How old is too old to swaddle?

tiniestjohnson · January 2009

My DS is almost 3 months. We have tried quitting the swaddle 3 times, with zero luck. Any tips, ideas, thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

kate081206 · January 2009

No help from me... we are still swaddling.

LuckySunshineBaby · January 2009

I asked pedi today at DD's 4 month check up and she said it's time. She even sounded sad to break it to me. She said I should go ahead and quit cold turkey. I'm very sad, b/c DD has STTN since (sick, but I remember the date) 11/16...and I have a feeling we are in for a rough time. We have company tomorrow and Sunday night and since our house is tiny, we are going to wait until Monday night to start. I'll page you if I find a trick

tiniestjohnson · January 2009

Thanks LuckySunshine!! We have houseguests all of next week, so I too will be waiting. The nights we tried just quitting were AWFUL. I am wondering if I should next time try one arm out, then two, then nothing. Sigh, I am sad thinking about it. When did he get so big?

Fordlor · January 2009

I'm still swaddling and DD is 7.5 months old. Granted, we are breaking the swaddle tonight. I've heard of babies being swaddled at nine months old. Do what works for you and your baby.

ETA: We've been doing one arm out for a month.

crazynervous · January 2009

Swaddle for as long as they will let you. I believe when I had my first son there was a concern about swaddling too long and the child having delays in rolling, or something but really who swaddles that much. I only swaddle for sleeping and if he falls asleep with out being swaddled I don't go and swaddle him. Do what feels right for you.

kje1977 · January 2009

I was just going to post this question when I saw this thread. DS is 10 weeks old tomorrow, and I just tried for 45 minutes to get him to stay asleep unswaddled--no luck. His flailing arms (Moro reflex) kept startling him awake. And I hate to see him stick out his bottom lip and start wailing. It is weird, though--he can nap for hours without a swaddle or a sleep sack or anything, but when we put him down at night without a swaddle (today was attempt number three at quitting the swaddle), he barely makes it 10 minutes!

BTW, what do you ladies use to swaddle? Regular blankets? Sleep sacks with the swaddle wrap? Kiddopotomuses (sp!)? Or something else? DS got too big for the Sleep Sack with the swaddle wrap about two or three weeks ago. He's in a Kiddopotomus now, but I don't like it as much because I feel like the "foot pouch" part is not well attached to the rest of it.

jlynne · January 2009

We've used Kiddopotomus (sp?) since birth. She's still swaddled at 5.5 months. I keep feeling like it's time to kick the habit, but she still startles so easily. Leaving one arm out is the same for her as not swaddled.

KekeJersey · January 2009

We didn't stop until ds broke free at about 4 1/2 months. It was a HELLISH 3 nights while he learned to sleep without it. SWADDLE AS LONG AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!

tiniestjohnson · January 2009

My DS is exactly the same! No swaddle for naps, but forget about thinking that will work at night. Ggrrrr. We are just using regular blankets still. He is SO long, most of the time his feet arent even in the swaddle, but he likes it that way I suppose.

jasonlovessara · January 2009

we are still swaddling and I just bought the large size sleep sacks and plan on using them for awhile...

katiehum · January 2009

at 6 months, we are still swaddling, only we haven't been able to keep her arms in since we came home from the hospital. We have just been half-swaddling (under the arms) for probably the last 4 months. some nights, she still manages to kick out of the swaddle . . . .

violetgloria · January 2009

My little girl is about 7 months and we still swaddle her loosly (sort of) with her arms out. She never did like having both arms in. All her "swaddling blankets were getting so small that I found I was laying down 2 in dfferent directins and then wrapping her up. So I had to call my mother in-law to go to the fabric store and buy some baby flannel and have her sew up the edges and viola! You have an extra large swaddling blanket (42" X 42"). Do what your baby wants. Babies naturally want to be in a womb like environment, being swaddled. They will let you know when they want to stop or change things up. It's trial and error. In my opinion whatever gets them to go to sleep longer and easier makes for happier parents!!

inateapot · January 2009

Oh it's good to read this thread - we're still swaddling & I was *dreading* unswaddling...I think I'll put it off a little longer.

KekeJersey · January 2009

MIRACLE BLANKET!

esmajean · January 2009

We still swaddle. If we don't do it tight enough he breaks loose and wakes up and the only way to get him back to sleep is to re-swaddle. I am praying for the day we can stop.

k8elee03 · January 2009

We had stopped...maybe a month ago? Maybe 6 weeks, not sure. Anyway, we started back up again a couple of nights ago because she's been rubbing her face so much. Swaddling is definitely helping her sleep better. I don't see the harm.

cosima · January 2009

At my two month appointment our pediatrician said there was no reason to listen to people who say that there's a certain time to stop swaddling. She pointed out that there are cultures all over the world that swaddle their babies much older than we tend to do here and those babies crawl, walk and talk. She said to take cues from baby. DD is now 4 months old and we love the miracle blanket and swaddleme. We've been able to do a few naps unswaddled then last night she was so fast asleep when I finished nursing her that I put her in the crib at 8 pm. I was sure she'd wake up within an hour or two, but at 5 am I woke up and realized she made it through the whole night! Oh and this is kind of weird but when I bring her into our bed in the middle of the night she will fall asleep next to me unswaddled for the rest of the night.

LiamShannonsMommy · January 2009

Mine is 5 months old and we just stopped a few nights ago. He is strong and was breaking out of even the Miracle Blanket. Plus, he's almost sitting up unattended. I had heard horror stories of babies rolling over unswaddled and it's a suffocation hazard. The grandparents always scolded us.

Granted ,mine slept like crap swaddled or not so we had nothing to lose. It's been difficult but he learned to sleep good unswaddled during the day pretty quick and they will learn to sleep unswaddled at night too. Babies adapt easier than we think sometimes. I was so scared to stop swaddling because now he's up every 45 minutes instead of every 2 hours. Plus, he's cutting his first tooth!

My advice is, stop swaddling as soon as he can really move. It's going to suck either way, whether you stop now or in 3 months. But the baby will get used to it. Good luck

LiamShannonsMommy · January 2009

Correction: horror stories of babies rolling over swaddled and not being able to life their heads up with their hands.

baby4dee · January 2009

LiamShannonsMommy:

Correction: horror stories of babies rolling over swaddled and not being able to life their heads up with their hands.

But if the baby is strong enough to flip himself over with no arms, wouldnt he be able to either a) flip back or b) turn his head to the side? I no longer swaddle but that sounds like one of those scare tactics. I've never heard of that happening.

happyhappymommy · February 2009

Hey! We used the Halo sleepsack swaddle - such a bang for the buck! but even though Halo makes a larger swaddle (for bigger infants), once a babycan roll over, they should not be swaddled anymore, cuz they'll get stuck on their tummy and that's dangerous... Yikes!

How old is too old to swaddle?

Re: How old is too old to swaddle?

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