Swaddle nightmare

macynsnoop · July 2014

So little man is 3 months old & the last week or so has been pure hell at night! We can get him to bed ok, he has been swaddled in the halo since about 4 weeks old, when we transitioned him to the crib. He was sleeping about 3-4 hours at the longest stretch, so not the greatest sleeper by any means. In the last week he has been fighting the swaddle so hard, once he gets his hands free he bawls, this usually takes him 30 min from the time I put him down. Sometimes he will sleep about 2 hours before this happens, at any rate I am getting near zero sleep! In the last day or so the new trick is to arch the back trying to get the hands out & flipping himself to his stomach, found him face down yesterday morning. Based on his behaviour tonight it looks like the flipping to the stomach trick is going to be a regular thing. Looking for any advice on this. I am trying the zippadeezip now, cold turkey, in a try for at least some sleep tonight. For those that have dealt with this before, how long does it take for LO to not need the swaddle? My guy just swings his arms around without it & makes himself crazy. Is there a trick to helping him transition to not needing it? Any help is appreciated, I need some effing sleep!

amandamatt72409 · July 2014

Our pediatrician recommended we stop swaddling at 2 months, because babies can get themselves on their stomaches and it's a suffocation hazard. We only use the muslin swaddle blankets so she can get herself out. Now we are only swaddling underneath her arms so she has free use of her arms and hands. If your babies are able to get on their stomachs I'd be very hesitant to use anything with zippers or Velcro.

AmberLiz99 · July 2014

If they can roll to their tummy it's time to transition out if the swaddle. Maybe a blanket with I've arm out to start, than both arms. Or a sleep sack
Good luck!

pineconey · July 2014

@mamrotu73‌ let's do it-kick starter!!

J&NL · July 2014

Have you tried just swaddling one arm? I gave up the swaddle because DS spent more time trying to get out and always woke himself up.

momofmanyinthemitten · July 2014

Magic sleep suit might help, but only if it's cool in your house. It was a great transition from the swaddle for DS.

*sparky* · July 2014

mamrotu73 said:
I was thinking as I went to bed though that they should make sleepers with snaps on the wrist and hips. Then you could keep their arms from flailing while they are young. But when they are ready to transition, it's the same pjs just without arms snapped down to the sides. You could undo one at a time, too.

The Woombie makes a convertible vertigo that has zippers at the arm holes. So when you are ready you just unzip and pop one or both arms out.

hordol · July 2014

kielpinskim said:
Magic sleep suit might help, but only if it's cool in your house. It was a great transition from the swaddle for DS.

I bought this as a transition piece too. I've only used it twice so far at nap time. The first time there wasn't much difference but the second time I got a half hour nap in the crib!! (This doesn't sound great but DS had never stayed asleep more than five minutes in the crib before.)

hordol · July 2014

To be honest I don't really know. They can move in it, but the moves are muffled which is why I think it's helpful for when they're ready to be out of the swaddle. It's just cozy feeling, I think. It still gives that enclosed feeling that the swaddle does.

cjpell0 · July 2014

When LO started trying to get his arms out, we used the halo, zipped his entire body in the halo and then wrapped around that. Now he's getting his arms out a lot but it's not waking him up anymore so we leave one arm out. and the other in. He looks like he's in a toga.

*sparky* · July 2014

@Cpelland0‌ - how old was DS when you started doing one arm out? I think my DD may be ready for that - she has started really fighting her swaddle in her sleep.

lmac2582 · July 2014

I stopped the swaddle cold turkey at around 8 weeks per my pedi. It was a rough night or two of her flailing her arms but she got the hang of it and now even if she moves her arms around she stays asleep. I wouldn't want to have to change it to one arm, two arm then out. It sounds like multiple nights of no sleep for either of us every time you change it. She does sleep in a sleeveless sleep sack but that's just for warmth.

smashton14th · July 2014

Magic sleep suit! It helped with my DD when she was little. Once we had to transition her out of her swaddle we realized she had the worst startle relex. That is when we got the Magic Sleep Suit. It helped her still feel secure and makes the startle reflex less, startling.
We will be using it again with our DS soon because he is starting to Houdini himself out of his swaddle.

MalyJ · July 2014

I stopped swaddling at about 2 months because DS is a big boy and outgrew the summer swaddleme we had. It took about three nights of frequent flailing arms and waking up, but ever since he sleeps totally unswaddled, no problems.

jsoubel · July 2014

Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit: https://www.magicsleepsuit.com/. Hi thee hence and purchase one. Expensive but effective

macynsnoop · July 2014

@mamrotu73 that is awesome!! I'll need to google about how to add snaps, that could be something for me to try!

@MalyJ‌ thanks for the heads up on how long it might take until he can deal with the flailing arms. I broke down last night & took him out of the zippadeezip & put him back in the halo. I got about 2 hours sleep with that one, I think maybe 4 hours total sleep lady night. I'm thinking tonight will not be much better.

cnbean · July 2014

With DS1 I did a gradual transition out of the swaddle. First one arm out just at naps, then once that wasn't a big problem I started doing it at night. Once he slept ok at night, we started the next arm. It probably took about 2 weeks to transition all the way, but it was less difficult for him to adjust. Also we never had any truly terrible nights (or naps). It took him a little longer to settle down, but it wan't the hell I imagined it might be.

macynsnoop · July 2014

Thanks @cnbean‌! Glad to hear it's possible to avoid the nightmare! Hubs wants to go cold turkey on the swaddle thing, he thinks 3 nights of hell is worth it to get little man weaned off. So this will be the second night using the zippadeezip, hoping it goes better than the first. As far as naps go, he doesn't need to be swaddled as we don't put him in the crib, he kind of naps all around the house. Hope that doesn't bite me in the ass later!

cjpell0 · July 2014

@*sparky* I think he was 3months +1 week, maybe 2?

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