Girls can't sleep without being swaddled

Help! I have been putting my 4 1/2 month olds to sleep every night in the Kiddopotamus swaddles. They work wonderfully and my girls love them. My problem is that it is starting to get really hot here and the babies are getting too hot in their swaddles. I worry about them overheating. I bought some sleep sacks and tried them last night. The girls were restless and awake most of the night. All 3 of us are miserable. What can I do? We have the cotton swaddles, but they are fairly thick. Does anyone know of a thinner kind? Or another option? They bust out of blanket swaddles in seconds. Oh, and air conditioning is not an option- not worth the battle of turning it on and off with my husdand.

 

My daughter didn't give up the swaddle until last week, at 5.5 months so I know where you're coming from. She had her legs unswaddled for a while but didn't want to give up the arm swaddle. I eventually migrated her to one arm out and then dropped it completely but it was a process.

Have you tried the miracle blanket? That's mostly what we used and exclusively once the weather got warmer. It's lighter weight cotton although it does wrap around the body several times. It's the only blanket my kids couldn't bust out of.

We have them in sleep sacs now with just a onesie underneath.

You may also want to give it another two nights before calling it quits on your current strategy. In my experience, changing sleep problems takes approx. 3 nights of dedicated effort with the first night being the worst, the second being slightly better and the third even better. THat may or may not work in your case, but could be worth a try since you just passed the first night (?)

GOod luck! We had a hard time with unswaddling, too.

 

I'm in the exact same situation. We even use the same swaddles as you guys! We just got an air conditioner for their room! I tried buying really light fabric but the girls busted out.

Sorry I'm not much help.

 

that is funny I was just thinking the same thing about swaddling.. I want to stop putting them in it as well due to being warm I have a/c but still worry . ihave both swaddled blankets and use the miracle ones because my other ones are to small now.. my b/g twins are almost 3mths. i use a onsie underneat and put a fan on them just in case they get too warm . I feel as though overheating is worse if tehy are cooler its ok.. they wont sleep comfortably with out them. and then I worry if they squirm out of them will they put it over their face. it just doesnt stop (the worrying)
that is why i wanted to stop but what littel sleep I get I want to hold on to.

 

We swaddled them in just their diapers, have you tried that?

 

I haven't tried them yet but a friend gave me a few Australian swaddling blankets. They are really big and very lightweight. I just searched and found a US company that sells them...

http://www.adenandanais.com

Maybe we'll give them a try with our twins tonight. Nina is like Houdini. Of course, we also have to sit down and watch Harvey Karp's video again. Our swaddling skills are a little rusty.

Our pediatrician had us break Lucy of the swaddle at 4.5 months as part of the CIO routine. We moved her to a sleep sack where she stayed until about 18 months.

Hope this helps!

 

Mine loved swaddling too, we swaddled them with just a t-shirt underneath. They were finally both out of the swaddles by 6 mos, but yes it was a process with first one arm out, after they were ok with that, then two arms out, then I put them in nightgowns, and finally into sleepers. DD took longer than ds. Good luck!

 

I had researched this topic very extensively. My boys were still being swaddled at 6 months. They were breaking out all the time which was waking them up. First their feet would escape then arms. We found a large size of the cotton kidapotamus and only ordered two. When they needed to be washed we were in trouble. My mom lives with me to help take care of them. She left last Friday to visit my sister and her 3 boys so I decided to try to break them of the swaddle. My mom can't handle letting them cry so I decided that it was now or never. Someone told me that it could be done in 3 days so I was determined. She suggested letting them cry for 10 minutes at a time. At 10 minutes, go into the room and talk to them saying their name and that they were ok. Just be sure not to let them see you. The first try, both cried for an hour. The next nap, one went immediately to sleep and the other cried 20 minutes. I was elated. The battle is not completely over but I feel I am almost there. Yesterday one cried for over an hour so I got him up and gave him some juice to help him go back to sleep. Last night they both went down around 7:30 and one woke up at 5 am and the other at 6 am. I see the light.

I broke them cold turkey. I have been consistent and determined. I called my mom today because the one who was napping 30 minutes napped 1 1/2 hours and the other napped 2 1/2 hours today. WOW!!! I have never been more excited. I truely believe the end of this stage is near!!!!!!

I read and read and read about the swaddling issue. I just had to get over the whole "I can't stand for them to cry" thing and it is working.

Good Luck!