still swaddling...?

travnicek

My 6 1/2 month old still sleeps best when she's swaddled. 

My first LO was done being swaddled, and in a sleep sack, when he was about 4 months old. I remember reading that LO's bodies do a lot of physical development at night when they are able to move around the crib, etc.

So, I am concerned that my daughter still needs to be swaddled in order to sleep through the night. To your knowledge, is there any harm in swaddling a baby, even after they begin rolling, etc.? She hasn't/can't roll over in her swaddle, so I'm not concerned about SIDS - I am mostly just wondering if it is OKAY?  Thanks!

kdjudd

I've always heard that you are supposed to stop swaddling after your baby can roll. I'd try to wean her off of it just to be safe. I haven't heard the developmental thing though... That is interesting! Thanks for teaching me something new

brennarobbie

Girl, I would swaddle my baby until he goes to college if I could!!! He is so much more comfy like that...I've always said that it means that he's a snuggler like his mommy. ) We quit the swaddle over Christmas Break. We started with just naps in a sleep sack and then started with night time. It took about a week, and now he's fine falling asleep on his own in his sack (which thankfully is up to 9 mos).

travnicek

Thanks Ladies.

 We had tried un-swaddling her a couple months ago, and it didn't go well. But, she's older now, so maybe it won't be such a rough transition this time. Wish us luck!

DiveFrog

The standard answer applies here...every baby is different.

We swaddled DD in a swaddleme blanket until she was 7.0months. She just has a horrible time self soothing and swaddling really helps her calm down and fall asleep. She isn't a big roller even when awake and I observed her napping enough to feel comfortable that she would not roll over at night. At 7 months when she outgrew the swaddle blankets we started swaddling her in a thin blanket for naps and at night. This works fabulously because we get the benefit of the swaddle to get her to sleep and she can work her arms free once she is asleep. She is 8 months now and I don't see us stopping the swaddle anytime soon.

ETA: I am not worried about her development at all. She was born 4weeks early, but is still hitting all of her milestones. She hates being on her tummy (although we force her to spend some time there) and isn't crawling yet, but she can roll and loves to sit and stand-up 

smittendorff

It really is recommended to stop swaddling once your LO can roll over.  It can be dangerous if she were to roll while swaddled and not have her arms to roll back or help lift her head.  Just because she hasn't rolled yet while swaddled, doesn't mean she won't at any time.  When our LO was ready to stop swaddling, we weaned gradually, doing one arm out, then both, then a sleepsack.  We switched to a Halo SleepSack, and loved it!  It provided some snugness and confinement, but allowed the arms to be free.  Plus, a safe way to keep LO warm. 

MiracleK

We just stopped swaddling DD 10 days ago. We went cold turkey. She did amazing. People kept telling us not to swaddle her anymore, but I honestly don't think she would have been ready prior to this. Trust your instincts. Maybe just try it and see what happens. Wishing you lots of luck!