Weaning from swaddling?

EMTX

Oy. I still swaddle DS for naps and nighttime sleep. It just seems to help him rest better.

I probably should have stopped a while ago - I'm worried that it will be rough now when we try to stop.

Just tried to put him down for a nap without it. Fell asleep while I rocked him as usual, but as soon as I put him in the crib, the arms started flailing. He's in there now, awake but quiet. I can hear him moving around on the monitor.

Any tips?

smb29

Let him tell you when he is done with it.  If he still sleeps well, why change? 

We dropped it earlier than I had planned because he needed to be able to use his hands to soothe himself when he woke up at night, but they continued to use it at daycare for several more months until he started fighting it.  He went cold turkey both times.  Some people do the one arm out, then the other.  But if he is okay with the swaddle, I wouldn't worry about dropping it now. 

luluAXA

When we stopped swaddling we stopped with the naps first.  It was a big problem placing him in the crib just right so we didn't wake him.  Once you master that it's easier I think.  You can always try the one hand and then both swaddling.  We went cold turkey and it worked for us though.  Oh and we moved from the swaddle to the footed dress thing.  I can't remember what it's called. HTH

BLONDIE6FT

you know we worried about when to stop too and looking back (you know sooooo long ago lol !) i can say, swaddle as long as it works! he will let you know--as in busting out of the swaddle or being extremely fussy or fidgety. then start with one nap and one arm out and work your way to no swaddle. if his arms are still flapping around then keep swaddlingif he's ok with it.

rssnlvr

we swaddled until almost 5 months...until she started outsmarting the miracle blanket. We couldn't do cold turkey b/c she was too flaily, so we did one arm out for a week, then both arms out (just swaddled tummy/legs) for about a week, then off completely but still in a sleep sack. I don't think you can swaddle "too long." He'll let you know when he's ready to be done with it!

colleenor

if it makes you feel better, we are still swaddling:) the poor kid is too long for the miracle blanket but he just wakes himself up without it...we are starting to experiment with leaving his legs out.

smittendorff

Try just one arm out first, then try wrapped just his belly for awhile.  We then transitioned our first DS to a regular Halo sleepsack and that worked really well.  He was busting his arms out by 3 months and sleeping well with just his tummy wrapped, so we knew he was done.  I have heard the recommendation is to stop swaddling at 3-4 months, so you probably should think about it soon. 

JezcaM

i'm pretty sure we swaddled past 6 months. then we stopped bcse she wiggled out of it. that's when we went to swaddling just one arm, and then swaddling under her arms, then nothing.