When should I stop swaddling my baby?

Kelserd90 · September 2016

My baby is 3 months old, and we swaddle her when she sleeps in her pack and play, otherwise she jerks her arms and wakes herself up. We have a consistent bedtime routine, and I make sure to put her down when she is close to being asleep but still awake so she learns to put herself to sleep. I really don't want her to become dependent on being swaddled to stay asleep, but if I don't swaddle her, she will be awake within minutes. If she is swaddled she will sleep for hours.

Lizbeth86 · September 2016

@Kelserd90 I stopped swaddling our LO a few weeks ago (she's a little over 3 months). I got scared because she was kicking and flailing to get out of the swaddle so violently that I was afraid she'd accidentally flip herself over without breaking free of the swaddle. I put her in the halo sleep sack with her arms free, bit the velcro around her chest is still wrapped very snug. She's not as bad as your LO, she will sleep this way, but I do think she wakes up sooner now (every 3-4 hours).

newbabymakes4 · September 2016

LO didn't like to be swaddled so we didn't try it this time around, but we swaddled for a long time with DS. We stopped swaddling him arms-in once he started rolling over on his own. Once he started rolling, we just used the velcro around his chest. Turns out, DS was happier sleeping on his stomach, so once he was unswaddled and able to roll, he would roll himself over every night.

penny624 · September 2016

Our LO just turned 3 months, and we still swaddle him with his SwaddleMe because he like to flail his arms around and wake himself up. He sleeps in a RNP, but we will be transitioning to his crib in a few weeks, and i dont want to swaddle him with the arms down once he is in the crib just in case he does flip over. About a week ago we experimented with putting him in a Zipadeezip, and he slept for about 6 hours straight (usually sleeps 7-9 hours), so it was better than expected. You might also want to try a merlin magic sleepsuit...I hear those are good to keep arm movement limited. We will probably try that too once he is in the crib since you aren't supposed to use it while in the RNP.

AmberLiz99 · September 2016

With my other two I stopped when they started rolling from their back. This baby is a slightly better sleeper, so I might try doing it this week just to get rid of the habit. We'll see how it goes

celticlor · October 2016

I have my LO in the merlin magic sleepsuit and I swear by it! This thing is the best for that arm reflex! Yes it is a little pricey but we have used it almost every night (a couple of times we had accidents after we put her in it, since she was 9 weeks old (17 weeks old now). She is in her crib for a straight 4-5 hours every night now.

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