Does your baby sleep swaddled?

AReid9

For the past 2 months, my daughter has been sleeping in the Halo Sleep Sack swaddle that swaddles her arms and has been sleeping mostly through the night.  However, she is starting to be able to roll so my husband and I felt like we needed to switch to a normal sleep sack in case she rolls in the middle of the night and can't get herself back over.  Last night was her first night in a normal sleep sack (with her arms unswaddled) and it was horrible- she woke up every 2 hours fussy and uncomfortable.  What does your LO sleep in? Any advice for transitioning out of a swaddle? Any advice is welcome Thanks so much!

kellxo

my LO has always slept in a sleep sack he likes to be stretched out. i had never even herd of swaddles until i joined the bumb. The only thing i can say is to keep trying, eventually she will get used to it!

Buckles0528

if you read any of my posts you'll see I am having the same issue.  I just left the pediatrician for an unrelated issue and she said they just have to outgrow the reflex and once they are unswaddled and had the taste of freedom you can't go back.  She suggested trying a crib wedge for a few weeks since the reflex is stronger while they are lying on their backs.  She also said other than that you just have to deal with it until they get their body under control, but if they aren't crying don't go in the room and if it hasn't been more than 3 hours don't feed him when he wakes and let him try to go back to sleep on his own.  

michellemybelle915

DS would only sleep well swaddled so we started leaving his arms out during naps and he got used to it and even started preferring it.. So maybe start with naps first?

marijaa333

Mine isn't rolling yet but he's breaking out of swaddles, so we've also had to start the transition. I'm having some luck with the Zipadee-zip. Otherwise, I leave one arm out and alternate arms. Hoping he will lose his startle reflex before he learns to roll! Good luck!

babinante

I had this issue and we swaddled one arm out for a week and then both arms out and swaddled from the chest down. Worked like a charm!

rositalynda2014

My baby used to sleep swaddled but I started just not swaddling her for naps. Now at night I just loosely wrap her in a blanket.

stephv18

My LO slept swaddled until about a week ago when she started rolling. The first time she rolled we transitioned her by starting with one arm out for week and then after that week I swaddled her lower half and kept her arms out. We now have her in a sleep sack that still is a little tighter around her lower body. She now sleeps on her belly.. At first we rolled her back and then immediately she rolled back to her belly, it was scary at first but now we are used to it.

AReid9

Thanks for all the advice! We tried her with one arm out last night and it worked great!

gtellier

babinante said:

I had this issue and we swaddled one arm out for a week and then both arms out and swaddled from the chest down. Worked like a charm!

This is exactly what we do too, and she sleeps wonderfully!

mars8k

The 1 arm thing didn't work for us, i guess she hasn't outgrown her reflex yet i'll just wait a bit longer

alliebsmith

My 15 week old still sleeps swaddled, she has not outgrown her reflex and will not sleep unswaddled, she won't even fall asleep she just flails her limbs. We tried one arm out and she screamed bloody murder. She doesn't roll over yet and when we swaddle her at night she goes 12 hours of sleeping straight without any feedings so for me, I'm swaddling her until she rolls over.

Nhbaby

My 14 weeker won't accept a swaddle. (Sad!!) However, my 24 mo old loved it and we swaddled him until 5-6 months I think. Then, I had luck w Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit as a transition! It's too hot for it (in my opinion) now, but if you have central air it could be wonderful as it was for us!

Nhbaby

https://www.magicsleepsuit.com

Knottie76365376

My 15 week old has been sleeping unswaddled for a month now. He sleeps an avg of 9 hrs straight at night. He was always a big fan of having his arms up by his face and it has been a hot summer so I would swaddle on and off until he was fine in just jammies.

OlgaN15

My LO was breaking out of his swaddle and would get his arms free. I just let him do it for a while and then transitioned him to a sleep sack. He was pretty used to his arms being free while sleeping by then. He wasn't rolling yet at the time though...

newmommy2bXo

Yeah mine does that too..she will break out of her swaddle and she usually gets her arms out first lol. She loves to roll now but she gets stuck and cries of she's rolled so I've been relying on that to be able to tell if she's rolled but I also put two fleece blankets in between her to prevent her from rolling

Starla777

Swaddled LO for the first month. After that he would break out wanting to move his arms. So for another month I would wrap small blanket just around his middle section so he could still move his limbs. After three months he's been fine just in a diaper or a onesie.

alliebsmith

So my LO is 18 weeks and still sleeps swaddled. She usually gets pretty wiggly in the middle of the night and unfortunately if she breaks out of her swaddle she will wake herself up from failing. She has a strong startle reflex still but I am worried she is associating the swaddle with sleep and I'm not sure how to break her of that. Do I wait until she grows out of the reflex?

mars8k

@alliebsmith i'm in the same boat with my 20 wo, everyone keeps telling me i should stop swaddling her but that's the only way she'll sleep! I don't see what's wrong with swaddling really my LO only rolls over when she's on our bed, never in her crib and only when i help her when she's on the floor, i'll just keep swaddling her i think she's teething so we both need as much sleep as we can get!

SmrBrd2012

I still swaddle too and LO is 18+ weeks. He has a pretty solid startle reflex still as well. He isn't rolling yet though. We've been slowly transitioning over to a Merlin sleep suit which is working pretty well. It was a hand me down though. Not sure I would actually buy one.

alliebsmith

@mars8k I completely agree! I get 10-12 hours a night of sleep from her so I don't see what the issue is. She will nap unswaddled in her swing or rock n play or bouncy seat so as long as she's elevated she is fine. Until she really grows out of the reflex and is rolling over consistently, I will continue swaddling her. I know people who swaddled until 9/10 months. You know what works best for your baby, and I choose sleep over fighting a swaddle battle and a battle over a reflex.