Did anyone swaddle in a RNP? And WWYD?

ladychicago · March 2012

I feel like I have no good options here with Harrision.

He has been sleeping swaddled in the RNP. Right after birth, it was the only way he'd sleep longer than 2 hours overnight. It wasn't a problem until now. At 3 months old today, he's now strong enough to wiggle around in there. For the last two nights, he has woken up earlier and more often than usual because he has wiggled down and is half-hanging off the end of the darn thing (and his poor head and neck are all scrunched up in the butt part). Clearly, this is not safe.

So I tried putting him in his crib... yeah, failure. He wakes and screams with every sleep arousal - basically every 45 or 90 minutes. And he won't calm down unless I nurse him. Which, for me, is dangerous territory. He had been sleeping 7-8 hours straight without eating, and I do not want him to get used to eating and hanging out with me that often. It is just a slippery slope I'd really like to avoid.

So what do I do? Is there a way to secure him in the RNP while swaddled? So he doesn't slide around? I'm not sure he's ready to lose the swaddle, because he doesn't calm down for naps/bedtime without it. and I feel like we can't transition him to the crib until we're able/willing to let him CIO a little bit (which for me is at least another month away).

What would you do? I'm horribly afraid my sleep is about to go down the drain..

LisaMarisa · March 2012

Can you wrap the swaddle just around his arms and then buckle him in to the RNP? The other option would be to just bite the bullet and transition him to the crib now. You're going to have to do it eventually, right? Sorry!

patchen30 · March 2012

DS never slept in a RNP but I can totally relate to all your issues here w/ the night waking and not wanting to CIO for another month. Is there anything else that would be comparable but safer? Carseat? Swing? I know both are a tad controversial for sleeping...

Cajun_gal · March 2012

Is he buckled into the RNP? That is so frustrating and exhausting I'm sure. DS2 was swaddled in the RNP as well, but at that point, we were able to break the swaddle and stay in the RNP. He didn't really sleep well in the crib until he was able to sleep on his belly. I hope you find a solution that works for him soon! I agree that it's a slippery slope if he starts nursing that often. But, could it also be a growth spurt going on at the same time?

ladychicago · March 2012

No, right now he isn't buckled in there at all. He wasn't strong/mobile enough for me to worry about that until now...

LisaMarisa:
Can you wrap the swaddle just around his arms and then buckle him in to the RNP?

I do like this idea! I might try this tonight and see how it goes. Can't be worse than last night...

pinkcallalily · March 2012

My son typically hated being swaddled, but a few times he went through a phase where he slept better swaddled for a few weeks. When this happened, we just kind of pushed the swaddle up between his legs a bit and buckled him in. He was in the RNP until 7 months, which I know is way past the recommended age, but it worked for us. He was still up many times a night to nurse and had reflux so I had to hold him upright for 30 minutes after he ate. The RNP let us lay him down right after nursing because I kept falling asleep with him in my arms and it freaked me out. It was rough when we moved him to the crib, but after a few nights he was sleeping pretty well. However, he was up 3 times a night until around 15 months old so my definition of "sleeping well" is probably completely different than yours :-)

KYRN · March 2012

What kind of swaddle do you use? Don't the summer brand swad.dle me have a slit in the back? Could you possible feed the buckles through, buckle and then swaddle?

Otherwise I'd say try just swaddling the arms.

PeachyKate · March 2012

Jax was in the RNP for the longest time, I am talking six and a half months because he slept so well in there. Until he was ready to loose the swaddle we did swaddle the arms only, kept the legs out, and strapped him in. He eventually started getting his arms out and then we stopped the swaddle all together.

I was so worried about eventually transitioning him but we had no problems at all, daycare started with naps and then we started at bedtime. He's a great sleeper.

schmoodle · March 2012

We swaddled in the RNP and once she started moving I would strap her in over the swaddle (but her legs were still in) or sometimes I'd only swaddle her arms. We had to stop swaddling at 3 months though because she was rolling over, and she only slept in the RNP for naps so I could keep an eye on her, so may not be perfectly analogous. Good luck!!!

schoolsoutbride · March 2012

Yeah, that's about the time we moved out of the RNP. M just wiggled too much, I was afraid he was going to flip over in it.

I put them in the crib during the day and dealt with crappy naps and then transitioned them at night.

naflmj · March 2012

Could you leave his legs out of the swaddle and buckle him in? I know when we weaned Graeme of the swaddle, we undid the legs first (though we did it later than 3 months).

WillisReincarnated · March 2012

We just moved K out two weeks ago (she's 18 lbs right now) and she was still swaddled. What I did was I clipped her in using half of the belt / buckle. I'd slide her legs to one side and use one side of the snap. I don't think I'm making a lot of sense, but it hopefully you get what I mean. It secured her enough to stop her from scooting and rolling.

KiKiGee · March 2012

What about something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Woombie-Footless-Convertible-Swaddler-Marshmallow/dp/B005YI3LV8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1331924137&sr=8-5

It keeps arms swaddled, but legs free... ?

Germanwife2b · March 2012

My guess is that your LO will be eaiser to break from the swaddle than the RNP. I only swaddled a few times in the RNP sleeper and then decided that she slept just fine whether she was swaddled or not. I do put her in a sleep sack though so I am sure that I will be having this issue pretty soon because I also usually do not buckle her in.

Good luck!

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