if you weaned off swaddling..

FtrMrsC · May 2011

Please tell me there's hope!? The pedi at our 4 month appt yesterday said we shouldn't swaddle anymore. She said since he can sleep in his swing, etc without it, he doesn't need it and It's becoming more of a habit than anything. I try doing one arm out and he DS takes forever to fall asleep and will wake easily. I also haven't been successful putting him down awake. He almost always needs to nurse to sleep. Please help! If I just keep at it will it get better? TIA !1ht on my phone

jonnysgirl07 · May 2011

Hi, I stopped swaddling at 4.5 months. I just undid his arms and swaddled his bottom half so he still felt confined some-what. We also put socks on his hands to keep his hands warm. We did CIO after the 7th night of no sleep. It was during his 4 mo wakeful period also so that was nuts. He nurses to sleep also and won't take a paci just me so that was very hard. The only option I had was CIO IMO. I hope this helped. He now can sooth himself back to sleep and is completely swaddle free. It gets better.

Banana_Pancakes09 · May 2011

We had a similar situation - still swaddled at 4 1/2 months. We ended up having to do a modified Ferber (going in at very short intervals) and breaking the swaddle cold turkey. We switched to a Carter's sleep sack. Before all that we tried one arm out at a time and that was a total failure. I think completely removing it all at once was the better way to go plus doing it with the modified Ferber method.

We did this at about 4 1/2 - 5 months and now DD sleeps without any swaddle and only gets up twice during the night. DD also did not go down awake before. DD actually did better with no swaddle at all than with the one arm out (would also wake up easily). I found out that DD is a side sleeper so she was much more comfortable not being swaddled at all : )

FtrMrsC · May 2011

Banana_Pancakes09:
We had a similar situation - still swaddled at 4 1/2 months. We ended up having to do a modified Ferber (going in at very short intervals) and breaking the swaddle cold turkey. We switched to a Carter's sleep sack. Before all that we tried one arm out at a time and that was a total failure. I think completely removing it all at once was the better way to go plus doing it with the modified Ferber method.
We did this at about 4 1/2 - 5 months and now DD sleeps without any swaddle and only gets up twice during the night. DD also did not go down awake before. DD actually did better with no swaddle at all than with the one arm out (would also wake up easily). I found out that DD is a side sleeper so she was much more comfortable not being swaddled at all : )

I'm still hesitant to do CIO. Since he's barely 4 mos isn't that early? I did buy a sleep sack but haven't had time to wash it yet. Right now I'm bouncing in place to get him asleep again. Did I mention he's only been in his crib a week. Maybe I'm crazy...

hjk5000 · May 2011

I'm in the process of swaddle weaning now. I still nurse him to sleep and then put him in his swaddle, 1 arm out. If he wakes up he usually puts himself back to sleep, but sometimes I do have to go in and rock or butt pat. Right now we're just coming out of the 4 month wakeful (I hope I didn't just jinx myself) so some nights are really hard, some are fine.

He usually gets the second arm out by his early morning feeding, and I put him back in the crib that way for his second long stretch.

I feel your pain.

Banana_Pancakes09 · May 2011

FtrMrsC:
Banana_Pancakes09:
We had a similar situation - still swaddled at 4 1/2 months. We ended up having to do a modified Ferber (going in at very short intervals) and breaking the swaddle cold turkey. We switched to a Carter's sleep sack. Before all that we tried one arm out at a time and that was a total failure. I think completely removing it all at once was the better way to go plus doing it with the modified Ferber method.
We did this at about 4 1/2 - 5 months and now DD sleeps without any swaddle and only gets up twice during the night. DD also did not go down awake before. DD actually did better with no swaddle at all than with the one arm out (would also wake up easily). I found out that DD is a side sleeper so she was much more comfortable not being swaddled at all : )
I'm still hesitant to do CIO. Since he's barely 4 mos isn't that early? I did buy a sleep sack but haven't had time to wash it yet. Right now I'm bouncing in place to get him asleep again. Did I mention he's only been in his crib a week. Maybe I'm crazy...

That is a little early. We could tell DD was ready since she would cry in her crib and then the second we would pick her up she would fall back asleep. It was just hard for her to fall back asleep on her own. If you are considering doing it in the future, when DS is a little older, I would recommend reading the book now. I would not do any method without reading and understanding it first.

atalanta04 · May 2011

I am going through a similar thing with DD, but we opted to break the swaddle habit before we tackle her sleeping-in-the swing habit. She did OK with no swaddle when she was still in her swing (woke up 2 times a night instead of 1 for a week, now we are back to 1), but she outright refuses to sleep in her crib. We tried that last night for the first time and it was a massive fail. She had a total meltdown and I had to nurse her to sleep and put her back in the swing. So I don't know if maybe putting your DS in the crib is also contributing. Maybe try one adjustment at a time and break the swaddle first? Or maybe it's better to just get it all over with and have 2 weeks of hell, I don't know.

starsmaycollide · May 2011

We are in process of this, but he has slept in the crib since 8 weeks, but always swaddled.

It's taking him longer to go down for naps, but we are working on it. We are using a sleep sack because going without anything is way too different from swaddling for him, I think. (even though he uses nothing in the bouncer or swing).

I am basically just playing the seahorse for him like usual, patting him like usual, and using a paci before leaving the room to see if he can fall asleep on his own. I don't want him to CIO, but I do let him fuss a little before going in to see about him again, because lately he will do that for a couple minutes before sleeping sometimes.

ETA; we've tried going one arm out, but right now he's teething and constantly chewing on his hands-so I feel like it's better to let him have them in order to start self soothing.

FtrMrsC · May 2011

I'm a quitter. The crib sleeping wasn't the problem. Putting him in it unswaddled was. So I gave in and swaddled him. He's been napping nicely for over an hour. Screw it, I'm sticking with it I guess.

vandm1107 · May 2011

We just recently have been swaddle free, I think it's been 2 weeks. One night LO just kept getting out of her swaddleme so DH said we should just try without it. She fell asleep while being rocked. But when she woke up for a feeding she couldnt get back to sleep so I swaddled. Every night since she has been without the swaddle and it has been getting better and better. We also tried the one arm swaddle at 4 months and it failed miserably.

Linz-E · May 2011

Last friday I decided to cut it cold turkey. DD wasnt sleeping well because she kept breaking out so I figured if she wasnt going to sleep well with it we should get her used to sleeping without it. Day 1 was hard, she screamed everytime I put her to nap but eventually fell asleep in my arms and for 3 nights she slept in our bed 9-5. One night she has slept alone 9-6 but its been hit or miss. And Ive had better luck with her on her belly.

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