16 week old fighting swaddle but still needs it (I think??!!)

[BritishBeef]

My DS up until 3 weeks ago was starting to almost sleep through.

However, since then he has started waking up 4 or 5 times a night. He is swaddled but everytime we go to him when he wakes up crying out, he has managed to get his arms out and/or feet. The swaddle we have been using successfully up until a few weeks ago is the Miracle Blanket which has the flaps to keep his arms in place which means he must be Houdini to get them out! He now kicks his feet out of it too. We have just tried a Swaddleeaze but the same problem (gets his arms out). We wondered if it was his way of saying he doesn't want to be swaddled anymore but we tried him in a Grobag and also half swaddling but he just rubs his face constantly ith his hands if he wakes and it makes him cry. He also makes his face raw and often scrathes his skin with his nails (which are cut).

We have tried many variations, including a blanket and half swaddle to no avail.

We have run out of ideas and are in desperate need of some sleep.

Any suggestions? Anyone else have the same problem?

I suggest you put socks on DSs hands so that if his hands get free at least he can't scratch his face- we do this with DS.

We also still swaddle DS at 6.5mo and went through a phase around 3-4 mo when he would escape from his swaddle but still needed it, so we just did it tighter and that worked. We use a small sheet (crib) folded in half across the diagonal and just swaddle his arms. We fold one arm first and tuck the corner under his body by rolling him, then do the other one. This way both ends are under his bum/back and as he can't roll, its hard for him to escape. We pull the sheet really tight before tucking it under him. We are weaning him off the swaddle now though, as we think its about time he learnt to sleep with his arms free, so are swaddling him loosely so he can choose to keep his arms down or not.

I suggest you put socks on DSs hands so that if his hands get free at least he can't scratch his face- we do this with DS.

We also still swaddle DS at 6.5mo and went through a phase around 3-4 mo when he would escape from his swaddle but still needed it, so we just did it tighter and that worked. We use a small sheet (crib) folded in half across the diagonal and just swaddle his arms. We fold one arm first and tuck the corner under his body by rolling him, then do the other one. This way both ends are under his bum/back and as he can't roll, its hard for him to escape. We pull the sheet really tight before tucking it under him. We are weaning him off the swaddle now though, as we think its about time he learnt to sleep with his arms free, so are swaddling him loosely so he can choose to keep his arms down or not.

Would he settle on his front? Just an idea as that should stop him flailing his limbs which may (or may not) be disturbing him.

I'm sure I'll get flayed for this, but mine wouldn't keep a swaddle on after three months and only settled on her tummy. She still prefers to sleep on her stomach and rolls from back to front if put down on her back.

She had very good head control at three months and rolled very soon after. TBH, I felt that us both getting a decent sleep outweighed the small additional SIDS risk.

You could try putting your baby on his side with a small towel rolled up at his back and tummy. He might settle better that way.

I think I heard John Lewis sell babygros with "integral" scratch mits which fold from one side of the arm over the hand and therefore can't be pulled off.

ds2 is 6mo next week

we swaddled him until about 3 weeks ago

he too fought it but without a swadlle would only sleep for 30 mins or so at a time

he now sleeps ina grobag on his tummy. he wakes a couple of times a night, which - for us- is good

i don't want to recommedn it as such as all th experts say not to, btu ds2 is big and stroing and we had no concerns about im bein able to lift his head

Oh and I forgot - an overtired baby will flail more and "startle" in their sleep more. Can you try reducing his "awake" times a bit and see if that's the problem?

My goodness!!! You and I are having the EXACT same problem. My little one is 15 weeks old. Last night was a disaster! I tried swaddling him and he got out time and time again...so I tried one arm out and one arm in...he did great! Kind of. He usually sleeps for 6 hours or more, but didn't...went for 3. After that I tried him in a bag, but that was a disaster as well. Then I put him in the bag, with his arms inside of it. Worked kind of okay, but he was really tired by this point, and I agree with what twleveyeargap said about flailing more when they are tired. Right now he's been sleeping in his swing for the past 2 hrs. b/c he's so tired. I figure, tonight I'm going to try to put one arm out and one arm in again. Keep me posted with what you are doing BritishBeef.

Hi...
I was actually looking for an answer to why my 4 month old scratches me...it's not aggressive, actually, it's like he's tired or something.
But I may be able to help you out. Is your baby on cereal yet? If not, is he showing any interest when you eat? If he is, and he is a big baby, he may be hungry. My 4 month old was sleeping through the night and then suddenly began waking several times in the night. We felt like it was newborn time all over again! He's 17.8 lbs (10.9 at birth) and watches us eat...our Ped. suggested that we start cereal, since he's already getting at least 32oz of formula in a 24hr period. We bought some and are going to start it tomorrow...I'll let you know how it goes!

We swaddled DD until about this age, when she started to escape from the swaddle on a regular basis. So we decided to go cold turkey and put her in a Grobag. She did wake herself up at first, but after a few nights she got accustomed to the freedom and started to sleep better again. If your DS is not getting used to having his arms free, I would say you should carry on swaddling.