When did you stop swaddling?

libbyann · July 2009

About how old was your DC when you stopped swaddling? How did you know it was time? Did you go cold turkey or did you do it little by little?

Thanks!

bobcatsteph · July 2009

I've been wondering the same thing, though we actually went out and bought bigger swaddle blankets yesterday.

I was going to page you because DD stopped sleeping as long as she used to this week. She's not waking up multiple times like Will, but she is waking up, which she hadn't done in weeks. I wonder if it's an age thing or something. Let me know if you find the magic cure!

m_and_m · July 2009

I totally read this as "When did you stop waddling?"

I was thinking... about an hour after I gave birth!

Swaddling though... We stopped when DD was 13mos old. She really needed to be very snug when she was sleeping, either in a swaddle, in her car seat, or in our arms. She did not sleep well with freedom of movement.

We tried to wean her around 5 mos the first time, but it didn't go so well and we gave up after a couple weeks.

When we finally were successful, we did it slowly. I put her in a sleep sack with the arms sewn shut (from a miracle blanket), then slowly moved the stitched part out to make it bigger. I did about a week at each setting. Then I left one armhole stitched shut and opened the other one, and eventually opened them both up when she would work her other arm out the neck hole repeatedly. It took about a month to fully wean her, but by the time we did there was no struggle on her part.

Ruby44 · July 2009

I think we stopped when she was around four months. We did it cold turkey. She didn't seem to mind the switch from muslin swaddle to sleep sack. We knew it was time when she started rolling onto her tummy while she was swaddled.

jml5q · July 2009

We stopped right before 4 months. Right after I'd gone out and bought 2 swaddles in a bigger size. I tried stopping at few weeks earlier (right around the age of your LO, and she just wasn't ready). But a couple weeks later we stopped cold turkey and she did great. She was starting to move a lot in her swaddle and that was the first sign we thought she might be ready.

MrsH07 · July 2009

DS is 4 1/2 months now and we are trying to stop. It has been h*ll because he busts out of it and it wakes him up. The Pediatrician says that babies should stop being swaddled around 3-4 months. I wish I would have stopped much sooner than I did.

Also, I was talking with a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and he said that swaddling babies legs is really bad for them. It prevents them from sleeping frog legged and I guess that prevents hip growth or something like that.

bobcatsteph · July 2009

MrsH07:

Also, I was talking with a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and he said that swaddling babies legs is really bad for them. It prevents them from sleeping frog legged and I guess that prevents hip growth or something like that.

This is the reason we bought the bigger swaddle blankets..DD's legs seems too confined in the smaller ones. She can sleep frog legged in the bigger blanket now.

libbyann · July 2009

Thanks ladies. Last night (after about the 5th time going in there to put the damn paci back in his mouth in hopes that he'd *actually* go to sleep) I noticed that he was moving around in the swaddle a lot. Almost fighting it, trying to get his arms free. He's never done this before...he's also started crying when I start to wrap him up in the MB and I just figured he was tired. I'm wondering if the swaddle might be causing our sleep troubles.

I think we'll try him without it tonight. I can't lose anymore sleep than I already am!

luluAXA · July 2009

bobcatsteph:
I've been wondering the same thing, though we actually went out and bought bigger swaddle blankets yesterday.

I was going to page you because DD stopped sleeping as long as she used to this week. She's not waking up multiple times like Will, but she is waking up, which she hadn't done in weeks. I wonder if it's an age thing or something. Let me know if you find the magic cure!

My LO is having some sleep issues right now as well. It may be an age thing. He used to sleep from 8:30/9ish to 3:30-4:30 but now he gets up at 12 and 2 and 5 and sometimes he only drinks an ounce or two so he's isn't even hungry. He's been busting out of his swaddle so I haven't used it this week but I can't get any sleep. We're gonna have to go back to swaddling.

kimbiebride · July 2009

We stopped when he started rolling onto his tummy at around 10 or 11 weeks. ?It was rough the first few nights, but he was also not a good sleeper at that time anyway. ?I think it was more rough on me and DH, though!

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