Swaddling & weaning baby off it successfully?

[samanthadavies]

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

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.

i was fearing the same thing - we swaddled our daughter until she was 14weeks. we knew she hated it but did it because it gave her good sleep (even though she fought it at first). we're in the process of sleep training her and took everything away cold turkey, including the swaddling and to our surprise, it didn't bother her at all - we expected her to be hitting herself in the face and waking herself up at night.

i would wean your baby from the swaddle sooner rather than later - if you wait too long your baby will have a harder time figuring out what to do with his arms and they will wake him up - that's what happened to my friend's baby - she swaddled him until he was over 4 months old and for almost 2 weeks, had to stand by the crib most of the night holding down his arms until he got comfortable with them being free.

your baby may have a period of unhealthy sleep but it will be easier now than later. or you can wait until your baby is about 3.5months when she has better arm control

Thanks Tiredmom,

our LO has been in his sleeping bag for 3 nights now and he is definitely getting used to it. He still has his dummy at the moment but does spit it out pretty quickly once settled so my next project is to remove that!

My DD is 7.5 months and still swaddled for night time sleep. Sometimes she is okay without it for short naps, but otherwise she tears her head to pieces (eczema on forehead). We use a big cotbed sheet (she is a large baby) and through the winter have been popping her into a sleeping bag as well (her room gets very cold). Never had any real overheating problems and she sleeps like a - well, baby - with her wrap.

Hi everyone, I have a little boy who is 10 weeks old. He has been swaddled nearly enough since birth.
He now sleeps through the night and has done for a while now.
The blanket I use to swaddle him is one I bought from the shop and it tells me that I can swaddle him till the age of 12 weeks old.
Last night I tried to wean him off the blanket by leaving one arm out of the blanket with a mitt on. He woke up at three o clock in the morning crying and would not settle until he had his milk.
I dont know what to do next as I dont want to get into the routine of him having a milk during the night.
He does not get swaddled during the day.
He does not have a dummy.
Any advice will be very much appreciated
Thank you
Drena

We used the miracle blanket, and had similar concerns. We recently bought a Peke Moe which seems to be working in that our baby sleeps the same amount although she does sometime bash herself on the nose or pull her dummy out when she goes down at first. Issues we had with grobag were she would scratch herself. I'm hoping in a few weeks to transition her from the Peke Moe to a grobag, but at the moment she seems quite happy. We just tuck her feet in tight at the bottom under the matress then put a cell blanket over the top of her again very tight and she seems quite happy with this.

Please note I have no specific interest in Peke Moe, I found it recommended by another mum on MN and thus far it has been successful for us.

My DD was 18 weeks when we transitioned.

My 13 week is swaddled at night and for the past few days has cried when we have done it. She used to love being swaddled and I don't know why she is suddenly crying when we do this. Should we stop?

I so needed something like this when mine were little. I swaddle both of mine as had extended jump reflex and really helped. I used the gro bag swaddle until they wiggled out and then the savour was the snug and tug swaddle, has velcro!! I am mw and we don't recommend swaddling as could over-heat, but knowing what I do from being a mother and friends admitting they swaddle I always advise to only use a very thin material and have just a vest or in summer nappy. So many people swaddle in secret! and use thick blankets which could cause over heating, and never cover the head. There is some really interesting reading on the SIDs website.

our DS is 12 weeks and swaddled. We had him in sleeping bag for a while but started having very troubled sleep from 4am - 7am, which was not good! My sister recommended going back to swaddle and he sleeps brilliantly now. He has actually just started sleeping through from 11pm - 7am, with the odd need to be re-settled in the night. I wanted to get him settled into this routine before I started the weaning off the swaddle. I agree with starting with the morning nap, then I think I will try the lunchtime sleep, but he rumbles after 45 mins when he gets into his light sleep and am v concerned about him getting back to sleep for his full 2hrs. Am basically banking my energy and going to do it when I feel rested and ready for the battle! hopefully it wont come but need to be prepared. Also using Miracle Blanket - brilliant.

Hi, I just wanted to thank everyone for their posts. I have a 5 and half month son who is swaddled for evey nap. He has been 'escaping' for quite some time and if I dont hear him getting free he eventually ends up playing in his cot...by which point he's wide awake! He falls asleep without it but doesn't last longer then 20 mins, he's then rubbing his eyes and stretching as if its time to wake up. .
I'm not too worried about weaning him because I'm worried for him, more so that I can sleep longer then an hour at a time before he wakes me up!! I've tried various blankets including the miracle blanket (which he's in now) and he's masters the art of escaping out if everything.

To wrap up I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your stories and experiences. I now know that there are lots of things I can try to begin weaning.