I've swaddled DS2 (5mo/22wks) for all night sleep and some naps since birth, using a muslin or flannelette sheet. It's been very useful for getting him to go to sleep in his cot rather than being held/fed to sleep, and I'm pretty sure it keeps him asleep longer than it otherwise would (although he's still awake pretty much every two hours through the night ).
Problem is, he's starting to wrestle his hands up to his mouth as he rouses. Once a hand gets to his mouth, he gets annoyed that it's not a dummy or a boob 
I can feed him and put him down but if he's not re-swaddled, he lies there huffing and muttering at his non-compliant bloody hands. 
Re-swaddling once or twice a night is getting on my wick and I'd really like to be done with it. I've tried swaddling with one arm out but he waves it around like he's hailing a bus and neither goes to, nor stays asleep, partly because he knocks his dummy out.
Any tips?
PS I'm not interested in buying a Sleepyhead or similar which I know a lot of people swear by. They cost a bomb and I'd still have the issue with the hands not magically transforming themselves into the suckable objects of choice.
Thanks in advance! 
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How do I wean off swaddling, then?
ElphabaTheGreen · 06/01/2015 21:11
I had this exact issue. Was driving me nuts!
I used a product called swaddle up to get him used to not having his hands pinned down. Used it for a few days and then went cold turkey to a sleeping bag.
It was ok at night after a couple of nights but naps were harder as he would settle but then startle himself awake
I would really reco the swaddle up (think they are about £20 from Amazon) means they can suck their hands and soothe themselves but their arms don't ping around and wake them - my ds would smack himself in the head and get all angry!
I did this just before he turned 5 months - his night sleeping got so so much better once he was out of the swaddle.
Naps on the other hand...
That's OK - his naps are pretty shit at the best of times unless they're on me (currently trying to knock him out with a good dose of boob as we speak...not...complying...) but £20 seems reasonable for an experiment. I've tried going cold-turkey a couple of times but he just gets riled, waves his arms around and plays smack down with the dummy until he's into over-tired land, and then we're stuffed. I re-swaddle (whilst swearing under my breath) and he's practically falling asleep while I'm doing it.
No, it does help, thanks It's useful to know that she was swaddled for so long as I wasn't sure how long it was done for (I didn't do it at all with DS1).
Ah, well if Ann recommended something similar it will most definitely work! That woman knows my children better than I do! 
Swaddle Up just arrived today and he's asleep in it now. Took a bit longer than he normally would falling asleep but he wasn't unhappy - just muttered and grunted a bit and yawned noisily before he conked out. I wasn't sure on the size as going on weight he's a medium and on length he's a large. I went for the large so as not to squish his toes but he may not get quite the squeeze he likes...we shall see!
I'm happy to carry on swaddling fully for naps if I need to. It's the midnight...2am...3:30am...5am re-swaddling that is sending me potty.
It would also be nice for DH to try and put him to bed, but he's so cack-handed at doing a tight swaddle, there was no point in him even trying. You should see him trying to tie a wrap sling. It's even worse
He doesn't actually startle anymore. It's a voluntary half-awake wriggle as he moves into the next sleep cycle where he starts working his arms and hands up to his face. He gets the occasional little jazz hand when asleep but not the full arm Moro reflex startle.
Promising start last night...he took a lot longer to go back to sleep after each wake up with a bit of huffing, but he didn't descend into rage the way he does when left partially or fully unswaddled.
I hope it works too. Thanks for the tip!
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