Weaning the swaddle

[grace annes mommy]

J is still swaddled tightly with 2 blankets - think miracle blanket style but with a muslin plus a velcro swaddle.  She really needs to be swaddled to sleep.  She spent nearly her entire first month of life swaddled. Could be crying hysterically, then instantly calmed by swaddle alone.  Problem is, I've caught her trying to roll in her swaddle and I know that's not safe...  DD1 needed the swaddle too and we didn't ditch it until really old - probably 7 months and had no issues.  I didn't realize at the time it wasn't safe but she also didn't try to roll around in it. 

I'm trying to think of gradual ways to wean it...  I tried one arm out but that was way too much too soon.  I have a zippadee zip.  Again, too much too soon.  I've tried not using the muslin and only the velcro.  This is going OK for naps, but for night sleep she can't handle it.  It's ridiculous, really.

 Any clever ideas?

[Martini~]

Hmmm have you heard of a safeTsleep or woombie plus? They enable swaddling for children who roll.

[Jodes112]

Hi!

We had a swaddle lover. And had the same problem when she started to roll.

We ended up weaning the swaddle by doing 1 arm at a time. One out for the first few days then both for another few days. It was a little rocky but eventually settled out.

We actually then found the safeTsleep after she was removed from the swaddle! She had reflux so in order to keep her flat we invested (we got ours from ebay they can be quite pricey) and she slept in that until she was around 10 months old when she started to be able to climb out of it. Look it up, you can keep swaddled in it, its a sleep positioner x

[buttermilk!]

I also couldn't imagine ditching the swaddle. Seemed like she just wouldn't sleep without it. By at 3.5 months we started shush/pat and used it to get her sleeping in the crib without a swaddle. I then realized I think the problem was just that I had no other tool to get her to sleep. We persevered and honestly it wasn't so bad. Other times I would try to ditch the swaddle and assumes the crying would never stop but that wasn't true - she did eventually fall asleep! We just had to commit and not look back.

[grace annes mommy]

Thanks for the ideas.  I am actually able to shh/pat her to sleep partially unswaddled or in the zipadeezip.  The problem is that she wakes soon after, I'm assuming at the jolts and seems to still have a strong moro reflex.

I looked up safe t sleep and woombie plus.  How do you handle NFs with products like those.  I'm just imagining lifting her out to feed and if she falls asleep feeding (which she usually does) then getting her back in.  The woombie plus seems pretty cumbersome for feeds?  And the safetsleep - I would have to try to hook her in without waking her up, right?  Also I'm not really visualizing how she can be swaddled in it? Maybe I'm missing something.

[Jodes112]

You would swaddle her then the saftTsleep is attached around her middle. Her tummy. Its a huge strap that fastens the whole way around the matress. Then where the baby lays there is kind of like a belt. You open it, lift out the swaddled baby, feed, place back down and fasten it again 😊

[Martini~]

With woombie plus I guess you just take baby out of the woombie, feed and lay back down. With safeTsleep it as Jodes says:).

[Sharwellstudio]

My little guy is 5 months now and we will have to get him out of the swaddle soon too. I tried the zipadeezip almost 2 weeks ago with disastrous results. He also wants to chow down on his hands, so when he busts out of the swaddle he is happy to chew on his hands but it isn't soothing at all!  Maybe someday...  I think the Magic Merlin suit might be your short-term answer. The one I saw is so bulky I don't think a 5 month old could roll in it if they wanted to.