Swaddle issues

[mkoehl]

How old is your child?  7.5 months
What’s his/her daily routine?  EAEAS...usually around a 5 hour total cycle.
What’s nap routine? I change her diaper, we cuddle a little, and she usually puts herself almost to sleep on her own.  I put her in her crib as soon as I see her eyes getting heavy. 
How long are naps? if lucky, 1.5 hours
What's bedtime routine? Time?  change diaper, bottle, dad reads a story or two, and then in bed.usually around 8
Do you bottle or breastfed??  breast during the day, bottle at night (so daddy can put her to sleep)
How much? or how long? 10 minutes on breast, 3 ounces with bottle
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) one
How many wakes per night? sometimes only once... but lately, too many to count!  Every hour from midnight untill 6:00, but never at the same time (or same time during the hour)
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? usually unswaddled or without pacifier.  Once the problem is fixed, she goes back to sleep.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  I usually wait until I hear her cry a second or third time before I go into her.  She can get herself so upset that it takes forever for her to go back to sleep.
What have you tried to settle??  Just solving the problem (reswaddle or pacifier)
What do you do for A time and how long is it? lots of things.... play with toys, activity center, outside, stroller rides
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?  maybe teething... but why would she want the pacifier
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) 
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? not really... unless its the pacifier
Do they have a lovie? I've tried using a little green blanket, but she isn't really attaching herself to anything

Here's the real problem... obviously, she should be able to sleep without her swddle by not... but she's not.  However, she works her way out of it multiple times every night, but then once she's out of it, she doesn't like it, and cries because she wants to be swaddled again.  So.. .I usually end up swaddling her multiple times at night.  I've tried having her sleep with one arm out to start weaning her, but she has very bad arm control when she's tired, and always rubs her eyes or pull sout the pacifier, which then wakes her up.  I'm lost as to what to do... and desparate for some sleep.  She wasn't always like this.... just the last month or so.  Previously, she would just wake up once a night for a feeding.

Please help!

[estherofi20]

hello there, sorry you are having a rough time, ok, since you say you have tried the one arm swaddle, and its not working, maybe it would work for you the "tuck in" method, here is the link with the explanation: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63879.msg474327#msg474327

HTH

[mkoehl]

yea...tried that too...no luck.  Last night was better... left the other arm out of the swaddle and she seemed to be ok with that.  Only woke twice and wanted the pacifier.  I think it has to do with the fact that she doesn't nap well.  She takes two naps (and I would be ok with that if they were long naps), but she wakes up after 1 hour and 15 minutes.  She she's not getting much nap sleep during the day, and it's affecting her night sleep.

She can go 3+ hours of A time, but I feel that that's a little long for a 7.5 month old.  I try and put her down for naps earlier, but she fights it. 

I'm think I'm going to try shhh/pat next week and see if I can get her to take longer naps.... she's not really fussy or tired during the day, just wakes up a lot at night.

[Claudia Main]

My daughter is 7.5 months too and we had the exact same problem you describe.  The problem started about two weeks ago.  Here is what I did:  I taught her how to sleep without the swaddling.  I started with her afternoon nap.  It took 50 minutes before she could fall asleep (instead 4 minutes in the swaddling).  The first night took one hour and ten minutes.  It was very stressful - crying, arms flailing, a lot of wiggly, pulling down the crib bumpers, etc.  She also woke several times during the night and seemed out of sorts to have her arms out.  The second night took 50 minutes.  The third night 20 minutes.  The fourth night, she just rolled over and fell asleep.  The rationale for making this change was as follows: the fact that she kept breaking out of the swaddling told me that she didn't really want to be in it.  Also, she wanted to have better access to her pacifier, which was not realistic in the swaddling.  (I simultaneously taught her to get her pacifier on her own, by handing it to her instead of putting it in her mouth when it fell out.)  The fact that it was such a struggle for her to fall asleep without the swaddling told me that it was unfamiliar, but not necessarily that she would not ultimately prefer to be out of the swaddling.  The fourth day we were working on a swaddle-free nap, I "caved in" and swaddled her.  But, it quickly became apparent that she absolutely did not want it.  So, I ramble.  I guess what I am trying to say is that it sounds like your lo is ready to be free from the swaddling, and you can show her how do it.