Yesterday I was watching the video monitor and saw my LO (5 months) almost roll from his back to his front while swaddled, and so decided that it was time to stop swaddling. LO has slept in a HALO velcro sleep sack since birth, with arms swaddled in. Had originally planned to wean the swaddle slowly (with 1 arm in, 1 arm out, etc) but since LO was in danger of rolling, had to quit cold turkey.
Last night I tried to go without sleep sack and put him in fleece footie pajamas for sleep and kept the rest of the bedtime routine the same. After about 40 minutes of screaming/hysterical crying I figured that he needed the bedtime cue of the sleep sack so changed him into cotton pajamas and put him in the sleep sack with arms out. Still screamed for another 20 minutes before going to sleep.
I watched the monitor intermittently throughout the night and he was moving his arms and legs like crazy, but seemed to be in a light sleep, and work at his normal times for bottles.
During the day today he napped in the sleep sack with arms out and had a harder time settling for naps and woke up earlier than normal. It was like having his arms out stopped him from sleeping well.
Tonight I thought I would avoid last nights screaming by starting out in the sleep sack with arms out. Again, kept bedtime routine the same. Despite this, had 30 minutes of screaming tonight before he tired himself out enough to fall asleep. Tried to hold arms down as I rocked him (our pre-bedtime routine), to keep his arms and hands from moving, but no effect.
So... any ideas on how to help this? I read that it can take babies 3-7 days to get used to sleeping without the swaddle. Is the crying his way of expressing that he can't settle with his arms out, and if so, any ideas about how to help him adjust? For safety reasons I feel that he must have his arms out, so we can't do any kind of loose swaddle or other weaning techniques. Also, is the fact that he is moving around like crazy as he sleeps normal? Will he always move so much, or is this an adjustment thing as well?
Thanks for any advice!
