Naps and Transition from Swaddles for 4 Month Olds

Hi, I have experience almost the same thing with my 4 month old daughter. She has really bad acid reflux and up until we found the right medicine and thickened formula, she would'nt sleep during the day but she sleep well at night, swaddled. At around 2 1/2 months, she started feeling better so she would nap during the day in her swing only but she would nap for up to 4 hours(probably catching up on lost sleep!!) unswaddled but i would still swaddle her at night. I used the kiddopatumus as well. At around 3 months, she established a 6-6:30 bedtime so I decided it was timet o try and unswaddle her. I would have to reswaddle her at least 2 times a night and I thought she was old enouhg and that her arm reflexes we almost gone that she would be okay but i was scared to do it b/c she slept so good at night. I went online and read tons of other mothers opinions and I decided to try cold turkey first and it worked. I did the same bedtime routine I always do, bath, quick massage with johnson's bedtime lotion and a bottle, but instead of swaddling, I put her in a warm sleep bag and the firts night, it took her alittle while to fall asleep because she wasn't used to her arms, so i would just give her the binky(which is the next thing i am going to try to wean her off of) the next night was better and the next night even better. Maybe i was lucky, or maybe she was ready to unswaddled, but babies will eventually learn and i believe it is better to do it sooner than later, before they get too "smart". some mothers said they would leave one arm out of the swaddle at a time to slowly transition the baby, but you should be able to read how your babies react. I thought mine would put up a HUGE fight and she surprised me!!

As for napping, I have the same problem. Last week I decided it was time to not sleep in the swing anymore adn I started putting her down in her crib. She would evnetually, after crying and me standing there holding the binky in her mouth ,fall asleep for 5-30 minutes and than she would lose the binky and scream without going back to sleep. I did this for 5 days and everyday she slept less(day and night) and got more cranky and tired looking. So i put her back in her swing and she is as happy as can be. I wish I could give some suggestions, though so far, I haven't had any luck getting her to nap in her crib, I guess she still needs the motion to sleep, thouhg at night she sleeps for 8-10 hours straight unswaddled in her crib. I am told by my doctor that habits form at 4 months and by others that when she is ready to sleep in her crib she will.....all i know is that she smiles all the time and I get more done and more rest, so we are both happier!!

Some people will say if they are sleeping that well at night, than continue to do what you are doing and they will let you know when they don't want to be swaddled anymore...maybe that is what they are telling you by breaking out at 3 or 4. I think the sleep bags are the best transition and one mother suggested sewing the arms shut at first to get them used to moving there arms around a bit more.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that you have just as much success with unswaddling and more success at napping. Do your twins need to be moving to nap and how do u feel about letting them cry? I feel bad after 5 minutes!!! keep me posted and if you have any tips on napping in crib, that would be GREAT!!!

I hope that helped a bit and if you have any question, don't hesitate!!

A. (Phoenix, 4 months)

Wow-you're lucky that they will go in their cribs! I have a 6 month old boy who finally at 5 months slept in his crib for naps. However, he would only sleep about 30 minutes. I realized that he may be having trouble with sleep transition (light to deep sleep and vice versa). What I tried to do was listen for him at around 30 minutes and go in to try to get him back down if he woke up. A lot of times he would go back to sleep for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I also swaddled him at night until about 4 months. I tried the swaddle during the day as well and that seemed to help. Friends have told me that their sleep patterns change around 6 months and become more adult like so they tend to take longer naps. I am starting to see that with my son. So my advice is to use the swaddle during the day and try to get them back to sleep after 30 minutes. Or you could just accept the 30 minute naps (especially if they are sleeping 12 hours at night) and wait until they are older for them to take longer naps. Good luck!

My infant loved being swaddled, and I was worried she wouldn't transtion well to the crib, just as you are. However, we put her into the crib at about 4 months, unswaddled, and she just spread out, and fell asleep and slept for her usual 12 hours. She was ready to not be swaddled. That's why she was coming out of her wrappings.

my 6 month old son is the king of the 30 minute catnap! try the sleep positioner, you can buy it at babies r us and its only 10 dollars. Its called The first years air flow sleep positioner by Learning Curve. it helps them to feel snuggled while laying in the crib! It helped my son transition from being swaddled in his bassinet to the crib and has helped many of my friends...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2341851

good luck! D.

I did not swaddle my children but my son was the KING of the 20 minute cat nap and sleep (at 3) can still an issue with him. My 16 month daughter sleeps wonderfully, so I have seen both sides of he spectrum. I was also working when my son was born and am very familiar of what a working mother will do just to get a little rest!

Switch to the sleep sack, they are great, my children didn't have any issues with them. I definately concur about not getting into the habit of rocking them all the way to sleep, it does make things harder in the long run. If you start putting them down for naps in the morning and afternoon at the same time each day and let them begin to soothe themselves, hopefully by th e time you return to work they will be on their way.

Best of Luck!

Hi J.,

My daughter too sleeps well at night and like your twins, she started waking up in the middle of the night when she was about 4 months. We would always find her out of her swaddle. We've tried the velcro type swaddle but that didn't work. After a bit of experimenting (different kinds of pyjamas, swaddling and not swaddling), we figured out that she was waking up because she was cold after kicking off the swaddle. So we put her in a sleep sack and she's back to sleeping through the night. We didn't do anything to transition between the 2. She's now 6 months and it's going well.

As for naps, we stopped swaddling my daughter for them at about 3 months because we found that she would sleep too long and we'd have to wake her for feedings. Perhaps she associated swaddling with the long sleep at night. Are you trying to get your twins to nap in their cribs? It could be that they're not used to the daytime use of the crib and it will just take a little time for the adjustment. Don't worry about the length of each nap period as long as they're getting enough. Even now my daughter doesn't have a set nap schedule but she does get the needed amount as a whole.

I hope I've been of help. Take care!

Hi,

My son is almost 2 1/2 but I remember those days oh so clearly. We used the same swaddling blanket or we used a receiving blanket & did it our selves. I could never swaddle as good as my husband. Anyway, when he was older I learned about the "miracle blanket." My cousin used it with her son until like 8mths old. I am def. going to buy one when I have another child. I've heard from so many people that this blanket is a miracle! They have a website, miracleblanket.com. They are alittle expensive but worth it. Maybe u can find one on used sites like swapbabygoods, craiglist etc. Also, they might sleep longer during the naps if they are swaddled. Though I think that 30-40 min. naps are pretty common with babies. They just take them more often. Also, I would start trying to put them down when they are tired but not asleep so they will learn to sleep on their own. Maybe not try now at 4mths but maybe in a few months. We made they mistake of always rocking etc. to get him asleep. We had to fix that & now he is ok but so many people I know need to be with their child until they fall asleep & they are 3yrs old! Anyway, good luck