Well, I used to brag about my great sleepers. Swaddling works, perhaps too well for us. They of course go to bed without swaddle, but when they wake up and think it's time to party at 4:30 or 5:00 am, it has been very easy to swaddle, pop in a paci, and back to dreamland we all go. But now, they are monster strong, and of course bust out of the swaddle at their whim. Then, I'm up again, beginning the process again. How do I break this habit? I've tried a little CIO, not the right way I suppose. I'm not opposed to doing it if it has worked for others. Thanks for any help.
I don't know about weaning from swaddles, but have you tried the swaddle-me sleepers? I know they make a large size. Our 8 week olds can bust out of any blanket, but the velcro on these things hold them in really well (and they sleep really well because of it). I'd be curious, though, what people say about weaning them from it...
Wow. I am amazed. We were cleaning out the boys' drawers the other day and came across some swaddle me's. We thought it would be funny to see their reaction to being swaddled again (discontinued use at 3 months). They looked at us like we were morons and busted right out. I would say try one arm out, then a leg, then the other arm, etc. That's how we "weaned" at 3 months. Good luck!
We've still got one wrapped around the middle. Ours won't fall asleep until he's that way! If they can sleep with out it, maybe try just wrapping them around the middle. Can't hurt right? Good luck-- Ours love sleeping swaddled for so long. We're a slave to it but it was still all worth it!
One of mine in particular still needs a swaddle to chill out before going to sleep. His arms flap up and down vigorously when he is tired (it looks kind of amusing, but is serious business!), and only the swaddle does the trick. I talked to my ped (sheepishly) at about 5.5 months, and she told us that we could keep swaddling well into the latter portion of the first year. She pointed out that even as adults, some of us like to feel bundled up and snuggly, so it's not anything you need to worry about, and there's no rush. It won't harm them, and as long as they don't wake up everytime they break out of the swaddle (mine don't-- they just need it to calm down to go to sleep), and they aren't getting tangled in the blankets, they should be just fine. We need to wean from them eventually, but right now, I am simply enjoying the 5 minutes of CIO it takes for my swaddled boys to fall asleep. Good luck from one swaddle addict mama to another!!
i was swaddling still at 8 months with super big swaddle blankets. however, once they started crawling at 8.5 months my swaddling days were over. I did do CIO at 6 months, so I began to tuck the swaddle blankets in around them as they laid on their tummy to go to sleep. I just tucked them in really well all the way around, not swaddle them. any CIO we did at that age of 8 months had the prior conditioning of the previous 2 months. I set the kitchen timer so I wouldnt go in there too soon. that's how I got CIO to work for me.
Maybe try either a fleece or cotton sleep sack, which will help keep them secure and warm, but not swaddled? We moved to them after stopping swaddling around 3 months, and my two really like them, and don't sleep as well without them (as we discovered on some extra-warm nights when we didn't use the sleep sacks).
With both my oldest and the twins the fact that they could bust out of the swaddle was the sign for me to CIO with them. So around 5-6 months we did CIO. It only took a night or two for them to learn to fall asleep and stay asleep. There's no "right way" as you said. Whatever works for you. Reyna
Hi, You could try a Peke Moe. www.pekemoe.co.nz/index.htm They are like a sleeping bag, but their arms stay in the bag. My boys were too hard to swaddle as they were also busting out, so I wanted to find a product where their arms and hands were still covered, and the Peke Moe was it. They transitioned into them after the first try and absolutely love them. My girlfriends have also tried them for their babies, and also love them.
We stopped using swaddlers around 6 months--at that time, we were using sleep positioners AND swaddlers). We decided to go cold turkey one night when we got super tired of running in to reswaddle multiple times at night. We transitioned into sleep sacks (which they still are in at night). The first few nights we tough, we also did CIO at the same time. It worked for us...after a couple nights/days of baby boot camp (AKA sleep training), they are now napping like champs and sleeping 12-13 hours a night without waking. Good luck--you can do it!
Thank you all for your replies. I have not swaddled the last two nights, and I've been up 2-3 times total to make sure while they are fussing they are not also stuck through their cribs. My Morgan gets up on all 4s and gets stuck somehow, I think maybe b/c of the sleep sacks (we've been doing those for a while). Anyway, thanks for your suggestions. I just have to stick to my guns and refuse to swaddle!
