Transition from swaddle to sleep sack and won't sleep

nicolelynn915

So we are trying to transition from a swaddle to sleep sack.... It's going less than ideal.... She woke up every 1-2 hours last night... Not even to eat just for soothing to get back to sleep.... So exhausting... Prior to this she had been sleeping anywhere between 4 and 7 hours straight at night always being up for the day at 7 am. Well the past couple of days she has been breaking free from the swaddle or ending up with her arms pinned in an awkward position. Not only that but somehow she'd pin herself to the side of the bassinet... Swaddling is just becoming something I don't feel comfortable doing for her own safety... Anyone having difficulty with this or advice to make the transition easier. We haven't changed anything else with our nighttime routine besides sleep sack instead of swaddle.

kmcshane0211

Would you consider keeping the swaddle until she loses that arm reflex, and instead, trying something to keep her in place? The nurses in my hospital draped a taut blanket over the babies and tucked it under the mattress on both sides. It keeps them warm and in place.

cait040415

We do exactly what PP suggested. LO always gets her arms loose so we don't even bother with covering her arms. This position also seems to help her stay on her back because she likes to roll to her side.

ElleMF728

We have a sleep suit for transitioning that muffles the reflex there are also swaddled made for the transition that we have as well called swaddleup.

jen83mn

We use an arms-out sleep sack since our baby hates having his arms confined and has since birth (he would fight the swaddle until his arms were free). We also place him at the bottom edge of the pack n play so his feet actually touch. Then if he startles and kicks he meets some resistance and feels like he's in a smaller space than he actually is.

Are you using a sleep sack with arms in or out?

MiromiM

There's lots of different techniques for swaddling and a variety of materials. Personally, I'm really digging my 44 x 44 '' flannel swaddles. I have a halo sleep sack, the popular muslin ones, and even the Swaddle Mes. For me, using a big swaddle, and keeping it tight works best and I mean tight! I watched her pediatrician and a doula do it once and boy do they tug on it. Otherwise their hands get free.

adadrian910

We use a wombie swaddle. It allows them to move their arms inside but prevents the startle reflex. We used them with DS1 and loved them and started using these when we brought DS2 home.

nbuzard

They don't lose their startle reflex until around 3 months, you could wait a little longer to try? I second the comment about making sure to swaddle tight enough. I thought my little guy hated being swaddled but I just wasn't doing it right. It immediately calms him down now and he's out like a light for 8-9 hrs. Moms on Call has a great instructional video on their website.

Dot30324

I also suggest woombie or halo. Both have ability for tight swaddle but arms up. Look up moms on call; started here in Atlanta by 2 nurses. Great swaddle techniques

Bognes

OP Are you worried she'll roll over?
I still use the hospital swaddles (we took a few) because they're not as stretchy as the others. And she still manages to break out of them once a night. We refer to it as breaking out of jail. "Oh crap, she broke out of jail."
She broke her arms out of the Woombie immediately and then she has an arm all jacked up next to her face.
I'm considering sewing two hospital swaddles together to be able to wrap around her now that she's getting bigger.
I know someone who uses this Magic Suit...
https://www.magicsleepsuit.com

MiromiM

@nbuzard

That's totally the swaddle I do! It doesn't seem to work so well with the muslin blankets so I went to the craft store and bought 5 yards of flannel fabric and made three appropriately sized swaddles. The fabric was in the bargain bin and was already 44/45" wide so I only spent 10 dollars making them and stitched the edges with my sewing machine. DD has gone from crying to being knocked out a few times like the babies in the video.

callistosmile

I do a batwing swaddle with a small non stretchy blanket and then a regular swaddle with a muslin blanket on top of that. I also do a batwing under the woombie but I feel like he's already strong too big for it, even though it's the 14-19 lb one...

nicolelynn915

Well thank you for all the replies! Tried swaddling with the blanket and that didn't work along with other various methods. We are just going to go back to our regular swaddle and try making it tighter because momma needs her sleep...

kaylarenae3

You could try a zippadee zip! Their arms are loose but it prevents the full startle reflex.

ElleMF728

Bognes said:

OP Are you worried she'll roll over? I still use the hospital swaddles (we took a few) because they're not as stretchy as the others. And she still manages to break out of them once a night. We refer to it as breaking out of jail. "Oh crap, she broke out of jail." She broke her arms out of the Woombie immediately and then she has an arm all jacked up next to her face. I'm considering sewing two hospital swaddles together to be able to wrap around her now that she's getting bigger. I know someone who uses this Magic Suit... https://www.magicsleepsuit.com

We use the sleepsuit! DS2 loves it and is happily napping away in it right now while I bump.  We also use Love to Dream SwaddleUp which is a little more like a swaddle that allows for restricted arm movement.