he is sleeping. But he loves being swaddled sooooo much at bedtime, we've had a couple of rough nights getting him down to sleep without the swaddle. But the past two nights with no swaddle, he has slept very well once he finally gets to sleep. Last night he only woke once to nurse, instead of 3-4 times.

Tonight he was able to fall asleep in my arms with no crying/fussing without the swaddle, so I think we're seeing some progress. He's done better with naps - I've been able to put him down awake and unswaddled and he falls asleep on his own. Bedtime he really needs to be comforted down to sleep.

[Truckerdoo]

At 14 weeks I found my son sleeping face down, fully swaddled. He was very strong, apparently had flipped over in his sleep. But obviously couldn't flip back over! I'm so glad nothing happened that night...but that was when I knew: no more swaddling!

He hated it anyway. :-)

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by Truckerdoo

At 14 weeks I found my son sleeping face down, fully swaddled. He was very strong, apparently had flipped over in his sleep. But obviously couldn't flip back over! I'm so glad nothing happened that night...but that was when I knew: no more swaddling!

I found my son face-down swaddled after a nap when he was very young, I think 8 weeks or so (he learned to roll from back to belly at about this time). It was really scary to see. That's when I started using the sleep positioners (we have ones like these with air vents). They were given to me from someone whose baby had outgrown them, and at first I thought they were ridiculous and even mean. But now we use them for every nap (he sleeps on our bed and naps alone there), plus I put firm head pillows on either side just to be extra sure he can't roll over. And it works great! Were it not for those sleep positioners we'd have had to stop swaddling as soon as he could roll.

[goldenwillow]

Originally Posted by CherryBomb

I'm surprised people are swaddling so long! My babies have never tolerated it for more than a few weeks after birth, so that's when I stop.

Same here. DS would wiggle out pretty quickly. Always liked his arms out but liked his lower half swaddled.

[tzs]

i also agonized over this for months...wondering of dd was going to go off to college with her swaddle.
and i had the same worries about getting stuck while swaddled b/s she was quite the roller.
she had been busting out of the swaddle which was great but had to start the night or especially the nap wrapped up
i started swaddle weaning around 7 or 8 months...one arm out alternating. i wasn't really sure where to proceed from there...looser? still tight but arms out and just around the body? and then somehow she just stopped needing it. it just happened. i don't think it was overnight and i'm not sure how i realized she didn't need it but i can proudly say she just slept her first night as a one year-old and there was no swaddle in sight.