Weaning off the swaddling...

My 5 month olds are pretty good sleepers. Given that my 21 month olds were NOT good sleepers until they hit 10 months or so, I'm beyond happy that we only have to pop the binky in for them maybe a few times between 4am - 6am. Not complaining!

But, we have been using swaddling outfits since they were born and they love them. It settles them right down, they fall asleep on their own, and sleep so well. My Mia is now starting to roll over and Lauren isn't far behind. I know we have to stop swaddling them soon. How do we do it? Just cold turkey? Or maybe just naps for now? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I started with naps. We did 1 arm out at first, then both, then into sleep sacks. The sleep sacks are looser than swaddles but have the same feel. Plus they were never cold in winter.

 

This is how we did it, too, although in our case, our boys were already starting to wiggle their arms out themselves many nights anyway.

 

This is exactly what I was going to suggest too. :good:

 

with my son we started when he was about 6-7 months old started out doing his naps first and then went to all the time. easy breezy =) Not sure how we are gonna do the girls.

 

I stopped swaddling cold turkey at 10 months. The first night and the following day with naps was really tough. After that, it got better and better each time. By the third night, they had realized that they liked the freedom and sleeping on their tummies and the swaddle thing was licked. I tried one arm at a time and it wasn't working for them... it just prolonged the inevitable! Good luck!!!

 

We had really really hot weather when they were about 8 weeks old and so we had no choice but to go cold turkey, had a few restless nights but they got used to it and when it gets cold again, we put the swaddles on but have the arms, they still like being swaddled. We have had really strange weather, from heat waves to winter cold ... very frustrating..

 

We went gradually DD was ready before DS but she was rolling every which way at 3 months! SO we did the one arm out for about a week then 2 arms out for a week and it wasnt that bad!! Good luck!!!

 

Well, here's the update: we decided to go the cold-turkey route but do them one at a time.

First up, Mia. She was rolling over which is why we knew it was time... well now she loves rolling right onto her belly and sleeping there all night. Truth be told I'm not thrilled about this, they are just 6 months, but short of staying up all night to roll her back on her back there isn't much I can do about it. It took her a couple of nights to get used to the belly sleeping but she is doing great now.

This past weekend we decided to try Lauren off the swaddling, as she was really outgrowing the swaddle sack - she isn't rolling over to her belly yet. Not a single issue with her! 3 nights now and she's doing great.

So all that concern & worry and it turned out ok. One more milestone we can check off the list!

 

What a relief!! I am so happy it went well for you!

 

Lucky you! We had to do cold turkey as well at just under 4 months, and it took a week or two to get used to. They immediately started sleeping on their stomachs (we also weren't thrilled, but what can you do, they slept well and were happy), and once they got past the adjustment period, they've been sleeping well. Be prepared for them to regress and not sleep well without the swaddle, especially if they get sick.