Cold turkey on the swaddling/dummy or easy does it??

[Leeksy]

My 17 week old boy is still swaddled and has a dummy to go to sleep. He normally wakes just shy of an hour where I promptly put the dummy back in and he's back to sleep. He usually gets around 1.5-2 hours in the morning and the same in the arvo. Is there any thoughts as to how I can ease him out of swaddling or is cold turkey best? I'm finding it very hard not to as he sleeps so well and he doesn't knock his dummy out with his flailing arms. I tried this morning unswaddled and dummy and managed 45mins, 15 mins of crying then I swaddled him with one arm out. I think I need to let go and am in for a few days of crying but worth it. I think it's best to get him out of swaddling now as it'll be harder down the track? I can't have a one year old still swaddled!! If anyone has any thoughts or threads on this I would love it. Thanks mums xx

My goodness, leeksy, if you have a trick to make a 17 week old sleep through the night, keep it (I say)! Most babies, as they become more mobile, start to HATE being swaddled. . .so your ds will probably reach that point on his own sooner or later, I think. The dummy is the bigger problem, if you're anti dummy. People say nip that one in the bud--3 or 4 months or so. I, personally, couldn't bear to do that with either child, and let ds keep it for sleeping only until he turned 3 yrs old. Dd (20 months) still has hers. Since neither child ever became attached to any other "transitional object" (ie blanket or cuddly toy), I felt it was unfair to take away that one source of bedtime comfort. But different mums out there will have different opinions; hope youll get some more answers soon.

Hi expatkat thanks so much for the advice. I don't reallly want to get rid of the dummy altogether because as you say it is their one source of comfort but I feel that when he's out of his swaddle he'll take it out of his mouth and won't be able to put it back then he'll cry and carry on. We've been doing one arm out but I seem to tuck it underneath the sheets!! Next week is both arms out so I think I'm in for a few days of unsettled daytime sleep. If he didn't take it out of his mouth etc then I'd be prepared for him to keep it but I am not keen to do dummy-runs every 40mins and feel perhaps it's best if he learns to put himself to sleep without it. Sounds like I'm doing what's easiest for me which is swaddled with dummy as there's minimal fuss to go to sleep but at some point as you say, he'll fight the swaddle and I'll face this teeny problemo again. Have a great day and will let you know how he goes!! x