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Original poster

Swaddling & weaning baby off it successfully?

35 replies

samanthadavies · 30/08/2006 19:43

HI There
My little girl is only 10 weeks old, and goes to sleep very nicely albeit swaddled! She only wakes usually once in the early hours so I feel quite lucky

What i was wondering is at what stage should i be weaning her off the swaddling, so she doesns't become dependant on it?

I don't want to go from a contented little baby to an unhappy one!

Another question related to swaddling:

At some times, she does manage to free her arms, but this immediately wakes her, how am i best getting her to sleep rather than having to rely on re-swaddling!

Any help guidance or suggestions much apprecated

Sam

OP posts:
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JoBaz · 30/08/2006 21:01

Hello

Now where do I begin ! When I saw this thread I read it to my husband & he said- oh that sound like our son.
My son is now 10mths & is NOT swaddled - remember that when you read what I am going to say, cos I am going to be honest with you...
My son got addicted, he remained swaddled till 5.5mths !!!!!!!! By that point, he was so active that after about 1 hour in the swaddle his arms would come out, & yes as soon as that happened he woke crying. it was like he didnt know what to do with his arms!& this went on all night- it wasent unusual to get woken 10times a night.

I tried aprox 20times to wean him off the swaddle, I dont remember exactly when I first tried, but it was too late as he was completly addicted. I went cold turkey for 6nights, it was hell, I just wouldnt give in, I put him in a grow bag & thought, well he will just have to get used to it.well he didnt, each night he just got more & more upset- when I finally gave in & re swaddled him- he slept for about 8 hours !!! bless. he was so happy to be in his straight jacket again!
I also tried to do the wean gently, so start in the day naps etc.. BUT to cut a long story short, he just would not give it up. I spent hous looking on the net (at this stage I didnt discover mums net), I spoke to the doctor, health visitor & none of them had any advice! I got so down & was convinced he would never give it up...
Then .... just one day, I went in the room & he had his arms out, but he was still asleep....... I put him down for his next nap & then that was it- he had finally decided he was ok to sleep without it! FAB !!!!!!!! I have never looked back. & I will not use it again if I have another baby- no way- I think it gave him a terrible sleep habit, he just could not handle his arms being free & would claw at his face & cry..

Im sorry to go on & remember this is just my experience & it dosent mean this would happen to you.... But in my opinion I would wean her off it ASAP. I beleive they are great for when they are newborn as it helps with transition from womb to this world, but not longterm. My son is still a very poor sleeper & I beleive it may have been due to the early swaddling days.he never learnt to settle himself, he relied on the swaddle completly to get to sleep.without it he didnt have a clue. it caused me so much upset, worry & sleepkess nights & I wouldnt wish that on anyone.

Hope this helps?

Take care
Joanne

Flutterbye · 30/08/2006 21:03

At about 11 weeks I just went cold turkey and put my dd in a sleeping bag with a blanket under her arms to make her feel a bit restrained/cosy. If she does wake now I let her shout a bit or if it's 5/6am I'm afraid I use a dummy to stop her waking her older brother!

MuddlingThru · 30/08/2006 21:13

My ds was swaddled. We used the Swaddle Me fleece; when he could break free of that we used 2 to double swaddle him (luckily it was the middle of winter)! This continued until he started to flip himself onto his tummy even whilst swaddled at about 6.5 months. We then went cold turkey. The 1st night I probably spent 1/2 the night in his room helping him re-settle, the 2nd night about 1/4, and the 3rd night just needed to pop in a couple of times. He has been fine ever since. I think he adjusted nice and quickly because he was old enough to have good control over his arms, he just needed to get used to the freedom.

I am expecting no2 at the mo and would not hesitate to swaddle again. I got 6 months of more sleep than I would have without swaddling and a relatively quick and easy transition to grobag after that.

kiskidee · 30/08/2006 23:38

i happily swaddled my dd till she was eight months old. she loved it. she used to sigh with relief when i started to swaddle her as it became a sleep cue for her. i stopped because by then she fitted nicely into her grobag i had. she didn't mind the change at all. so what if your baby loves swaddling. she still needs time to get used to the outside world that isn't such a tight fit like the rest of the world.

she is getting her arms free because her elbows are bent over her front. straighten them before wrapping. that's how my dd stayed swaddled to eight months.

read this link: link

kiskidee · 30/08/2006 23:40

like the rest of the world..... she knew inside you.

harpsichordcarrier · 30/08/2006 23:50

personally, I would keep your baby swaddled until such times as she expresses a preference to be unswaddled.
there is no harm in it, so carry on as long as she wants. she may well just grow out of it.
you might find once she is a little older she may feel more comfortable sleeping on her front - when she can get there by herself.

Original poster
samanthadavies · 31/08/2006 09:41

HI There
Thanks so much for all taking the time to reply
Joanne, I am sorry to hear you had a bad time of it, and this was my worry!
I think the best thing I can do is play it by ear for the time being as she is only 10 weeks old and it does seem to be a 'baby preference' thing. I will try putting her arms by her sides in the swaddle instead of across her front!

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share...

OP posts:
CMac · 31/08/2006 10:10

I am having exactly the same worries SD - DS is 14 weeks now and loves his miracle blanket. Am panicking about what i'll do when he grows out of it! He wakes once (has usually escaped) and all i have to do to get him back to sleep is reswaddle him. What i've been trying to do for the past week or so is not re-swaddle him when he wakes (about 4am) but to use other means to get him to go back to sleep (stroking face/dummy) that don't involve lifting him up. It seems to be working most nights though sometimes i just give in and swaddle. Am planning on switching to a grobag in a few weeks... I don't think there's any harm keeping going with it until he's ready, though Joanne's post has made me a bit concerned.

JoBaz · 31/08/2006 16:33

Please dont worry about the post I put- I didnt want to alarm any of you, but just to tell you the honest truth about my experience.. it dosent mean your baby wil do the same.... It just gives you both sides of the coin.. Do what you think is best,but in my opinion, if baby sleeps ok without the swaddle, then dont use it as it could become a sleep cue & if you have a strong actve baby then that could become a problem... then again like others have said, your baby may just grow out of it no problems... Hopefully this will be the case & you wont be unlucky like me...... but if baby gets upset when excapes from the swaddle, then to me...thats a sign its maybe becoming an addiction which if left may be hard to break

Good Luck

Joanne

emitch · 07/09/2006 19:46

Hello,

My dd was swaddled until she was about four months, by which time her arms would wriggle out of the swaddle very soon after putting her down - she had little helicopter arms at quite an early age. They used to wave about so frantically that I think they scared her and she would get quite upset. I often needed to reswaddle her as you are doing but once she went into a deeper sleep it was ok - I found that the helicopter action happened almost as part of her settling process.

For a while at about four months I did a half swaddle -wrapping her from the armpits down to get her used to having her arms free when I put her in her moses basket.This worked well as an interim stage between swaddle and grobag - the half swaddling went on for a couple of weeks. She used to wave her arms and scratch the side of the moses basket whilst settling herself during this period - perhaps it was self hypnosis or something! Basically she got used to the motion of her own arms and stopped being frightened by it. She did wake rather more for a while when half swaddled and also when she was eventually in her grobag but that soon settled down. HTH

BTW this is my first ever message. Does the 'd' of ds and dh etc stand for darling? I'm a bit green with these things

emitch · 07/09/2006 19:51

Just remembered - my MW was disapproving of me swaddling - she said something like 'oh, it's a parental choice I suppose' and mumbled something about safety and cot death. I ignored her and (unusually) took my mum's advice and carried on - it helped with a severely colicky baby.

KES3 · 07/09/2006 21:29

I had a similar experience to emitch, we swaddled my daughter until she was around 4 months and only stopped because her arms were coming out almost immediately. Moved to swaddling her under her armpits for a week or so then moved her into her sleeping bag and we haven't looked back.

I think that at around 4 months or so they start to be able to control their arms more and they are less likely to wake themselves up by waving them around so much in their sleep when their arms are out.

If its working I would stick with it for the time being.

nese · 25/09/2006 00:39

Hi all, this is my first time so bear with me!!! I have a 7 1/2 month baby girl who is addicted to being wrapped. She hates being wrapped and constantly struggles to get out of it but cannot sleep without it. I don't know what to do. We have more problems now than we have ever had with her sleeping patterns and putting herself back to sleep and I blame it all on wrapping!!! Given my time over again, I would either not wrap at all or only wrap for the first few months. She is so aware of what is going on now that not using the wrap causes her too much distress. As she is also very mobile, she thinks its play time in her cot if she gets herself unwrapped and then gets so overtired that night times are becomming an ordeal. HELP!!!! I tried going cold turkey with her but she screamed the house down and have recently tried with having one arm out which was okay but she was only sleeping 45 minutes at a time then playing until getting herself unwrapped. Any advice would be welcomed.
Denise

Jackalene0605 · 14/08/2007 20:25

In regards to swaddling....I have the same thing going on with my daughter, she's almost 7 months and addicted to being swaddled. If she isn't, she just plays in her crib and doesn't fall asleep. If by chance, she DOES fall asleep, it's only for a half hour and I have her on a schedule of two hours on, two hours off.
Upon looking into this and contacting Dr Harvey Karp, Happiest Baby on the Block, I learned it's safe to swaddle a baby up until 10 months. Even though it's a total pain.
My suggestion to mothers who are having issues with their baby coming out of the swaddle is to get the Miracle Blanket. It's my savior! Even though the baby will be too long to fit into the bottom part, just wrap the arms in and trust me...your baby will not be coming out of it any time soon.

jorange5 · 14/08/2007 21:37

We used a miracle blanket on dd until she was 4.5 months. She had a very strong startle reflex which woke her all the time but we just tried one night in a grobag and she woke a couple of times but i just fed her / rocked her back to sleep and that was that. Maybe it was quite easy for us because we weren't so bothered whether it went well or not, we were quite happy to carry on swaddling.

I would say try and relax about it, try it without the swaddle and if you don't have any success just wrap her up again and wait a week or so to try again. GOOD LUCK!!

ratfly · 15/08/2007 09:26

Ds uses a swaddle and he is nearly 7 months. We did wean him from it recently and he slept fine, but then I found out dh was rocking him to sleep and that opened a complete can of worms.
to cut a long story short he is now swaddled again, and we will wean shortly - I might to a diary of a swaddle weaner like I did the diary of a dummy weaner....

but, it has been a godsend. Ds has eczema and without a swaddle he scratches his face so it looks like we beat him up! A swaddle has helped to break the itch scratch cycle.

I also use a miracle blanket - we only swaddle his arms now, so he wont grow out of it for a long time.

beansprout · 15/08/2007 09:29

Ds weaned himself. He just started trying to wriggle out of it, so I would just carry on until they need to stop.

salchilt · 31/08/2007 21:06

Sam
Some books i have read suggest trying to get your baby used to being half swaddled under arms from about a couple of months - so they don't get too hot.

Tried this with our 13 week old son. He is now able to cope with one arm out at a time but not both as yet. Will try a sleeping bag in next couple of months in hope that he will take to it sooner rather than later.

Other stuff I have read i.e Baby Whisperer reassures that ok to swaddle until your baby tells you otherwise. Our first child was not swaddled but number two loves his swaddling blanket. Hope this is helpful.

Regards
Sally

Franci · 01/09/2007 08:29

I am having the same concerns about swaddling & addiction. Dd is 12 weeks old and her arms and legs are still flapping about vigourously, so I am using the miracle blanket. However, in the last 2 nights she has woken up with her back covered in sweat, which has worried me (I have only used a vest plus swaddle). I have switched to a cotton sheet and the same happened. I'm concerned about the over-heating, the addiction to the swaddle and also my son (aged 3) suffers from eczema, and aside from the over-heating I am also worried it might long-term not be great for the skin. Can anyone suggest any other methods to help with the jerky arm & leg movements. I do like my sleep (that is at least 3 or 4 hours a go!)

It's good to know I am not the only one facing this issue at the moment!

ImBarryScott · 01/09/2007 08:52

How nice to hear of lots of late swaddlers!
DD will be 6 months in a week, and is still swaddled. When not swaddled she rubs her face constantly.

Part of me worries about this (visions of swaddling a four year old ). Part of me thinks that before they are a year old, you do what you need to so that you all get some sleep. Whatever that may be!

My DD loves the swaddle, and nods of within moments of being wrapped. I find this quite sweet, actually, that she feels so secure.

I am trying a very, very gentle weaning process, which I feel will probably take many months, as I am too wet to listen to crying.

DD goes into a grobag for her first nap of the day, which is only around 30mins. When she is going down for this well, I will put her in the grobag for her lunchtime nap (usually 2-2.5 hours). I can usually get her to stay asleep for 30mins after a few attempts, which is why we're doing it this way.

I was very interested to read your story though Jackie - I would be thrilled if DD would wean herself!

dal21 · 01/10/2007 18:19

hello - bumping this as have just had a health visitor visit today (DS is just over 3 weeks old) and he was peacefully sleeping in his moses basket swaddled in his miracle blanket.
Her only advice was that swaddling was not advised beyond the first 2 weeks due to risks of overheating and cot death. she must have said the words cot death 10 times before i stopped her as i thought enough was enough.

despite my annoyance at her...her words have now made me paranoid....anyone else stop swaddling when their DC's were only 3 weeks old due to the same concerns?

ratfly · 04/10/2007 09:32

Just to add my bit to this thread.

We swaddles til ds was about 7 months. Then one nap time, I lay him on the swaddle, and he stiffened up and became very uncooperative. So I put him down unswaddled, and he has been ever since.

We do have to tuck him in extra tight at night though, or else he wakes up

Torro2 · 04/10/2007 17:23

Hi there!

My baby is due in 10 days and I was planning on using the swaddling technique.

When swaddling babies, do you dress your baby in a sleep suit before swaddling or just a nappy? I have invested in one of those miracle blankets and have read that you should dress the baby in a nappy only? I'm really worried about overheating and would love anyones advice on how much clothing to dress the baby in before I swaddle...

Pearlnz · 09/10/2008 09:55

gosh.. amazing how many of us have gone through or are going through this!
Personally I believe to do what works best for your baby. Swaddling worked really well for my boys.. until they started escaping, and wouldn't sleep well without it..
these are some of the things I tried

  1. using a larger swaddling wrap
  2. swaddling only one arm at a time (during day naps)
  3. making swaddle looser for naps to start with
  4. you can try putting baby in a sleeping bag and pinning arms shut to start with.

but the best thing we found was a Peke Moe but as I said, all babies will be different, some will transition really easily and others will need a little bit of time and help! all the best!

MiniMarmite · 13/10/2008 21:30

Thank goodness for this thread!

My DS is only 7 weeks but I'm trying to wean him off swaddling as we are going to Australia in 6 weeks time and I'm worried about him getting too hot. Also, he's a very tall baby with frantic arms and legs so spends most of his time wriggling his way out anyway - and then wakes himself up when he does.

He's happily sleeping in a grobag as we speak but fights sleep and becomes distressed at bedtime,seems to sleep quite lightly and for shorter periods in it. It seems to be making him more dependent on his dummy too so I keep having to pop that back in his mouth in the night...

After reading all your messages I'm wondering whether to try an alternative swaddling blanket until I can bear to try no swaddling again, or whether to go cold turkey.