Weaning off the swaddle

So DD has started to roll over and both kids regularly bust out of their miracle blankets, no matter how tightly we bind them in. I guess it's time to lose the swaddle. We've tried swaddling them in the past with one or both arms out and they end up either not sleeping or waking themselves up because they have their hands in their faces all the time.
How do you manage this? I'm just not sure how to teach them to sleep outside of the swaddle! It seems like a lose/lose proposition but I really don't have a choice at this point. Help!

 

we waited much longer to wean from the swaddle, and at that age we actually double swaddled sometimes because their arms kept them awake if they went without.

to wean from the swaddle we let them have one arm at a time. we gave ourselves a week and first freed one arm, which kept them up for a couple of nights. when they settled down we then freed the other arm and kept it around their mid-section. after a couple of nights went by and they stopped flailing themselves awake so much, we then ditched the swaddle entirely.

good luck!

 

We went cold turkey, with Sarah at about 3.5 months and with Amy at 5. With Sarah, we stopped because the teachers told us she was falling asleep on her own (we'd been rocking them to sleep), so we started putting her down awake at home -- and she was highly resistant to being put down awake and swaddled :laughing: , but did OK unswaddled.

With Amy it was a little trickier -- she stopped being willing to be rocked to sleep around 5 months, so we decided to do CIO, but couldn't really do CIO while swaddling her, because she would have been out of the swaddle in 10 seconds flat. So we just went cold turkey with both things at the same time. There was a lot of crying for about the first 5 days (day 4 was actually the worst), but then she got used to both things and started sleeping like a champ.

I just could never figure out how to "wean gradually" from the swaddle -- it seemed like if it wasn't tight and they didn't have both arms pinned, then there was no point to it at all. But every baby is different.

 

I agree with one of the PPs that we double swaddled. We tried a night here or there swaddle free at that age and they just still couldn't settle and stay asleep for nearly as long as they did swaddled up. We double swaddled in a few different ways which I'm sure there are a few of us who could advise you on what works best. Double swaddling worked for us until I guess about 5.5 months when we went cold turkey on the paci for my son and stopped swaddling him so that he could suck his thumb (which led to sleeping through the night!) and my daughter truly flipped face down a few times in a row and then we knew it was over, but it was alright because once she flipped to belly sleeping she slept like a dream unswaddled. We now have been using sleep sacks for both for about 3 months and they both sleep through the night 10-12 hours.

I'd advise keeping the swaddling up for now and just trying new techniques.

 

In the NICU they teach you to swaddle preemies with their arms bent at the elbows, so their hands can touch their face (apparently it helps them soothe themselves). You follow the same general concept of swaddling except the blanket wings come from the shoulder across the belly to the waist area. Also, only one arm is wrapped in the first wing, and it tucks under the free arm before that arm gets wrapped in the second wing that wraps around the whole baby. We have been doing this with our girls during the day and slowly loosening the wrap so they begin to adjust to having their arms free during the day. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. Today, we tried arms free and initially twin A kept waking herself up. We stuffed a rolled up burp cloth under one of her arms and that helped.

FWIW, our girls also kept breaking our of their swaddle, but we thought this was happening because the blankets were too small. So, we enlisted a friend from church to sew us some larger, hospital-sized blankets and that has been working when they need to have the full swaddle.

 

Around 3 months we switched to larger blankets to keep them swaddled. At 4.5 months when they were done with swaddling they were just ready.. they didn't have the startle reflex anymore, they were busting out of the swaddle on their own and they seemed to like having their arms free above their head. We swaddled under their arms for a few days and then we just switched to sleep sacks and they've been comfy like that ever since.

 

We also double swaddled (miracle blanket on first and then the kiddopotamus swaddleme blanket on top) until they were 7 months old. We went cold turkey at that point and they have slept in sleep sacks since then.

 

We used a wide (6 inch) ace bandage over the miracle blanket - just wrapped repeated aroun the arms/chest. My Houdini couldn't bust out - we stopped at 7 months.

 

I've been having the same problem, and after trying unswaddled a few times with constant waking, I started double swaddling. We use the Aden and Anais blankets(they are very thin and light-weight because I worry about them overheating) which are 40x40 first, and then we also use the kiddopotamus swaddleme. They can't bust out and usually sleep pretty well. I think the only reason we have wake-ups at night is because the bink falls out and I'm not ready to break them yet.

 

We went cold turkey-both times. We swaddled for four months at bedtime. We moved them into their crib, and ditched the swaddle. Then at six months, we moved them from the swing into their crib for naptime-and finally ditched the swaddle. Cold turkey. I know-no help. I was super worried as well. Have you tried just taking them out of it and seeing how they do? Give them a few minutes to work things out? See if they can settle down on their own? Or you could double swaddle. I never even thought of that!

 

We stopped right before 5 months, and then let them sleep on their stomachs which helped a lot with the face hitting. They could roll over though, so I wasn't too worried about it.

 

Thanks, everyone. I like the double swaddle idea but should I worry about them being too hot? We live in DC and it's like an oven here! We have A/C but I'm still always worried about them being overheated.
Also, my bigger concern is DD rolling over. Don't I have to take her arms out if she's rolling? She did it yesterday in the swaddle and then of course screamed because she was on her face and couldn't get back. We tried putting her down with one arm out and she kept whacking herself in the face with her hand (and not sleeping) and crying. Maybe I just need to suffer through a few days of her getting used to being out of the swaddle? Or maybe trying a sleep sack is a good idea.
I'm sure it's going to be a little trial and error--just tough when we're already not getting much sleep!!

 

I know theis goes against most recommendations - but the ONLY way my DS would sleep was on his belly & swaddled. He could easily lift his head and upper chest off the surface, turn his head side to side and keep his ariway clear.

It did worry me but I did what I had to do.

 

If she is consistently rolling over onto her belly from her back then yes I'd ditch the swaddle for her. I do think it's unfair and unsafe to have a baby swaddled face down, and she is certainly letting you know that with her crying.

I'd try a sleep sack (give the feeling of some weight on them which they are used to with swaddling and restricts movement somewhat) and see if she flips to her belly in that and sleeps better. She won't really be able to flail and hit herself in the face that way. We use the Grobag sleep sacks which are pricier that Halo and some others, but they are SO soft and nice and the 1.0 tog is the perfect weight for over footie pajamas.

 

I still swaddle my 4 monthers and dread the day when we stop. By the time we wrap them and pop the dummy in, they know this means sleep and it usuaull y helps them to settle. I use a ex large muslin cloth but these are just starting to be a little small.

 

So the update is that last night when Annie cried to be fed, I went in and, of course, she was half out of her swaddle. So I fed her and instead of re-swaddling which is what I would normally do, I put her back down with the sort of half wrap (her arms out and legs covered). She chirped a little bit after that but no crying and when I went in this morning, the swaddle was just wrapped around her waist (legs out) and she was fast asleep! Maybe this will be easier than I thought. I'm going to look into the sleep sacks though and we'll see how we go!

Thanks everyone!

 

we didn't stop swaddling until 6.5 mo. with that said we did several things.
#1 we took the extra "wings" from the Halo swaddle/sleepsack. and put that on top of a big swaddle blanket I made.

#2 I modified my swaddle blanket from an idea from a fellow co-worker. basically she took a pair of her socks and safety pinned them in along side where the baby's body goes and put their arms in the socks. I used my short sport socks and sewed them in, it worked wonders, the socks helped keep their arms down by their sides and they couldn't get them up and out of the swaddles.

#3 when you do transition to sleep sacks you might try to keep their arms inside the sleep sack... it'd give them a little freedom but still help them feel comfy. and just an FYI... we got large sleepsacks... and are still using them. I think we got the 12-18 mo. size and they fit fine when they were little and still fit pretty well now.

good luck, hopefully your good luck with your Annie keeps going!