Weaning off swaddle

[Sjbc1019]

Hi

Our 5 month old has been fighting the swaddle me wraps so we decided to wean her off.  We started with one hand out for a day and seemed to go alright although when she woke from naps it took her 20-25 mins to fall back asleep.  (We keep her in crib fOr one hour and only get her if she is crying). She naps about 25-35 mins- we are working on trying to do longer naps.  Anyhow- then the next day we thought we would just get rid of the swaddle altogether and lay her in the crib with just pjs.  We did that for a few days and it was not good.  It took her a long time to fall asleep b/c it seemed like she was so distracted by her hands.  Then in the middle of the night after a feed she would stay up for up to 2 hours just playing/sucking on holds and not cry until an hour and a half later.  I could see she would try to fall asleep but her hands kept falling and she would wake.  It seems she doesn't know what to do with her hands yet.  Last night we decided to go back to only 1 hand out and today seems to be better.  She is for the most part putting herself to sleep again ( we were having to do a little shush pat again to calm her).  We usually give a week to see if something works but it just felt like the no swaddle was not the right time yet.  I guess my question is- is her reaction normal to not being swaddled?  Taking long to fall asleep.  Hands waking her up.  Needing shush pat to calm her again.  Is there anything we can do to make the transition out of the swaddle easier?  Any advice on this is appreciated.  We miss just putting her in crib and she falls asleep and she is likely to roll over soon so that s why we started as well as she seemed to fight it.

Thanks

[Mummy23boys]

Hi there,

✨✨Hugs to you ✨✨
I just went to write a post about the same thing!! My DS is 5 months too and we tried to do the one arm out thing and he's ok for night time but waking earlier now and the hand out isn't helping! It's keeping him awake! Tried to do it at naps but no way, it just keeps him awake!  so I'm in the same boat as you! I wonder should we continue to swaddle for another few weeks?

My little guy still has loads of jerks/jolts that wake him up too. Is that the same for you?

Hopefully we both will get some help on this!

[Lake lover]

Crazy! I just posted this like an hour before you... Same age baby too! I have not dared to try without or with even one arm yet... Too scared. sounds like the right developmental time being the responses... Can't wait to hear what others think/did.

[jessmum46]

Bumping for you ladies, I never swaddled at all so not much use with advice I'm afraid!

[Mummy23boys]

How is it going for you ladies?

We did all naps and BT in sleep sack and its gone well I'm glad to say. The first day was a bit weird but he got used to it fairly fast! So going cold turkey was defo the way to go with us! Hope you all are having luck with it!

Maybe there should be some sort of sticky regarding weaning the swaddle? I didn't find a lot on it either. Would have been nice to have some sort of advice on how people tackled it and how long it took etc? Sorry if there is and I somehow missed it..

Anyhoo, best of luck ladies 😃

[jessmum46]

Maybe there should be some sort of sticky regarding weaning the swaddle?

I'll have a chat with the other mods and see what the consensus is

[jessmum46]

Following on from your suggestion.......Weaning the swaddle - when, how, tips and tricks

[Mummy23boys]

Wow! That's brilliant! Thanks 😃😃

[enna77]

We were swaddling one arm out for ages I was quite nervous to get the other one out (at nearly 7mo LOL!) but we just did it cold turkey (use a sleeping bag at night) and she was completely fine with it. We have always used a sleep wedge though so think this helps her feel cosier!

Loving the new sticky BTW.

FWIW I was also told if the baby is a bit more spirited/visually stimulated wrapping can be more important for naps when theres lots of distraction vs night so that's another option is to mix it up a bit when you're starting to wean, depending on the kind of baby. If she wasn't settling for naps as well this was going to be my attack plan.