De-swaddling help!

[TerrysNo2]

Hi all

DD is 13 weeks and has woken up twice this week with her arms out of the swaddle. DS did this at about the same time and we just swaddled him with one arm out and then both over the space of a week and he was fine but have tried DD with one arm out and she just wouldn't get to sleep (this was for her morning nap today, not tried it at night)

Can you tell me when and how you successfully de-swaddled?

I'm not sure whether to buy a new swaddle, if there is one that works or to persevere and maybe have a few nights disturbed??

Thanks!

most babies stop being swaddled as they wriggle out of it and get used to sleeping without being swaddled, my dd now sleeps unswaddled as she does wriggle out in her sleep and then is fine but to go to sleep yes she is used to it, she sees it as a 'cue' to go to sleep and it helps her relax, there is NOTHING wrong in that, in her own time she wont need it, just the same as my others gradually learnt not to need to be fed to sleep. if i dont swaddle her and she cries, she may cry herself to sleep, that isnt about her learning to get used to getting herself to sleep which she already does, i wrap her up, give her a kiss, say goodnight and leave the room and she goes off happily to sleep on her own. she will gradually get used to doing that without being swaddled as she gets older without crying. if i dont swaddle her and dont leave her to cry what do you suggest i do?!

swaddling doesnt benefit all children but it does benefit some, particularly those with a strong startle reflex etc, its natural for them to like it as it reminds them of the comfort of the womb and like i said its something they grow out of it you let them like sucking a thumb or a dummy etc, its just a form of comfort, why take it away if it comforts her?!

sickbint a lot of babies are swaddled in hospital still, esp when first born they are swaddled and given to the mothers, (obv after skin to skin etc)

my hv said they arent supposed to recomend swaddling due to concerns over overheating BUT if you do it carefully and make sure they dont overheat then its fine, she came round once for a visist and dd was swaddled having a nap in the pram, the hv said she was just fine and as she woke i picked dd up and unswaddled her.

Swaddling can help premature babies - but that's kind of obvious. A prem baby doesn't want too much stimulation to the skin and certainly needs to be kept very warm. But once a baby is out into the big wide world its sense of touch needs to be explored and developed. It can't if its hands are tied down.

Sleeping is the mothers biggest challenge, I agree.

I swaddled my dd till 5 months because every time I tried to stop she got very upset and in a stew. We used a 'miracle blanket' at first which was fab but then moved on to these grobags with flaps which you could wrap over the arms. They attach with Velcro so once your baby's ready you can just remove the flaps and they become a normal grobag. Can't remember name if company, maybe 'swaddle me' I think.

and they can do all that when they are awake! and most babies grow out of swaddling at a young age as their startle reflex goes away and they get used to not being disturbed by themselves in their sleep, my dd is the exception to the norm in still being swaddled at 14mths (tho i know a few children who have been swaddled a long time and if you google you will find it is actually fairly common for children up to a year to like being swaddled)

my dd explores all day long and it hasnt hindered her developmental progress in anyway its just that to relax she likes to be swaddled in the same way that my 3 yr old likes to cuddle his blanket (which he often wraps around himself) and suck his thumb! its a COMFORT and is a normal thing for a baby to like and one that they grow out of, it doesnt stop them using their sense of touch and exploring and developing, unless of course you swaddle them 24/7! and no one is suggesting that you do that.

and if i dont swaddle her and she cries (which she does) what do i do to get her to go to sleep? she doesnt want to be cuddled, rocked or nursed to sleep as her brothers did, she WANTS to be swaddled, it is HER comfort. if am not to leave her to cry what is the alternative? why would i deprive her of something that comforts her? i never deprived my boys of their comforts and they gradually didnt need them just as dd is gradually not needing to be swaddled. she used to need it to sleep int he pushchair but now doesnt and she used to need to be re-swaddled in the night if she got restless, now she will sleep all night generally, despite getting out of the swaddle, but in order to settle down to go to sleep, she wants that comfort, which i think is perfectly normal for a baby to want!

Ds had strong startle reflex and would jerk as falling asleep and wake himself up. So he wouldn't have thrived without it.

We ended up swaddling him by memory until a good six months. We tried letting him unswaddle himself and had a nightmare night where no one slept.

Later on we discovered he could settle in a gro bag early evening when tired do we started him off in that and when he woke and couldn't settle we moved him over to swaddling. Over time he gradually lasted longer and longer in the gro bag.

By the way my dd is now 20 mo and the most active and physical child you can imagine, her gross and fine motor skills are far more developed than my ds' were at her age (ds never liked being swaddled so I didn't swaddle him more than once or maybe twice).

Hmmmm the words 'mountain' and 'molehill' spring to mind here.

The mere suggestion that wrapping a small baby quite tightly (come on, we're not talking suffocation here, are we??) in a nice blanket so they feel snug and safe and cosy could possibly be cruel or barbaric is just ridiculous.

Ds did let us know that he didn't want to be swaddled anymore, it was quite clear.

The suggestion that parents are swaddling thier children so tightly that they are unable to breathe deeply is ludicrous.

They can touch to thier hearts contents when they are awake and alert which is surely when they would be exploring thier sense of touch anyway?

That's a comment for spenditwisely btw.

washngo my 14mth old dd has met all her milestones, sitting up, crawling, cruising round the furniture, she can stand alone and is almost walking, she is also an amazing climber. she waves, claps, points, does a high five etc etc and is certianly no less able than her brothers at the same age, who all grew out of being swaddled at a young age! like you say they feel snug, safe and cosy!

I go offline for one day.....

spendit I had never heard of any negatives regarding swaddling (apart from to be v careful with overheating) so that article is interesting. All I know is that both DS and DD would not sleep in their moses basket for longer that 20 mins until I started swaddling them. DS transitioned fine at around 10 weeks to a grobag but DD isn't there yet.

DoodleAlley I am going to try not swaddling DD for her 7pm-10.30pm sleep - this is actually the one sleep she has slept unswaddled once before and I think you are right, at that time they are so tired it could work and maybe this will help her get used to it.

She doesn't sleep swaddled in the buggy either.

Watching this thread with interest because DS is 5 months and is currently swaddled in a Woombie. He spends first few hours of the night in moses basket then I take him out of the swaddle and we co-sleep when i go up to bed - but am attempting to get him into a cot in next few weeks. Have just started putting his moses basket in cot for naps.

Am thinking i should probably stop swaddling him soon as it could be dangerous when in his cot and there is more space for him to turn over? Also, I figure he cant be swaddled forever.

I'm looking for something to ease the transition (bit worried because when I've tried not swaddling him he wouldnt settle at all). I think moving from co-sleeping to a cot in another room will be hard enough for him but DH really putting the pressure on now.

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread but whilst I was online looking for inspiration I came across the Magic Sleepsuit from the US of A - has anyone heard of them or used them at all?

www.magicsleepsuit.com/index.html

Oh no! Just when I've watched every video on YouTube called 'How to swaddle' in preparation for the birth of baby no. 2 (baby no. 1 not swaddled and a very fidgety sleeper, constantly waking herself up) - and now this comes along... :)

Started de-swaddling cold turkey yesterday - let me know if you want to know results after a few days!!

TerrysNo2 I definitely would be interested to hear how it goes. Ds is 19 weeks and still swaddled. I have tried several times to de-swaddle (one arm out, he's in a miracle blanket) but no good yet. He gets out of the swaddle too during the night and it wakes him up, so I've just ordered one of those ones where babies can get their hands up to self-soothe etc in the hope that it will aid the transition I'm clutching at straws and reckon cold turkey will probably work better (but I'm a wimp).

I would be interested to hear results too...DS 5 months old and still in his Woombie. Tried to lose it over past few days in favour of a standard sleeping bag but he just cried and cried and cried and cried...so hes back in his trusty Woombie again!

We've finally weaned our 5 month old DD off being swaddled. She was starting to be able to roll, so was worried about her having her arms restricted.

We used a Swaddleme for ages, then we put her in a grobag with the Swaddleme underneath it (ie between the grobag and the mattress) and just used the arms of the Swaddleme. These fasten with velcro, and everyday I made them a bit looser. Eventually she was able to sleep without her arms being swaddled. Obviously you need to careful of overheating, so made sure her room was cooler than usual whilst I was doing it.

Good luck!