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Original poster

Swaddling a 6mo Houdini - help!!!

23 replies

TeamEponine · 03/03/2015 07:26

DD is nearly 6 months and cannot sleep unless tightly swaddled. (We've tried not swaddling her and it is always a disaster!)

Until now we have been using this... www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-Swaddling-Blanket---White/967740,default,pd.html

This has been working well due to the arm flaps, but she can now get her arms out, leading to me needing to re swaddle her up to four times a night.

We've tried the Hanna wrap, but it was no good at all as she could still move her arms!

Any suggestions on how to tightly swaddle DD and keep her arms immobile? When I look online you often can't tell from the pictures whether arms are free within the wrapping or whether they are held still.

When swaddled tightly she doesn't sleep to awfully (feeds 3-4 times), but at the moment I'm having to resettle her about every 30 minutes as she can move about too much Would super gluing her arms to her body be bad?!

Thanks!

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FiftyShadesOfSporn · 03/03/2015 07:29

I suspect you'll have to go cold turkey on the swaddling, ouch.

Is she in a cot or Moses basket? A Moses basket might make her feel cosier a la swaddling without actually constricting her (which she clearly is regarding as a challenge ....)

callamia · 03/03/2015 07:45

We had a 'love to dream' swaddle, which keeps the arms above the head. It was a bit a rescue for us until DS's moro reflex wore off.

By 6m, I think he'd grown out if it though, and was using a sleeping bag. The sleeping bag has worked ok, but I remember at 6m, he spent a LOT of time getting up into crawling position and woke up frequently. It was a trying time, but it wore off once he could crawl reliably (a month later).

Abby21 · 03/03/2015 09:33

We just stopped swaddling at 7 months. ...cold turkey and really hasn't been as bad as expected. Still up few times a ngt for dummy etc but that normal.

We had been using swaddle me velcro wrap but kept escaping so had to just do without!! Thought it was about time!

SoftSheen · 03/03/2015 09:40

Have you tried using a sleeping bag instead? I think you have probably reached the age where she is just too big to swaddle any more.

rioballinx · 03/03/2015 10:30

Yeah had to wean to a baby sleeping bag around then too. She was in one until 18 months ish. Just outgrown her last one. They adapt surprisingly quickly!

Original poster

TeamEponine · 03/03/2015 14:51

Thanks for the suggestions. We've tried not swaddling her and could only get her to sleep with me holding both arms down and DH holding her legs down. As soon as we let go she was tearing at her face and throwing her legs up in the air. We do try putting her down without swaddling about once a week, so hopefully at some point it will work.

I guess my next question is for advice on how to get her off of swaddling. She is an awful sleeper as it is, so it's a scary thought taking away the one thing that has actually helped!

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Leviticus · 03/03/2015 14:56

I was a swaddler so this isn't a criticism of your choices but I think it's supposed to be dangerous to swaddle an older baby because if they manage to roll over they won't be able to roll back and could suffocate.

She needs her arms free even if she doesn't think so.

Sleeping bags as PP have said?

Iggly · 03/03/2015 14:57

She's far too old.

How about cuddling her to sleep instead of pinning her down?

Original poster

TeamEponine · 03/03/2015 16:37

HV said it was ok, and they swaddle in other countries until they are much older. Anyway, I really would like to stop, but it is the only way I can get her to sleep. She's not rolling yet, but I'd like to stop swaddling her before she can as I can see the possible issues.

I've been working so hard on getting her to self settle in her cot, so I'm very hesitant to start cuddling her to sleep again. Besides, when I used to do that as soon as I let go she would start clawing at her face. We were co sleeping so that I could keep her pinned down, but I was getting no sleep at all and was in such a state of exhaustion I was starting to get into a very bad place psychologically and physically. That is when we tried the swaddling, and it works with her.

I did just try putting her down without swaddling, but she got really upset and frustrated as she was tired but kept clawing at her face, fingers in eyes, pulling dummy out, etc. I ended up swaddling her and it took ages to get her to calm down and fall asleep.

I do have a sleeping bag, so I could try that, but as her arms are free I don't quite see how it might help. I'm willing to give anything a try though.

Sorry if I'm coming across as overly negative about your suggestions. We've had so, so many problems with DDs sleeping and have been at the end of our tether many times. Swaddling is literally the one thing that keeps her calm enough to sleep, but I know it needs to stop soon.

I feel I'm in such a catch 22 here. This constant sleeping battle is really getting to me

OP posts:

Gaslady2015 · 03/03/2015 18:41

We had exactly the same problem with my now 9 month old. He was a helicopter arming, active, face rubbing, dummy removing baby and had real problems switching off to sleep. I used zip up swaddle sleeping bags that I found on eBay by an Australian company - ergopouch- which we used until he could roll at 8 months. I did worry about swaddling for so long but he wasn't like my friends babies who didn't have this problem, i stopped swaddling the day he rolled over in his cot. They do a 6-12 month size which he now uses as a sleeping bag. no problems at at transitioning from swaddle to bag- i think he just got used to his own arms more by 8 months and happily pops in his dummy at sleep time and nods off on his own.
www.ergopouch.co.uk/swaddles.html is their website

Original poster

TeamEponine · 03/03/2015 19:19

Callamia - does that one hold the arms in place, or would she still be able to move her arms? If she can move them at all and get them to her face I don't think it will work for us unfortunately.

Gas - same thing really. Would that one immobilise her arms? I think she's only a couple of weeks from rolling over, so we need to work something out soon.

I think I maybe need to just concentrate on getting her out of swaddling, but it leads to such hysterics and over tiredness. I might try just leaving one arm out and putting scratch mits on so she can't actually pull her eyes out.

Took ages to get DD to sleep tonight, and that was with swaddling. We had made such progress with putting her down and her starting to self settle. We've had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at sleeping without swaddling and it has thrown the tiny bit of progress we've managed.

This child is a sleep disaster zone and I have no idea what to do next. Other than crying over a glass of wine

OP posts:

ElleDubloo · 03/03/2015 21:26

Hmm. We had the same problem, though DD is only 4 months. She sleeps in a cotbed as she's outgrown the moses basket - she's a big baby! We've recently managed to get her cozy by putting two pillows in her cotbed, one on either side of her, under the fitted sheet to avoid suffocation risk. A bit like an oversized Cocoonababy, if that makes sense. She's very cozy in there and her arms have less space to move. Other than that, she's in a sleeping bag.

Laquila · 03/03/2015 21:31

I remember the HV suggesting that I "put a little blanket" over my son's ever-flailing arms at that stage, to try and keep them still. I'd have laughed, if I hadn't been so close to tears!

I don't have much advice but can sympathise. My son did grow out of the flailing/flapping/face rubbing stage though, and I think they all do sooner or later.

ElleDubloo · 03/03/2015 21:31

I meant Sleepyhead, not Cocoonababy.

drspouse · 03/03/2015 22:29

Summer Infant brand Velcro swaddler in a Large size (I may have a couple going spare second hand...) Goes up to 21lb.
To wean off, start with one arm out, then two. Then drop at nap time and finally at night.

callamia · 04/03/2015 12:55

No - they pin the arms uowards. It was great for us.

drspouse · 04/03/2015 15:37

The Velcro swaddler positions the arms at the baby's side.

To those saying "oh how cruel, why not cuddle them", a) it's not just getting them to sleep but stopping them from waking themselves up and b) the whole point of a swaddler is that it makes them feel secure and calm, like being held tightly in someone's arms.

FruitBadger · 05/03/2015 07:23

Try looking up "Batwing swaddle" on YouTube. We used this with a large muslin to DS because he got into a state because he used to get his fists through the neck of a zip up swaddle and they'd then become stuck

We did stop swaddling at 10 weeks so it may not work with a bigger baby, but it could be a good halfway point whilst you get her used to another swaddle that doesn't hold her arms so tightly?

zippyrainbowbrite · 05/03/2015 07:33

With regard to scratching her face, DS used to do this until a similar age - I used to put socks on his hands (pulled right up to his elbows!) rather than the scratch mits, as he couldn't get those off for much longer!

Abby21 · 05/03/2015 08:36

We still put socks on over baby suit! X

beckworth · 05/03/2015 08:44

Controversial I know, but we had the exact same problem until ds learnt to roll onto his front. Much less arm flailing on his front, although I have still been known to have to hold his legs at nap time. Now he's rolling front to back we are regressing a bit, but if you're confident of her neck control and she's rolling anyway you could try front sleeping?

Original poster

TeamEponine · 07/03/2015 05:47

Thanks Beck. I think she will actually be a side sleeper as that is the position she naturally goes into. Hopefully once she is out of the swaddling and able to roll she will find her natural position and start to sleep a bit better

Thank you all for your advice. In the end we've decided to stop the quest for the perfect swaddling for her, and instead to work on stopping swaddling her. Yesterday I tried one arm out for a nap, but gave up after half an hour of hysterics. I will try again with each nap though. Through the night I've put her back in the Hana wrap. She can move her arms about a fair amount, but can't claw at her face, so it seems like a good intermediate step. She has woken more than usual, but at least she can't escape the wrap. Re swaddling every couple of hours was not fun!

Thanks again everyone, and I'll update again soon.

OP posts:

drspouse · 07/03/2015 09:07

Best of luck. We did more or less the same thing at around the same age.

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