Swaddling

[Lilacs]

Hi Ladies,

I was wondering when did you stopped swaddling your little one? Last night, I tried to let LO sleep unswaddled for the first time. I put her in one of these little sleep sack things where her hands are free and the bottom portion looks like open ended gown but has a band thingy so her feet can stay inside but we can easily access to change her without unbuttoning or unzipping anything. Anyways, last night has proven to be a disaster. Not sure if last night was just a bad night all together to try something new as it was the 4th of July and fireworks were booming all night and my dogs were also shaking all night. I ended up swaddling her at the end. And she went to sleep.

I think in general, LO sleeps better swaddled. She likes being held nice and tight.

How long should be swaddling her...4 months, 6 months? Any tips on transitioning on swaddling to unswaddling?

Thanks!

[Lois]

One of my twins (the more restless sleeper) really did much better swaddled until well, not sure, probably well over 4 months but maybe not 6?? dh thought it was because she would thrash her arms around, hit herself, and then wake up and cry??? The other one sleeps like a log no matter what, still. 3rd dd--liked being very warm, so swaddling helped that. She still sleeps all covered up no matter the weather.

[Pug Girl]

One of my daughters hated it. She wouldn't sleep well swaddled and squirmed until she was out of the blanket. Everyone told me to swaddle her for a good night sleep. We gave up around 2 or 3 months. My second daughter loved to be swaddled and we swaddled her until about 6 months when she began rolling all around in her bed. Each kid is different

[KimAtFertilityAuthority]

We weren't quite at 6 months, but I remember having this same dilemma. Honestly, you need your sleep too. You will know when it is time...once she is busting out of the swaddle and generally resisting it. Good luck!

[DMS721]

Both boys hated being swaddled. I would swaddle from the waist down so they had free arms. I only did that for about 2 months.

Dawn

[BC-Sparrow]

We swaddled our twins for six months. They slept so much better that way. We stopped when they broke out to roll over.

[zaworas]

I swaddled my twins from birth to probably 6-8 months. They loved it. First swaddled with blankets then swaddled with this sleep sacks :-)

[Lilacs]

My little has started to break out of her swaddle. But more recently, she started to rotate herself in the crib. I would lay her down horizontally (east-west) and when I go in to check in on her, I find her sleeping vertically (north-south). I am worried she might hit her head against the crib railing if she stay sleeping vertically when she kicks or shifts so I've been checking on her quite often and repositioning her back to horizontally. Sometimes I would find her at the end of the crib. I usually place her in the middle. She sometimes have managed to kick or shift herself to the lower end of the crib.

Time to let her sleep unswaddled?

[waiting in MT]

Do you have a bumper on the crib? We use the safe Breathable Bumpers from target or amazon. That way if she bumps her head it wont hurt and you dont have to worry about limbs hanging out of the crib. And yes maybe it may be time to unswaddle her.

[DMS721]

I second the breathable bumpers. I used them with both boys. Also if she is moving around, I would stop swaddling her, or at least leave her arms out of the swaddle.

Dawn