Anyone Extend-swaddled a Baby?

I swaddled my son until he was 6 mos old. He was very colicky as a newborn, and just got used to it. Once he started breaking free, I switched to arms out swaddle, and then to a sleep sack. That transition took a couple of weeks. He stayed in the sleep sack until he started walking (about 11 mos).

My oldest was swaddled until well after 8 months. I remember many hushed discussions with my husband over a sleeping baby if we were going to have a teenager on our hands who needed to be swaddled. Our youngest has started fighting his swaddling and he's just turned 6 months.

For us we left out any limbs they seemed to wiggle free (hands, arms, legs) in frustration before settling to sleep. Overall we stopped swaddling when our babies fought being swaddled far more than they seemed to take comfort and soothing from the swaddling. Good luck.

My first child was never swaddled and she was a horrible sleeper =)

My second child I swaddled for 6 months and she was amazing. After I stopped swaddling she woke up 2-4 times a night. Why did I stop swaddling? Because she was moving around more in her sleep and I figured it was a natural transition for her as that's when they learn they have feet and hands and try to roll over =)

It wasn't an easy transition with either of them swaddling or no swaddling - I think sleep time is affected by way to many other things - teething, gas, being hot/cold, growth spurts, etc to be completed changed by whether or not you choose to swaddle.

My little guy needed it. We did it for as long as we could manage, and he always slept better when swaddled. When we couldn't swaddle anymore, his sleep deteriorated. He was soon thereafter diagnosed with sensory issues (lots of other things we saw that he was sensitive to, other than the need for a swaddle). Now (at 5), he has taken to wrapping himself up in his blanket as tightly as he can which seems to provide him substantial comfort and helps him sleep better. Do what your mamma-sense tells you; your intuition is most typically correct.

I have a 9 month old, she's my 3rd, and this sounds like you are writing about her. She's been our worst sleeper by far and only seemed to be able to go to sleep peacefully if she was swaddled. However, she started to outgrow our swaddling blankets towards the end of 7 months. So, we started with the sleep sack that wraps the arms up but the legs are able to move around. It took a few nights of her getting use to it but she did. Then a few weeks later we moved her to a regular sleep sack. We went through the growing pains again of her getting used to it but now she's sleeping at least as good as she was swaddled. Good luck! I feel your pain...

my daughter never slept on her back.. but once we put her on her tummy she slept like a champ.

they need swaddled on their back cause they flail around and wake themselves up...

try the tummy she is old enough.

Is she rolling over reliably?

If so, put her to sleep on her tummy.

My youngest had a similar problem. Solved as soon as he was able to roll over and sleep on his tummy.

Our doc said as long as everyone was sleeping fine, why mess with it? and we swaddled until 9 months. One night she fell asleep in the car without it and never needed it again. but before that, if we tried to put her to sleep without it, she wouldn't go to sleep. She would wiggle out of it at night, but if she did that, she was fine, she just needed the swaddle to fall asleep.

Up to 8 months is not unusual.

My youngest swaddled until he was 8 months. Wouldn't sleep without it. He's had zero problems. You can always try some unswaddled naps to see how he does. With our youngest, we just started to make his swaddle looser and looser. Now he is almost 2 and likes to sleep on his tummy.