Transition from swaddling and Halo Sleep Sacs

My son always gets his arms out of the Kiddopotomus SwaddleMe blanket - I can't even attempt to get them in anymore. As I'm trying to get the second one in, the first one is already out. He seems to like his arms out so he can sleep on his side. Which is fine, I figure he'll sleep better that way and would be an easy transition to stop swaddling. But his arms still wake him, and he's harder to calm down because they're contstantly moving, like he's wide awake and excited (at 3, 4, 5 in the morning). I know if I could just get his arms back in, he'd calm down and go back to sleep. But I also want him to be comfortable and go back to sleeping on his side if that's what he prefers. Last night I resorted to holding his arms down and still until he calmed down enough to go to sleep.

So my questions: When transitioning from swaddling, did you still have to find a way to calm the arms down, or were your babies past this point - meaning maybe mine isn't ready to stop being swaddled? Or, is this a normal transition he (and me) will just have to get used to?

How does the Halo sleep sac help this transition? (I thought I read in other posts that it's worked for some) Isn't it really just a wearable blanket? Is there any part of it that makes them more secure and wake up less?

What about the wings on the halo sleep sacs (the kind that come with a swaddle piece to put over it)? Are those just sized for newborns? Do they seem any less easy to break free from than the velcro kiddopotomus blanket? I know I'm trying to "unswaddle" here, but at 3 am, maybe sticking those wings on will be my only solution...

We do use the miracle blanket for my daughter - which she now breaks free from. I don't think she's ready for the transition yet. So I will have to keep re-swaddling her during the night. I know that might work better for my son, but I still think he'd hate it and would rather have a shot at being free.

Anyway, long story short...any point in trying the halo sleep sac in this situation, or is its sole purpose just keeping them warm without having a loose blanket in the crib?

 

Yes, the sleep sac is just a wearable blanket. We always swaddled very very tightly in the Miracle Blankets to where they could not break free. The way we transitioned was first we started to swaddle with one arm out, and then with both arms out. By the time we switched to sleep sacs they didn't even notice.

 

My DD who is the bigger twin wears the sleep sack; she doesnt need to be swaddled anymore now that she can hoodini herself out of it in secs we like the sleep sacks because she can roll around everywhere and a reg blanket is now not safe for them in the crib--the smaller twin is still able to swaddle but she too can break free of it and will transition to the sack as well.

 

We transitioned from miracle blankets to halo sleep sacks but only goes it was still freezing here. We did go thru a period in which my one dd would break out and then not know what to do with her arms and it seemed to keep her up. We would swaddle but started leaving her arms out and then one night just went to the sleep sacks. Once she was asleep she did okay. It does get better.

 

We did transition to sleep sacs but just as a way to keep them warm. I think keeping them warm since they were coming out of the warm, tight swaddle helped in that sense - but not with the arms, etc. They were breaking out within an hour or two and waking themselves up when we quit. It took about 3 nights and then they were fine without it. We switched at about 5 1/2 months. Now we just do sleepers most of the time.

 

We transitioned at 4-5 months. We started with one arm free for a week, then two arms free (wrapped top of swaddle under the arms but legs were still snug), then went to the sleep sacs. I think they still felt "tucked in" but had their arms free. I thought it was important at that point since they were rolling over during the day and I wanted their arms free in case they started rolling at night. We did have a few nights of waking up and crying but after a few days they did just fine.
Good luck!

Jen

 

We transitioned at 4 months... They were always getting their arms out of the blankets. So we left them sleep with the arms out for a couple days, and switched to sleep sacks right away.

They love their sleep sack. Their favorite thing in the world is sucking them. They're soaked after just one nap. They stopped wanting their pacifier when we switched. My only issue with them is that either they're designed to be short so the babies don't really have room to kick, or they shrink a lot in the washer/dryer, because mine should still be able to use their current ones for a long time, but they don't really seem to be able to straighten their legs anymore.

But I think they wouldn't be able to sleep without their sleep sack now...