Daft to wean off swaddle..?!

[LindsayS79]

Hi all
My DD is almost 15 weeks and I have been sooo lucky as she has been sleeping from 7-7 with a dream feed from about 9 weeks.
She's been swaddled since birth due to her flailing arms waking her up. She also associates the swaddle with bedtime so it's easy to get her to settle at night.
I'm very nervous of being a victim of the dreaded 4 month sleep regression period due to being so lucky so far! However she's escaping more and more and last night woke herself up at 4am and I had to feed her to settle her down again
Would I be daft to try and wean her off the swaddle if there is already the risk that her sleep could go to pot with the regression period approaching?!!

As far as I remember, you can really only swaddle until they can wriggle out. No point afterwards.

I think my two were about 3 or 4 months when I stopped doing it.

I am having the same issue (though sadly my 14 week DS does not sleep as well as your DD!). I bought an ergo cocoon (think that's the right name) which is basically a sleeping bag with the arms poppered up. So they can move their arms inside it but not hit themselves in the face. The first night we used it he woke more than usual but after a few nights of more wakings (prob not to do with the bag...he had a cold, injections etc etc) he slept with his normal 7-7 with two nightly wakings in it last night. For naps we now have him with arms out and plan to do the same for nights soon - poss with a sleep suit with integrated mitts underneath so he can't scratch his face. Might be worth a go. Good luck!

Ps just n case you wondered I don't work for ergo cocoon and I think there are other similar products that are cheaper! It is quite pricey at £42 but we have found it works as I said.

DS1 needed his until he was 8 months old, at which point, he'd escape and then wake up cold.

It took a few days, but we moved him to a growbag. He struggled with his arms, for a bit, but at least his feet stayed toasty, which helped him stay asleep, once he'd settled.

I was about to suggest the same as spatchy just ordered one for DS though he isn't sleeping as well as either of yours so frankly it may make no difference anyway!
I like the idea of being able to do it one step at a time as I dread his sleep getting any worse when I make any changes.

Having said that my DD was a fab sleeper like yours and we just went cold turkey and used a gro bag one night - made no difference at all. You could just try it and if she wakes you can revert to swaddle or do it more gradually.
Also my DD had no sleep regression at all so you may just have a very smooth ride.

I am so jealous I knew DD was too good to be repeated when I had a second DC!

Liveintheprsent, if it's any consolation at all my DD was a nightmare and then at around 5 months suddenly settled and started to nap in her cot (it had been rocking in the pushchair until then) and even sleep through once or twice (she had been up all the time before 4 months and a lot of the time till 5 months I seem to recall). We had her sleeping through completely by 7 months with a bit of CC to get her off her last bottle - so my point is there is light at the, possibly v close, end of the tunnel even with a tough one!

Thanks for that Spatchy I really hope so - we were doing brilliantly until about week 10 and its been hit and miss since. He occasionally does 5 or even 7 hours just to get my hopes up but mostly it's unreliable. I only have until the end of the year mat leave and really hope to have a few weeks of feeling normal before I go back to work.
The trouble is I think I have opted for the path of least resistance to enable family life with a toddler and I think that's not helped DS sleep.
Anyway ergococoon is on its way and I plan to tackle it all after my weekend visiting PILs.
Sorry for the me me me hijack OP - it is nice to vent!

Thanks all! I'm not getting my hopes up about my DD's sleep staying this good - I'm not that lucky lol!!
I've tried the swaddle again tonight in the hope she sleeps through as normal, she was more wriggly than usual last night so I'm hoping it was trapped wind etc and was a little blip!! We shall see!
My mum got me a woombie today which sounds a bit similar to the cocoon. If tonight goes smooth I might pluck up the courage to use the woombie to wean her off the swaddle!! I just put her down there with the swaddle and after 5 mins of wriggling she fell asleep. I was standing thinking how the heck do I do this when her arms are 'free'!!'

Also have a look at the Swaddle Pod which is a great halfway house between a swaddle and sleeping bag.

Yes my DS started in the Swaddle pod - they were great - but he grew out of them pretty quickly and I don't think they came in bigger sizes - so the woombie may last longer?
We are actually currently using this -
www.cheekyrascals.co.uk/1484/love-to-dream-home
Love to dream Swaddle - also great - and you can buy a version designed to help the transition as well so may also be worth a look.
My thinking is the ergo cocoon is heading towards the gro bag and I already have several of these ready to use from DD so keen to head that way sooner rather than later - I currently have to wash the Swaddle bag every day as didn't want to but two fir something so short lived!
Right I am being a total thread hogging Swaddle bore now so will stop.

Liveinthepresent that looks great!! I tried her in her existing swaddleme last night and she slept through! Although she was wriggling about so much and escaped a few times!
Will try the woombie tonight, not expecting an easy ride.! Her arms just have a mind of their own and just wish I could 'train' her to keep them still!!
May see if anyone has done this in another desperate thread!

Thing is she will probably.by suddenly get control of her arms any time soon - so if she is sleeping ok maybe just ride it out.
My DS is 17 weeks (I think) and just this week has started to be able to grab things accurately including his feet - they learn new things so quickly at this age so you might find it is soon a non issue.

Swaddle for as long as you can. My LO was 6/7 months and then he just suddenly didn't need it as he could control his arms more.he would roll around for ages but eventually settle. Now at 10 months he doesn't even roll just lays there lol. I stressed and it isn't worth it. If it helps baby then carry on. Leave one arm out to wean off of baby is struggling but I found that when he became upset with it it was time to stop. A few hard nights of him getting used to the freedom but eventually they get bored and tired and give in lol xx