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July 2015 Moms
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Still swaddling? Need opinions please

jacmariecjacmariec member
in July 2015 Moms
I'm having a hard time getting my 4 month old to fall asleep without a tight swaddle. He will sleep in my arms if he falls asleep nursing or if I'm rocking him but his arms gets the better of him if I'm not there to wrangle them. Without swaddling his arms down, he's constantly flailing his arms, rubbing his head, and scratching his face. Then he rolls over in his crib and is awake because he supports himself and looks around.

I tried to lay him back down without a swaddle last night after a MOTN feeding. He always falls right back to sleep and even sleeps through diaper changes. NOPE. He woke up in about 10 seconds and was awake awake for about another hour. I tried letting him self soothe and just get comfortable but he got frustrated.

Help! What have other mommas tried?! He is still waking up 4-5 times a night. This sleep thing is getting the better of me!
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Re: Still swaddling? Need opinions please

  • klirwin82klirwin82 member
    We went from swaddle to the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit. Not quite magic but after a week he's making it 8:30pm - 7am just waking up once. It definitely keeps him from startling himself awake. I got nervous with the swaddle because he is able to roll now. I feel like a few more weeks in the Sleepsuit and we will be able to transition to just PJ's.
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  • SnarkasaurusRexSnarkasaurusRex member
    I asked our ped about this at Bubs' 2 month appointment because he was breaking out of the swaddle regularly and pinwheeling around on his side in the crib. She basically told us that the first 3-5 nights suck, haha. They have to learn how to get comfortable without the swaddle, so that requires a lot of grumbling and protests. She recommended that we lay him down sleepy (on his back), then put a hand on his belly and rock him from side to side (enough to move his head, but no vigorously) to soothe him, and to try and soothe him in the crib for as long as possible (or until he breaks out into full-on crying). Picking them up to soothe and then putting them back down just starts the whole 'find a comfy spot' process all over again, so that became a last resort for us. She also recommended that we get some sort of wearable blanket for him, so we went with the ZipadeeZip, which is a swaddle transition blanket that restricts the movement of their arms just enough to temper the startle reflex. It worked really well for us since Bubs was breaking out of the swaddle to suck on his hands and soothe, so now he's able to do that without having the startle reflex wake him up 50 times a night.

    The first two nights were rough - he woke up a lot and grumbled but never cried, so we never went in to get him, and he was able to put himself back to sleep relatively quickly. He went right back to basically sleeping through the night (he wakes up almost every morning at 3:30, grumbles for 15 minutes, and goes back to sleep, haha) and has been doing so for the past 2 months. He sleeps from 9:30 - 6:00 (when I have to get him up to have him ready for daycare before I leave for work...I don't know how long he'd sleep if I didn't have to get him up so early).
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  • laurenbennett12laurenbennett12 member
    We used the merlin sleep suit to transition it was magic but helped him learned to sleep with his arms out. Now that he can roll I started using a sleep sack. Today for his naps I just put him in the crib without the sleep sack rolled to his belly and slept like that. He did cry pretty hard but fell asleep so much faster than usual on his belly! He just put his head down and sucked his fingers to sleep.
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  • KAR8706KAR8706 member
    I must be blessed because LO started breaking out of his swaddle so we switched him to the Love to dream transition swaddle, the arms zip off and it basically turns into a sleep sack eventually. He took to it very well, I had his arms out completely but since the weather has gotten colder i put them back on to keep his hands warm. I think some sort of swaddle transition would be a smart idea
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  • missvalentinamissvalentina member
    I used Love to dream swaddle for slow transitioning. It took her a few nights to get used to it (which means she was waking up every 2-3 hours) until she started sleeping through the night again. She slept in it very well for a few weeks then started waking up again because she was trying to munch on her hands in her sleep. I put her in a regular Aden and anais sleeping bag (arms out) - a few more sleepless nights and she finally learned how to sleep unswaddled. It takes time and a lot of patience but I think the earlier you get rid of a swaddle the better! Babies need to be able to move their legs and arms freely by the age of 4-5 months old. It's very important for their development.
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  • jewels1029jewels1029 member
    My son as always slept in a sleep sack. He doesn't like his arms secured he sleeps with them above his head. But since he rolls from back to tummy now he sleeps on his side a lot.
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  • lizzypoo96lizzypoo96 member
    We used a swaddleme wrap sack. We did a few weeks with one arm out and now still swaddle but with both arms free. To transition we would put him down initially with arms in then let one out after his first MOTN feeding.



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  • jcia1208jcia1208 member
    I could have written this myself! We are in the same situation. My first DD was sleeping without being swaddled by 1 month! I'm at a loss. I'm so tired lol! Just wanted to commiserate with you. :)
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  • leelee1112leelee1112 member
    Magic Merlin sleep suit - Amazon has this!
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