Transition from swaddle

[MissHoney85]

My DD is 4.5 months old and sleeps in a Miracle Blanket swaddle. She's starting to roll onto her side in the day and getting too long for the swaddle, so I want to transition her to a sleeping bag. The problem is, she gets really distracted and eventually distressed by having her arms free at night. She can be all lovely and drowsy when I put her down, then her arms start waving around and she wakes right up. It's like she doesn't know what to do with them. It's not startle reflex, I think she just finds it really distracting / stimulating. I've just been trying to get her to sleep for an hour with one arm out of the swaddle and have had to give up. As soon as I put the arm back in she was out like a light.

She can take daytime naps in a sleeping bag, but that's in a rocker chair so she has motion to help her.

Any advice?

I would hold her two hands in one of yours as she goes to sleep. Hold then still against her chest. As she starts to still and calm into sleep, slowly let go but stay there incase she starts again and hold them again.

@FATEdestiny yes I did try holding her arms still but wasn't sure where to put them. Will try them on her chest next time. Thanks!

Ok I got her to sleep in the bag tonight - she managed two two hour stints in it but now keeps waking after 10 minutes in it so I've had to give in and go back to the swaddle 😭 I really hope she gets used to it soon!

I used a magic merlin sleepsuit to transition my DD from a swaddle. It’s quite thick though so I kept the room cool and dressed her appropriately but it worked wonders for her - within a few weeks I was able to transition her to a regular sleep sack.

Here’s a link:- Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit (Small, Blue www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0095YY7RY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_28E6SQPHC0EEEBX7KW0H?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

My DS was the same, we ended up using a woombie (the mega size) until he was 9 months old. He then transitioned easily to a sleeping bag.

Thank you! The sleeping bag was a non starter
tonight, had to give up after an hour of trying 😭

@Captainj1 was your DS rolling by then? Was the woombie still safe? Not sure my DD is close to rolling yet but that's my fear if she stays swaddled much longer.

Yes he was rolling at 3 months! It’s pretty hard to roll without your hands available though…

Woombies are advertised as being for up to 18m (for the transitional woombie) and up to 9 months for the armless woombie. I’m no expert but DS was fine in his even after he was crawling at 7m. He was a colic reflux dairy allergic screaming nightmare hence us clinging on to the woombie for so long as it was the only thing that helped him stay asleep for any length of time…

Yes I suppose it is pretty hard to roll without arms! DD tends to be very still when she's asleep anyway. Maybe I'll stop stressing about it then and embrace the swaddle for a bit longer!

If you use a flat sheet for swaddling, you could undo or loosen it once baby has gone to sleep.

I had the same issue.
My youngest is 7 months and the sleeping bag is still a non starter. We are using these with success.

www.amazon.co.uk/Zipadee-Zip-Swaddle-Transition-Wearable-8lbs-12lbs/dp/B07Q2GVQ22?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Hi, I know this is an old thread but how did you manage the transition? I'm currently going through the exact same