HELP!! 5mo needs swaddle&dummy to sleep!

[AnnieM18]

I am hoping some experienced mothers might be able to give me some advice.
I have a 5 month old baby whose sleep is getting worse rather than better. He was a bad sleeper from birth so around 2 months i started to swaddle him for naps and at night, make the room dark, use whitenoise and a dummy and he started instantly sleeping better! Once he’s wrapped up in his crib, he’ll go over himself in a few minutes (with all those things in place). He’s in a good 7-7 routine and naps at the recommended times and for the recommended length of times.

However now he wakes constantly through the night (maybe 8-10 times a night) and I have to replace the dummy each time and he goes back over for a short time then awwke again.
It’s getting more and more frequent. If the dummy doesn’t go back in, he literally will not sleep.

He also won’t sleep unswaddled. I’ve tried a few times and either he (and I) had a completely sleepless night or I’ve had to re-swaddle him to get to sleep. I’ve moved to the Love To Dream swaddle which he likes but once the arms are out, the thrashes around and doesn’t know what to do with his arms and won’t sleep at all. So I keep having to put the arms Back in.

I can’t move him into his own room because if he rolls in the swaddle, he’ll suffocate. I would also have to go next door multiple times to replace the dummy.
But something needs to change. I’m averaging 2-4 hours of (broken) sleep a night!

Please help! Had anyone been through anything similar with regards dummy dependance and / or the swaddle? If so, how did you change the habits? Any advice?

I would love to master at least one of these Problems to try to get him more settled 🙈 thanks so much in advance xx

Could be 4 month sleep regression

If you want to get rid of the dummy or swaddling then I think the best thing is to go cold turkey and will probably be shit for a few days then settle - if you do this pick a time when you have some help/support during the day so you can catch up on some sleep!

But I didn’t swaddle and my lo still has her dummy x

Thank you, I’ve been thinking I need to go cold turkey! I don’t mind him having the dummy at all (it’s so useful when he’s upset or tired) except he now can’t resettle to sleep without it so it’s becoming such hard work for me through the night 🙈

Sounds like the 4 month regression, apparently it lasts 2-6 weeks and you just have to tough it out. My baby is just starting to wake a lot more at night so I've been reading up!

I dont know about swaddling but my 7 month old went through a phase of waking every time the dummy came out which was fine when he was sleeping next to me but when he moved into his own room I was in and out countless times. In the end I put a mattress in his room and slept in there.

It's only been the last few weeks that he learned how to put the dummy back in himself which makes a huge difference as now he can self settle easier and often will go back to sleep without even bothering to find the dummy now.

Maybe if you can get him free of the swaddling the dummy will sort itself out.

Yes If he could get away from the swaddle, the dummy problem might resolve itself eventually. At least I could move him into his own room then. Thanks so much

Our DS was like this. Apparently the 4 month regression isn’t exactly a temporary ‘regression’ it’s a new way of sleeping (sleep cycles) so it lasts til they figure out sleeping again. For us, that involved taking the dummy away, I was dreading it but he slept better from the very first night. He’d been too aware of the change when the dummy fell out so it woke him - like me he’s an incredibly light sleeper.

Thank you, that’s encouraging that his sleep improved instantly. My lo is a very light sleeper too, as am I! Snap!

Annam18 you could have wrote this about my DD as we are in exactly the same position and it’s driving me crazy, sleep is getting worse not better. We have decided when my husband is off over Christmas we are going cold turkey with the swaddle first... I think. Only problem then is she will knock the dummy out with her arms 😩May try going without the dummy first actually 😂 good luck!

My first was a swaddle addict.

So we did gradual unswaddling and transitioned to growbags.

First you swaddle ever so slightly looser, if possible with how you swaddle.

Then one arm out for a few nights. Then both arms out for a week or so.

Then into the grow bag with the swaddle on and both arms out.

Then eventually out of the swaddle.

Only took about 2 weeks ish.

The dummy we didn't get rid of until about 3. And she regressed a few times due to horrible illnesses.

My LO was the same, she was such a good sleeper but once she could roll and we stopped swaddling it was all downhill! I won’t lie, it took a long time for things to get better and for her to get used to no swaddle, I started by not swaddling for daytime naps and then eventually transitioned to night time. She went in her own room at 7 months and now she is on solids her sleep is a bit better again.

We transitioned out of swaddling by moving DS into a sleeping bag then swaddling his arms only using a large muslin. Folded it into a large triangle, laid him under it then tucked each side over his arm and under his body. He carried on sleeping well and it didn't matter if he rolled or the muslin came loose as its breathable material. We did that until he was about 8 months and it worked great for us, might be something to try?

Sounds exactly the same as my DD, who was swaddled (with a dummy) until 6 months old. She loved the swaddle so much. Her sleep turned rubbish at about 4.5 months old - waking every hour needing dummy replaced etc.

After a few weeks of this, we switched her to a gro-bag (which was actually fine after a couple of days, it was like she was ready) and bought a sleepytot bunny which has Velcro paws for 4 dummies. She could then reinsert her own dummy easily, and have had perfect sleep ever since! (Now 18 months).

Thanks so much ladies, so many good suggestions and advice. So kind of you all. I think I’ll tackle the swaddle first by doing it gradually and see how that goes then decide about the dummy.

SS1987 good luck to you too! 😂