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when to stop swaddling

8K views 20 replies 21 participants last post by  Bay Area Babe 
#1 ·
wondering when people stop swaddling baby for naps and sleep, and if there are any developmental issues with swaddling (i.e. restricting their movement). My 3 month old is starting to learn to crawl and is VERY kicky at night, which makes co-sleeping difficult for mom. He also wakes himself during naps. We've only swaddled him the first few weeks and he sleeps very soundly when I'm wearing him, but I can't wear him as often as I did due to returning to work.

thanks.
 
#2 ·
swaddling just never worked for me...but i have a girlfriend who started doing it at 6 months (i think it was 6 mo. sometime there abouts) because her son would wake himself up by flailing. it seems to work really well for her.... he is a year old now and she still does it. it isn't super tight swaddling, just a little to restrain his arms from punching himself in the face while asleep.
 
#5 ·
We stopped swaddling at 4 weeks...B just would cry more when he was all bundled up. He seems to be hot natured.
 
#6 ·
We just stopped swaddling a couple of weeks ago and DD is 9 months. She wasn't tightly swaddled anymore, but we would wrap a large receiving blanket around her arms b/c she wouldn't sleep without it. I had tried periodically to put her down without swaddling and it never worked until one day I guess she was just ready and now she doesn't need it anymore.
 
#7 ·
We actually kept swaddling Kayleigh until she was about a year old. She seemed to need the restriction of her arm movement or else she would flail around and like a PP said, punch herself in her sleep. She still quite twitchy when she sleeps, but doesn't need swaddling now at 16ish months.

I've done it occasionaly though when she was very over tired and overstimulated.
 
#11 ·
dd is 7 months. we still swaddle when we put her down for naps and bedtime. she needs it to calm her body. within 20 mins she is completely out of it and spread out.
as far as development i have read that a tight swaddle that doesn't allow dc's legs to be in froggy position isn't good for hip development.
we use the large swaddle me blanket and her legs are fine,able to froggy.
 
#13 ·
Where do you all get blankets big enough to swaddle past 3 or 4 months? I live in Phoenix, AZ, and it's hot, so it can't be a heavy blanket, and I've had a hard time finding something big enough. I got some jersey cloth from a fabric store and that worked for awhile, but now I need something bigger or some new technique. Any suggestions?
:
 
#14 ·
My DD just outgrew her large swaddleme blanket. She was 21lbs and 29inches at 7 months, and she's almost 8 months now. We stopped swaddling 2 nights ago and so far things are going well. I only swaddled her when I put her down without us since she started out in a snugglenest, once she woke up and moved out of the snugglenest and into bed with us, she was unswaddled.
 
#16 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by batchy View Post
Where do you all get blankets big enough to swaddle past 3 or 4 months? I live in Phoenix, AZ, and it's hot, so it can't be a heavy blanket, and I've had a hard time finding something big enough. I got some jersey cloth from a fabric store and that worked for awhile, but now I need something bigger or some new technique. Any suggestions?
:
Ds is 4 months and LOVES to be swaddled. He is 20lbs and 27 inches long and we found these WONDERFUL blankets made by Aden & Anais (thanks Sarah!) they are made of a really light muslin material and they are quite large (not sure of the dimensions exactly). HTH.
 
#17 ·
We stopped when "Little Houdini" aka DD was able to get her arms loose, about 5 months. She now wakes up on her tummy 6 times out of 10.

I still sometimes wrap her up in a large light blanket, to calm her down for her bedtime boob. She's almost 10 mos.
 
#18 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by batchy View Post
Where do you all get blankets big enough to swaddle past 3 or 4 months? I live in Phoenix, AZ, and it's hot, so it can't be a heavy blanket, and I've had a hard time finding something big enough. I got some jersey cloth from a fabric store and that worked for awhile, but now I need something bigger or some new technique. Any suggestions?
:
i'm planning on taking an old light cotton bed sheet and cutting large, square blankets out of it...DD gets hot easily it seems. Also, though she's only 4 weeks old, she's 22.5 inches long...too big for a regular recieving blanket.
 
#20 ·
I stopped swaddling when DS was around 2 months old. I liked swaddling him when he took naps because he would flail his arms in his sleep and wake himself up. After 2 months though, he stopped doing that and seemed to want more freedom to move.
 
#21 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by batchy View Post
Where do you all get blankets big enough to swaddle past 3 or 4 months? I live in Phoenix, AZ, and it's hot, so it can't be a heavy blanket, and I've had a hard time finding something big enough. I got some jersey cloth from a fabric store and that worked for awhile, but now I need something bigger or some new technique. Any suggestions?
:
I just use whatever receiving blanket is handy. Even small ones work for a quick loose swaddle (DS is nearly 10 months) if I need it for a nap. DS needed to be swaddled at night until about 7.5 or 8 months at least partially (started letting the left arm out and then eventually the right) - lots of arm flailing and face/ear/eye scratching.

Babies R Us Koala brand has a wide waffley blanket that we use, though I sometimes use a small Gerber square. One thing we stopped doing was folding down a corner and putting the head there and just started rolling length-wise.
 
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