Swaddle, swaddle, swaddle...

[shinysarah]

Hi all, my lo (20 weeks) loves to be swaddled and will not sleep when he isn't swaddled however, now he's a little stronger, he can pull his arms out and consequently, he wakes up!
We're now at the point where he's waking through the night because off it so we've decided to bite the bullet and try to get him out of his swaddle and into a sleeping bag.
Is anybody weaning their lo off swaddling?? If so, how's it going?? And, any tips!!!   

[sanaya]

hey sarah,

my lo is almost 7 months old and we have the same problem.
alot of people go cold turkey with the swaddle but mine loves the swaddle during the day and at night hes kinda gotten used to being unswaddled.
personally i like the swaddle because its a great sleep cue, but summer is around the corner and i will be weaning him off it completely by then.

so i havent really given u any great tips, just thought i'd share.

[shinysarah]

Thanks for sharing!!

[natashacs]

Hi, I had the same prob and at 3.5 months we went cold turkey on the swaddling. I was worried about it as althoguh my LO fought is way out of it ALL the time, he could never drop off without it. But having to reswaddle him was causing lots of night wakings and I'd just had enough. So anyway, I got rid of it and was prepared for 3 or so days of adjustment, actually after about a day and a half it was fine. He loves lying all stretched out in his cot in a big star shape!!!!
Another thing we've done is introduce a lovvie - ours is basically called a comforter, its a square bit of blanket with a horses head on it (hmm, sounds a bit wierd but its very sweet!). He really likes that and now snuggles up to it. I have to give it to him becuase if I don't his hands still go all over theplace when he's tired which wakes him up, but if he's got that he holds onto it and has something to do with his hands.

[sinbur]

Hi Sarah,

I had the same problem with my spirited and extremely active baby girl. She couldn't sleep AT ALL without being swaddled but she just got too strong at about 20 weeks. I tried cold turkey but she she could not settle even in bed with me, she was frantic for about 3 hours until she finally just wore herself out and even then she only managed to sleep for an hour.

What eventually worked was swaddling her with just one arm out. At first even that was difficult for her, it kept waving around in the air! When she got used to it after a week or so (i was wrapping her legs less tightly by then too) I then let her other arm free but kept her body and legs wrapped, finally when she was used to having both arms free I tried her in a grobag and she was just fine.

That's what worked for us anyway... Good luck!

Sinead.

[mokey_cat]

Hi Sarah.  I am also thinking of weaning my LO off swaddling as she bursts out of it every night.  I attempted to do a one arm swaddle tonight but chickened out as she had a bad day so might try again next week.  Would really love to hear how you get on though.  Good luck 

[shinysarah]

Thank you Sanaya, Natasha, Sinead and Mokeycat for your advice! I'm terrified to be honest, especially now as this week he's starting going down awake for his naps and dropping off independently!!!  Have decided to do the one arm thing first, he usually pulls his left one out so that's the one that we'll give a go first through the day!
I'll keep you all posted!
Sarah

[shinysarah]

mokeycat, have started the one arm thing, will keep you posted!!!

[mokey_cat]

Hi Sarah

We tried it last night too     Well, she fell asleep fully swaddled and we kind of let an arm out while doing the dreamfeed.  We found that she didnt wake until 4.30am which she normally does anyway.  The only thing was she found it a bit difficult to get back to sleep so i ended up swaddling fully again - but it wasnt anywhere near as bad as I was expecting!!!  I will maybe try again tonight.  Good luck to you.  Let me know how it goes

Laura
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[jasmynesmum]

oh-no... I am petrified and in exactly the same boat!!  I am wayyy too scared to try and wean, but know I have to as night wakings are occuring b/c of breaking out of the swaddle!

[AmeliaLove]

I came up with a way to prevent my very strong 19-week old from busting out of her swaddle...for those who don't appear ready to wean.  BTW, she was also busting out of the Miracle Blanket, which wraps around a couple times...and it was ending up covering her face.  So I knew I had to do something.

I have the Kiddopotamus Swaddle Me velcro wrap.  She was easily getting out of it and waking up.  And I am terrible at regular swaddling, so she got out of my swaddles easily.  So, inside of the Swaddle Me blanket, I put a half of a receiving blanket, folded in half.  So, basically, it acts like the "arm holders" in the Miracle Blanket.  I lay her on top of the half of receiving blanket (that's folded in half) and wrap her arms in it and put the excess cloth under her body (her back/bottom).  Her body weight actually holds her arms down when she's lying down because the cloth that's holding her arms is under her.  Then I wrap her up with the Swaddle Me as usual.  I can't belive how well it works.  She has NEVER gotten out of this in the 3 weeks we've been doing it.  I thought I was going to have to wean, but then thought up this idea and my husband is really impressed!  He said I should make swaddle blankets with this idea because it's really hard to get out of.  She is sleeping much better than when she was getting her arms out of it.

I have also heard that you can use 2 big muslin swaddling blankets to prevent then from breaking out of it, but I'm not sure how.

I do think I'm going to wean in the next few weeks, though -- I think she's getting ready.

Good luck!
Shannon

[shinysarah]

Hey Laura, well we're on night 2 and, dare I say it, it's also going better than I thought...The first night we had LOTS of crying initially because he kept hitting himself in the head with his flailing arm and waking himself up (this lasted for about 2 hours on and off).  Last night we had a little bit of the same but not as much as the first night so hopefully it will get gradually better!!!!  Keep me posted as to how you're going!! x

Shannon, that's a great idea, you should market it!! It's bonkers that it affects so many of us!!

Sarah x

[mokey_cat]

Hi Sarah

Congratulations, it sounds like it is going really well!!!  Im sure it will only be a few more nights and he will be used to it 

We tried going cold turkey and just had her in a sleeping bag.  She fell asleep herself but woke after 40 minutes and couldn't get back to sleep.  I left her for an hour but she wasn't even crying - I have a sneaky suspicion that she was talking to her hands because she was babbling away   I knew she was really tired so I just swaddled her again.  I think I might wait a week or so before trying again,  We are having terrible trouble with short naps so by night she is totally knackered so I think I will wait till we have that sorted first.

Shannon.  I have been doing that too!!!  We use a sheet and it keeps her arms totally tight.  I was worried that because she could barely move her arms, it might be bad for her which is why I wanted to stop swaddling altogether.  What age is your LO?  I would be happy to do this for a while as long as it is ok.  We have only done it for a week but managed 3 nights with no night wakings when we swaddled her arms like that 

Good luck to all of you!!

[shinysarah]

Hey Laura, we're going for both arms out on Thursday..dreading it, again!!!! I'll keep you posted!!

Shannon, let us know how you're getting on!

Sarah x

[mokey_cat]

Hey Sarah

It sounds like you are doing amazing!!  We went for a 1 arm swaddle last night and we also have decided to stop using a dummy/paci (better to do it all at once eh) as she was dependent on that for sleep.  I thought that the dummy dependency may have been causing the sort naps 

We ended up having a great night.  Took a while to get to sleep but she ended up sucking her hand - it was just too cute!  She woke up at her normal times (4, 6 then 6) but she didnt even need me and fell asleep on her own - I was so excited.  Normally I have to reswaddle and give dummy loads until morning so Im glad that we have decided now to stop.  She is now having a 1 arm swaddle/no dummy nap    Again, a bit of shh/patting to get her to sleep initially but it seems to be going really well so far.

How long did you do 1 arm out?  Good luck with the 2 arms 

Laura
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