how do you swaddle break?? ugh. ::with Update::

lifesaverz · March 2014

sorry for another post about swaddles. But seriously, for those of you who have broken/are working on breaking your LO of the swaddle...how in the heck did you do it?? I tried one arm out then 2 arms out for a couple naps. It was okay-ish. Then after that about a week ago I tried the 2 arms out at bedtime (with the swaddle still wrapped around LO's waist to help her feel secure), & the poor thing couldn't stop flailing. She was sleeping when I put her in bed (we rock to sleep), & she would sleep for about 30 seconds, flail, wake up a little because of that, then repeat, over & over. After a while of that she got frustrated that she kept waking up so she would start crying every time she woke up (so again, like every 30 seconds). I felt so bad for her, & obviously she needs her sleep, so that night I totally caved & put her arms back in.

I just don't get how this even works. Right now I'm trying just one arm out for tonights' sleep...she has been asleep for 45 minutes & already woke up once (but thankfully when I went in there & gave her her paci she was able to get back to sleep)...I'm hoping just the one arm out will go better, but even then I feel like the same thing will happen again when I try to go to 2 arms.

I wanted to wait a couple more weeks to try again but she rolled for the first time today. It was tummy to back, so not back to tummy yet, but still, I'm sure it'll be any day now, & I want to get her transitioned before that happens so I'm not up against a wall. So please, share all your wisdom! For those whose LO's have that startle reflex bad especially, what do you even do? I even tried putting a blanket over her arms during one nap when I could watch her, kinda hoping having something over them would help, but the blanket was over her face in like less than a minute.

To be honest, I don't think I'd like having my arms out from under a blanket either, it would feel kinda cold.

UPDATE: Well, she made it all night with one arm out, yay! She only woke up twice in the beginning, which I thought was pretty amazing. MUCH better than the 2 arms out attempt. The 2nd time she woke up I put a sock over her hand to help so it wouldn't get cold...maybe that helped? She was already wearing a long-sleeve onesie. I suppose maybe since that went well I'll just continue to do one arm out for a few nights to get her used to that before trying the 2 arms out again. I know like some of you mentioned it could be a little early since she hasn't rolled back to tummy yet, but I have this week off work & it just seemed like a good time to try again. Plus like I mentioned, I don't want to wait too long til I'm forced to do it in a hurry. And on top of that I recently read an article called "death by swaddling" about infants around this age dying, most from rolling for the first time while swaddled in bed & suffocating. I know that's unlikely, & there were other risk factors at play as well, but all the same, the article said the head Pedi of the AAP recommends not swaddling past 2 months because of the potential for rolling over. Anyway I hope it continues to go well, & good luck to all you other de-swaddlers out there too, I know it's rough!

Hmvbaby14 · March 2014

I'm going to need to break the swaddling soon and I'm really not looking forward to it. We're going on vacation Thursday and won't be back home until Tuesday night. I figure that will mess with his sleeping enough that I can wait until after that to try and break it. He's not sttn as it is, so I'm really afraid that I'll be giving up the short stretches of sleep I'm actually getting.

I'll be following this post for more suggestions!

imrachellea · March 2014

I don't know

LO wants to be swaddled. When I tried arm out, she cried. I thought it was confusion over one arm so I tried both, cried. Ditched the whole swaddle, cried. Second night we did the same thing but I got her to sleep finally. She slept 9-3. Which sounds great, but considering she usually sleeps 8-6 (and the night before did 8:30-7!) I know she still wants it. And yesterday..,she rolled back to tummy 4 times in a row. I don't know what to do. My thought process is she was extrinsically motivated to roll (toys) and never has even attempted a roll in her sleep. So we 're still swaddled ATM with a Snuza & video monitor...

SusanC111 · March 2014

Why are you stopping swaddling if your babies like it? So confused.

Caitlinh27 · March 2014

SusanC111 said:
Why are you stopping swaddling if your babies like it? So confused.

Because a baby rolling from back to tummy with their arms pinned down probably isn't the safest...

Caitlinh27 · March 2014

Tonight is night #5 of no swaddling and it's the first night he's slept for more than 3 hours at a time. The transition has been really rough but I keep telling myself he will get used to it. He rolled from back to tummy on Saturday so that helped confirm that it's definitely time to lose the swaddle.

SusanC111 · March 2014

Caitlinh27 said:

Why are you stopping swaddling if your babies like it? So confused.
Because a baby rolling from back to tummy with their arms pinned down probably isn't the safest...

Sorry, I only saw one person mention rolling. Wait, 2 people. It's the middle of the night, I'm fuzzy! But the OP said tummy to back, not to tummy.

Caitlinh27 · March 2014

SusanC111 said:

Caitlinh27 said:

SusanC111 said:
Why are you stopping swaddling if your babies like it? So confused.
Because a baby rolling from back to tummy with their arms pinned down probably isn't the safest...

Sorry, I only saw one person mention rolling. Wait, 2 people. It's the middle of the night, I'm fuzzy! But the OP said tummy to back, not to tummy.

I started to break him of it a few days before he actually rolled back to tummy, but like OP said I knew it was only a matter of time. I didn't want to wait until he actually rolled onto his tummy at night before I did something about it. That scares the hell out of me.

SusanC111 · March 2014

I guess I'm just working from my experience of my first baby. He rolled to back around three months, and didn't roll to tummy until 2 months later. So I didn't stop swaddling until 5 months. This is just not the first post I've seen like this, and I think some people are doing it because they see others are, and they think they're supposed to when they may not need to yet.

Caitlinh27 · March 2014

SusanC111 said:
I guess I'm just working from my experience of my first baby. He rolled to back around three months, and didn't roll to tummy until 2 months later. So I didn't stop swaddling until 5 months. This is just not the first post I've seen like this, and I think some people are doing it because they see others are, and they think they're supposed to when they may not need to yet.

That could be. I'm just doing it because of the rolling.

ugoglencoco · March 2014

I've tried everything. I have no effing idea. I literally haven't slept in weeks. Plus we took LO to the doctor yesterday for a low grade fever and pedi said that both bottom 2 teeth are about to break and to not expect good sleep from that either. I used to get 11 hours. I think he would sleep better on his belly but it makes me too nervous, even with the snuza. He can roll both ways, but ds1 could t until 6 months and I just feel like he's too little to let him sleep on his belly

I dunno! Really hoping he gets the hang of it soon.

dupe · March 2014

My lo decided to pull her arms out and pull the swaddle blanket over her face. Were working on it, every night she's been sleeping better and a little longer.

MissyC979 · March 2014

SusanC111 said:

I guess I'm just working from my experience of my first baby. He rolled to back around three months, and didn't roll to tummy until 2 months later. So I didn't stop swaddling until 5 months. This is just not the first post I've seen like this, and I think some people are doing it because they see others are, and they think they're supposed to when they may not need to yet.

I'm with you. There was a while before he was able to go back to belly. Also, you'll most likely see the baby do it on the playmat versus in the middle of the night, because arms help you roll. I think you probably have a little while still, if she hasn't rolled back to belly yet. I would probably wait another couple weeks to deswaddle, if you're having so much trouble. The startle reflex *should* be gone within the next month, typically.

imrachellea · March 2014

? for those who are deswaddling that normally get long stretches of sleep and are now getting shorter stretches...

Do you feed them when they wake up? My LO usually sleeps around 9 hours before waking up to eat. We feed a bottle before bed and when she first wakes up, I nurse the rest of the day. So if she normally goes 9 hours without eating, would I feed her if she wakes up after 6? If she normally doesn't eat for that long, should I to get her back to bed?

Danicali · March 2014

I recently ordered some of these:

https://zipadeezip.com/boys-zipadeezip/

I'm hoping they help. They are made for transitioning. My LO loves the swaddle too. But he's growing out of them in length!! Fingers crossed this helps us. I've already tried the one arm thing. Doesn't work. He would wake up every 30 min. Brutal.

Caitlinh27 · March 2014

@imrachellea The night before last Lo woke up at 1:00am and then again at 3:00am. I went ahead and fed him both times. Not so much because I felt like he needed to eat but more to help get him back asleep again. If your LO goes back to sleep really easily after waking up I don't know that I would feed more often then you normally would.

lifesaverz · March 2014

@imrachellea‌ I don't. LO usually sleeps 9-10 hours, so if she wakes up before that I just give her her paci or change her & rock her back to sleep if needed. But my LO never nurses to sleep so I don't think that's really an issue for her.

Danicali · March 2014

@nursetrina‌ I'll try to update!! I just ordered them so who knows when they will come. Lol. Hopefully not too late! But the reviews show people using them with carriers too for walks because they are all covered and it's nice and warm. Seems like a good use as well!

azmama20 · March 2014

I'm a firm believer that when your LO is ready to be done with swaddling that they will let you know (aside from when they start rolling over from back to tummy). Alex would just start fighting the swaddle and not sleeping well, so we made the switch to sleep sacks.

peitri · March 2014

DD sleeps in a swaddle for 10-12 hour stretches. As long as that magic continues, so shall the swaddle. I plan to swaddle her into her teens.

lifesaverz · March 2014

@ColeRose‌, pretty much what @mrsashleyk‌ said. Most of the time she either takes the paci & goes right back to sleep on her own or will sometimes need changing & me to rock her back to sleep. If that didn't work or if it seemed obvious she was hungry then I would def feed her, but most of the time it seems like she just happened to wake up & needs a little help getting back to sleep.

I'm sure other babies are different but with her she hasn't woken up for a motn feed in about 2 months, & when she did I felt like it was obvious she was hungry.

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how do you swaddle break?? ugh. ::with Update::

Re: how do you swaddle break?? ugh. ::with Update::

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