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swaddle to sleepsack - help

ilanatilanat member
in Babies: 3 - 6 Months
My LO was sleeping very easily and peacefully in his swaddle blanket, waking only to nurse once a night.  He started rolling over from back to front and front to back and I was told that he can't be swaddled anymore because now it's a hazard with his new abilities.  As a result, I started putting him in a sleepsack.  The problem is that he still has a lot of involuntary muscle twitches and jerks, especially in his arms, and even though he's tired, he keeps himself up because his body won't let him rest. It's really upsetting.  His eyes are closed and he has a frown like he just wants to go to sleep but can't.  He then whimpers until he goes into full blown melt down.  My husband said that he needs to cry it out to find the right position for himself.  Instead, I've been gently pinning his arms down with my hands while he dozes off and then I let go when he's mostly out, and let him turn on his side (which he seems to enjoy) and finish drifting to sleep.  My husband and sister-in-law say I should NOT do this, that sleeping is a learned skill, and that he needs to figure out how to do it.  I worry about this advice because I sense that for this baby, the problem is an involuntary physical one that he might not be able to control right now.  I just don't know what to do.  Even when I get him to drift off with my "hand swaddle" he's been waking up several times in the night.  Any advice?  Is husband right? 
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Re: swaddle to sleepsack - help

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    flclflcl member
    Ugh, we're going through the same thing at our house... LO hasn't rolled over back to front like yours but has front to back.  He's also broken out of his swaddle several times several nights in a row.  We tried having him sleep in a sleep sack and it took an hour to soothe him and get him to sleep.  He then woke himself up after 45 mins.  When he was swaddled, his first stretch of sleep at night was between 5-7 hours.  We've been trying the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit and it's been helping.  We're not experiencing the awesome results some other parents have but I think that's because I bought the bigger size since he was on the border between the two sizes.  It helps muffle his twitches and jerks.  He's now sleeping up to 5 hours his first stretch so we're getting there!  GL!
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    sasha213swsasha213sw member
    We are going to try the Zipadee-Zip (https://zipadeezip.com). We have twin boys that will sleep though the night at 4 months swaddled up. My MIL HATES that we swaddle them but it works when they sleep from 8 pm to 5 am without waking up. So far we have just used for naps but it seems like it works better than if we just put them down with nothing. I still haven't had the courage to try it at nighttime but with them being only 4 months and tiny, I figured I can wait a few months...
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    ilanatilanat member

    sasha213sw said:
    We are going to try the Zipadee-Zip (https://zipadeezip.com). We have twin boys that will sleep though the night at 4 months swaddled up. My MIL HATES that we swaddle them but it works when they sleep from 8 pm to 5 am without waking up. So far we have just used for naps but it seems like it works better than if we just put them down with nothing. I still haven't had the courage to try it at nighttime but with them being only 4 months and tiny, I figured I can wait a few months...
    Thanks for this suggestion.
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    TeacherVickyTeacherVicky member
    I wouldn't let him CIO at this age. I know some people do at 4m, but I feel more comfortable waiting until the 6m mark (and felt the same with DS).

    We just broke the swaddle last week. I started with one arm out for a few nights (which she did well with) and then started putting her in a sleep sac 5 days later. It was a pretty smooth transition for us. For the times she's been very jerky while trying to fall asleep, I've given her my hand to hold on to until she calms down enough and leave just before she's asleep. I've also bought her a little bunny that I put in the crook of her arm to replace my hand. I know it's against the sleeping rules, but it's the size of my hand, I feel comfortable letting her fall asleep with it and I remove it once she's asleep. She usually will grab on to that until she falls sleep. 

    She has started to roll to her side to sleep too, and I find she sleeps better like that. If there are times where she's struggling to sleep on her back because of jerky movements, I will turn her on her side and rub her back to encourage her to sleep like that.

    Yes, sleeping is a skill that babies need to learn, but I feel they need to be taught. At this age, they're too young to completely figure it out themselves so I am ok with helping them. Though that's probably because I won't let her CIO at this age too. 

    If I found myself in your situation and doing what you're doing to help LO sleep, I'd probably try to do a little less every day (not waiting so long to let go). 

    Another sleep aid that is available to transition out of the swaddle is the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit. I've never used it so I can't say much about it.

    Nobody can tell you what to do and how to do it when it comes to your baby because every baby is different and every parent is different. Do what you're comfortable with. 
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    ilanatilanat member
    TeacherVicky said:
    "Yes, sleeping is a skill that babies need to learn, but I feel they need to be taught." 

    I agree.  Thanks for this. 
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    roo1ooroo1oo member
    Have you tried using a swaddle sack with the swaddle just around the midsection, not swaddling the arms? This helped my LO transition to the sleep sack. Also try a lovey, like PP suggested a little bunny or something LO can hold onto while falling asleep. There are a lot of "safe" loveys available or you can just give a thin burp cloth. I know its not approved by APP to have toys in the crib but its one toy that I feel is low risk. Now at 7 months old I don't worry about the lovey in the crib and it's become a familiar piece that LO can take with him when he sleeps places other than his crib. Definitely helps him be more comfortable. 

    You might also try reading the No Cry Sleep Solution book. I really liked it. Its not so much a system or method as a lot of small insightful tips. GL!
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    amt0312amt0312 member
    Yeah, there was no way we were getting DD to sleep without a swaddle without taking drastic measures. So, we did Ferber last week. Also nixed the paci and all rocking to sleep. Worked like a charm in 3 days. She has a lovey now and absolutely loves it. 

    Note: we did Ferber primarily for the extreme night wakings and not just because we couldn't tough it out with a gentler method for swaddle transitioning. We decided if we were going to do it, then we were going to go cold turkey on all bad sleep associations to prevent confusion and elongating the crying. I wanted to wait until she was older, but you can see my post in Jan '14 for all the details. 
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