Still swaddling at 6mo - how to stop?

[SnowHOHOboarder]

My DS is 6mo and I've had problems getting him to sleep anywhere but on me. Now, thanks to Ewan the Dream Sheep and swaddling I have managed to get him into a sidecar cot for at least part of the night so at last I am getting a few hours decent sleep between feeds.

I have tried him without the swaddle a few times and its been a disaster - he almost always wakes after a few minutes flailing about and won't settle.

Should I be trying to wean him off the swaddle by now and how can I do it without sacrificing those few precious hours sleep I get?

I never swaddled, but I have always used sleeping bags. They may be a compromise for you as you could start by tucking the bottom under and gradually tuck it more loosely over a few days.

Babies are still cocooned in sleeping bags, can't kick them off, stay warm etc which are also elements of swaddling.

Sleeping bags worked well when I stopped swaddling dc1. Dc2 is having none of the swaddling little monkey!

Swaddling this big can be dangerous. Either go cold turkey or reduce it gradually over a week and switch to a sleeping back.

Also can he roll both ways? If so, try him on his tummy. He's old enough now.

When I stopped swaddling dd, I put her in a thin tog gro bag and used the giant muslin I swaddled in to lay across her (under her armpits) and tucked tightly under the mattress. Then I just gradually loosened it.

Or try swaddling from armpits down and then removing it after that?