at the risk of boring people... i still want to discuss swaddling. did any of you swaddle past the newborn stage? i have questions...

[Tutter]

ds2 is nearly 4mo

is a shocking sleeper (catnaps in the day, has disturbed nights)

only way to get him to sleep more than 30 mins at a time is to swaddle

but he's now 18lbs and strong so he generally wakes at 1am or thereabouts with his little grabby fiddly fingers bothering him, scrabbling about at his face

last night i reswaddled and then put him inside a sleeping bag and he was a bit better

now before you all get too alarmed, it was blardy freezing in our room (16 degrees) and he's swaddled in a thick sheet not a blanket, and grobag is only 1.0 tog - so he wasn't too hot

but still i felt a bit odd, trussing him up like that

did anyone else swaddle at this age, and if so how did ytou manage it?

to clarify: last night he was swaddled in swaddle sheet, then inside a grobag but obv without arms through armholes - in fact only the zip was done up (so nothing done up around arms/neck)

I have swaddled till six months. You want to sew a length of cotton to one corner with velcro and you can tie the swaddle on .

It helped me not get kicked in the face for a while during breastfeeds too.

For a while I swaddled ds2 outside the sleeping bag. Like yours, his flailing arms seemed to bother him. I would put him in the sleeping bag and then wrap a large muslin (folded lengtwise) tightly around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides, making sure the loose ends were underneath him when I laid him down.

But I gradually stopped doing it. By this age they've got much better control over their arms, and they need to be able to get themselves comfortable, and to be used to whatever they do during the night. They may want to suck fingers, twiddle hair, etc.

I swaddled dd1 until she was about 6mths.

I used a normal cot sheet, but i swaddled under her arms so she could move about feely.

I also found by moving her into her own cot in her own room so she had plenty of room to move.

I also found with dd1 if she didn't sleep well during the day she wouldn't/couldn't sleep at night.

I swaddled DD1 until she was about 7 months. Then we hit the summer and it was just too hot to continue. We used a voile curtain panel when she was bigger and the temperature was hotter!

I read on Mumsnet that a delayed loss of the Moro reflex is inherited. DD1 certainly woke herself up with her startling arms. As do I...

I swaddled DS2 till he was about 4-5 months, leaving hsi arms free once he was past 3 months or so, he has just turned 6 months. Now he is a grobag though still not a settled sleeper by any means.
I think they need access to hands/fingers past the newborn stage to comfort themselves. No reason why you can't swaddle his body but leave his arms free (read this suggestion in my Baby Bliss book).

Still swaddling at 9 months for DS3 (4th child) as I also did for DS1 (the others didn't seem to need it.) I use enormous muslin wraps (bought in Australia) which fit fairly tightly round him, and then tuck him in with a light blanket.

I swaddle my dd (7 and half mo and 19lbs) for her afternoon nap because it helps her sleep soundly. Before I did this she only slept for half an hour and was SO tired and grumpy.