?s for moms who don't swaddle

gitiggr

We've been trying to wean DS off of the swaddle for almost 2 months now, since he started rolling back to belly. We use the miracle blanket. We started leaving his left arm out at night but fully swaddled for naps. Then we tried both arms out about a month ago but he wasn't having it. So since then we went to right arm out at night, still with both arms in for naps. He's been able to bust out of the swaddle anyway.

We put him in his crib drowsy but awake for naps and nighttime, with a paci. Then we usually lay on the floor for 5 to 10 minutes until he falls asleep. At night we have to hold his free hand so he doesn't mess with the paci, until he falls asleep.

So my questions are: what do you do after you lay LO down? How long does it take for them to fall asleep when they have their arms and legs completely free? DS will crawl all over the crib and throw his pacis on the floor, then get upset. Should I just let him crawl around until he finally passes out? I have a video monitor so at least I can see what he's up to. Hope this all makes sense. I just know there's no point to swaddling anymore since he ends up completely out of it anyway. Oh and he had no probs getting himself back to sleep during the night, it's just the initial falling asleep I'm worried about. TIA!

Samiantha101

I lay her down on the verge of sleep. When I put her down, I usually pat her tummy for a small amount of time. If she's not asleep at this point, she generally will be shortly.

I let me dd scoot around in the mornings. Generally, she's up a good 15 minutes before I get her out of the crib. However, she never took to a paci, nor do I put her in her crib for the night when she's not on the verge of sleep.

You can always try and see what happens.

khill86

We don't use a pacifier, so I can't help you there.

I usually nurse DS to pretty near sleep. I lay him in his crib and sometimes he just closes his eyes and turns over and goes to sleep. Other times he's all over the crib rolling, practicing crawling, up on his toes, he goes everywhere and chats to the monitor and crib slats. The longest I've seen him stay awake doing this is 20 minutes. If he gets frustrated and it escalates to crying where I know he won't just go to sleep, I go in, pick him up and rock for a bit to relax him, then put him back. If I have to go in again he's usually pretty close to sleep so I just rub his back or belly and we're done. The longest I'm in there if I have to go back is maybe 5 or 10 minutes at the very most.

My thinking is that the more I let him be mobile, it will be less exciting more quickly. Know what I mean? Once he masters crawling, I'm sure he'll stop being so excited to do it in the crib.

stepper1725

khill86:

I usually nurse DS to pretty near sleep. I lay him in his crib and sometimes he just closes his eyes and turns over and goes to sleep.

This. We don't have a swaddle issue, but we are trying to wean DD from bed sharing. It's been a slow process. We do our bedtime routine (bath, pjs, book, boob). I nurse her until she's drowsy. When I lift her up to put her in her crib, she looks around & fusses for a bit. I just pat her back & lay her in her crib. On a good night, she'll roll onto her side & get her thumb and go to sleep. On a bad night, she'll start crying right away. We let her fuss/cry for 5 minutes & usually she's asleep before the 5 minutes is up. If not, DH goes in and picks her up to calm her down. He then lays her back in her crib and pats her belly & holds her hand until she falls asleep, usually takes about 5 minutes. Good luck!

stepper1725

Oh, and as for the moving around thing, DD will roll onto her belly at night & often she gets upset and won't go back to sleep or roll herself over. So one of us will go in and roll her back over & pat her belly and hold her hand until she falls back asleep. She has no trouble rolling back & forth during the day but in her crib it really upsets her